Alex Taransky

Alex Taransky was a three-time shooting sport Olympian, appearing at the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Games. He won two gold medals at the 1982 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, both in pairs, in rapid-fire pistol and center-fire pistol. After his competitive career he worked as a shooting coach.

Taransky was born in Smolensk, in Russia, and during World War II he and his mother were taken to a farm work camp in Germany, while his father was in the Army. After the war the family reunited at a displaced persons camp in Lahda, Germany. The family left for Australia in 1949, where he would later study at a teachers’ college, starting his teaching career at Kimba Area School. He started his shooting career in 1967 when the family moved to Adelaide from Mannum and he joined the Adelaide Pistol Club.