London 2012 - David Chapman

Olympic Information

2000 Sydney - 20th (25m rapid fire pistol)

Recent Performances

1st (25m rapid fire pistol) - 2012 Australia Cup 2 (Sydney, Australia)
1st (25m rapid fire pistol) - 2012 Australia Cup 1 Event 1 (Adelaide, Australia)
4th (25m rapid fire pistol) - 2012 Australia Cup 1 Event 2 (Adelaide, Australia)
2nd (25m rapid fire pistol) - 2011 Oceania Championship (Sydney, Australia)
34th (25m rapid fire pistol) - 2011 World Cup 1 (Sydney, Australia)

Career Highlights

Shooting a personal best to win the 25m rapid fire pistol at the Oceania Championships, 1999
Competing at the Sydney 2000 Olympics in the 25m rapid fire pistol
Claiming a silver and bronze medal at consecutive Commonwealth Games in the 25m rapid fire pistol pairs events

Interesting Facts

After becoming frustrated with his local Australian Rules Football team that he played for, David Chapman decided to turn his focus to shooting. He found himself competing at World Cup events in USA and Mexico in 1985 before he married and gave up the competitive side of the sport. He returned to pistol shooting almost a decade later.
As a teenager, David had a 'vision' that in the year 2000 he would be 35 and something 'big' would happen. After Sydney was announced to be the host city for the 2000 Olympics, he had the belief that he would make the team. This vision became reality when he made his debut Olympic appearance in Sydney in the 25m rapid fire pistol where he finished 20th.
Spending most of the year running his family farm, Chapman has been balancing his day to day commitments with his shooting career, making World Cup and other major international events when seasons permit. In 2006 he made the team for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games where he won the silver medal in the 25m rapid fire pistol pairs event with partner Bruce Favell and came 8th in the individual event. He took home bronze four years later in Delhi in the pairs event with Bruce Quick while also placing 6th in the individual event.
Chapman claimed 2nd at the Oceania Championships before going on to secure his second Olympic berth on the Australian Team to compete at London's Royal Artillery Barracks.
Chapman coaches his daughter Hayley who followed in her father's footsteps, competing at many of the same events as her father. The pair will compete in London together, the first Australian father and daughter due to compete at an Olympics together in history.