British shooter Tim Jeffery, 28, won bronze in the SH2 mixed 50m rifle prone final at Chateauroux Shooting Centre this afternoon. It’s Jeffery’s first Paralympic medal at his third Games, and the first shooting medal for ParalympicsGB in Paris.
Jeffery faced frustration in qualification rounds and finished just outside of the R4 and R5 finals last week, making his podium-worthy score of 227.8 all the sweeter today.
“It has been a hard week but I couldn’t be happier to win my first Paralympic medal. It was a struggle in qualification but a good end result. The final was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a long time.”
Teammate Ryan Cockbill was also in contention and finished 5th with a score of 185.5. He said “It’s great to see two of us in the final and Tim on the podium with me not far behind. It’s great for ParalympicsGB to have a shooting medal.”
Jeffery took up shooting aged 11 through the Scout Association. Speaking to me ahead of the Games, Tim recalled “I was a very small 11-year-old, very short, very skinny and the rifle was probably about as long as I was tall, it probably weighed about the same as me.”
“Something about being told I might find it difficult or wouldn’t be able to do it, just sort of ignited that spark in me. I was determined to show just how capable I was.”
In addition to shooting, Tim is also a keen climber despite being born with one arm.
“with sports, I enjoy the individuality of them to a degree because when I’m shooting, or when I’m climbing on the wall, It’s just me and what I’m capable of – everything else just sort of fades away.”
“I just really enjoy that almost serenity of pushing myself to be the best I can be. Whether it’s on a firing point, in training, competing, or if I’m at my local climbing Centre just trying not to fall off a wall and scrape my face down.
Tim is studying psychology with the Open University and finds shooting a psychological test as much as a physical one: “a lot of it comes down to mental composure, being able to Rationalise and see through everything that’s happening around you and really focus on that what you’re doing.”
“The more I can understand the mind, the way it works, the more I understand what I’m feeling and experiencing both on and off the firing point. When I’m shooting, if I’m nervous I know that’s perfectly normal and understand why. It helps me utilise that to my advantage as opposed to getting anxious.”
He wants more people to experience the health benefits of sport:
“it is incredible the power of sport. Both for people who are struggling with their mental health and for people struggling with physical disabilities. If people can get active in some way, it is incredibly beneficial.”
Of the infamous memes that circulated during the Olympics, celebrating the cool composure of South-Korean shooter Kim Yeji and Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikec, Tim said:
“it’s really good, getting it out in the spotlight and losing some of that stigma that goes with the term ‘shooting’. Showing people that actually it is a sport, a really fun sport.
“It would be great to see more people getting involved with it and giving it a go. It’s really rewarding.”
By Lauren Lethbridge, ADJ Diploma Student