BIRKDALE shooter Mark Farrow is aiming for a gold medal at the World Para Shooting Championships in Sydney this week.
Whether he pulls it off or not, he will create history before a gun is fired by becoming one of the first shooters to compete in a para trap event at the world championships.
The event was not recognised as an official discipline until 2017 when, after several years of campaigning, the International Paralympic Committee changed its status.
Farrow was heavily involved in lobbying the IPC, travelling as far as Italy to help develop the discipline after taking it up in 2011.
Despite the inroads made, Farrow said a lack of competitors meant shooters would have to wait until at least 2028 to see the event included in the Paralympic Games.
"They were pushing for Paris 2024 but we were told there was not enough countries competing at that time," he said.
"We need 32 countries but there is only about 22 or 23 at the moment so it needs to grow a little bit."
Farrow lost his arm as a two-year-old when he received an 11,000 volt shock at an electrical substation next to his house.
He got into shooting as a 17-year-old to follow in the footsteps of his father, who was a fullbore target shooter.
At 19 he took up clay target shooting, a career choice that has seen him go on to become president of Belmont Shooting Complex and manage the Australian para-shooting team at the world cup in Croatia.
He has lived in the Redlands for 40 years with wife Sue, who will be in the grandstands at the world championships cheering him on as he attempts to put an exclamation mark on a stellar career.
A gold medal at the World Championships, which begin on October 11 at the Sydney International Shooting Centre, would be Farrow's crowning glory.
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