Shooter's father reveals cost of Olympic dream

CITY hot-shot Rory Warlow spent nearly £200,000 on his journey to Olympic fame, his dad Rob revealed today.

Rory, 22, is now receiving funding from Great Britain Shooting and Italian gun maker Beretta, famous for providing 007's pistols in the James Bond movies.

Great Britain Shooting have announced a sum of £3million for UK marksmen with an eye on a Rio team place.

But before Rory started to receive substantial funding, the father and son combination had to dip their own hands in their pockets to build Rory's shooting career.

As it is, Great Britain shooter Rory is mulling over the possibility of dropping his Olympic medal bid after Rio in 2016 if things do not go well in Brazil.

He did well at the London Games, narrowly missing out on the shooting final.

But while last summer's Games were put down to experience, Rio is seen as the real deal for Rory.

His father said: "I don't think it was disappointing for Rory to miss out on a medal, as such.

"London was always seen for him as ideal for getting some Olympic experience and he did very well.

"He was very close to getting into the final, which would have meant he was in the world's top six, and that would have been a massive achievement.

"At the moment, he is ranked as number 22 in the world, which is also a great achievement."

Rob said his son was thinking over what to do as a career after he completed his time in international shooting.

He said: "Rory has probably got two or three Olympics in him still.

"Shooters are usually all right until they're 35 or 36.

"I think he wants to go on after Rio. If he does well, he will carry on.

"But it's very difficult, because he's got to try and carve out a career for himself for when he finishes shooting.

"He's going to have a go and try and win a medal in Rio and if he does that, he will have a lot of opportunities in the shooting world.

"What he'd like to do in the future is get a job within shooting."

Rob, who runs his own business, admitted to feeling some relief that Rory was getting some funding to help cover his costs.

He said: "It's got easier in the last two or three years, because Rory is getting some funding.

"But before that, I was spending something like £45,000 a year.

"In all, it's probably cost between £150,000 to £200,000 to get him where he is now.

"When he won his European Championship medal, I reckoned that cost us £100,000.

"It all goes on travelling, hotels, guns and cartridges, which are expensive.

"I am relieved he's getting some funding, because the economy isn't too good at the moment and the work isn't as available as it was."

With the shooting season starting soon, Rory's immediate priority is qualifying for the Great Britain team taking part in the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year.

His first Great Britain selection competition is in Dubai in early spring, which follows a grand prix event in Cyprus.