It’s been a tough year for elite sport - shooting included - with ranges closed and our top shots unable to follow their training. International competitions were called off, and British Shooting reluctantly had to cancel their 2020 Shotgun Series, which would have provided a series of competitions around the country for Olympic Trap and Olympic Skeet shooters, culminating in a Grand Final like that held at Fauxdegla the last couple of years. It looked as if 2020 would be a total washout for the Olympic disciplines - but all credit to British Shooting, they staged a fantastic event at East Yorkshire Clay Shooting Ground on 11-13 September, The British Shooting Grand Festival.
Around 130 athletes took part, with a practice day on the Friday followed by two days of competition. The East Yorkshire ground and British Shooting had taken every precaution over Covid-19, with everyone temperature scanned on arrival at the ground, signs everywhere, and sanitiser available all around the site. A one-way system was in operation in the clubhouse as well as on the shooting stands, and social distancing was enforced. It all made for a rather different atmosphere, but everyone soon settled into the ‘new normal’ and competitors were able to focus on the job in hand.
Each discipline was shot over 125 targets over two days, with finals following on immediately after qualification on the Sunday. British Shooting had arranged for scores to be updated as quickly as possible on YouTube as well as their website, aware that many people would want to follow shooters’ progress but be unable to attend the competition.