SHOOTING star Adam Fontain says he’s aiming for gold at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
The 22-year-old from Basildon will represent Great Britain in the mixed R4 10m air rifle standing SH2 competition at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, on Sunday, September 2.
It will be his debut at the Paralympics and he’ll bid to progress from the morning's qualifiers and book his spot in the final, which gets underway at midday.
He admits he was “blown away” watching the London 2012 Olympics on television, and says he now can’t wait to take his own place at this summer’s historic home Games.
“I set my sights on making the Olympics in London after watching the competition in Beijing,” said Fontain, who is world ranked number five.
“I thought the Olympics in London were incredible, and I was sat there thinking, ‘it will be my turn soon’.
“It’s getting so close now, and I just can’t wait.
“I’m confident going into it, and I think I have the ability to win.
“But I’m going to enjoy the experience, and my first aim must be to make the final.”
Fontain suffered two strokes when he was seven which left him with no use of his left arm.
The former Chalvedon Sixth form College joined Basildon Disabled Sports Club when he was 10 and showed an aptitude for table tennis and shooting.
In 2007 he became a became a member of the British shooting team, and now uses a stand equipped with a spring that acts as a wrist to compete.
This week he joined his fellow shooters, along with archers and footballers, at a pre-Games training camp at a £30million sports village in Bath.
And yesterday they left that venue to make their way to the Olympic Village.
“I’m very excited to be heading to the Village considering some of the people who've stayed there,” he said.
“Now it is a just a case of getting ready to compete, and we’ll have a couple of days practice at Woolwich to get ready.
“I’m in good form at the moment – I’m scoring 597 or 598 at the moment in practice – but I don’t know what it will take to get a medal.
“But I’ll be doing my best, and hopefully that will be good enough.”
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