Our Man in Tokyo

We couldn’t be more proud of our founder Phil Eaglesham for achieving a personal best (PB) in his first event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games. A score of 626.6 in the R4 mixed 10m air rifle stand is some very impressive shooting from Phil. Always the competitor Phil sent a message back to Conquering Horizons HQ saying “I’m happy enough, but always want better”.

For those that have watched the Paralympics and found the classification of disability confusing, then this little snippet courtesy of the BBC website may prove helpful. It also explains how the scoring works in Phil’s events.

Shooting uses a classification system that enables athletes from different impairment groups with the same level of functional ability to compete together.

Pistol shooters compete in the SH1 category and will have upper and/or lower limb impairment.

Rifle shooters compete in either the SH1 or SH2 category. SH1 athletes have lower limb impairments while SH2 have upper limb impairments which mean they use a shooting stand to support the rifle and may also have lower limb impairments

In qualification, each competitor takes a specified number of shots at the target – 120 in the three-position events and 60 in the remaining events – in a set time period. Qualifying for the three-position events takes a maximum of two hours and 45 minutes while the other events are around an hour to an hour and a quarter.

The target consists of 10 concentric scoring rings, with the central ring worth 10 points and the outside ring worth one.

Targets vary in size depending on the event. In the 10m air rifle event the whole target is 4.5cm in diameter and the central ring is just half a millimetre across.

After the qualification round the eight top-scoring athletes go through to the final where all scores are reset to zero. The shots in the final are scored to one decimal place, with a top score of 10.9.

After the first 12 shots, and every two shots thereafter, the lowest place shooter is eliminated until only two remain for the final two shots.

Phil has two more events to compete in culminating on Saturday 4th September with his preferred event the R9 – Mixed 50m rifle prone SH2. Phil is currently 3rd in the world in this particular event after the world championships in Sydney in 2020. We wish him all the luck in the world and hope that he brings home a precious metal. Whatever though we are extremely proud of him for all his achievements. Go Phil!