2018 Canadian National Pistol Champion!

Just getting caught up after a whirlwind of events, work, and trips... well sort of caught up. ;)

A couple weeks ago I became the 2018 Canadian National Pistol Champion, defending my title and setting a new Canadian Nationals 10m Men's Final record! I also teamed up with 2016 Olympian Lynda Kiejko in the new 10m mixed team event and together we won the National title in the mixed team 10m event!

Kiejko and Harding our National Champions in 10m mixed team event
Photo credit: Kim Britton

Today I took home the gold in the men's 10m pistol event and defended my title to become the 2018 Canadian National Pistol Champion! Also took the 2018 10m mixed team National Champion title with Lynda Kiejko @Cdnshootingstar #targetsports #issf ...dedicated to my grandma ❤️ pic.twitter.com/L3d8p90wmt

— Allan Harding (@alharding) July 12, 2018

Some nice articles from the last couple of months of competing:

• Kiejko and Harding Win Golds, Set Records at Pistol Championship
• Gibsons pistol shooter achieves world ranking
• Pistol Champion Allan Harding Comments on Bill C-71, Competition

In May, I was at the ISSF World Cup stage in Munich, Germany for the final stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series. I shot a 568/600. Awesome!

Here's the grouping from one of my better series of the match:

This is the grouping from my second series at 10m. 10-ring is 11.5mm in diameter. I need to do this every time. #issf_shooters #issf #issfwc @issf_official

A post shared by Allan Harding (@alharding) on May 25, 2018 at 3:24am PDT

Next up in the 52nd ISSF World Championships in Changwon, Korea

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @alharding for my latest updates!

2018 ISSF World Cup Series updates

I am currently at Fort Benning, Georgia for the USA stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series. Finished up today's men's 10m pistol event with a 562 and 17x's. This is my second highest World Cup score and I believe the most x's I've ever shot.

The competition is going well. Picked up on a couple things I need to work on after having a similar mid-match performance in Guadalajara, Mexico a couple months ago in March. The 3rd and 4th series in the match giving me a bit of trouble then I finish strong. I'll get the middle of the match as consistent as the start and end and it will give my scores a boost.

Mexico went well in March. I shot at that range in 2014 at the Championship of the Americas and went back there this year to work on some of the issues I ran into in 2014. So far this ISSF season has been going well.

Me shooting in Guadalajara at the start of the
2018 ISSF World Cup season in March 

Coming up next will be the Canadian Team Trials in Cookstown, Ontario and then I'll go from Toronto to Munich, Germany for the World Cup stage there.

Shot my qualification scores and set a new Canadian 10m Finals Record!

October has been a great month! I shot in Cookstown, Ontario a couple weekends ago and shot 1 of the 2 qualification scores I needed to make the 2018 Canadian Team. I also set a new Canadian Men's 10m Finals record with a score of 235.2!

New Canadian Men's 10m pistol record of 235.2!

This past weekend in Calgary, Alberta at the 2017 Western Canadian Airgun Championships I shot my 2nd qualification score with a 567/600! It's been a long road this year shifting focus back to 10m from the last 2 years of 50m focus I'd been doing. This past month things really came together to secure my spot on the team. Focus!

I've got a new target sports program for youth starting up in November at the Sunshine Coast Rod & Gun club and will post updates once that program kicks off. I'm looking forward to helping a new generation of Olympic style shooters get started!

2017 Canadian National Rifle / Pistol / Shotgun Championsips!

The 2017 Canadian Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun Nationals are all finished and it was a great experience for me. I was able to secure the gold and take the national title in the men's 10m pistol event and took bronze in the 50m pistol event.

Canada's Top 3 10m men's finalists:
Mark Hynes (silver), Allan Harding (gold), Stan Wills (bronze)

My hometown newspaper did a couple of great stories about my 2017 National's journey ("Harding wins 10m, sets sights on 50m" and "Allan Harding working toward Olympic target")

Huge thank you's to Sarah @ URPower, Donna and Katie @ Fortius, Harvey @ Airguns Plus!

