Arthur Cook (sport shooter)

{{Short description|American sport shooter (1928–2021)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2015}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Arthur Cook | image = Arthur Cook sport shooter.jpg | caption = Cook at an Olympic rifle range near London in 1948 | birth_name = | fullname = | nickname = | nationality = | residence = | birth_date = {{birth date|1928|3|19}} | birth_place = Washington, D.C., United States | death_date = {{death date and age|2021|2|21|1928|3|19}} | death_place = Rockville, Maryland, United States | height = | weight = | website = | country = | sport = Sport shooting | event = | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's shooting}} {{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }} {{MedalOlympic}} {{MedalGold| 1948 London | 50 m rifle prone}} {{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}} {{MedalGold| 1959 Chicago | 50 m rifle prone}} {{MedalGold| 1959 Chicago | 50 m team rifle prone}} {{MedalSilver| 1951 Buenos Aires | 50 m rifle 3 positions}} | show-medals = yes }}

'''Arthur Edwin Cook''' (March 19, 1928 – February 21, 2021) was an American sport shooter and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in the 50 metre rifle prone event at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.<ref name=sports-ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/art-cook-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418101041/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/art-cook-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |title=Arthur Cook |publisher=Sports Reference LLC |work=SR/Olympic Sports |accessdate=July 1, 2010}}</ref>

==Biography== Cook was born in Washington, D.C. and graduated from McKinley Technology High School.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Official Obituary of Arthur Edwin Cook |url=https://www.colefuneral.com/obituary/Arthur-Cook |access-date=September 9, 2024}}</ref> He attended the University of Maryland, College Park, where he was the captain of the rifle team and a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.<ref name = Emerald1959>{{cite magazine|last=Harper Jr.|first=John|date=Winter 1959|volume=45|number=4|magazine=The Emerald of Sigma Pi|title=Sigma Pi in the News: Top-Notch Trigger-Man|pages=203–204|url=http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1959/SP_Emerald_VOL_45_NO_4_WINTER_1959.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104075005/http://www.enivation.com/SigmaPi/archive/Emerald/1959/SP_Emerald_VOL_45_NO_4_WINTER_1959.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=November 4, 2016}}</ref>

Cook began shooting in 1939 while attending a Boy Scout Camp. In 1941, he came in last place in a Boy Scout team shooting match. He stayed with the sport and kept practicing. He won his first victory in 1946 at the National Junior Smallbore Rifle Championship. He then entered the University of Maryland and led them to the National Intercollegiate Team Championships in 1947 and 1949 where they set record scores both years. The team lost a close championship contest to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1948 and took second place. He was named to the All-American Rifle Team all three years. He left school in 1949 to work for a gun supply business.

In 1951, he joined the U.S. Air Force<ref name = Emerald1959/> He became a lieutenant and was assigned to the Gunnery Officers School.

Aside from the 1948 Olympic Team, Cook also was a member of the U.S. teams at the 1949 International Shooting Union World Championships, the 1951 Pan American Games, the 1952 ISU World Championships, the 1954 ISU World Championships, and the 1959 Pan American Games. He won two medals at the 1949 World Championships and one medal in 1952. In 1953 and 1957 he won the National Gallery Rifle Championship.<ref name = Emerald1959/>

He coached the U.S. Deaf Olympic Team in 1969 and 1993, and helped establish the United States Air Force Marksmanship Training Program.<ref>[http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/olympics/bal-sp.hometown03baug03,0,4843118.story Maryland medalists], ''The Baltimore Sun'', August 9, 2008.</ref> He was inducted into the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.<ref>[http://www.umterps.com/trads/md-wall-of-fame.html#hof University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame: All-Time Inductees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717160004/http://www.umterps.com/trads/md-wall-of-fame.html |date=July 17, 2011 }}, University of Maryland, retrieved July 9, 2010.</ref> He has also been inducted into the USA Shooting Hall of fame.<ref name=hall-of-fame>{{cite web |url=https://usashooting.org/athlete/arthur-cook/ |website=usashooting.org |title=Hall of Fame - Art Cook |access-date=3 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526112659/https://usashooting.org/athlete/arthur-cook/ |archive-date=May 26, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1955 he formed his own wholesale supply company, Arthur Cook Supply Corp.<ref name = Emerald1959/> Cook died on February 21, 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Legends: Art Cook 1928-2021|url=https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2021/2/26/legends-art-cook-1928–2021|access-date=2021-02-26|website=www.ssusa.org|language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== *{{sports links}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Arthur}} Category:1928 births Category:2021 deaths Category:Sportspeople from Washington, D.C. Category:American male sport shooters Category:ISSF rifle shooters Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States in shooting Category:Shooters at the 1948 Summer Olympics Category:Maryland Terrapins rifle shooters Category:Olympic medalists in shooting Category:Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 1951 Pan American Games Category:Shooters at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in shooting Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in shooting Category:United States Air Force officers Category:American military sports players Category:Sigma Pi members Category:20th-century American sportsmen