Athlete Information:
Name: Richard Lay
Age: 19
Sport: Rifle Shooting
Course: Business Economics
Year of study: 2
Athlete Profile
Richard is an international rifle shooter. He shoots at 'disc shaped' targets from distances of 10m and 50m, using an air rifle and a .22 calibre rifle respectively. Richard's shooting career started from a young age on his father's farm where he spent a lot of his spare time shooting. At the age of 13, Richard's sporting career became more serious when he was selected by Wales for an international competition, and since then he has gone on to represent both Wales and Great Britain in international matches on numerous occasions. He is currently on the path towards representing his country at the 2018 commonwealth games, with the 2020 Olympics also a goal for the future.
Achievements since joining Cardiff Met
The last year has been very successful for Richard. His GB under 21 ranking has improved from 5th to 3rd in his main event of 3 position rifle, 6th to 3rd in prone rifle. He is now the Welsh champion for U21 prone rifle and the Welsh Men's Air rifle champion. In 2016 he consistently shot scores that would have placed him in the top 8 or higher at the Glasgow Commonwealth games. In March 2016 he was identified as a Welsh 'Talent Potential Athlete' which aims at supporting athletes to compete at the 2018 commonwealth games; he is currently the only rifle shooter in this category of Welsh sport. He represented Wales at the junior international competition this summer, where he took 6 medals from 6 events; 2 gold, three silver and a bronze.
What difference has the scholarship made?
"When choosing a university, I wanted somewhere where I could combine my academic studies alongside my sporting ambitions. Cardiff Metropolitan seemed the obvious choice, and the offer of a sports scholarship sealed the deal. The award has given me great support via funding in a sport where equipment can be expensive, and the S & C, gym membership, sports massages, and physio and psycho-therapy have helped my training hugely. The campus allowance has helped me with the cost of food and is flexible; I can either have a meal in the café or grab a sandwich to take to training which also saves me time. The combination of living in Cardiff and the support from the scholarship scheme has allowed me to train at a higher quality and for more hours than I have been able to before, which has been reflected in an increase in my training and competition results over the past 8 months."
