Here you can read the latest news articles on Ryan including his awards and shooting triumphs. Click on any of the links below the articles to visit the real article websites.
Medals for Britain at Poland Shooting World Cup - Paralympics.org.uk
Great Britains disability shooting development squad returned from the first shooting world cup of 2010 with top medal-winning performances.
The eight-strong squad of Brits which was made up of the GB development squad returned this week from the event in Szczecin, Poland with three gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
Ryan Cockbill, competing in his first international contest, put in a superb performance for Britain to return with a gold, a silver and a bronze, while Jean Guild won gold and silver.
Cockbill, who is aged 20 and from Birmingham, won his gold in the Falling Target Rifle SH2 beating team-mate Georgina Callingham into bronze medal spot and Johann Windhofer into silver.
In the R5 10m Air Rifle Prone Cockbill shot 598 to enter the final round in first place but shot a final score of 102.4 to take the bronze. This time round it was Georgina Callingham who finished in the higher position, shooting a fantastic final score of 106, having scored 595 in the earlier round, to finish with the silver medal. Gold went to Jonas Anderson of Denmark, who scored 597 and 104.3.
Essex shooter Adam Fontain took gold in the R4 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 with his total score of 694.4 (596 and 98.4). He beat Ryan Cockbill into second place by just 0.3 with Cockbill scoring a total score of 694.1. Greece's Panagiotis Chatzioannidis took bronze.
There was also further medals for Britain in the pistol shooting competitions, with Southport's Jean Guild taking gold in the P2 10m Air Pistol Women SH1 with a score of 354 out of 400. She beat Denmark's Lone Overbye and Greece's Elwni Zampoura, who took silver and bronze respectively.
Guild followed that up with a silver medal in the Falling Target Pistol competition.
The 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 saw Surrey's Mandy Pankhurst just miss out on a podium spot, with her score of 376 placing her in fourth, while there was a 6th and 7th place finish in the P1 10m Air Pistol SH1 for Andy Gardiner (scoring 535) and Adrian Bunclark (scoring 512).
Scunthorpe's Rob Mcleary, who made his international competitive debut at the event, finished 6th in the R5 Air Rifle Prone with his final score of 695.1 before finishing 10th in the R4 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2.
Head Coach Pasan Kularatne said: I am extremely pleased with the performance of the development squad shooters at this event, particularly as its the first world cup of the year. The team has been working hard in the build up to this event. I would also like to thank all the technical coaches and support staff whose work has helped to achieve these results.
The IPC Shooting World Cup in Poland took place from March 24 to 28 and included competitors from eight nations including Poland, Slovakia, and Greece.
The full squad for the competition was made up of Ryan Cockbill (Birmingham), Georgina Callingham (High Wycombe, Bucks), Adam Fontain (Basildon, Essex), Jean Guild (Southport, Merseyside), Mandy Pankhurst (Ash, Surrey), Andy Gardiner (Oxfordshire) and Adrian Bunclark (Newton Abbott, Devon) and Rob Mcleary (Scunthorpe). They were supported by Head Coach Pasan Kularatne, Rifle Coach Louise Minett, Pistol Coach James Marsh Brown and support staff Andrew Cockbill, Steven Connolly and Nicholas Badger.
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Three Medals for Great Barr Shooting Star - The Birmingham Mail
A BRAVE paralympian hopeful is on target for London 2012 after scooping bronze, silver and gold in his first international competition.
Ryan Cockbill, of Great Barr, was part of an eight-strong squad of Brits who competed at the IPC Shooting World Cup in Poland. Despite breaking his neck three years ago in a swimming pool accident the 19 year-old competed against teams from eight nations including Poland, Slovakia and Greece in three events: Prone, Standing and Falling Target. And he won a trophy in every one.
Ryan’s accident left him tetraplegic – paralysed from the chest down. He is unable to walk and has limited use of his arms and so took up wheelchair rugby and shooting to help him pass the time. But his talent has developed to such an extent that the former Aldridge School pupil is now a serious contender for the London Games in both disciplines.
“It’s such a buzz to represent Great Britain,” he said. “I hadn’t expected to win anything, I was only going for the experience."
“I was happy when I won the bronze but then came the gold and I was really happy.” The silver medal was the icing on the cake. Head Coach Pasan Kularatne praised Ryan’s “superb performance” in the games which were held from March 24 to 28.
“I am extremely pleased with the performance of all the development squad shooters at this event, particularly as it’s the first world cup of the year,” he said. Mum Karen, aged 49, said: “If he carries on the way he has over the next two years, he has a very good chance of being selected for the Paralympics.”
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Local Heroes 2009 @ The Molineux, Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club
Inspirational stories of bravery, fortitude and selflessness were shared during an emotional ceremony to honour unsung heroes from across the West Midlands.
Ten worthy winners took to the stage in front of a star-studded audience at Molineux to be honoured for their bravery and contributions to society at the sixth annual Local Heroes awards, organised by the Express & Star, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Birmingham Midshires.
Brave Bethany Jordan melted the hearts of the audience, which included Wolves players and manager Mick McCarthy, when she bounded on stage to collect her award. The bubbly six-year-old, of High Park Avenue in Wollaston, was born with five spleens, a back-to-front liver, two left lungs and a stomach on the wrong side. Bethany was serenaded by X Factor girl group Belle Sorelle, who hail from Kinver and Stourbridge, on stage when she collected her award.
Wheelchair-bound 19-year-old Ryan Cockbill was also honoured for his personal courage after being left paralysed in a swimming pool accident three years ago.
The sports-loving teenager, of Ravenhurst Drive in Great Barr, battled to overcome physical and mental trauma and now plays wheelchair rugby for Wolverhampton Rhinos while also currently being the West Midlands’ junior shooting champion. He also has his sights set on becoming a Paralympic gold medallist in 2012.
Ryan was presented with his framed Express & Star special front page and a cheque from Birmingham Midshires from Radio WM presenter Joanne Malin (above), who said he was an inspiration.
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