Malcolm Cooper

Malcolm Cooper

Personal information
Born	(1947-12-20)20 December 1947 Camberley, Surrey, England
Died	9 June 2001(2001-06-09) (aged 53) Eastergate, West Sussex, England
Sport
Sport	Sports shooting
Medal record Men's shooting Representing  Great Britain Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 - - World Shooting Championships 7 4 4 ISSF World Cup 1 1 2 European Shooting Championships 14 5 2 Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles 50 m Rifle Three Positions 1988 Seoul 50 m Rifle Three Positions World Championships 1990 Moscow Individual 300 m Rifle Three Positions 1978 Seoul Individual 50 m Rifle Three Positions 1982 Caracas Team 50 m Rifle Three Positions 1986 Suhl Individual 50 m Rifle Three Positions 1986 Skovede Individual 300 m Rifle Three Positions 1982 Caracas Individual 300 m Rifle Three Positions Representing  England Event 1st 2nd 3rd Commonwealth Games 4 5 3

Malcolm Douglas Cooper, MBE, (20 December 1947 – 9 June 2001) was a British sport shooter and founder of Accuracy International. He was the first shooter to win two consecutive gold medals in the Olympic 50 metre rifle three positions event, a feat which stood unrivalled for 28 years until the 2016 Rio Olympics, when Italian shooter Niccolò Campriani matched the record by successfully defending his three position title from the 2012 London Olympics.

Cooper was born in 1947 in Camberley and learned to shoot small bore rifles whilst attending Westlake Boys High School in New Zealand, where his father was stationed with the Royal Navy: he subsequently attended the Royal Hospital School. He started shooting competitively in 1970. In 1978 he established his own rifle making company Accuracy International. He won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul (both in the three positions event).^[1] In 1986 he was also world champion in 300 m Standard Rifle, a non-Olympic rifle discipline in which he claimed several European and World titles, as well as holding the World record for a period.

Cooper died in June 2001 after an eight-month battle with cancer. He died at his home in Eastergate, West Sussex.^[1]

References

External links

• ISSF Athlete Profile
• The Independent: Obituary
• The Telegraph: Obituary