Margaret Murdock
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Margaret L. Thompson | ||||||||||||
| Born |
August 25, 1942 Topeka, Kansas USA | ||||||||||||
| Residence | Topeka, Kansas | ||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||
| Country | USA | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Shooting | ||||||||||||
| University team | Kansas State University | ||||||||||||
| Retired | At age 35[1] | ||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | 1976 Montreal | ||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||
Margaret Thompson Murdock (born August 25, 1942) is a nurse and former United States Army officer most widely known for her success in international shooting competitions, including a silver medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics..
Murdock is the first woman to win a medal in Shooting at the Summer Olympics and the first to win an individual open World Shooting Championship.[1] In international competition Murdock set four individual world records and nine team world records.[1] She is a member of five halls of fame, including the USA Shooting Hall of Fame and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.[1]
Early years
| “ | "My first year at K-State, I couldn't shoot on the team because I was a female. I could practice with the K-State team but I couldn't be on the team. They got a new coach and he thought it would be a good idea for me to be on the team since I was shooting better than everyone else." | ” |
| —Murdock, reminiscing in 2011[1] | ||
Margaret L. Thompson was born August 25, 1942 in Topeka, Kansas.[2] While growing up during the 1950s, she learned how to shoot by following her father to the rifle range.[1]
She graduated from Hayden High School,[1] then attended Kansas State University, where she competed on the men's rifle team[3] winning two Big Eight Conference championships and became the university's first female to earn a varsity letter.[1] The team practiced with 5th Army Rifle Team at Fort Riley, which led to a four-year stint in the U.S. Army, where she was assigned as a shooting instructor at Fort Benning, eventually achieving the rank of major.[1]
Competitions
Murdock was the 1966 World Champion in Women's Standard Rifle.[4]
Murdock narrowly missed qualifying for the 1968 games in Mexico City.[1] She became the first woman ever on the U.S. Olympic shooting team (in 1976) and the first woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympic Games.[3] She won a silver medal that year, after tying with Lanny Bassham, the U.S. team captain.[3] Olympic rules forbade a shoot-off, which Bassham had requested.[3] During the national anthem, Bassham pulled Murdock up to stand with him on the gold medal spot at the podium.[3] In 1992 she was named to the U.S. International Shooting Hall of Fame.[3]
Post-competition career
Murdock retired from competitive shooting at age 35,[1] becoming a registered nurse, specializing in anesthesia.[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.10 "No. 5: Murdock didn't miss upon getting her shot". The Topeka Capital-Journal. August 26, 2011. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Murdock, Margaret L. (Thompson)". Sports Biographies. HickokSports.com. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Thomas, Nolan (June 18, 2010). "20 Inspirational Female Athletes Who Won In a “Man’s Sport”". SportsManagementDegree.org. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
- ↑ "U.S. Markswoman Wins Silver, Nearly the Gold". Los Angeles Times. July 22, 1976. p. D8. Retrieved 2009-11-29.