Adam's Story
Olympic bronze medallist, World Champion and multiple Commonwealth Games Champion – Adam Vella has just about done it all in trap shooting. Born and raised in Melbourne, Vella took up the sport when he was 13 and has since become one of the nation’s most decorated shooters.
Teaming up with fellow Australian shooting royalty in Michael Diamond and Russell Mark, the trio won the trap teams event at the 1999 World Championships. He went on to win gold with Diamond in the pairs event and silver in the individual event at the 2002 Commonwealth Games before defending his pairs gold four years later in Delhi. Vella secured individual trap gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
He was ranked as the world’s top trap shooter in 2003, a feat he also achieved in 2007, and went into the Athens 2004 Games as one of the medal favourites. Having qualified in equal fourth with a score of 121-125, he shot 24/25 in the final to secure a place on the Olympic podium.
Having missed out on competing at the Beijing 2008 Games by a single target, Vella returned to Olympic competition in 2012 in London where he shot 119/125 to miss the final by three targets. Four years on, Vella shot 115/125 to miss a shoot-off for a spot in the Rio 2016 semi-finals by three targets.
