Paul Rahman won the national skeet shooting title in Brisbane last month and now has his sights set on an Olympic medal. Picture: Meagan Rogers.
By Glen Atwell
KEYSBOROUGH-based skeet shooting star Paul Rahman is on a mission to Beijing.
The 22-year-old Athens Olympian won his first national skeet title in Brisbane last month and now has his sights set on a podium finish at next year’s Beijing Olympics.
Rahman shot a perfect score of 25 targets in the final round of the Shotgun National Championships to beat his nearest opponent by two shots.
The win was Rahman’s first national title at senior level after an illustrious junior career that included a still intact world record.
Rahman, a plumber by trade, said he entered the national championships full of confidence, despite enduring an injury interrupted preparation caused by a broken wrist.
“I picked up my gun in November to start my training and preparation,” he said.
Rahman said when it came to skeet shooting, winning was all about peaking at the right time that was crucial.
“It’s really important in skeet shooting to have your concentration and focus at the highest level for competition,” he said.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics and only 19-years-old, Rahman was the youngest member of the Australian shooting team and returned with some impressive results.
“I finished 15th overall, which I was happy with,” he said.
In the year before the Olympics, Rahman set a skeet shooting junior world record with his 124 out of 125 targets at competition in New Zealand.
After the Athens Olympics, Rahman took an extended break from international competition, but is gradually building his training schedule back toward an elite standard.
“I’m doing about 16 hours a week at the moment,” he said.
“Skeet shooting is not a pick up and put down sport, how you train is very important.”
It is clear that skeet shooting runs in the blood of the Rahman family.
Paul’s sister Natalia is a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and also has her sights set on a Beijing gold medal.
“Natalia is doing great at the moment, she is competing regularly and is focused on success at the Olympics,” Rahman said.
Skeet shooting is one of the three major types of competitive shotgun shooting at clay targets (the others are trap shooting and sporting clays).
