THE COUNTY town has been celebrating the golden achievement of Dorchester -born shooter Peter Wilson.

The Double Trap gold medallist, who now lives in Sherborne, was praised by the manager of the Dorset shooting venue where he spent much of the last four-years honing his skills.

Kevin Newton from the Olympic training venue of Southern Counties Shooting at Evershot said everyone was delighted for him.

He said: “This is his home ground and was the main training ground for the GB squad. He was here almost every day for four years.”

“I’m pleased, everybody’s pleased, I think the whole shooting community and everybody round here is.

“You could see his dedication and his determination, he was very single minded, all he thought about was winning that gold medal.”

Former mayor of Dorchester Les Phillips said he was delighted. He said: “Congratulations to him, what a wonderful thing for a lad born in Dorchester to win an Olympic gold medal.”

Mr Phillips said the victory in some way made up for county town tae kwondo champion Aaron Cook missing out on the Games after a selection row.

Town Crier Alistair Chisholm added: “It’s fantastic. It’s good for the town which is splendidly decorated for the Olympics .”

Mr Chisholm said he hoped Wilson would visit to Dorchester so the whole town could celebrate his achievement.

Sharpshooter saves the best ‘til last

Peter Wilson is turning his attention to shots of a different kind after clinching Olympic gold for Great Britain.

The 25-year-old landed Britain’s first shooting medal in 12 years after coming through a nerve-jangling final in the Double Trap, and then outlined exactly how he planned to celebrate.

“I’m going to get very, very drunk and do something stupid,” he said.

Wilson certainly deserved a glass or two after threatening to blow his hopes of gold halfway through the tense shoot-out.

He was three points ahead after the morning qualifiers but a capacity crowd at the Royal Artillery Barracks feared the worst when Russia’s Vasily Mosin closed to within a point.

Mosin’s challenge soon fell away but worse was to come for Wilson when he ‘dropped a pair’, missing both the clay targets with shots 41 and 42.

“That wasn’t in the plan,” he admitted. “I think that made everyone a bit nervous, including me.”

But, in front of the onlooking Princess Royal, Wilson showed just why he is world number two and world record holder by nailing his final four rounds.

“The last four pairs, I don’t know how I did it,” Wilson added.

“It comes down to all the training I’ve done for these last six years.

“I really didn’t know how I did it, but I did. The last pair was special.”

Wilson only took up shooting competitively in 2006 after a snowboarding accident left him with an injured shoulder, which still requires daily treatment, and which meant he could not play cricket or squash.