Timothy Kneale (born 16 October 1982 in

Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas (, ) is the Capital (political), capital city and largest settlement of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021) and an area of . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, Isle of Man, River Douglas, and on a sweepi ...

) is a Manx sport shooter who specializes 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 148 out of 150 at the

2014 ISSF World Cup The 2014 ISSF World Cup is the annual edition of the ISSF World Cup in the Olympic shooting events, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of Shooting at ...

meet in

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. Apart from his world-record feat, Kneale has won two medals in a major international competition, a silver at the 2015 World Shotgun Championships and a bronze as a representative of the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

team at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

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Career

Born and raised in the

, Kneale spent most of his childhood as a sporting enthusiast, representing the nation in cricket and also captaining the men's under-nineteen rugby team. After suffering a fractured leg which left him unable to play rugby at age eighteen, Kneale took up shooting more seriously, and eventually tried his hand at double trap. Although he began the sport, as a 16-year-old teen, in an international meet, Kneale set his shooting history as a member of the British national team in 2002. At that time, he helped his fellow shooters secure a bronze medal in a team event at the

ISSF World Championships The ISSF World Shooting Championships are governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. World Shooting Championships began in 1897, after the successful 1896 Summer Olympics, and although the ISSF was not founded until 1907, these early ...

Lahti, Finland Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

. Kneale's marksmanship prominence, however, did not occur until 2010, when he claimed his first individual double trap medal at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

, prevailing over 17-year-old junior world champion Asher Noria in a shoot-off 6–5 for the bronze. At the

meet held in

, Kneale attained a massive score of 148 out of 150 targets to establish a new world record for the men's double trap, but fell short to Jeffrey Holguin of the United States in a bronze-medal shoot-off 28–26. Following his tremendous world-record feat, Kneale had been given the honor to lead the Isle of Man delegation at the opening ceremony of the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. There, he finished twelfth in the

with 120 clay pigeons, and failed to advance to the final, missing a chance to improve on his third-place effort four years earlier. The 2015 season witnessed a medal redemption for Kneale, as he earned a silver in the men's double trap at the World Shotgun Championships in

Lonato Lonato del Garda (before 1 July 2007 simply Lonato; , ) is a town and municipality () in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, northern Italy. Lonato is located about halfway between Milan and Venice, on the southwest shore of Lake Garda, the big ...

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, losing the title to Russia's

Vasily Mosin Vasily Alexandrovich Mosin (; born 9 May 1972, in Kazan) is a Russian sport shooter who specializes in the double trap. At the 2004 Olympic Games he finished in nineteenth place in the double trap qualification, missing out on a place among the t ...

in the gold medal match 26 clays to 29. With his runner-up finish, Kneale has been selected to represent

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at his Olympic debut in

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. Tim Kneale has won the Isle of Man's first medal at

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

in Australia in the double trap shooting event. He finished with a score of 70 in the final - four targets behind Scotland's David McMath with India's Ankur Mittal third.

References

External links

*
Team GB Athlete BioProfile
at

British Shooting British Shooting is the national governing body for ISSF shooting sport disciplines in the United Kingdom. The organisation serves as a single shooting body to receive public funding from UK Sport and Sport England, administer high performance ...

Athlete Profile – Isle of Man Commonwealth Games Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kneale, Tim 1982 births Living people British male sport shooters Shooters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games silver medallists for the Isle of Man Trap and double trap shooters People from Douglas, Isle of Man Shooters at the 2015 European Games European Games competitors for Great Britain Shooters at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic shooters for Great Britain Commonwealth Games silver medallists in shooting Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in shooting Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 21st-century British sportsmen