Natalie Rooney
Personal information
Full nameNatalie Ellen Rooney
Born (1988-06-01) 1 June 1988 (age 35)
Timaru, New Zealand
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Sport
SportSport shooting
Medal record
Women's shooting
Representing  New Zealand
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Trap
Commonwealth Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Brisbane Trap

Natalie Ellen Rooney (born 1 June 1988) is a New Zealand sport shooter, competing primarily in trap shooting events.

Rooney is from Waimate in South Canterbury.[1] Her father is Gary Rooney, a prominent businessman involved in earthmoving and irrigation.[2] Her mother, Adrienne Rooney, died in 2013.[3] Rooney attended Waituna Creek School and Waimate High School, before boarding at Craighead Diocesan School in Timaru.[4][5] Sport runs in her family: her father has represented New Zealand in shooting, her younger brothers Cameron and William represented the country in junior shooting competitions, her older brother Sam was the first who started clay shooting, and her mother was a junior basketball representative.[6]

The New Zealand Shooting Federation nominated her for the country's sole quota spot at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but Ryan Taylor appealed the decision to the New Zealand Sports Tribunal and was sent instead.[1] She competed in the women's trap event at the 2016 Summer Olympics[7] and won the silver medal, with gold going to Australia's Catherine Skinner.[8] She was only the second New Zealand sports shooter to win an Olympic medal, the first being Ian Ballinger who won bronze in the small-bore rifle at the 1968 Summer Olympics.[8]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2010 Commonwealth Games Delhi, India 5th Trap singles
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, Scotland 4th Trap
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2nd Trap

References

  1. ^ a b Lindsay, Brayden (13 April 2016). "South Canterbury shooter Natalie Rooney named for Rio Olympics to atone for London heartbreak". The Timaru Herald. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  2. ^ Montgomerie, Jack (30 July 2015). "Gary Rooney, van Leeuwens on rich list". The Timaru Herald. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  3. ^ Piddington, Stu; Lindsay, Brayden (9 August 2016). "Shooter hits target with NZ's first medal". The Press. p. A1.
  4. ^ Cropper, Emma (8 August 2016). "Natalie Rooney's friends chime in on Olympic dream". Newshub. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
  5. ^ van Royen, Robert (28 September 2016). "Olympic silver medallist Natalie Rooney adjusting to life after winning silver medal in Rio". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Natalie Rooney's Rio dream comes true". The Timaru Herald. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Natalie Rooney". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Rio Olympics 2016: Kiwi shooter Natalie Rooney takes silver". The New Zealand Herald. 8 August 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.

External links

2010 New Zealand Commonwealth Games team
2014 New Zealand Commonwealth Games team
2016 New Zealand Olympic team
2018 New Zealand Commonwealth Games team
2020 New Zealand Olympic team
Categories