
The man with the gold and gun: Nathan Hales is Olympic champion
Great Britain’s Nathan Hales set a new record to win Olympic gold in the men’s trap competition in Paris yesterday, 30 July.
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More than 100 competitors travelled to Staffordshire over the weekend for the 2026 BASC .410 World Championships, held for the first time at Oakedge Shooting Ground.
The BASC .410 World Championships moved to Oakedge Shooting Ground this year after previously being held at venues in Wales, including Dovey Valley Shooting Ground and Fauxdegla International Clay Shooting Centre.
The move to the new venue proved a success, with competitors facing a varied and challenging course featuring everything from tight technical targets to extreme clays that tested accuracy and consistency throughout the day.
Organisers said the competition attracted plenty of new faces alongside experienced regulars, creating a friendly atmosphere and some excellent shooting across all categories.
Nick Beavis once again took the overall title to become the 2026 BASC .410 World Champion. He previously won the championships in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023. You can find out a bit more about Nick in this short feature about him.
Speaking after the event, Mr Beavis said: “It’s been a great competition and it was fantastic to see so many new competitors. I’m over the moon to take the title again and would like to thank BASC, the sponsors and the ground for all their hard work putting on the event.”
BASC Wales director Steve Griffiths said: “We would like to thank all the sponsors who supported this year’s championships, including Promatic for the trap, Eley for supplying 2,500 cartridges, Rural Sports Ltd for sponsoring the women’s category prize shotgun and Shooting Sports UK for sponsoring the pool shoot.”
Special thanks also go to the BASC coaches who refereed throughout the day and to the team at Oakedge Shooting Ground for hosting the event.

Great Britain’s Nathan Hales set a new record to win Olympic gold in the men’s trap competition in Paris yesterday, 30 July.

More than 100 women gathered at Holland & Holland’s shooting grounds on Saturday for the Wilde & Glorious Ladies Cup, sponsored by BASC.

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