Representing Great Britain at the World Championships in Olympic Skeet - Well done Jess!

A very big congratulations to Sovereign’s Investment Team member Jess Burgess who has been representing Great Britain, as part of the Olympic Skeet team, at the March 2022 World Championships in Nicosia, Cyprus; this is Jess’s first international for cap Great Britain.

We are very proud to share that Jess finished in 11th place in qualification having missed out on a spot in the semi-final after a shoot-off for 8th place. She will be competing again at the World Cup at Lonato, Italy later in the year.

Jess has been shooting for approaching 15 years and competing for nearly five years in the discipline of Olympic Skeet; she has represented England in 2019 and 2021.

She said: "I started shooting when I was 14 years old, and trained weekly throughout school and university, competing at local competitions. I was first inspired by the discipline of Olympic Skeet when I watched the final at the London 2012 Olympics. Little did I realise then that I would be competing alongside those medal winners nearly a decade on. It has been great to be able to continue to pursue my passion for the sport alongside my career at Sovereign with their support and encouragement."

A little about Olympic Skeet: Olympic Skeet is a variant of skeet shooting, and the specific variant used in the Olympic Games. Two towers at different heights launch a series of 25 targets in a specific order, some as singles and some as doubles, with the shooter moving between eight stands in a mostly semi-circle motion between the two towers.

Across a competition, the shooter is presented 125 targets over three days, with the top eight shooters qualifying for a semi-final series and the top four from the semi-final series making the final.

To add to the challenge, the targets fly at around 60 mph and have up to a three second delay from the shooters 'call' for the target. The shooters also need to start with the stock of the gun parallel to the bottom of the elbow (which is roughly at the top of their hip), which is marked with a yellow line. They cannot put the gun in the shoulder until the target emerges.