Catherine Skinner returns to the world stage

MANSFIELD'S Rio Olympics gold medallist Catherine Skinner launched her 2022 international competition campaign travelling to the Shotgun World Cup in Nicosia, Cyprus as part of the six person Australian team. In her final training session before departing Melbourne, Skinner talked about the difference between a domestic competition and an international competition, having not competed on the world stage since the World Cup final in Al Ain in October 2019. "A domestic event is kind of the run of the mill and you just continue your standard training, whereas an international event is a bit more like cramming for an exam where you have a really intense build up before you head overseas," said Catherine. "I'm feeling really good with this last training session before we depart for Cyprus." Competing in the Women's Trap individual event between March 10 and 12, Catherine encountered some challenging weather conditions during qualifying. Freezing temperatures, strong winds and even snowfall meant she had to work even harder to break those targets. After a qualifying round shot in hail Catherine said: "I felt really accomplished and just had to push through what felt like a big workout at the gym." She managed to block out the conditions and focus on hitting her targets finishing as the equal second qualifier, tying with Fatima Galvez of Spain, with a total of 116 out of 125 targets hit. The two entered a 'miss and out' shoot off to determine the ranking order heading into the semi final, where Skinner claimed position three. Into semi final one and after the first 15 target bracket, Skinner hit 8 out of 15 targets to take fourth place. When asked about her preparation after a two year absence from the international scene due to the pandemic, Catherine said "my preparation for this event has been a bit different to previous events due to our two year break". "It's just been trying to get as many targets in as you can and getting back into the rhythm of things," she said. "The hardest thing is the motivation to come back, but I think after a prolonged break it's really been a hunger thing. "It's really nice to be back out on the traps." This performance in Cyprus proved she still has a strong competitive fire in her belly complimented with world class ability. Her next international competition will be in April at the Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy.

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