Lina Jones Explained

Lina Jones
Landscape:yes
Birth Name:Lina Bendaraviciute
Citizenship:British
Birth Date:13 January 1968
Birth Place:Kaunas, Lithuania
Occupation:Interpreter
Height:162 cm
Weight:62 kg
Spouse:Peter Jones
Father:-->
Country:United Kingdom
Sport:Shooting
Event:50-metre rifle prone
Club:Bookham Rifle Club
Coach:Michael Babb

Lina Jones (; born 13 January 1968) is a British sports shooter. As of 2023, she has won the British Prone Championship three times, including back-to-back wins in 2022 and 2023.She has represented England at two Commonwealth Games. She represented Great Britain at the 2014 ISSF World Championships and 2015 European Shooting Championships.

Early life

Lina started shooting at the age of eight with a rifle club in her hometown of Kaunas, Lithuania. In the run up to the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Lithuania hosted some events of the Spartakiad and a world-class range was built close to her home. In 1986 she was awarded Master of Sport of the Soviet Union and studied sport shooting and physical education at university.

Following Lithuanian independence in 1991, Lina met an English shooter John Miller, who was visiting Lithuania to shoot. Miller invited Lina to shoot at the British Small-bore Championships at Bisley. She later moved to the UK to work, meeting her future husband Peter Jones. The couple married in 1993.

Shooting career

Between 1986 and 1991 Jones became Lithuanian women's champion in 50-metre prone rifle, 50-metre three-position rifle and 10-metre air rifle.

In 2012 Jones was selected as a reserve for the British team travelling to the 2013 Pershing Match.[1]

Jones represented Great Britain at the 2014 ISSF World Shooting Championships in Granada, where she placed 28th and set a new British Women's record in the 50m Prone Rifle event.

Jones was selected to represent England in the Women's Prone Rifle event at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games.[2] [3] [4] She qualified for the finals at both Games, finishing fifth in 2014[5] and fourth in 2018.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2013 Pershing Team Decided . nsra.co.uk . . 17 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231017142844/https://www.nsra.co.uk/news/shooting-news/1290--sp-15692 . 17 October 2023 . en-gb . 2012 . live.
  2. Web site: Shooting Athlete Profile: Lina Jones . Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games . https://web.archive.org/web/20220519030738/https://results.gc2018.com/en/shooting/athlete-profile-n6035058-lina-jones.htm . 19 May 2022 . en . dead.
  3. News: Gary Anderson . English shooter Gault targets Commonwealth Games medals record at Glasgow 2014 . 17 October 2023 . insidethegames . Dunsar Media Company . 22 April 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200806163249/https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1019622/english-shooter-gault-targets-commonwealth-games-medals-record-at-glasgow-2014 . 6 August 2020 . en-gb.
  4. Web site: Lina Jones England Shooting Team Team England . Team England . Commonwealth Games England . https://web.archive.org/web/20200925215849/https://teamengland.org/team-england-athletes/lina-jones . 25 September 2020 . en-gb . live.
  5. News: Shooting: Women's 50m rifle prone results . 17 October 2023 . BBC Sport . 28 July 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231017153557/https://www.bbc.com/sport/commonwealth-games/28524010 . 17 October 2023 . en.
  6. News: Commonwealth Games: Shooting – Women's 50m Rifle Prone . 17 October 2023 . BBC Sport . 12 April 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231017153717/https://www.bbc.com/sport/commonwealth-games/43734627 . 17 October 2023 . en-gb.