Natalie Smith, Anton Zapelli out to end Australia’s Paralympic shooting drought
Australia has named its two shooters who will aim to end a 12-year medal drought at the Paralympic Games in Paris. Here’s how they’ll face the pressure.
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Natalie Smith knows what it takes to win a medal at the Paralympic Games after taking home bronze at London 2012.
Now alongside Anton Zappelli the pair will look to end a 12-year medal shooting drought for Australia in Paris.
Smith was the last Australian to win a Paralympic shooting medal with an Aussie not having won gold since 1988.
Set to become a four-time Paralympian, 49-year-old Smith’s stellar career will write another exciting chapter, continuing on a rich family history of shooting.
Her grandfather was meant to compete at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics before illness prevented him from competing.
She started competing in shooting in 2012 not knowing the fantastic career she had in front of her and now believes she is ready to deal with the pressure of another Paralympic Games.
“It’s definitely easier to deal with the pressure because I’ve been to a few Games before,” she said.
“The pressure to perform that you put on yourself can really work against you. Having the experience I have means that I know I don’t have to put that pressure on myself.
“You can’t influence anybody else, it’s so individual, so you just have to do what you can and, once the scores come in, then you figure it out. It makes it hard to set goals but, obviously, we’d all like to win a gold medal.
“Realistically, it’s about doing your best on the day, see who holds it together and then we see how it ends up.”
Australia has won 15 gold medals in its history at the Paralympic Games including nine by Libby Kosmala, five by Barbara Caspers and one by Allan Chadwick.
“We enjoyed enormous success particularly in the 1980s. Nine gold medals at the 1984 Games will be hard to top, but we’re really proud of the Natalie and Anton for the commitment they’ve shown over several years to stay at that elite level, competing for Australia,” Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin said.
Zappelli is a two-time world championship silver medallist and will compete at his third Paralympics.
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