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Margaret Murdock
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.[2] In international competition Murdock set four individual world records and nine team world records.[2] She is a member of five halls of fame, including the USA Shooting Hall of Fame and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.[2] Early years
Margaret L. Thompson was born August 25, 1942, in Topeka, Kansas.[3] While growing up during the 1950s, she learned how to shoot by following her father to the rifle range.[2] She graduated from Hayden High School,[2] then attended Kansas State University, where she competed on the men's rifle team[4] winning two Big Eight Conference championships and became the university's first female student to earn a varsity letter.[2] 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.[2] CompetitionsMurdock was the 1966 World Champion in Women's Standard Rifle.[5] In 1967 she won two gold medals in small-bore rifle at the Pan American Games and set a world record, for men or women, in the kneeling rifle shooting.[1] Murdock narrowly missed qualifying for the 1968 games in Mexico City.[2] 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.[4] At the final, her score was tied with Lanny Bassham, the U.S. team captain,[4] but she was bumped down to silver because of a tie-break rule weighting the last 10 shots.[6] Olympic rules forbade a shoot-off, which Bassham had requested.[4] During the national anthem, Bassham pulled Murdock up to stand with him on the gold medal spot at the podium.[4] In 1992 she was named to the U.S. International Shooting Hall of Fame.[4] Post-competition careerMurdock retired from competitive shooting at age 35,[2] becoming a registered nurse, specializing in anesthesia.[3] References
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