Rob Leatham
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 27 January 1961 (age 56) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medal record
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Jennings Leatham (born January 27, 1961 in Mesa, Arizona), also known as "TGO" (a nickname coined by his friend Brian Enos, it stands for "The Great One" and has since been used by Springfield Armory on a series of Leatham-inspired pistols) is a professional shooter. He is a 24-time USPSA National champion and 7-time International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC) World Champion.
Leatham was born to parents Nyle and Carol at the Southside Hospital in Mesa, Arizona. From the time he could walk, he always carried a stick with him wherever he went. His mother believes it was his weapon of choice before the introduction to guns.
Leatham developed an interest in firearms at an early age and was surrounded by them as he grew up. His earliest childhood memories from the age of five or six entail weekends that his mom and dad would pack up the family and head to the desert to shoot. Leatham has an older brother, Alan, and two younger siblings, David and sister Susan, and they all spent a substantial portion of their childhood shooting and competing with handguns, shotguns and rifles. While tin cans and paper plates were the standard targets, Leatham was rarely the winner in the family competitions.
On Leatham's twelfth birthday, he received his first gun. His family surprised him with a new Smith & Wesson Model 34 revolver on one of their trips to shoot in the desert. As the family desert competitions evolved, Leatham's father designed the five-yard game: if the target was missed you were out, but if you hit it, you moved back five yards and shot again. Whoever got the furthest back, won the game. Leatham would often lose and his mother feels his siblings beat him simply because they tried harder.
Leatham continued desert shooting throughout his teenage years but also became involved in other sports. He played basketball and competed in track-and-field after school. Leatham fit the profile of an athlete, tall, lean, fit and muscular, but never thought of becoming a professional pistol shooter. He developed an interest in racing motorcycles, which continues to this day - he currently owns a Honda RC30 and has stated he will never sell the bike. Leatham's mother never allowed him to own a motorcycle while living at home, so he moved out after graduation and bought his first street bike.
...
Wikipedia