From: Rusty�Bullethole, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Student scores rifle bull's-eye for women
BY TONY DE LAUNAY AND ROBIN YOUNG
A UNIVERSITY student scored a last-shot bull's-eye
to become the second youngest winner of the Queen's Prize
at Bisley in Surrey - the blue ribbon of rifle marksmanship
- and only the second woman to take the trophy since its
inauguration by Queen Victoria in 1860.
Joanna Hossack, 20, from Lewes, in East Sussex, beat
more than 1,630 competitors, including her father David,
who just missed out shooting against her as one of six
finalists.
Ms Hossack, who has just completed her first year
reading philosophy and psychology at Edinburgh University,
needed a bull's-eye from 1,000 yards with her final shot
to ensure that she won the contest.
"I simply did not know I was in the lead," Ms Hossack,
who began fullbore rifle shooting as a school Army cadet
in Sevenoaks in Kent, said.
"But when I heard the cheers I thought I might have
done something special."
Ms Hossack was held aloft in a chair by her Scottish
friends and other competitors and later taken on a tour of
Bisley Camp's clubs - preceded by a Scottish piper - and
applauded by fellow members of North London Rifle Club.
More than 600 competitors from abroad took part. Ms
Hossack was a member of the unbeaten Scottish rifle team,
captained by her father, that toured Australia earlier
this year. She said that she first took up smallbore
shooting at the age of 12 because she was inspired by her
father and also by her brother, Jonathan, who is also a
keen competitor, and said she had always enjoyed it.
"I guess it was in the blood really," she said.
Ms Hossack has now reached the finals of the
marksmanship competition twice - having previously
lost out in the shoot-out in 1998.
The only other woman ever to have won the contest
was Marjorie Foster in 1930. The youngest winner was
19-year-old Private Edward Ross, who won the competition
in 1860
--
I can never understand why more women don't shoot, because
it is one of the few sports where they aren't discriminated
against.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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