Seonaid McIntosh was one of the first four shooting athletes confirmed by Team GB on 13 January 2021 as being selected for the Tokyo Olympic Games, rescheduled from 2020 to the summer of 2021 as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Seonaid’s selection is reward for what has been an incredible few years for her prior to the pandemic, which has put a stop on all shooting competitions in 2020, halting Seonaid’s impressive medal haul that led to her selection.
Prior to the pandemic hitting, Seonaid had an incredible run of results and achievements. In 2018 Seonaid won 2 Bronze medals for Scotland in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast in the 50m Prone and 50m 3 Positions events before going on to be crowned World Champion in Women’s 50m Prone (along with a team bronze) making her the first British rifle shooter to win a senior World Championships gold since Scotland’s Alister Allan in 1978. She later went on to claim an Olympic quota place for Tokyo 2020 for Women’s 50m 3 Positions, finishing 4th.
Carrying her 50m 3 Positions form into 2019, Seonaid won silver at the ISSF World Cup in Munich with two new British records – the first British medal in the event since the late, great Malcolm Cooper in 1989. She then went one better and achieved a ground-breaking achievement for shooting in the UK, winning Gold at the ISSF World Cup in Rio de Janeiro at the end of August making Seonaid’s the first ever female athlete to win a World Cup Gold for Britain in rifle. Not only that, it made Seonaid the first British rifle shooter to win World Cup Gold for Britain - male or female - since Mike Babb in 2002.
Showing her world class pedigree in the sport, a few days earlier to winning Gold in Rio in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions competition, she won a silver at the same ISSF World Cup in the 10m Air Rifle competition, demonstrating her ability to adapt disciplines and finish with a medal in a world class field in both events.
Other great results from 2019 include a 5th place from the European Games, being chosen as flag-bearer for the British team at the World University Games and graduating with a 1:1.
Seonaid finished 2019 ranked World No. 1 in 50m Rifle 3 Positions (the first British woman to achieve this) and World No. 8 in 10m Air Rifle.
The other Brritsh shooters selected for Tokyo are Kirsty Hegarty (women’s Olympic trap), Matt Coward-Holley (men’s Olympic trap) and Aaron Heading (men’s Olympic trap) who, along with Seonaid, will all make their Olympic debuts at the Asaka Shooting Range this summer.
Below are a few articles published in the last 24 hours celebrating Seonaid’s selection with comments form her looking forward to Tokyo: