Ian Roy Ballinger (21 October 1925 – 24 December 2008) was a New Zealand
shooter
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...
who won a bronze medal at 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 ...
.
Ballinger competed at three consecutive
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
(
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
and
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 ...
) and two
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
(
1974 and
1978) in the
50m Rifle - prone event.
He was awarded the
Lonsdale Cup by the
New Zealand Olympic Committee
The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The ''New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association'') is both the National Olympic Committee and the Commonwealth Games Association in New Zealand responsible for selecting athletes to re ...
in 1968, and the following year he won the
Ballinger Belt (named for his great uncle, turn-of-the-century shooting champion
Arthur Ballinger) at the New Zealand rifle shooting championships.
References
1925 births
2008 deaths
Sportspeople from New Plymouth
ISSF rifle shooters
New Zealand male sport shooters
Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand
Olympic shooters for New Zealand
Shooters at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Shooters at the 1972 Summer Olympics
Shooters at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand
Shooters at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games
Shooters at the 1978 Commonwealth Games
Olympic medalists in shooting
Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics
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