Data in hand, if we were talking about a virus, we could officially define it as a "pandemic". In fact, this phenomenon, the "Para clay target shooting“, In a short time, thanks to the technology of the internet era, it has overcome all space-time barriers, spreading rapidly in all areas of the planet. This is the first fact that emerged in TAV Open Skies of Cologno al Serio, last 25-27 September, on the occasion of the 5th International Grand Prix of skeet shooting for athletes with motor disabilities, within the international project that the Italian Shooting Federation has been developing since 2012, on behalf and on behalf of International Paralympic Committee - IPC and the ISSF. The event saw the participation of 58 athletes representing 14 countries, a confirmation at all levels of the exponential spread of the phenomenon para-clay target shooting world-wide.
The participation of 30 international athletes, 10 more than in the 2014 edition, is tangible proof that in recent years seeds have been planted along the path traced by the FITAV, and many of these seeds have germinated and brought the sporting message of Paralympic skeet shooting. On the second and final day of the competition, the CIP President, Avv. Luca Pancalli, visited the athletes in the competition, chatting with them accompanied by Emanuela Croce Bonomi, Vice President FITAV, and greeting the IPC delegates Sarah Bond and Wanda Rae Jewell, at which recalled the important Italian candidacy for i Olympic and Paralympic Games of Rome 2024 and the great appreciation and respect that the CIP has for the sport of skeet shooting. Shortly before leaving the plant, President Pancalli even ventured into a competition with the laser shooting simulator used for the promotion of Paralympic skeet shooting also at EXPO 2015, even managing to defeat his opponents.
The actual race was thrilling and open until the end, with exciting finals that saw the Spanish Andres Fernandez Gimeno (99/125 + 10 + 2) prevail in the sitting category, silver for the eternal Pietro Giorgio Boem, best of the Italians (98/125 + 10 + 2) and bronze for the British Mathew Goodwin (103/125 + 10 + 1). In the Standing 1 category above all the British Andrew Womble (113/125 + 13), winner of the duel for gold on the blue Giorgio Marrozzini (105/125 + 12), third place Raffaele Talamo / 105/125 + 8). In the standing 2 category a great Emilio Poli wins gold (87/125 + 10) at the end of an exciting final, overtaking, in order, his compatriot Christian Ciocchi (73/125 + 6 + 1) - a young talent who Beretta is following with particular attention - and the Dane Kim Nyby (83/125 + 6). On behalf of the Pietro Beretta Arms Factory, Saverio Patrizi then awarded the prestigious prizes, consisting of vouchers on "estore.beretta.com”, Awarded for the second consecutive year to the top three in all categories of this prestigious event.
The event ended with certificates of esteem and congratulations from everyone, especially from the IPC delegates, who came to verify the potential and organizational capabilities of an international event of this sport which is a candidate for inclusion in the official calendars. It is therefore time to draw up an initial assessment of the Paralympic project linked to skeet shooting ... With the participation of shooters of USA, Russia, Mexico, Japan and Ghana nationalities, the representation of all continents has come to be completed, thus burning the stages and reaching an objective two years in advance, that of geographical distribution, requested by IPC from FITAV as a fundamental requirement for inclusion in the Paralympic sports program.
Contact with IPC Shooting, the control body for the Paralympic shooting sports, have been intensified, also and above all thanks to the contribution received by Wanda Rae Jewell - new member of the technical commission since 2015 IPC Shooting - former USA Olympian and qualified expert in all shooting sports. Jewell's presence and experience in the field have finally allowed the officials and technicians FITAV to address technical and sporting issues with a qualified interlocutor, thus arriving, during the international Grand Prix of Cologno al Serio, to give new impetus to the path of the project and to the definition of the criteria through which it was possible to give a scientifically valid answer to two fundamental questions: “what is Paralympic shooting” and “who is the disabled shooter”. FOLLOWS