Sportsman of the year Brian Galea on his achievements in target shooting

Brian Galea has just been declared Sport Malta’s sportsman of the year for his achievements in target shooting. The 45-year-old’s passion for target shooting emerged at a young age. Throughout his career he won numerous competitions locally and also carried Malta’s flag abroad. For such efforts he was recognised by Sport Malta.

“I have been practising shooting since young age, when I was introduced to the sport by my father, who used to practise shooting as well,” Galea told MaltaToday. “I started with the discipline called ‘Down the Line’ which is very popular in Malta.  Then I ventured in Trap Olympic and started competing locally and in international competitions.”

With regards to his award, Galea named a number of achievements which he believe that led the jury to vote for him as the sportsman of the year. These include winning a bronze medal in the Commonwealth games and in Malta’s grand prix.

Looking back at his career thus far, Brian named his participation in the Commonwealth games as his biggest achievement. This will remain memorable for Brian as he travelled back to Malta with a medal.

As a Maltese athlete practising target shooting, Brian is faced with a number of everyday challenges. Two major obstacles are the weather conditions as well as the balance between the sports and his personal work.

“Trap shooting is an outdoor sport therefore weather conditions are critical,” he said. You need to train during the day and with winter days being shorter, scheduling work and training sessions is not easy.”

Galea is also looking to the future. 

The sportsman of the year intends to keep on training hard to achieve better results. This year alone he will compete in the European Championship, World Cup and the GSSE qualification.

And his ultimate dream is to participate in the 2020 Olympics which will take place in Tokyo.

Galea lives in Mosta and has two children named Neil and Kim.