Thirteen of Australia’s finest junior Shooting athletes have today been named in the Australian Junior World Championships Team.
Within the Team are Tokyo Olympic Games team members, Alex Hoberg and Katarina Kowplos, plus 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games representative, Tori Rossiter.
Together with the other selected team members, these athletes met the Australian team Selection Criteria following a series of nomination events held in the first half of 2021.
Following consultation with the Australian Government and a detailed Risk Assessment of the ongoing COVID-19 health and safety risks, Shooting Australia determined that the Australian team will not attend the Championships scheduled in Peru between September 25 and October 10, 2021.
Shooting Australia continued with the selection of the Australian team with each team member to receive a one-off Junior Development Grant to assist with costs associated with their development in Shooting.
The selected Australian Junior World Championship team is:
Rifle: Michael Davis (Vic), Alex Hoberg (SA), Katarina Kowplos (SA), Tori Rossiter (SA)
Shotgun: Breanna Collins (Qld), Marco Corbo (NSW), Kiara Dean (Vic), Mark Durose (Vic), William Frenni-Lizzi (WA), Renae Jones (Vic), Alexis Preston (Vic), Gabriel Sensi (Vic), Doyle Yoannidis (SA).
Shooting Australia Chief Executive, Luke van Kempen, said the grants will assist the recipients during the Olympic cycle towards the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris.
“Although the selected Australian team will not travel to Peru for the competition, we wanted to recognise the achievements of the athletes. Our consultation determined that it was appropriate for the 13 athletes to receive financial assistance in the journey towards Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028,” he said.
Mr van Kempen said the decision not to travel to Peru was made in the interest of health and safety.
“While it is disappointing these athletes will miss the opportunity to compete at the ISSF Junior World Championships, the health and welfare of our athletes must come first. The ‘COVID Bubble’ provisions that Tokyo 2020 event organisers have provided for our Olympic and Paralympic athletes is a far cry from what will be on offer in Peru,” said Mr van Kempen.
“Congratulations to the 2021 Australian Junior World Championships team! We hope you can all go on to higher honours and be great role models for other up and coming junior athletes in the sport.”
