He will represent Australia in the short bore 50m rifle three positions men’s event.

Burge has known of his Olympic selection since March but it wasn’t finalised until the selection process was played out via the appeals system.

His name has now appeared on the star studded Olympic Games Australian shooting team website alongside champions Matthew Inabinet - 10m rifle, Russell Mark - double trap, Sue McCready - 10m air rifle, Dina Aspandiyarova - 10m air pistol, and Michael Diamond - trap.

“Ben has been focused on the Beijing Olympics since winning silver and bronze at Commonwealth Games at Melbourne in March 2006,” Burge’s mother Julie said from her home at Bonnie Doon, Holbrook, on Monday.

At Beijing, Ben will have the opportunity to achieve his life’s ambition: “to be the first Australian to win gold for the three position.”

He is currently out of the country, competing in the world cup in Germany. “Ben had travelled to London on May 12 to batch test his new air rifle before competing in Germany,” she said.

“Pressures built up when his rifle went missing - sent on a separate flight and only arriving in Germany at 3am on the day he was to compete.”

From Germany Ben will travel to Italy to compete in another world cup before returning home for a short stay before the run-up to the Olympics.

Julie anticipates Ben will visit his home town before joining the Olympic practice squad, possibly in Malaysia.

Ben has come a long way from the 15 year old who stated shooting as a school sport at the Scots School Albury, aged 15.

Although missing out on Olympic selection in Australia in 2000 and Athens in 2004 by only one place, he competed in the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.

His trajectory has seen him competing with the best in the world.

Career highlights for Burge includes his silver medal win in the teams event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and the bronze medal in the individual. He set a new Australian record for the men’s three position in the same year.

In recent performances in 2007, Burge came second in 50m rifle three positions and third in the 10m rifle at the Oceana Championships in Sydney. In the 10m rifle, he came 67th in the ISFF world cup in Australia.