Peter Robert Russell Wilson MBE (born 15 September 1986), is a retired English

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

who specialises in the

double trap Double trap is a shotgun shooting sport, one of the ISSF shooting events. Participants use a shotgun to attempt to break a clay disk flung away from the shooter at high speed. The layout of double trap shooting is similar to that of trap shooti ...

. He is the current world record holder for the event, having scored 198 out of 200 at a World Cup event in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

during 2012. A member of the British team for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he was the youngest competitor in the men's double trap event, where he won the gold medal.

Early life

Born in Dorset on 15 September 1986, Wilson took up shooting at his father's suggestion after he suffered nerve damage to his shoulder in a

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

accident which left him unable to play squash and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Education

Wilson was educated at three

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

s: at the pre-prep ''St. Antony's Leweston Preparatory School'' in the

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish include ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, the junior school '' Hazlegrove Preparatory School'' in the village of

Sparkford Sparkford is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Weston Bampfylde. It is situated near the junction of the A303 road, A303 from London to Exeter and the A359 road, A359 from Frome to Yeovil. In 1 ...

near the town of

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, followed by senior school at

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

in the town of

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...

, also in Somerset. He then went to

Arts University Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a public university in Poole, England, specialising in art, architecture, film, performance, and design. Established in 1880, the university has been ranked Silver and Gold by the Teaching Excel ...

(formerly Arts Institute at Bournemouth), in the large coastal town of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

in Dorset, where he studied Graphic Design.

Career

Wilson tried his hand at both skeet and trap but was not enthusiastic enough to train religiously for them. However, after trying double trap, he found a discipline that he was happy to train for every day. Wilson was encouraged by Ian Coley after meeting at the Bisley shooting ground. Soon after this, he was training with shooters such as Richard Faulds and Stevan Walton. Within four months of trying shooting at the Bisley Ranges, Wilson became the 2006 European Junior Champion at the tournament in Slovenia. In 2008 he attended the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

as part of Great Britain's Olympic Ambition Programme to expose possible future Olympians to the Olympic experience. He began being coached by

Ahmad Mohammad Hasher Al Maktoum Sheikh Ahmad bin Mohammad bin Hasher Al Maktoum (أحمد بن محمد بن حشر آل مكتوم) (born 31 December 1963 in Dubai) is an United Arab Emirates, Emirati shooting sport, sports shooter who won the first ever Olympic medal for his ...

, who is a member of the ruling family of

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

and the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

gold medallist in the

. Following budget cuts by

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing money sourced from the National Lottery and the government, into Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the D ...

following the lack of shooting medals at the

, Wilson's funding was removed completely and he was required to fund his own shooting expenses which amounted to nearly £10,000 a year. Wilson finished in fourth place at the 2011 European Shooting Championships in Belgrade with a score of 191 in the final. However, the British team came second overall earning Wilson a silver medal alongside Stevan Walton and Richard Faulds. At a World Cup event held in

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

in 2012, Wilson set a new world record for the double trap. He scored 198 out of a possible 200 in the final, beating the previous record of 196. By winning a silver at the World Cup event in Chile in March 2012, he gained another quota spot for the British team for the

. He is a member of the Southern Counties shooting club. Having warmed up at the

Royal Artillery Barracks Royal Artillery Barracks, Woolwich, is a barracks of the British Army which forms part of Woolwich Garrison. The Royal Regiment of Artillery had its headquarters here from 1776 until 2007, when it was moved to Larkhill Garrison. History In 171 ...

in Woolwich in April in the test event for the Olympic venue. On 28 May, Wilson was named part of the British team at the

. He won gold, scoring 188 out of a possible 200 hits on 2 August 2012. It was Britain's first Olympic shooting medal since teammate Richard Faulds won the event in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Wilson was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to shooting. Having indicated in 2013 that he was committed to competing at Rio 2016, in October 2014 Wilson officially announced his retirement from competitive shooting to focus on personal life and coaching. Wilson went on to coach double-trap shooter James Dedman.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Peter Living people 1986 births English male sport shooters English Olympic competitors People educated at Millfield Sportspeople from Dorset Trap and double trap shooters Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Shooters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in shooting Olympic shooters for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Arts University Bournemouth Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics 21st-century English sportsmen

Early life

Education

Career

See also

References

External links