Margaret Murdock

Margaret Murdock was one of the first female athletes to compete successfully against men. Her first titles came as Margaret Thompson at the 1967 Pan-American Games, with two golds in smallbore shooting. Her 391 total that year in the kneeling position was a new world record – for men or women – the first time any woman had set an internationally recognized world record above the men’s mark – in any sport. Margaret Thompson Murdock continued to win titles and set records, but did not make an Olympic team until 1976. At the 1976 Olympics she tied for first place with Lanny Bassham in the smallbore, three position event. But on the examination of the targets, Bassham was awarded first place and Mrs. Murdock was relegated to the silver medal. Bassham gallantly asked Margaret Murdock to share the victory platform with him as the flag was raised and the anthem played – and rightly so. Margaret Murdock graduated from Kansas State in 1965 and Washburn University School of Nursing in 1977. She later became a nurse anaesthetist, in addition to being a competitive shooter, housewife, and mother.