Ellesmere College student on target for international shooting success

A Shropshire teenager is on target for success after achieving medal after medal on the international stage.

Francine Gilmore, a student at Ellesmere College, won four gold medals at InterShoot, an annual air gun competition in Holland, last week. It follows her first individual international medal in the 10 metre air pistol competition in Luxembourg in December and a gold in the British Pistol Club Open Championships last month.

In the most recent competition the 16-year-old pupil from Cressage travelled to the town of Ockenburgh, near the Hague. In three individual junior competitions she qualified in first place then went on to take the gold medal in the finals - as well as getting a gold in a team competition.

In December, at the Federation Luxembourgeoise De Tir Aux Armes Sportives annual air gun competition, Francine came away with both a gold - after a 17 to 15 win over a Swedish competitor - and a bronze medal.

In January she won bronze in the mixed pairs and gold in individual competition at the British event.

Her dad Lance Gilmore said: “I am very proud of her. She works very hard and is doing very well in all the competitions she enters. She would love to represent team GB again and is working hard to be picked.”

Francine is hoping to be picked for team GB to take part in the Junior World Cup in May, as she did last year, is aiming to be picked for the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2026 and would love to represent GB in the Olympics one day.

The Year 12 student is a member of the Shooting Academy and boards at Ellesmere College during weekdays in order to fit in her training schedule of two to three days a week in the Academy facilities.

Academy Coach Tom Rylands is not surprised at Francine’s success. He said: “What an exceptional talent! Francine richly deserves her success – her work ethic is incredible both academically and in her sport.

“She is ranked among the top GB Senior Pistol shooters, let alone Juniors and leads by example – after returning from Holland, a day later she was on the College team leading them to victory in the National Schools Championships run by British Shooting. And to cap it all she went on to win the individual final for her sixth gold medal in a week!”

Francine is coached by Margaret Thomas, one of the few women to compete at the Olympics, and competes every three weekends out of four. She also shoots rifle for the school team.

Her dad Lance added: “She’s very committed to her training, whether it is at school, travelling to Aldersley near Wolverhampton or online too, she works very hard.

“Of course her school work is equally as important and she has got a lot of work to do, the school are very good about it and understand her schedule, they do everything they can to accommodate. Her tutors supply her with all the work she misses and as long as it gets done they are happy.”

For more information, please visit Ellesmere College Shooting Academy.