At the age of 22, Jason Maroney was involved in a severe car accident that left him a quadriplegic. As a country boy familiar with shooting, he took up the sport and his passion soon grew.

At his first Paralympic Games in Beijing, Jason finished fifth in the standing 10m air rifle and sixth in the prone 10m air rifle. The level of competition was the toughest he had ever faced and he believes he could have performed better.

Since then, he has improved dramatically. At the 2010 Australia Cup in Sydney, he won two gold medals in a standout performance, including a world record score of 600 in the qualifying round of the R5 10m air rifle prone event. Jason won a silver medal at the 2010 IPC Shooting World Championships as well as both silver and bronze medals at the 2010 International World Cup in Turkey. He again stood above the pack at the 2011 Australia Cup, winning two gold medals, including another perfect score of 600 in the air rifle prone.

Often known to quip he is a relative of Ned Kelly, Jason owns a small farm in Glen Rowan which gives him plenty of space to practise and further enhance his shooting skills. Coached by Miroslav Sipek, he is a member of the Wangaratta Rifle Club and believes he owes his success to the friends he has made through shooting and his mum, who is the driving force behind his shooting career.

Jason strives to live his life to the fullest and spends a lot of his time on his farm and tending to his garden. He describes himself as friendly, funny and a flirt and he loves to have a good laugh and a nice meal. He can also take pretty good aim when it comes to cooking, particularly when dishing up fettucine carbonara and chicken and sweet corn soup.

Jason’s dream is to win gold in London and hopes to compete for Australia at many more Paralympic Games down the line.