STAFF at Sainsbury’s in Alton were “delighted” to welcome Paralympian Owen Burke to the store.

Owen is part of the target shooting team and will be heading off to Rio for next week’s opening ceremony. He has been training in Germany and at Stoke Mandeville, and took time out from his busy schedule to meet customers and colleagues at the store.

As part of Sainsbury’s support for the GB Paralympic team, athletes have been visiting every store in the UK.

Owen first discovered target shooting when he attended a Paralympics GB sports fest after London 2012. After experiencing a number of sports, he decided that shooting was for him and he joined a club in Porthmadog in Wales.

Since joining the GB team in 2013, Owen has competed in numerous IPC Shooting World Cup events, with one the highlights being his fifth place finish in the R1 10m air rifle standing men SH1 event at Fort Benning in the United States in 2012. This win secured his place with the GB team for Rio 2016.

Sainsbury’s staff at the Draymans Way store wished Owen “the very best of luck in his first Paralympics”.