Joshua's Story
Growing up in Camden, on the southwestern outskirts of Sydney, Joshua Bell took up shooting because it was what his Dad did.
“It was a way for my Dad and myself to spend time together,” Joshua said.
Both father and son enjoyed skeet shooting, where participants use shotguns to hit clay targets flung from two fixed stations.
The youngster caught the attention of the clay target shooting world when he won B grade at the 2011 NSW Skeet Carnival.
A plumber by trade who works in construction, Joshua has continued to juggle shooting with his full-time career.
He made it on to his first world championship team in 2023 and nailed down a spot at the Paris Olympics after consistent performances on the World Cup circuit.
At the 2023 Oceania Championships, Joshua finished with silver in the men’s skeet and won the men’s skeet team event, with Frank Morris and Elie Lahoud.
Joshua Bell and Aislin Jones won a bronze medal in the mixed skeet team at the World Cup event in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May 2024. It was Australia’s first-ever medal in a skeet team event at an ISSF World Cup. The Australians defeated the USA’s Austen Jewell Smith, a four-time world champion, and Conner Lynn Prince 42-41 in the bronze medal play-off.
Joshua’s guiding light in his sporting career is his hero, Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer. “I feel he’s made just as much impact off the court as he has on the court,” Joshua said, “a true gentleman, father and husband who never lost grip on just being a down to earth human.”
