Furious British shooting star Amber Hill has threatened to boycott her sport’s Commonwealth Championships in India in protest over its banishment from Birmingham 2022.
Commonwealth Games Federation officials scrambled to set up an alternative event for shooting and archery after Birmingham organisers decided to sideline the two sports in June last year.
The new event, scheduled for Chandigarh in January 2022, six months before the Birmingham Games, placated Indian officials who had threatened to pull their entire team out over the expulsion of a sport in which they traditionally excel.
Hill told the PA news agency: “I feel very passionate about the impact this decision is going to have on the future of our sport, which is such a big part of our heritage, and has been in the Games for such a long time.
“It feels almost like a disrespect for the amount of time and effort we all put into this sport. If we accept it being on a separate stage then we are accepting its removal from the Commonwealth Games.
British Shooting, whose chief executive Hamish McInnes had expressed “huge disappointment” following Birmingham’s announcement last June, has enthusiastically supported the subsequent establishment of the event in India.
In a statement to the PA news agency, British Shooting said: “The Chandigarh Commonwealth Shooting Championships in 2022 adds to a hugely exciting year for Commonwealth sport, giving shooters from across the home nations a chance to experience more top-class competition in India.
“Home Nation governing bodies select teams for Commonwealth competition and it will ultimately be the decision of each individual athlete on whether they take part.”
Although the event in Chandigarh will have no direct link with the Commonwealth Games, a combined final medals table will be issued by the Commonwealth Games Federation one week after the Birmingham closing ceremony.
Hill added: “The main reason I got into the sport when I was 14 years old was in the hope of getting to the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics.
“We’re going out there and really trying to encourage young people and especially girls to get into the sport, but without the media coverage and the big events we have so few opportunities to showcase its positive side.”