Up next are a couple of competitions in Ontario next month and in Manitoba in October! More details to come! Thanks for all the support and follow my journey on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

2017 upcoming competitions and activities!

What a year 2016 was... lots happened in every part of my life! I shot a personal best in Munich, Germany at the World Cup stage hosted there and I became the National Champion at Olympic 50m pistol. I also made a lot of decisions that would help lead me to a path of making it to Tokyo in 2020.

2016 Canadian 50m Pistol National Champion
Photo: Jaclynne Mary

This year I'm scaling back on my competition schedule to focus on a few select events. I'm also focusing on both 10m _and_ 50m. I was planning to stay focused on the 50m event but with the possible change in shooting events proposed by the ISSF I'm going to focus on both events.

The ISSF is meeting this week in New Delhi, India to go over the proposed changes to the Olympic program across all shooting disciplines. A petition was started by Bruce Quick to save the 50m event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sadly, this is the very event I've been working towards.

Upcoming major Canadian competitions:

• Canadian Airgun Grand Prix - May 5-7, 2017
• Canadian National Pistol Championships - Jul 20 - Aug 7, 2017

I also want to give a massive thank you to BC Target Sports for some funding to help with my training and travel this year. I very much appreciate it! Thank you!!

Summer 2016 Update!

So much has been happening since my last blog post. Don't get me started on the blog posting frequency! ;) I really should be better at it.

Rio... eventful World Cup. My pistol arrived with a beat up gun case, broken locks, and a grip that was all loose and out of alignment. Lots of learning happened from this event.

Munich... I shot a new personal best at an international competition shooting a 540/600 in the 50m pistol event. This felt awesome. After spending so much time training this year and having it feel like I was on a plateau and then hitting my goal score in Munich. Awesome.

I'm now near Toronto at the Pan Am Games shooting center venue to compete at the 2016 Canadian National Pistol Championships. After not spending a lot of time in the 10m event and shooting a 556/600 today I am pretty happy. Some more work needed here to get back to the 560-570 range but this year has all been about the 50m pistol event for me. Tomorrow I compete again in the 10m event. More updates to come!

Arrived in Rio, Brazil

Ok the title is a bit misleading since I've actually been here a few days now. ;) Just getting caught up on things now that I've gotten settled in to Rio and gotten used to where things are, and how the buses to the range are scheduled and where to buy things, food, sim cards, etc.

Welcome to Rio!

Rio is pretty incredible! The Canadian Team is staying at a hotel on Copacabana Beach in Rio and the views are stunning at sunrise until sunset.

Copacabana Beach!

Today, I shot my pre event training at the shooting venue which will be the shooting venue for the 2016 Olympics being held this August here in Rio. Everything felt awesome, the range is great, lighting is great, and there was very little wind. Optimal conditions!

Yesterday I was the guest commentator for the men's 10m pistol Finals which you can watch here:

You can also check out a small update in the Coast Report about my current trip to Rio to compete.

Lots more to come! My main event is happening tomorrow morning 11am Rio time.

ISSF World Cup Series first stage complete!

I'm in Hong Kong enjoying a bit of time off after last week's competition in Bangkok, Thailand. I had a great time visiting, competing, and enjoying the hot weather in Bangkok.

The competition was a great experience and one that resulted in some good takeaways to get ready for Rio next month. The toughest part was probably adjusting to the heat and humidity -- I had lots of rain but a lot of cold weather to train in.

I've been posting on other websites and apps also so click the links below to follow me there also:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alharding/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/allanharding
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alharding
Vine: https://vine.co/alharding

Rio, Brazil is next mid-April... stay tuned!

Cold and rainy training!

We've been having some classic Pacific North West weather lately... lots of rain, and the cold temperature makes it challenging to stay warm. I'm enjoying it anyway... it's a day out at the range! :)

Shooting at the Sunshine Coast Rod & Gun Club

Only a couple weeks until I fly to Bangkok and Hong Kong for the first stage in the 2016 ISSF World Cup Series! Training has been going great except for the temperature. I'm glad however that I can shoot outdoors and that it's not covered in snow.

