Lehi People
Beau Thomas of Lehi wins gold medal at shooting world championship
Lehi’s own Beau Thomas won the gold medal in the Match of Nations at the World Championship, held in Cairo, Egypt, from Oct. 28 through Nov. 3. Thomas was also awarded an individual gold medal at the African Championship and a bronze in the Team Event.
The 34th World Helice Championship featured 300 of the world’s top helice shooters from 17 countries. The competition included six distinct events: Presidents Cup, with 12 targets over one day; the Grand Prix, with 20 targets over one day; the 10th African Championship, with 30 targets over two days; the Team Event at the African Championship, where the first 15 targets from each division (men, women, junior and senior) were combined; the World Championship, with 30 targets over three days; and the Match of Nations, where the top three men from each nation shot a total of 60 targets, with each shooter aiming at 20 targets.
Thomas competed in all events, winning three medals: a bronze in the Team Event at the African Championship, an individual gold at the African Championship, and a men’s gold medal for the Match of Nations at the World Championship.
“Winning the gold at the match of nations and the African Championship was a combination of hard work and dedication. The overwhelming feeling of pride when we realized that we won was amazing. All the hours of practice, all the times I’ve been in similar situations and come up short. It finally all came together on one of the world’s biggest stages,” said Thomas.
Thomas has been involved in trap shooting since he was young. His interest in the sport sparked when he would tag along with his dad and brothers.
“My dad had me picking up a shotgun at the age of 8 years old. From there, I started shooting my first trap competitions at the age of 9. Trap was my game for many of my childhood years until the age of 15,” said Thomas.
When Thomas was 15, he was invited to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, where he learned Olympic Trap shooting, or “Bunker Trap.”
“I shot competitively through most of my high school years, but then when it was time to go to college, I stopped shooting competitively,” said Thomas.
After completing his master’s degree, Thomas returned to the trap shooting sport. He took on a coaching role for the Wasatch Wing and Clay Youth Shooting team, where he spent five years as the head coach. It was at that time that he felt strongly about shooting competitively again.
“I spent five years as the head coach before realizing my time in shooting wasn’t over. I started shooting competitively again in 2016. I mainly shot Olympic trap between 2016 and 2020 when COVID hit and Olympic competition grinded to a halt. At that point, I found Helice. The Helice world was still holding shooting competitions during the hard years of COVID and is gaining popularity as a shooting sport throughout the U.S. every day,” said Thomas.
Helice is a form of competitive shotgun shooting. It is in the family of clay target sports, but a helice target is made of plastic, which shatters when shot.
“In the game of Helice, you have five boxes out in front of you at approximately 27 meters. From one of those boxes, you will get an unknown target with an unknown flight path, which you have to stop before it leaves a fenced area about the size of a softball infield. Separate the cap from the wing inside the fenced area, and it’s a hit. If you hit the target but it falls outside the area, it’s a loss,” said Thomas.
The sport of Helice was originally created to simulate a form of live pigeon shooting and is difficult as the targets fly randomly at high speeds. The shooters must rely on instinct and quick responses for accuracy.
Practicing the sport isn’t an easy task for Thomas. He travels across state lines during the summer months and to St. George during the winter months.
Thomas said, “In the summer, I train on a private ranch in a small town in Nevada, and in the winter, I train in St. George at Blue Skies Helice, which is located at Purgatory Gun Club. I do, however, train a couple of times a week at my home club of Wasatch Wing and Clay. They don’t have a helice ring, so I train shooting clay targets.”
Thomas grew up in Lehi City and is a graduate of Lehi High School. He was involved in multiple sports in high school, but he was passionate about the sport of shooting.
“From the time I was a young kid, shooting just clicked for me,” said Thomas.
Thomas currently serves as the Deputy City Administrator for Lehi and loves his job.
“I genuinely love my job and feel grateful to work with such a supportive team,” he said. “Working with such caring and motivating people is a privilege, and I couldn’t ask for a better environment to serve our community.”
Thomas attributes his work ethic to the sport of shooting, and he has gained many pertinent skills that help him succeed both as an athlete and a professional.
He said, “When you think about shooting, you think it is all about physically shooting targets, when in fact that is just the beginning. I like to say once you learn to shoot, it becomes 95% a mental game. There are many skills I have learned from this sport: resilience, mental toughness, discipline, focus, concentration, adaptability, goal setting, teamwork, patience, confidence, stress management, emotional control and, most of all, my work ethic.”
Thomas loves Lehi and felt it an honor to represent the community and the country on the world stage.
“As a Lehi boy still living in Lehi, let me just say that Lehi runs in my blood. It was amazing knowing that I was not only representing Lehi overseas, but I was representing my country,” said Thomas.
