Thomas Hewitt competed in the men’s trap shooting at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, finishing equal 11th of 34 competitors with 189 kills from 200 shots – a 94.5 per cent success rate that Dr Tom Hunt describes as a spectacular improvement on previous Irish efforts in Olympic trap shooting.

From Portadown, Co. Armagh, Hewitt’s performance was the finest by an Irish Olympic trap shooter until Derek Burnett’s 7th place at Athens in 2004.

The organisation of the trap event in Moscow departed radically from the standard rules of the International Shooting Union – a variation that may have affected some competitors’ preparation. Hewitt’s equal 11th place remains a landmark result in Irish Olympic shooting history.