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Shooter Anton Zappelli pulled on the green and gold for the first time at the 2024 Paris Paralympics on Sunday, taking aim the in R3 mixed 10m air rifle prone.
Hitting the range at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on Father’s Day, the father of three and dual world championship silver medallist competed against 34 of his international counterparts, narrowly missing qualification to progress to the final.
With 50 minutes on the clock to fire 60 shots at the target across six, 10-shot series, the triple Paralympian finished with a score of 631.9 to place 15th overall – a solid shoot for Zappelli who bettered his score from Tokyo by .3 of a point.
Reflecting the tight contest and brutal nature of the sport, only 5.9 points separated Zappelli from the top qualifier, Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova, who shot 637.8.
Ever the perfectionist and competitor, Zappelli – who’s personal best in the air rifle is 638.4 – had mixed feelings about his first event.
“I suppose it’s a solid shoot, but it wasn’t my best – half was good and half was challenging which resulted in an average score,” he said post-match.
“In each string of 10 shots I would have a mix of five really good shots, then three average shots and two bad shots, and then the next string would be the same, so I changed the way I was shooting and tried to work out the pattern, but I just couldn’t get it right.
“Hindsight is a good thing and I should have just stuck to my standard routine and not worried about the pattern that emerged and just kept going with my standard process.
“At the end of the match I needed two more points to make the final, that’s the sport we play, that’s shooting.”
While the 10m air rifle shooting range is indoors, the conditions in the venue were unlike those leading into the event, a factor Zappelli noticed early this morning among grey clouds and looming storms.
“I’m a bit of a mad fisherman so we go on the barometric pressure as well,” Zappelli said.
“There was a bit of a build-up of pressure when I woke up this morning, it was really kind of humid and compressed, so I noticed that when we came out on the range.
“I don’t feel pressure, as in mental pressure, but I felt some sort of atmospheric pressure which was really interesting.”
Zappelli will have to adapt to the conditions in his final event on Thursday when he competes in the R6 mixed 50m rifle prone SH1. This event takes place in the open-air section of the range, meaning rain, wind, heat and all the elements come into play.
“I’m shooting against basically the same field of competitors on Thursday, but this time with bullets and the gun is a lot heavier,” he said.
“It’s also out in the open air and that’s where the conditions really have an effect and you don’t know what they’re going to be on the day.
“We’ll train from now on, each day, in different wind conditions. Nothing is ever the same so the shooters who come out on top will be the ones who get the conditions – it’s a whole other match and it’s a lot more mentally draining.”
Zappelli’s teammate Nat Smith will be back in action on Day 6 of the Games when she battles it out in the R8 women’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1.
Watch the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on the 9Network and 9Now live and free, and on Stan Sport till September 8
By: Danielle Balales, Paralympics Australia
Published 1 September 2024
