Georgina Roberts: Rejuvenated Welsh Olympic trap shooter eyes early-season success
- Published
Georgina Roberts trains in Powys, Wrexham and Cambridgeshire
Welsh Olympic trap shooter Georgina Roberts is hoping to get 2023 off to the perfect start after "the best and worst" season of her life.
Roberts, 25, says she "shot out of her skin" last season but admits sacrifices she made for sport took their toll.
She made an International Grand Prix final and a World Cup final in 2022, her first year shooting in senior competitions for Great Britain.
"It's been the best season of my career," Roberts said.
"I never thought in a million years that my first kind of year as a senior shooting for GB would look like that.
"But I just felt like I'd lost myself in the process of everything, which was really difficult.
"I got so wrapped in shooting and performing well that I sacrificed so much that I felt like I'd lost my connections with my friends and my family and kind of real life."
Roberts says an athlete review at the end of the year made her take stock of how she was feeling.
"I was asked to take the positives away from the year and I sat there and I just felt properly empty," she said.
The winter break came at the perfect time for Roberts because she "got to rebuild those connections with people and re-energise myself".
Roberts has taken a digital marketing job which she feels "has brought life back" to her.
"It's reminded me I'm good at things other than shooting which has been really important to me," she added.
Despite spending less time coaching now than she has in the past, Roberts remains dedicated to seeing the next generation of shooters come through.
"Coaching is something I've always been really passionate about," said Roberts. "I'm so happy to be able to share my passion with other people and share my experience, my journey, with people who are starting at grassroots level sports up.
"Increasing participation across the board in shooting sports is something that I've always been obsessed with.
"If we want to continue to have our events, Olympic trap or Olympic skeet in the Commonwealths and Olympics, we're going to have to continue to strive to increase those levels of participation."
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A World Cup event this month in Rabat, Morocco marks the first opportunity of the year to gain ranking points towards quota places for next year's Olympics.
Roberts says the challenge to secure places will be "slightly more tricky" this year due to changes to the qualification system.
"We have got a couple of opportunities at a competition, European Games, European Championships, World Championships," explained Roberts.
"It'll then be based off ranking points, so the World Cups we'll be shooting this year, we'll be aiming to finish as high as possible."
After shooting was removed from the programme of events for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, Roberts is hopeful of competing at Victoria 2026.
"Olympic trap is lucky as a discipline to be included in Victoria in 2026, I know Olympic skeet hasn't been quite so fortunate," she said.
"For selfish purposes I'm chuffed to bits that there's a chance that I might be able to be out there and get my first vest for Wales in the Commonwealth Games."
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