SHOOTING star Richard Bray wants to cap a remarkable rise from an old Chester dairy farm to the Paralympic Games.

Bray, 44, was born with Sacral Agenesis – a rare congenital disorder which occurs in one in 60,000 births - but has never let that stop him chasing his sporting dreams.

The Welsh shooter moved to Dorset – where he lives now – but it was when he lived in Chester along the way that he got really into his shooting, joining friends on old dairy farms.

When his mobility began to deteriorate a decade ago, a friend suggesting he joined a gun club – ten years later and Bray is on track for the Paralympic Games.

He said: “When I was quite a lot younger, my cousin had an air rifle and he would plink at bottle tops in the back garden.

“And then throughout the years, I've had air rifles and now pistols and just played in the garden, we used to shoot in a friend’s farm, shooting up tin cans and stuff.

“And then 10 years ago, I couldn't really walk too well without crutches and a friend of mine said, why don't you just try joining a gun club?

“I thought, that doesn't really sound like it's for me, but I'll give it a go.

Richard Bray.

Richard Bray.

“I went down, it turned out I really enjoyed it, and before I knew it, I had won a few local club level trophies and medals and went along to a coaching course at Stoke Mandeville.

“Unbeknown to me, all my teammates were trying to talk down a coach at the time into watching me shooting.

“I didn't realise this and at the end of the day I ended up on the range shooting, I then got invited to an assessment day from there and then from that I was invited to join the Paralympic pathway.”

It is some journey to the top for Bray, who enjoys wheelchair rugby in his free time, and he believes that shooting is an excellent sport for anybody to get into, with disability not getting in the way of him competing against able bodied athletes.

He added: “Shooting is a really great leveller, you can whatever disability you've got, and you can find a way to shoot.

“For example, at club level you can compete against people without disabilities, it really is a very accessible sport.”

Bray has a very clear target in mind with Paralympic qualification, but after struggling to obtain his international classification in Hanover due to Covid, he is not rushing to Paris and believes he has a more realistic shot at Los Angeles four years later.

He added: “For the last two years I've been trying to get to Hanover to get my international classification, but it's been cancelled both times.

“So until I get my international classification, I can't compete internationally.

“I have a chance at Paris, but everything would have to be 100 per cent perfect and go to plan.

“So realistically I'm looking at LA in 2028, I'm going to try for Paris of course, I'd be daft not to, but my scores aren't up there yet and it's a pipe dream.”

  • Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more