A huge well done to Donald McIntosh, the High Performance Manager for Scottish Target Shooting, as he was inducted into the University of Edinburgh Sports Union Hall of Fame on 31 May 2016.
Donald McIntosh is a true great in the world of shooting, with medal success as an international competitor for Scotland and now a renowned coach of athletes involved at Commonwealth, World and Olympic level.
Donald took up shooting in 1978 and was a prominent member of Edinburgh University Rifle Club while at University, gaining a Half-Blue in 1986/87 and a Full Blue in 1987/88. In 1988 he won the British Universities’ 3P individual championship. He later helped to form the Edinburgh University Alumni Rifle Club with one of his fellow shooters and future wife, Shirley. Shirley is herself a successful shooter, winning gold and silver in the smallbore events at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria in 1994 and two bronze medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.
Donald won his first international cap in 1989 and went on to be capped 59 times in his competitive career. At the Commonwealth Championships in 1999 and again in 2001, he was a gold medallist in the 50m rifle 3P pairs event with partner Martin Sinclair, and he competed at the Commonwealth Championships in 1997, 1999 and 2001 as well as the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. He was also the Scottish Champion in 10m Air Rifle, 50m 3P, and 50m Prone events.
Following his competitive career, he began coaching in 2003 and is now a pre-eminent force in the success of Scottish and British shooting. Athletes with whom he has worked (including his own two daughters Jennifer and Seonaid) have won medals at the European Championship, U21 World Championships, World Cups, Commonwealth Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He was Head Coach for Scotland at both the 2006 and 2010 Games with the Scottish Shooting team winning six Gold, two Silver and two Bronze medals and was Team Manager at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where the Scottish Shooting team won 4 medals. Donald was Head Rifle Coach at the London 2012 Olympics, a role he has retained for the forthcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Inducted into the Scottish Smallbore Rifle Hall of Fame in 2007, Donald is currently head rifle coach with British Shooting and Performance Manager for Scottish Target Shooting.