Ben Llewellin: Missing Tokyo Olympics by one shot fuels fire for Paris
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Ben Llewellin is the son of two-time British Rally Championship winner Dai Llewellin
Welsh skeet shooter Ben Llewellin hopes history will not be repeated as he attempts to qualify for his first Olympic Games this summer.
Llewellin, 29, cruelly missed out on qualification for Tokyo 2020 by a single shot.
"It was a difficult loss to take, but it's given me fuel to the fire on this next Olympic cycle," he said.
Llewellin has made a great start to 2024 by claiming a silver medal in the World Cup in Cairo.
"With my winter training and the weather being the way it was, it was fantastic to get out to Cairo and just see all the hard work I've put in pay off," Llewellin told the BBC's Radio Wales Sport programme.
"We've got three more chances to get to Paris, we've got two more tournaments and then the third chance goes to the highest-ranked world player who hasn't qualified."
Next up is a World Cup in Qatar in April followed by the European Championships in Italy.
"There's a couple of quota places up for grabs in those competitions," he said.
"If I don't quite get there I can rely on my world ranking position. Winning medals like I've just done in Cairo will only help towards that."
Llewellin may be yet to shoot at an Olympics, but he is no stranger to success.
His trophy cabinet boasts a Commonwealth Games bronze medal and last year he won European and World Championship golds in the mixed skeet with Amber Rutter (nee Hill).
But Llewellin is unsure if his partnership with Rutter will continue this summer.
"I'm not sure how things will pan out for Amber. She's pregnant, but fingers crossed for her," he added.
"We honestly do make a great team.
"We've got a great track record and if we can both get to the Olympics as a mixed team, we've got a good chance."
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