Olympic team members Fire first shots towards Tokyo Games

Australia's four Tokyo Olympic Games Pistol team members will conclude a month-long training camp and contest the BISC Cup at the Brisbane International Shooting Centre in Belmont tomorrow and Sunday.

The BISC Cup is the first of eight Pistol events which form part of Shooting Australia's National Performance Series.

Tokyo Games selections Dina Aspandiyarova, Elena Galiabovitch, Sergei Evglevski and Daniel Repacholi will be in action along with athletes from NSW and ACT.

The quartet have been training under the watchful eye of National Pistol Coach, Vladimir Galiabovitch, and marks the commencement of their countdown to the Tokyo Olympic Games in July.

Evglevski said; "I'm really keen to shoot and to finally compete in a proper competition. We have all been through a lot, so it'll be great to catch up with everyone, shoot some tens and to have some fun."

The Pistol members of the Australian Olympic team are:

• Elena Galiabovitch: Elena is a Melbourne doctor who is studying for a Master's degree and is undertaking research work in her goal to become a urological surgeon. While studying and training for the Tokyo Olympics, Elena has been working as a locum and, as recently as New Year's Day, she was working in a COVID screening clinic in Melbourne trying to get as many people through and tested as possible. Elena competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The Belmont Shooting Range holds happy memories for Elena as she won the silver medal in the 25m Sports Pistol and bronze in the 10m Air Pistol at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
• Daniel Repacholi: Tokyo will be Repacholi's fifth Olympic Games having previously attended the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Hailing from Cessnock in NSW's Hunter Valley region, the bearded giant also has fond memories at BISC winning a gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where he was watched on by his wife Alex and daughters Zoe and Asha.
• Sergei Evglevski: Tokyo will be Sergei's first Olympics and his bloodlines suggest Games representation was always his destiny. Sergei's dad, Sergei Snr, was a two-time Australian Olympic team gunsmith and his mother, Lalita Yauhleuskaya, won the 25m Pistol bronze medal for Belarus at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games before settling in Australia. She represented her adopted country at three Olympic Games and at five Commonwealth Games. Lalita and Sergei were mother and son team-mates at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where Sergei claimed the silver medal in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol.
• Dina Aspandiyarova: Tokyo will be Dina's fourth Olympics having previously represented her native Kazakhstan in 2000, and 2008 and 2012 for Australia plus the 2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games. Dina lives at Ormeau with her husband, former Australian and Kazakhstan Olympic Pistol coach, Anatoly Babushkin. Dina coaches over 60 pistol shooters around the world via Skype, and travels across Queensland to speak with school children as part of the Australian Olympic Committee's Olympics Unleashed education program.

The Tokyo team members will be joined in the competition by junior Queensland Pistol athletes.

The BISC Cup is the first of five Pistol nomination events to win selection on the Australian team to compete at the Junior World Championships which is scheduled to be held in Peru in September and October.

The Junior World Championship Australian team selection criteria can be viewed here

The BISC Cup schedule will see women's 25m Pistol and men's 10m Air Pistol held from 8.30am tomorrow, and the women's 10m Air Pistol and men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol held from 8.30am on Sunday.

At each 2021 Performance Series event, athletes will be awarded points based on their finishing position.

The points allocation is:

At the conclusion of the 2021 Performance Series, the athlete who accumulates the most points in each of the events, will be declared the 2021 Performance Series winner.

Media are welcome to attend the BISC Cup to film competition and record interviews.