Peter Worsley (shooter)

Worsley at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics

Peter Michael Worsley (born 9 January 1968) is an Australian Paralympic shooter. Left a paraplegic following a Rugby Union match during his study years at university, he participated in three Paralympic games between 1996 and 2004 as well as the 1994 FESPIC games and many other International shooting championships. He is also an artist in metal sculpture.

Personal

Worsley was born on 9 January 1968 in the New South Wales country town of Jerilderie. He developed his love of shooting at the family farm in Inverell. He attended Inverell Primary School and completed his High School education at Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School in Tamworth.[1] While a student attending Wagga Wagga Agricultural College later amalgamated with Riverina College of Advanced Education,[2] he was injured in a scrum collapse, suffered a broken neck at 19 years of age, playing Hooker for the College Rugby Union team.[1] Paralympic rifle shooter Allan Chadwick inspired Worsley to take up the sport of shooting.[1]

A classification system regulated and monitored by the International Paralympic Committee ensures competition is fair and equal in Paralympic Sport.[3] Worsley's classification SH2 rifle event only, requires the athlete to use a sporting stand to support the rifle and does not exclude lower limb impairment.[3] He competed in two events PRONE and STANDING, the difference being that the athlete's elbow may be rested on a support in PRONE but not in STANDING.[4]

In 1992 Worsley moved to the central west town of Orange, where he completed his Honors Degree in Agriculture. One year later while living in Tamworth he met and married Michelle.[1] Both he and his wife, who now have two children, were employed by New South Wales Department of Agriculture, Orange.[1]

At the 2006 SAIL-WORLD,Keen sailing-New South Wales Access Class Championships, hosted by Sailability Kogarah Bay, Worsley received The Encouragement Award, one of the nine awards presented. Twenty one sailors with a disability competed.[5]

In 2011, Rocky Mileto, a quadriplegic injured in a Rugby accident in 1996,[6] who founded the Hearts in Union Rugby Foundation, presented Worsley with a new wheelchair during half time at the Harper Bernays Rugby Challenge match, Millamolong New South Wales. $50000 was raised on behalf of this charity.[7]

During fundraising at the annual Ag Races at the Murrumbidgee Turf Club New South Wales, in 2016, students from Charles Sturt University, previously known as Riverina College of Advanced Education, donated $20000 of the total raised to Worsley, a former student.[8]

Worsley, who has been creating metal sculptures since about 2002,[9] held his inaugural exhibition 'unfuro' in metal sculpture, with fellow artist Colleen Southwell, at The Corner Store Gallery, Orange New South Wales, 10 April 2018. To further his artworks, a grant received two years earlier, from Accessible Arts Grants, provided the finance to install a Gantry Crane in his shed, to assist in furthering his artistic ability for constructing sculptures from scrap metal.[10]

Career

Worsley's first shooting competition was the 1994 National Disabled Championships in Melbourne, where he broke 3 Australian records.[1] He then participated at that year's FESPIC Games in Beijing, where he won a gold medal in the Men's air rifle PRONE 60 shots event and a silver medal in the Men's air rifle 3×40 shots events.[11] At the 1995 European Championships in Finland, he came fourth in the Men's air rifle PRONE event, and at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, he came 22nd and 23rd in the mixed air rifle SH2 events in STANDING and PRONE positions, respectively, and 17th in the mixed air rifle 3×40 SH2 event.[1][12] At the 1998 World Shooting Championships for the Disabled in Spain, he came 20th and 23rd in the STANDING and PRONE events, respectively.[13] By the time of the 2000 Swiss Open Championships, he held three Australian records in STANDING, PRONE, and 3×40 shots events, was ranked fourth in the world in his classification, and broke a new Australian record for STANDING over 10 metres.[1] At the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, he came 6th in the STANDING and PRONE events,[1] while he came 21st in STANDING and 23rd in PRONE at the 2004 Athens Paralympics.[14][15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Sporting Hall of Fame – Orange". Orange City Council. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  2. ↑ "Riverina College of Advanced Education (1972–1984)/Riverina -Murray Institute of Higher Education (1984–1989)". Retrieved 24 August 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Clasification". World Shooting Para Sport. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  4. ↑ Murray, Oliver (5 July 2004). "MY DAD, THE PARALYMPIAN". Central Western Daily. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ↑ "SAIL-WORLD Keen sailing - NSW Access Class Championships". Event Media 3 October 2006. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Marcus, Caroline (30 October 2011). "Help Rocky on the road to better life". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Very big hearts raise over $50,000". Central Western Daily Local News. 9 March 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "Students at CSU raise more than $120000 for charity". Charles Sturt University. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  9. ↑ "Central West sculptor Peter Worsley's steely determination pays off with incredible artwork". Western Advocate. December 31, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Peter Worsley on Vimeo, G imagery". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  11. ↑ THE 6TH FAR EAST &SOUTH PACIFIC GAMES FOR THE DISABLED Record book. The Organising Committee of the FESPIC Beijing 1994.
  12. ↑ 1996 ATLANTA PARALYMPIC GAMES RESULTS Shooting. Atlanta Paralympic Organising Committee Sports Department.
  13. ↑ "SHOOT THE OFFICIAL ISCD BULLETIN No 7 Aug/Sep 1998".
  14. ↑ "2004 Mixed Air Rifle Standing SH2 results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  15. ↑ "2004 Mixed Air Rifle Prone SH2 results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
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