Elizabeth "Libby" Callahan (born February 25, 1952) is an American sport shooter. She is a four-time Olympian, and a two-time medalist for pistol shooting at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

(

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the ...

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

and

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

, Canada). She also worked as a police officer in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

for almost three decades, before retiring in 2003.

Shooting career

Callahan, born in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the ci ...

, started out her sporting career in 1980, when she learned shooting with the

Metropolitan Police Department The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

She went on to become a five-time women's police revolver champion in various local competitions, until she took up international, Olympic-style shooting, after joining the U.S. Army reserve in 1985. Three years later, Callahan became a member of the U.S. national shooting team, and had achieved numerous titles and top-ten finishes at the USA Shooting National Championships. She captured three more medals (one silver and two bronze) in air and pistol shooting at the 1992, 2001, and 2005

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 ...

series. She also competed for all pistol shooting events at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, 1996 Summer Olympics in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

, and 2004 Summer Olympics in

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

, but she neither reached the final round, nor claimed an Olympic medal. Sixteen years after competing in her first Olympics, Callahan qualified for her fourth U.S. shooting team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, by winning the sport pistol from the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

. At age fifty-six, Callahan also held her distinction of being the oldest female and most experienced member of the U.S. Olympic team, and consequently, surpassed the record set by equestrian rider Kyra Downton (who competed as a 55-year-old 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 ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of ...

). She competed only in the women's 25 m pistol, where she was able to shoot 287 targets in the precision stage, and 288 in the rapid fire, for a total score of 575 points, finishing only in twenty-fifth place.

Olympic results

References

External links

* *
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callahan, Elizabeth American female sport shooters American police officers Living people Shooters at the 1992 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Columbia, South Carolina 1952 births Olympic shooters for the United States Shooters at the 1991 Pan American Games Shooters at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in shooting Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in shooting 21st-century American women U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program 20th-century American women