Rio 2016 preview: R6 (mixed 50m rifle prone SH1)

Following the bronze medal at his home Paralympic Games, Great Britain’s Matt Skelhon appears ready to add R6 (mixed 50m rifle prone SH1) to his gold medal collection at Rio 2016.

In 2014 at the World Championships in Suhl, Germany, Skelhon broke the world record in the R6, en route to claiming the gold. It was a sign of improvement, especially after London 2012, where he jumped past Sweden’s Jonas Jakobsson for the bronze.

The R6 finals may come down to the slimmest of decimals. Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova had a strong 2016 World Cup season, reaching the R6 podium twice.

But reigning Paralympic champion Abdulla Sultan Alaryani from the United Arab Emirates is expected to strike hard. He showed off his accuracy in R6 at the 2015 World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, last November. Competition was especially tight, as direct Rio 2016 quota slots would be allocated. Alaryani bested Skelhon by 0.4 points to take the gold.

You can catch the R6 event on 14 September at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. All shooting Para sport events will be contested at the Olympic Shooting Centre.