Luke Cain (born 3 February 1980) is an SH2-classified Australian shooter who became a paraplegic after an accident while playing Australian rules football. He started competing in 2007, as the sport suited his disability, and has been a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship holder since 2008. He first represented Australia internationally in 2009 at a World Cup event in South Korea. He has also represented Australia in two Paralympic Games including the 2016 Rio Paralympics.[1]
As a youngster, Cain hunted with his father and cousin.[5] He took up the sport of shooting because it was one of the few available to people with his physical limitations.[8]As of 2012[update], he was sponsored by Miall's Gun Shop of Frankston, Victoria, who provided him with competition gear including cleaning supplies, a rifle case and a rifle. He holds two world records, one in the individual 600–600 R4 prone event, and another in the R4 10-metre standing event.[8][10]
Cain started competing in 2007, and made the Australian national team the same year.[2][11] During Australia's 2009 domestic series, the Australia Cup, an invitation-only series for the top shooters in the country,[12] he earned a bronze, silver and gold medal.[2] That year, he made his national team debut at an international event when he represented Australia at the 2009 ISSF World Cup in South Korea.[9] By early 2010, he was looking for a sponsor to assist with costs for his international competitions.[11] He set a personal best of 598 out of 600 in the SH-2 prone air event at the 2010 World Cup in Germany, and not long after, set a new personal best when he shot 599 at the same event at the 2010 World Cup in France.[9][13] He came in first at the 2010 Oceania Shooting Federation Continental Championship.[8][11] At the 2010 IPC Shooting World Championships in Zagreb,[14] he came in first in the SH-2 prone air event by setting a world record of 600 points, a perfect score.[8][13] At the 2011 Great Britain International, he finished second in the 10m air rifle prone event.[2][15] He competed in the United States-hosted International Paralympic Committee World Cup in 2011,[6] finishing fourth in the R5 Air Rifle Prone event with a score of 599. He earned a gold medal in the team event with teammates Jason Maroney and Bradley Mark.[16] In 2012, he trained up to six days a week.[8] At the Australian nationals, he finished second in the prone event behind New Zealander Michael Johnson, and third in the standing event behind fellow Australian Bradley Marks and Johnson.[17]
Cain was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in Mixed R5-10m Air Rifle Prone-SH2 and Mixed R4-10m Air Rifle Standing-SH2 shooting events.[2][3][8][18][19] Competing on 3 September,[20] he did not medal, finishing 27th in the standing event and 28th in the prone event.[3][21]
Most recently Cain had represented Australia in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. He competed in the Mixed 10 m air rifle standing SH2 and the Mixed 10 m air rifle prone SH2.[22][23] Cain did not medal, placing 26th in the standing event and 33rd in the prone event.
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