Kim Frazer (born 16 April 1959, in Melbourne) is an Australian sport shooter.[2] She has been selected to compete for Australia in small-bore rifle shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics, and has yielded a tally of ten medals in a major international competition, spanning the Oceanian Championships and four editions of the Commonwealth Games (1994 to 2006).[1] Before her retirement in 2006, Frazer also became a full-fledged member of Melbourne International Shooting Club, where she trained under the tutelage of John Dismore.[1]

Kim Frazer
Personal information
Full nameKim Frazer
Nationality Australia
Born (1959-04-16) 16 April 1959 (age 65)
Melbourne, Australia
Height1.67 m (5 ft 5+12 in)
Weight52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
SportShooting
Event(s)10 m air rifle (AR40)
50 m rifle prone (STR60PR)
50 m rifle 3 positions (STR3X20)
ClubMelbourne International Shooting
Club[1]
Coached byJohn Dismore
Miroslav Šipek (national)[1]
Medal record
Women's shooting
Representing  Australia
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1994 Victoria BC 50m Rifle Prone - Pair
Gold medal – first place 1998 Kuala Lumpur 50m Rifle Prone - Pair
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 50m Rifle Prone

Frazer began shooting at the age of eighteen with the Melbourne University Rifle Society, but achieved prominence internationally in 1994 and 1998, when she finished sixth each in the individual rifle prone, and then shared gold medals with Sylvia Purdie and Carrie Quigley respectively in the pairs at the Commonwealth Games.[3]

On her third attempt at Manchester 2002, Frazer shot a brilliant 588 to successfully capture her first individual Commonwealth Games gold in the rifle prone on a countback from South Africa's Esmari van Reenen.[3][4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Frazer qualified for her first ever Australian team, as a 45-year-old, in the 50 m rifle 3 positions. She managed to beat Robyn van Nus at the Olympic trials in Sydney to snatch one of Olympic berths that her teammate had claimed from the Oceanian Championships a year earlier.[1][5] A less experienced to the sporting event, Frazer put up a lackluster feat by marking 192 in prone, a modest 175 in standing, and 184 in the kneeling series to accumulate a total score of 555 points in the qualifying round, closing her out of the final to round off the 33-shooter field with Macedonia's Divna Pešić in a two-way draw.[6]

When her native Melbourne hosted the 2006 Commonwealth Games, Frazer and her partner Susannah Smith slipped out of the podium to fourth in the rifle prone pairs at 1160 points, just a single target behind second runner-up New Zealand.[7] Since retiring from the competition shortly after her fourth Commonwealth Games, Frazer has continued her involvement with shooting both as a coach and an administrator.

After retiring from shooting, Frazer took up Contract Bridge in 2005 and in 2018 made the Australian women's team.[8] In 2019 she published Gaining the Mental Edge at Bridge, discussing the application of sports psychology to bridge, which won the International Bridge Press Association's "Book of the Year" award in 2020.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "ISSF Profile – Kim Frazer". ISSF. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kim Frazer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Frazer on target, finally". The Age. 3 August 2002. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Frazer fires for gold". Manchester 2002. 3 August 2002. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  5. ^ "Shooting 2004 Olympic Qualification" (PDF). Majority Sports. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Shooting: Women's 50m Rifle 3 Positions Prelims". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Aussie pair win shooting bronze". ABC News Australia. 18 March 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  8. ^ "About – Having the Mental Edge". Retrieved 31 January 2021.
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