New season! Training for 2016 ISSF season is well under way!

The new year is a great time for doing a check-in with yourself to reflect on the previous year and get set for the current year. 2015 was an exciting time being a pre-Olympic year and being able to compete at the Pan Am Games in Toronto Canada and to have also competed in South Korea and Germany.

This new year has gotten off to a great start -- unlike the speed at which I post here.. ;)

I'm a couple weeks into my 2016 training plan after taking the month of December off. I visited family, moved, and have been focused on making sure I'm on the right track going into the 2016 ISSF World Cup season.

My current plan is to compete at the World Cups hosted in Bangkok, Rio, and Munich as well as competing at the Canadian Airgun Grand Prix (April) and Canadian Nationals (TBD). I'm looking forward to all 5 of those competitions especially Rio which will be the pre-Olympic event held at the Rio 2016 shooting venue.

Canada has not been able to secure a quota spot in any men's pistol events since 1996! Time to change that!

The last Rio 2016 opportunity to secure a quota spot for Team Canada was at the Pan American Games last Summer. For me, it's all about the next 4 years and I have my sights set on Tokyo 2020!

This year I will be focused on the 50m Olympic style shooting event. It's one of the most difficult precision pistol events going back to the 19th century. Shooting has been an Olympic sport since the 1896 Olympics in Athens! The 50m event has had very few changes over the last century and it's only 1 of 2 shooting events whose targets have never changed -- most targets in other shooting events have been reduced in size over time to make it more difficult.

As a software developer, I'm always looking for ways I can leverage those skills to improve my shooting and currently I've tapped into some video game technology to study my movements, timing, follow through. Here's a sneak peek at what I'm working on:

Hacking code to get to Tokyo 2020!

Keep in touch here or find me (@alharding) on Twitter and Instagram and I can be found on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/allanharding

Pan Am Games!

I've had an incredible time at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. It's incredibly cool to be at a major games on home soil. The volunteers here are amazing! A huge thank you to all of them for helping!

I arrived on July 7th a few days before the Games opened so that I could get some training time at the new shooting venue. Our new venue at Toronto International Trap and Skeet will eventually be used to host training camps, competitions, and be our National Team training centre.

Below is a YouTube video I made with my GoPro chest harness of what it was like to walk in to the opening ceremonies with Team Canada.

The only other venue I have been able to get to is beach volleyball due to how our bus schedule works to get from our satellite village at the Nottawasaga Inn in Alliston, ON. We only have one bus to the main village and one back in the afternoon so there isn't a lot of time to get around to see other events.

Watching Team Canada defeat Puerto Rico! Go Canada!

I wasn't able to get out of the qualification round in my event but I do feel that my training and changes that I've made with my coaches and vision team the last two months are starting to really work. Essentially, we've taken apart my shot routine and made some minor adjustments which help with consistency. I was able to shoot 16 x's and the leader had 18 x's so my bullseye hits are deep in the 10 ring which is exactly where I want to be putting them. The next thing will be to tighten up the overall group and minimize the 'flyers'.

Me taking the very first official shot of open training at the Pan Am Games

My teammate Lynda Kiejko won two gold medals in the 10m and 25m events. Along with the shiny gold medals is an Olympic Games quota spot for Canada for Rio 2016!

Lynda Kiejko with her two gold medals! Nice!

My next competition will be the Canadian National Pistol Championships in Camrose, Alberta next month! Registration info can be found on the pistolcanada website.

At the 2015 Pan American Games!

I'll get some more updates out soon! I know I've been slow on getting them out but it just means it's because I've been out at the range training! ;)

Getting ready for opening ceremonies with Team Canada

I'm competing at 9am tomorrow morning and will get back to doing a bit of blogging from the Pan Am Games after the competition is over.

Get lots of other updates from the Pan Am Games from my Instagram (alharding), Twitter (alharding), and Facebook (facebook.com/allanharding).