John Robert (Bob) Braithwaite MBE (28 September 1925 – 26 February 2015) was a British trap shooter who represented his country at the 1964 Summer Olympics and the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

, winning a gold medal at the latter.

Biography

Born at

Arnside Arnside is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, historically part of Westmorland, near the border with Lancashire, England. The Lake District National Park is located a few miles North. Travelling by road, Arnside is to the south of Kendal, ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

, and educated at the Friends School Lancaster and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, Braithwaite qualified as a

Veterinary Surgeon Veterinary surgery is surgery performed on animals by veterinarians, whereby the procedures fall into three broad categories: orthopaedics (bones, joints, muscles), soft tissue surgery (skin, body cavities, cardiovascular system, GI/urogenital/ ...

in 1947. Already a notable game shot, in 1956 he began competing in trap shooting events and within a short time he had become one of the country's leading target shooters. In 1964 he gained a place in the British Shooting Team for the

Tokyo Olympic Games Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics * 1964 Summer Olympics * 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021) See also

* Tokyo bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics * Tokyo Paralympics (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

where he was placed 7th in the Trap Event. Qualifying again for the 1968 Games in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

his busy veterinary practice provided him with little time to travel to the few training grounds available. Instead he installed a powerful oscillating trap on a piece of ground known as Rough Lot, adjacent to the Braithwaites' old family farm. With the help of the local priest, who volunteered to operate the trap, Braithwaite would shoot 50 targets twice a week. At the Mexico Games the trap event consisted of 200 targets in eight stages shot over two days. In the first stage Braithwaite missed two targets. He then proceeded to break every one of the subsequent 175 targets equalling the Olympic record and earning for himself the gold medal. He shot alongside fellow GB and friend, Eric Grantham from East Yorkshire. Though he won many other events during his career, inevitably it is for his Olympic victory that he is best remembered. Braithwaite's achievement represents one of the last occasions in the history of the Olympic Games in which a gifted amateur with steely determination and great skill won over a field consisting predominantly of commercially sponsored and government-funded professionals.

Olympic results

References

1925 births 2015 deaths English Olympic medallists Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire Olympic shooters for Great Britain Olympic medalists in shooting Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Shooters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1968 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics British male sport shooters People from Arnside {{UK-sportshooting-bio-stub