| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1988-02-19) 19 February 1988 (age 36) Redhill, England |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Sport | Shooting |
| Event | Air rifle |
| Club | Balcombe Rifle and Pistol Club |
| Turned pro | 2011 |
| Coached by | Pasan Kularatne |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Paralympic finals | 2012 |
Benjamin Jesson (born 19 February 1988) is a British sport shooter. In 2012 he represented Great Britain at the Summer Paralympics in London taking part in the Mixed R6–50 m rifle prone SH1.
Personal history
Jesson was born in Redhill, England in 1988. At the age of 15 he was diagnosed with Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease a hereditary nervous system disorder, which caused foot drop in both of his feet. He attended Hazelwick School in Crawley, later matriculating to Aberdeen University where he achieved a degree in marine biology.
Shooting career
Jesson was introduced to both sports shooting and archery at Aberdeen University in 2006. He decided to focus on shooting because it piqued his interests the most, finding it mentally challenging. Classified as an SH1 athlete, Jesson joined the Great Britain shooting team in 2011 and that year competed in his first major international competition, the 2011 IPC World Cup in Alicante. In Alicante he was entered into the 10m Air Rifle Prone mixed SH1, finishing 45th. 2011 also saw Jesson competing in the International Shooting Competition at Stoke Mandeville where he came 22nd in the same event.
In 2012 Jesson qualified for the Summer Paralympics in London, competing in the 50m Free Rifle Prone SH1. Before the competition Jesson expressed his desire to make the final eight, believing that making the British team for the Paralympics was an amazing achievement. He eventually finished 47th, later stating that the London Games were "not the best of my performances".
At the 2013 European Championships he achieved a personal best finishing in the top 15. In 2015 at the IPC Shooting World Cup in Croatia, Jesson finished 9th in the R6 Mixed 50m rifle prone SH1 gaining a quota slot for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.
References
- ^ "Benjamin Jesson". paralympics.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ "Jesson, Benjamin". IPC. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- "On Your Feet". ablemagazine.co.uk. 19 August 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- "The Paralympics is my proudest achievement... but there's also my Duke of Edinburgh Award as well". paralympics.channel4.com. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ Field, Pippa. "Shooter Jesson targets Great Britain spot for World Championship". crawleynews.co.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- "Paralympics 2012: Benjamin Jesson targets 10m air rifle final". BBC Sport. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- Tunbridge, Duncan (15 July 2015). "Bevis wins Gold as GB earn three more quota places for Rio". disabilityshooting-gb.org. Retrieved 5 September 2015.