The son of a Suffolk farmer, John Postans was educated at an Ipswich boarding school before following his father and grandfather’s footsteps and becoming a farmer. An excellent shot, he was selected for the British squad at the 1908 Olympics and won a gold medal as part of the team that won the trap event. In the individual competition, Postans was one of three Britons, along with Charles Palmer and Richard Hutton, who tied for first place on 23 points after the first round of shooting. However, the Canadian team put in an objection to the first round scores and they were allowed to shoot again with one of them, the eventual gold medalist, Walter Ewing taking the lead on 27. Postans withdrew, probably in disgust at the Canadian objection, and thus failed to take part in the second and third rounds of the competition.
Great Britain