 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 April 1975 | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Shooting | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Natalie Smith (born 23 March 1975) is an Australian Paralympic shooter. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she won a bronze medal. She also represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics. [1] [2]
Smith was born on 23 March 1975. [3] She was originally from Fitzgibbon, Queensland. [4] When she was 34 years old, she had an accident while hiking that left her a paraplegic. [3] [5] Prior to her accident, she was a skydiver and equestrian rider. [5] She is married to Stuart and in 2014 she gave birth to a son Daniel. [6]
Shooting is a family sport, as her grandfather is Norman Lutz who was supposed to represent Australia at the 1956 Summer Olympics but ultimately missed the Games because of a heart attack. [5] She lives in Brisbane and works as a nurse. [6]
Smith is an SH1 classified shooter competing in 10m Air Rifle Prone and 10m Air Rifle Standing events. [3] [7]
Smith started competitive shooting in 2010 following an Australian Paralympic Committee talent search. [3] She made the Australian Paralympic shooting shadow team in 2011. [8] At the 2011 IPC World Cup meet in Fort Benning, she won a gold medal in the SH1 standing air rifle event. [3] In the process, she set an Australian record. [5]
She was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in shooting. [3] [7] [9] The Games were her first. [4] There she participated in the Women's 10 m Air Rifle standing SH1 and Mixed 10 m Air Rifle prone SH1 – winning a bronze in the 10 m Air Rifle standing. [10]
In November 2015 at the International Paralympic Committee World Cup in Fort Benning, United States, she won the gold medal in the R8 SH1 3 Position rifle event and set a new Australian record of 576 in qualification. [11]
In 2015, she has a scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport. [12]
In the 2016 Rio Paralympics she represented Australia in four rifle events although did not win a medal, her best result was 5th overall in the Women's R2-10m Air Rifle Standing - SH1. [13]
At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, she finished 19th in the Women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 and 46th in the Mixed R3-10 m Air Rifle Prone SH1.
She has held a scholarship with the Queensland Academy of Sport. [12]
Paralympic shooting, also known as shooting Para sport, is an adaptation of shooting sports for competitors with disabilities. Shooting is a test of accuracy and control, in which competitors use pistols or rifles to fire a series of shots at a stationary target. Each shot is worth a maximum score of 10.9 points. Athletes use .22 caliber rifles, pistols and .177 caliber air guns. Paralympic shooting first appeared in the Summer Paralympics at the 1976 Toronto Games.
Elizabeth "Libby" Dudley Kosmala, OAM is an Australian shooter with paraplegia. She represented Australia at twelve Paralympics from 1972 to 2016, and won thirteen medals, nine of them gold.
Ashley Phillip Adams was an Australian Paralympic shooting medallist and cattle grazier.
Luke Cain 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.
Bradley Mark is a New Zealand born Australian shooter who has represented Australia in two Paralympic Games.
Zhang Cuiping is a Chinese sport shooter.
Norway competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. They won a total of eight medals; three gold, two silver and three bronze. Sarah Louise Rung led the team by winning five medals in swimming; two gold, one silver and two bronze.
Germany competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for four athletes in sailing events. They also qualified athletes in archery, cycling, equestrian, paracanoeing, paratriathlon, rowing and wheelchair basketball.
Thailand competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016.
Sweden is competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. They won ten medals; one gold, four silver and five bronze.
China has qualified to send athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Sports China competed in include blind football, archery, boccia, cycling, goalball, judo, paracanoeing, sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
Turkey has qualified send athletes to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. Sports the country qualified to compete in include 5-a-side football, archery, goalball and wheelchair basketball.
South Korea competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
Slovakia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016.
India competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Indian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Paralympic Games since 1968.
Anton Zappelli is an Australian Paralympic shooter. He represented Australia in the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Christopher Pitt is an Australian Paralympic shooter. He has represented Australia in the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Çağla Baş Atakal, aka Çağla Atakal, is a Turkish female paralympic shooter competing in the air rifle events. She qualified to represent Turkey at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. Baş also plays on a wheelchair basketball team at a national level.
Franc Pinter is a Slovenian sport shooter from Slovenska Bistrica who has won several medals at the Paralympic Games.
