Michael Babb (born 14 October 1963 in Farnborough, Kent) is a British sport shooter. He has competed for Team GB 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 British Empire Game ...

(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 Warrington, 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 populati ...

. 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 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

, but his marksmanship prominence did not occur until 1999, when he won a silver in rifle prone at the European Championships in Bordeaux, France. Babb's monumental effort had earned him an Olympic place for Team GB on his debut at Sydney 2000, but suddenly failed to reach the final in the

50 m rifle prone 50 meter rifle prone (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event consisting of 60 shots from the prone position with a .22 Long Rifle (5.6 mm) caliber rifle. The time limit is 7 ...

, 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 ...

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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

. There, he pocketed a silver medal in his signature event with a score of 699.0, losing the title to Australia's Timothy Lowndes by less than a point. Babb also teamed up with

Neil Day Neil Day (born 1965) is a male retired British sport shooter. Sport shooting career He represented England and won a silver medal in the 50 metres rifle prone (pair) with Philip Scanlan, at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ...

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 h ...

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 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 ...

, 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 The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 ( Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

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 me ...

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

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* {{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