On target: It was a golden performance from Echuca’s Kiara Dean, enjoying success at the ISSF World Championships in Croatia. Photo: Steve Huntley
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Echuca’s proud tradition of producing world-class sport shooting talents continued in 2022 in the form of young prodigy Kiara Dean, and a thrilling gold medal at the International Sport Shooting Federation World Championships was a highlight for the clay target community back home.
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On target would be an apt description of Kiara Dean’s year on the clay target scene after the breakthrough gold medal, the 21-year-old’s first at international level.
The rising shotgun talent capped off an accurate year with a star showing in the junior women’s trap final, a thrilling encounter that went to a tie-break shoot.
The sharpshooter quickly progressed to the medal match, and after a slow start in the final match finished tied on 30 targets with China’s Ting Han, resulting in a nail-biting shoot-out for the junior world championship.
But it was Dean who held her nerve to find the breakthrough target, with a wayward shot from her opponent handing her a maiden gold at international level in her final junior tournament.
Holding the gun aloft: The final podium of the junior women’s trap medal match, with Kiara Dean proudly holding her gun to the sky. Photo: ISSF
The shoot wasn’t without drama, as Dean had to defy a nervous start in the qualifying rounds to survive the cut.
“In the first round of the entire competition I dropped five out of my first seven targets,” Dean said.
“I was super nervous. I let it get to me and I started off really rough.
“I just went ‘that’s okay, one rough round might still get you through, just get out there and shoot targets’.
“I made sure that during the entire final I followed my process to a tee and made sure even when it got close that I was just focused on the target.
“I always go back to the basics and follow through with what I know how to do.
“When the other girl dropped her target, I didn’t process it until I turned around and looked at my coaches and mates with me in the final.
“(Teammate Breanna Collins) just looked at me and said ‘you’ve won it’. And it didn’t sink in until she clicked her fingers and said it. It was really cool.”
A successful shoot from Dean in the junior team trap final handed Australia another medal, this time a bronze.
Star quality: Kiara Dean was a favourite at Echuca Clay Target Club. Photo: Steve Huntley
Photo by
Steve Huntley
But the gold stole the show, and it was made all the sweeter given Dean narrowly missed gold in another successful tournament, the ISSF World Cup in Suhl, Germany back in May.
For Dean, the experience of competing for Australia has been one she has cherished since initially being tapped for World Cup honours back in 2019, and soon after that a place on the National Pathways squad.
“If I thought of this a year ago, where I would be right now, I wouldn’t believe you,” Dean said.
“It’s all come together, and it’s all come in leaps and bounds.
“To be able to represent Australia on the world stage is something that I’ve dreamed of for ever.
“I was pretty determined after winning the silver. I was close to winning gold in Germany but missed it by one target. It was good to be able to come through and know what to expect.”
It wasn’t just world championship honours for Dean in 2022 who, prior to her selection for Croatia, also picked up a pair of medals at the junior world championships in Germany back in May.
Dean's first medal came in a thrilling trap women’s junior event, a match she admits paved the way for her determined approach in Croatia.
Homegrown talent: Dean was also prominent in state titles around the country. Photo: Steve Huntley.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
The 21-year-old claimed silver, missing gold by just one target against Bulgaria’s Ali Selin, before she snared silver with Australian teammates Molly Bretag and Renae Jones in the team trap final.
The young talent’s rise through the ranks of Shooting Australia in 2022 included four international junior medals, and she will now move into the senior ranks as one of the country’s brightest prospects, further enhanced by the fact that Dean was recognised as Shooting Australia’s Junior Athlete of the Year at the national sporting organisations awards night.
“I’d like to thank the other athletes within our team,” Dean said.
“Going overseas, I’m really lucky to have such supportive teammates — I couldn’t do it without them.”
Class is in session: Dean mentors school kids at the Echuca Clay Target Club. Photo: Steve Huntley
Photo by
Steve Huntley
It was a barnstorming year for the star shooter, and with a series of world-class tournaments on the horizon it is more than likely Dean’s name will be up in lights once again.
