BEIJING -- Coming out of the final hall on a wheelchair, the shooter appeared calm, but his eyes were a little bit red.
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Australian shooter Jason Maroney is seen in this undated file photo. [Agencies]
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Seeing his teammates waiting outside, Jason Maroney managed to force a smile.
"It was really tough... but I tried my best," said the 41-year-old Aussie after a fierce competition of mixed 10-meter air rifle prone.
AN OUTLET
Maroney grew up on a farm of Wangaratta and became independent at early age when his parents split.
When he was 12 or 13, the boy started shooting, with the primary goal to hunt rabbits so as to feed his dogs and himself.
"I could catch something all the time," he recalled with a bit of pride.
Later the man joined the army, living a life which he described as "wild". Tucking up his sleeves, he showed his tattoos: on the left arm there was a fairy and on the right were an eagle and a ram, which was mascot of the army.
More tattoos might have been made had Maroney not be caught in a disaster at the age of 22.
"I was driving a car after drinking and a traffic accident broke my neck," the soft-spoken shooter was like telling a tragic story of someone else.
But only he himself knew the taste of the anger, depression and despair after such a miserable experience.
"I simply couldn't accept the fact, from a young person with bright future to be stopped on the track," he said.
Since then, he drank a lot. Only when he got drunk could the man forget his pain temporarily.
The decadence lasted for a long period, before Maroney realized that he couldn't live like that anymore.
"Life has to go on anyway, and I should do as much as I can." His nature of obstinacy was finally awakened.
When he was at a loss as what he could do as a disabled, the idea of shooting occurred to him again.
It was like an outlet.
"In the sport, I could get focused," he said, "there are always challenges and I need to better myself.
"Shooting makes me happy," he said.
In competitions, Maroney gradually met with more people worldwide, some of whom shared similar experience as his. He hence became optimistic.
PART OF LIFE
A professional shooter now, Maroney said shooting had become part of his life.
Although he never mentioned it, others could see the desire of the Paralympic debutant for a medal so as to prove himself.
"In competitions, you always want to have good scores. It was a test of the ability," he said, "even if you get a silver, you want a gold."
In the competition of mixed 10-meter air rifle prone SH2, the marksman collected 599 points, after three other finalists who achieved 600.
In the ten-shot final, Maroney managed to hold his nerves in the first five shots by scoring 10.6, 10.6, 10.4, 10.5 and 10.7. Before the sixth shot, he was ranked fourth with just 0.1 point behind the third-placer and 0.2 from the second.
The man who admitted being nervous in the final believed the sixth shot a sheer nightmare.
"I have already felt something wrong with the way the handle pressing on me," he said.
But his finger moved quickly than his sense. The trigger was clicked. A 9.9, which dragged him to the sixth.
Although he later regained sharpness, with the lowest one of the last four shot still at 10.4, it was hard to turn the scale.
"It was just not my day," he said in regret.
However, 24 hours after the event, the shooter decided to forget it and start from zero.
"I have a way to relax myself," he said, adding that before last competition, he listened to pop music and rocked to the rhythm.
Maroney's next competition, mixed 10-meter air rifle stand, is scheduled for Thursday. Hopefully this time, he could have the luck.
NEVER STOP
An idealistic Pisces, the shooter said a latest movie he liked was Ned Kelly.
The controversial figure was an Australian bushranger, and, to some, a folk hero for his defiance of the colonial authorities.
Rebellion and unyieldingness might be something the hero and the shooter shared in common.
Holding a pen with his right hand, with the arm apparently stiffened after the accident, Maroney drew a picture, in which a shooter aimed on the wheelchair.
"I will never stop shooting," he said.
In the Australian Paralympic team there was a 66-year-old veteran shooter, who was a ten-time Paralympian with nine gold medals.
Maroney said jokingly that he was the body guard of the elderly lady, who, he noted seriously, inspired him a lot.
"I will also compete in as many Paralympics as I can," he said firmly.
