Paige crowned GB youth champion in Target Sprint –and her older brother James is also in the medals

Paige and James Baxter pictured with their mum Bronwyn after winning their Target Sprint medals in Yate. Picture by Paul Smith.

Paige, 14, smashed her previous best time by 31 seconds to win the women’s youth (11-16 years) event in 7m.30.35secs.

James, 19, was second in the junior men’s event (16-21 years) in 5m.08.65secs.

The siblings also took bronze in the mixed pairs event in Yate, Gloucestershire.

Paige Baxter with her gold medal. Picture: Paul Smith.

Target Sprint is an internationally recognised air rifle discipline that combines running with target shooting.

Competitors run three laps of a 400m track, with two stops in between where they must knock down five targets placed 10m away. They have 15 pellets per stop, and if they fail to knock down all five they incur time penalties.

The sport was only created in 2013 by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) in a bid to make target shooting more accessible.

The Baxters first got involved with the sport when James attended a taster session in Southampton through his scout group in 2017.

Paige Baxter sets off on her run during the Target Sprint Championships in Yate. Picture: Paul Smith.

Paige took up the sport a year later as, according to her mum Bronwyn, ‘she was fed up just going along to watch. She thought if you can’t beat them, join them!’

Both Paige and James, who is a first year student at Birmingham University, train at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth under the guidance of running coach Paul Smith.

They also have a shooting coach Steve Batchelor, who is based in Southampton.

The scheduled 2020 Target Sprint season was obviously decimated by the pandemic, with the 2021 season due to begin next March.

James Baxter with his silver medal. Picture by Paul Smith.

‘Both athletes have worked extremely hard in difficult times and deserved their successes,’ said Smith.

‘As their coach I’m extremely proud of their hard work and their amazing achievements.’

Mum Bronwyn said: ‘The sport is still very much in its infancy, but hopefully the more people get involved the faster it will grow.

‘We are hoping it will one day become a sport in the Commonwealth Games, and then the Olympics.’

Both Paige and James were born in South Africa but moved to the Portsmouth area over a decade ago as their dad, Bryan, is English.