July 28, 2021 10.50 am This story is over 32 months old

Doing it for Lincolnshire! Clay pigeon shooter makes Olympics debut

Aaron has made an amazing recovery after nearly losing his leg in a crash
Aaron Heading at the 2019 European Games in Minsk where he won a bronze medal. | Photo: Team GB

A clay pigeon shooter from Lincolnshire is taking to the Olympic stage in Japan today, hoping to fire his way to a medal.

Aaron Heading, from Sutton Bridge, has begun the first of two days of qualifiers in the men’s trap shooting.

The Lincolnshire coastguard volunteer faces the first three rounds today, with the last two tomorrow, before finding out if he has made the final.

So far, Aaron has had a tough time and it is looking unlikely that he will qualify – unless lots of results go in his favour tomorrow.

Aaron was selected as one of the first four shooters to represent Team GB at the rescheduled Tokyo 2020/1 Olympic Games.

He is no stranger to competitive international shooting competitions, but this is his first Olympic Games.

Aaron is a four-time World Cup medallist and four-time Commonwealth Games medallist, including Gold in Delhi in 2010. In 2018, he achieved the World number one spot in Olympic Trap.

The following year he won a bronze medal at the European Games in Minsk in 2019.

It is a particularly great story for Aaron who had considered retiring after being involved in a serious crash.

Just weeks after winning Commonwealth silver at Glasgow 2014, Aaron crashed his motorbike and nearly lost his leg. He was in hospital for nearly two-and-a-half weeks and in a wheelchair for two months.

He initially looked at retiring and later became a volunteer with the Sutton Bridge Coastguard, where he still works, covering the marshes and seaways of South Lincolnshire.