Ireland's William Tell: Fairclough takes dead aim at Athens, then LA

Jack Fairclough has gone from discovering skeet shooting at his birthday party to being on the brink of qualification for the Olympic Games. 

IN HIS SIGHTS: Shooter Jack Fairclough: 'I was just a bit of a nerd back in the day. I just played a lot of video games and the hand-eye coordination just naturally helped.' Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

You may hear Jack Fairclough before you see him. Well, not him per se. More so the 12-gauge Beretta DT11 shotgun with customised Ergosign stock that he hopes will see him through to the next Olympic Games, in Los Angeles.

Is it a bang, a crack, or a pop? It’s definitely loud and the sound reverberates around the Courtlough Shooting Range in North Dublin as the 28-year-old calls ‘pull’ and trains that long barrel on the orange clay discs as they whizz across his radar from right and left.