Marksman Mick Gault equals England medals record
17th March 2006Norfolk marksman Mick Gault today equalled the record for the most number of Commonwealth Games medals won by an English athlete.
The 51-year-old from Dereham won a silver medal with Nick Baxter in the 10m air pistol pairs competition at Melbourne 2006.
It was Gault’s second medal of the Games – he won bronze in the 50m pistol pairs – again with Bedford shooter Baxter yesterday (Friday). It means Gault equals swimmer Karen Pickering’s record of 13 medals, which she won from 1990 to 2002.
Today’s result was also a particularly poignant moment for Baxter as it came on the day that he celebrates his 35th birthday.
Gault, who also shoots in the 25m standard fire pistol pairs today and then three other events later in the Games, said: “I’m absolutely elated. I’m very pleased to have medalled here today, and especially on Nick’s birthday.
“We were so close to the gold – only two points away - but we both shot to the best of our ability,” he added. “It just wasn’t quite good enough on the day.
“I’m not quite sure how I feel about the record,” he added. “It’s down to me to beat it now.”
Baxter added: “It’s just brilliant. This is what it’s all about – we’re here as sportsmen to win medals.
“The fact it’s my birthday makes it all the better,” he added. “It feels really special.”
Gault and Baxter won the 10m air pistol pairs titles at both the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games in 1998 and then retained the title at Manchester 2002. But they couldn’t quite make it a hat-trick, scoring 1152 points to 1154 achieved by the Indian pair of Sarmaresh Jung and Vivek Singh. Australia took bronze.
Gault’s exploits today also means he has now accumulated one more Commonwealth Games medal than the 12 achieved by the late Malcolm Cooper.