Aiming high

THE Olympic shooting event at the 2012 London Games will be run with military precision following the appointment of former Great Britain international Maj Peter Underhill as competition manager.

Maj Underhill (1 Rifles) will take charge of the planning, organisation and management of both the Olympic and Paralympic shooting events, which will be staged at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich.

The 50-year-old, who started shooting at the age of 13 and has gone on to represent the Army, England and Great Britain, said he was delighted to have been picked for the role by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games.

“I’m extremely happy to be doing this,” he told SoldierSport. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take charge of the competition at an Olympic Games on home soil.

“My job will be to manage the competition and put in place the infrastructure for the four ranges.”

Army development and selection officer Underhill is currently on a fact-finding mission in Beijing to see what can be learnt from this year’s Games.
As well as being in charge of logistics, Underhill will be responsible for a range of support services.

He takes up the competition manager post full-time in 2010 and hopes to be the first of many military personnel involved in the shooting competition by the start of the Games.

“They have chosen central venues throughout the city and Woolwich is a prime example of that.

“As we get closer to the Games I think there will be a call for people from within the military to assist as officials and as volunteers.”

In addition to serving as support staff for the shooting competition, Underhill believes that Army marksmen could be in the running for medals by the time the London Games come around.

“There is a long time to go, but there is every chance we might develop the odd pistol shooter between now and then,” he said. “The standard at the moment is reasonable, but we are not complacent and recognise that there is always room for improvement.

“Our competition shooting should reflect our operational shooting and we are learning some very hard but valuable lessons in Iraq and Afghanistan which are working to make sure we do not forget.”