Matthew James Skelhon (born 30 October 1984) is a British

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such a ...

. At the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

he won the gold medal in the SH1 10 metre prone air rifle event.

Life

Skelhon lost the use of his legs following a car accident. He competes in the SH1 Paralympic classification for pistol and rifle competitors that do not require a shooting stand. He started shooting competitively when he joined the Disabled Target Shooting Association of Great Britain in April 2006 after discovering his talent at the WheelPower Inter Spinal Unit Games. Two months later he won a silver medal in the national championships. He became a member of Whittlesey Rifle Club and was named as part of a four-man shooting squad for

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Great Britain sent a delegation of around 400, of which 212 were athletes, to compete in eighteen sports at the Games. The team was made up of athletes ...

. At the Games Skelhon competed in two events; the men's standing air rifle and the mixed-sex prone air rifle. He finished 18th of 26 athletes in the qualification round of the standing air rifle and did not advance to the medal round. In the qualification round of the prone air rifle Skelhon and Chinese shooter

Zhang Cuiping Zhang Cuiping (; born 23 September 1987) is a Chinese sport shooter. Career At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, she won a silver medal in the Mixed 10 metre air rifle prone SH1 event, a bronze medal in the Women's 50 metre rifle 3 positions SH1 ev ...

each shot a perfect 600 out of 600 to equal the world record. In the 10-shot medal round Skelhon shot a further 104.9 for a total score of 704.9, enough to beat Zhang by half a point and win the gold medal. On his return from the Games to his home village of

Stilton Stilton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, about north of Huntingdon in Huntingdonshire, which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as a historic county of England. History There is evidence of Neo ...

Skelhon was greeted by more than 200 friends, relatives and fans lining streets decked with balloons and banners. In December 2008 he was presented with the Outstanding Individual Achievement award at the 13th annual British Wheelchair Sports Awards. In 2009 he won a gold medal in the 10 m air rifle prone SH1 and a silver in 10 m air rifle standing SH1 at the Polish Open and four silver medals at the Wheelpower National Shooting Championship. Competing alongside Nathan Milgate and

Deanna Coates Deanna "Di" Coates MBE (born 23 May 1954) is a sport shooter who has competed in eight Paralympic Games winning three gold medals. Personal life Coates was born on 23 May 1954 and lives in Hampshire. Sporting career Coates started training i ...

Skelhon took gold in the team 10 m air rifle prone SH1 at the 2010 World Cup event in Turkey. At the same event he won silver in the individual 10 m air rifle prone SH1 and bronze in the falling target rifle SH1.

Private life

Skelhon's partner is fellow paralympic shooter

Issy Bailey Issy Bailey (born 19 April 1994) is a British paralympic sports shooter. She competed in Rio at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and she competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo. Life Bailey was born in 1994, and was brought up in Somerford ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skelhon, Matt 1984 births Living people British male sport shooters Paralympic shooters for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in shooting Shooters at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Shooters at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the European Para Championships People from Stilton Shooters at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 21st-century British people

Life

Private life

See also

References

External links