John's Story
John’s Story
John Tremelling was born and raised in Mount Gambier, South Australia, and began rifle shooting as a teenager. After losing the sight in his right eye in a workplace accident in 1954, he adapted his technique and took up pistol shooting, using his left eye to aim. Tremelling competed at the 1958 World Championships before earning selection for the Rome 1960 Olympic Games.
Aged 31 in Rome, Tremelling scored 534 points to finish 21st in the men’s 50-metre free pistol. He remained among Australia’s leading shooters for another two decades and was selected for the Moscow 1980 Australian Olympic Team as the country’s only pistol shooter. He did not compete after the national shooting federation withdrew its athletes amid the Olympic boycott.
Tremelling’s international career continued at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. He finished 11th individually and won the men’s 50-metre free pistol pairs gold medal, scoring a combined 1,077 points.
