Michael Babb (born 14 October 1963 in

Farnborough, Kent Farnborough is a village in south-eastern Greater London, England, located in the historic county of Kent. Situated south of Locksbottom, west of Green Street Green, north of Downe and Hazelwood, and east of Keston, it is centred southeas ...

) is a British sport shooter. He has competed for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their Great Britain at the Olympics, British Olympic team. The brand was developed after Great Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the nation's poor perfor ...

in small-bore rifle prone at two Olympics (2000 and 2004), and has been close to an Olympic medal in 2004, finishing in seventh position. Apart from his Olympic career, Babb has won a total of seven medals in a major international competition, including two silvers at the

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 ...

(2002 and 2006). Throughout his sporting career, Babb trains full-time under assistant head coach Kimmo Yli-Jaskari of the national team, while he shoots at Appleton Rifle Club in

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

. Babb began shooting small-bore rifle at the age of 14, and quickly progressed to the British Junior Training Squad that culminated him in a runner-up finish at the European Championships in 1983. As medals and records followed, Babb attained a reserve position for the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, but his marksmanship prominence did not occur until 1999, when he won a silver in rifle prone at the European Championships in

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

. Babb's monumental effort had earned him an Olympic place for

on his debut at

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, but suddenly failed to reach the final in the 50 m rifle prone, after finishing in a five-way tie for twenty-fifth place at 592 points. In 2002, Babb was able to back up his feat from the Olympics when

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

hosted the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. There, he pocketed a silver medal in his signature event with a score of 699.0, losing the title to Australia's

Timothy Lowndes Timothy Quentin Lowndes (born 28 September 1979 in Lilydale, Victoria) is an Australian sport shooter. He has competed for Australia in rifle shooting at two Olympics (2000 and 2004), and has been close to an Olympic final in 2004, finishing tw ...

by less than a point. Babb also teamed up with Neil Day to dominate the field in the rifle prone pairs, recording a first-place combined score at 1189 points. On that same season, Babb won his first ever individual gold at the

ISSF World Cup The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four comp ...

meet in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

with a brilliant 700.7, securing him an Olympic berth for Britain at his second Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Babb qualified for his second British team in the men's 50 m rifle prone. Clearly an Olympic medal hopeful, Babb shot 595 out of a possible 600 to grab the sixth seed from the prelims, before ruling out of his contention to seventh in the eight-man final round with 101.8 points for a total of 696.8. Shortly after the Olympics, Babb won a silver medal in the rifle prone at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

with a score of 696.2, repeating his effort at Manchester four years earlier.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babb, Michael 1964 births Living people British male sport shooters Olympic shooters of Great Britain Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Shooters at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in shooting 21st-century British people