Ashley Adams

Ashley Phillip Adams[1] (12 October 1955 – 17 March 2015) was an Australian Paralympic shooting medallist and cattle grazier.

Ashley Adams
Adams at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta
Personal information
Full nameAshley Phillip Adams
Nationality Australia
Born12 October 1955
Toowoomba, Queensland
Died17 March 2015(2015-03-17) (aged 59)
Medal record
Shooting para sport
Representing  Australia
Paralympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Mixed Free Rifle Prone SH1
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Athens Men's Air Rifle Standing SH1

Personal

Adams was born on 12 October 1955 in Toowoomba.[2] He became a paraplegic in 1982 at the age of 26 after being involved in an accident at a local motorbike competition, where he fell off his motorbike and broke his back. Following his accident, he underwent a six-month period of rehabilitation.[3][4] He was a cattle grazier who owned a 64,000-acre (26,000 ha) station near Blackall, Queensland.[3][4] He made extensive modifications to the station's infrastructure to improve his access to the land, including the installation of gates that open both ways. He produced TendaBeef, and supported the genetic breeding of cattle.[4]

Adams died on 17 March 2015 after a quad bike accident on his farm.[5][6] He was 59.

Competitive shooting

Adams was a competitive sport shooter. He started shooting competitively in 1993, after some previous experience with shooting working on farms.[4] Events he competed in included R3 Mixed Air Rifle Prone, R1 Men's 10m Air Rifle Standing, R6 Mixed 50m Free Rifle Prone and R7 Free Rifle 3x40 50m. When he competed in club-based events, he represented the Charleville Small Bore Rifle Club.[7] He shot from a prone position on the ground similar to that of Olympic competitors, instead of a prone position in his wheelchair.[8] He had an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship from 1998 to 2000.[9]

In 1998, Adams set a world record at the English Match and won a gold medal in the 50m Rifle Prone event at the IPC Shooting World Championships in Santander, Spain. He finished first at the Swiss Open in 2002 and 2003.[3][5] In 2007, he won a gold medal and a bronze medal at the Korean Cup.[3] That same year, he finished first at the Australian Open Able-body Prone National Championship.[3][10] In 2011, he competed in ISSF World Cup events in Turkey and Spain, where he finished first in the Spanish .22 event and second in the Turkish air rifle event.[11] In Spain, he also picked up fourth place in the men's R7 50m rifle 3 position SH1 event and seventh in the R1 10m air rifle SH1 event.[12]

In 2011, he was ranked first in the world in two different shooting events.[11] In that year, he was also ranked as one of the top able-bodied open shooters in Australia.[11] He was ranked in the top ten in the world for three events at the end of 2014.[5]

Paralympics

Adams first represented Australia at an international level in the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. He went on to compete at the 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Paralympics.[3] at the 2004 Athens Games, he won a silver medal in the Mixed Free Rifle Prone SH1 event and a bronze medal in the Men's Air Rifle Standing SH1 event.[13] At the 2008 Beijing Games, he finished fourth in both the 10 m air rifle standing event the 50 m free rifle prone events.[3] He finished in the top twenty in all four of his events at the 2012 London Games.[5]

Recognition

Adams was recognised several times for his sporting accomplishments. He won a Merit Award given out by the Australian Paralympic Committee. He twice won the Male Athlete Senior Sporting Wheelies Award[3] and received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.[1]

Australia's national peak body for target shooting sports, Shooting Australia, awards the Ashley Adams Perpetual Trophy each year, which recognises the best and fairest athlete of a calendar year as voted upon by only "Aiming4Gold" squadded athletes.

References
  1. "Adams, Ashley Phillip: Australian Sports Medal". It's an Honour. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  2. "Australians at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics: Shooting". Australian Sports Commission. Archived from the original on 19 January 2000.
  3. "Ashley Adams". Australian Paralympic Committee. 2011. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  4. Wake, Rebekka (2010). "Cattle Farmer on Target For Paralympic Games". Australian International Shooting Limited. Australian Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  5. "APC mourns passing of Paralympic shooter". Australian Paralympic Committee. 18 March 2015. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  6. Cripps, Sally (18 March 2015). "Paralympian Ashley Adams dies in quad bike accident". Queensland Country Life. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  7. "2008 Beijing Paralympics Shooter – Ashley Adams". Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia. 2008. Archived from the original on 12 October 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  8. "Paralympic Shooting Ends, Inspiration Lives On". Sina.com. 12 September 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  9. Nihil, G. (2006). Australian Institute of Sport : celebrating excellence. Focus Publishing. p. 101. ISBN 1-921156-16-3.
  10. "Ashley Adams". Queensland Academy of Sport. 25 October 2011. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
  11. Arthur, Chrissy; Harris, Julia (25 August 2011). "Ashley Adams prepares for the London Paralympics". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  12. "Ashley Adams claims gold in Spain". TheSportCampus.com. 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  13. "Ashley Adams". Paralympic.org. International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
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