- BY BEN BROAD The Daily Telegraph
HAYLEY Chapman knows one thing when she competes in London as part of the Australian shooting team: She'll have one keen set of eyes behind her watching her every move at the range.
The 20-year-old from the small town of Hoyleton, north of Adelaide, will line up in her first Olympics after being confirmed in the Australian squad earlier this month.
While she will compete in the women's 25m pistol, her father David - who is her coach - will take part in the men's 25m rapid pistol.
Their selection makes the Chapmans Australia's first father-daughter duo to compete at the same Olympics together - in any sport.
"It's amazing," Hayley said yesterday after returning from a six-week tour of Europe to see her dad for the first time since selection.
"I've always wanted to go to the Olympics. To go with my Dad in particular, to London, this is just, I can't explain ... it's the best."
It will be Hayley's first Olympic campaign, but a second coming for David, 47, who made his Games debut at Sydney in 2000.
While one might think "watching Dad" in the green and gold back in 2000 had been the catalyst for Hayley's introduction to the sport, she said that hadn't been the case: "Actually we went on a family holiday when he went to the Sydney Olympics."
Hayley bypassed basketball and hockey careers in favour of shooting. She believes London will make her better for future Games.
1 comment:
What an absolutely terrible display of safe handling of a firearm! Makes me cringe. She's pointing it right at his chin with her finger on the trigger. Even if the weapon is clear, that is a really poor practice.
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