ALETHEA Sedgman is considering taking a break from elite competition in order to have more fun with her shooting.
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Back-to-back Commonwealth Games gold medals eluded the Natimuk shooter on Tuesday night as she failed to qualify for the final of the women’s 50-metre three-position shoot.
Sedgman finished with a total of 566 points in the qualification round, placing 10th out of a field of 23 competitors.
Only the top eight shooters made it through to the final.
Sedgman's father Iain Sedgman said several top shooters congratulated Alethea on competing well under difficult circumstances.
He said Alethea had dealt with back issues in recent years, forcing her to compete in air rifle at the London Olympics instead of her favoured three-position event.
He said it was encouraging Alethea’s best scores had come in the standing and kneeling sections, which placed the most strain on her back.
Her scores from the standing and kneeling sections would have placed her in the top five.
Mr Sedgman said Alethea enjoyed the rest of her Commonwealth Games experience.
Shooters did not stay in the main Commonwealth Games athletes village, but had their own smaller accommodation in Dundee.
“She really enjoyed staying there and said the facilities were quite good,” he said.
“She tried haggis and said it was absolutely disgusting.”
Sedgman’s score during the Commonwealth Games event was just two points below the total of eighth-place qualifier Jenna MacKenzie, of New Zealand, who had a total of 568.
The top qualifier was Singapore’s Jasmine Ser, who qualified with a Games record score of 581.
Ser went on to claim the gold medal in the final.
Sedgman was the defending gold medallist in the event after winning it as a 16-year-old at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010.
She had also qualified for the women’s 50-metre prone event, but elected not to compete in it to concentrate on defending her three-position gold medal.
Mr Sedgman said he had talked to Alethea following the shoot and she was positive about her performance despite failing to qualify for the final.
“She was very happy with how she shot, and she said she shot very well,” he said.
“The shooting range was adversely affected by wind, which had a big effect on a number of competitors.
“Ranges have walls on each side and the wind comes over the walls and drops down.
“If you’re in one of the first few bays on either side of the range, you can get different conditions to what everyone else on the range gets.”
Mr Sedgman said there was a strong wind blowing from the right of the range to the left.
Alethea was positioned at the right of the range, meaning she had the strongest wind to contend with.
No shooters on the right side of the range qualified for the final and only one shooter in the middle made it.
The other seven shooters to make the final were all on the left-hand side of the course.