{{Short description|British sports shooter (1947–2001)}} {{for|the Indigenous Australian footballer|Malcolm Cooper (footballer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Malcolm Cooper | birth_name = | fullname = | nickname = Cooperman | nationality = | national_team = {{unbulleted list|Great Britain|England}} | residence = | birth_date = {{birth date|1947|12|20|df=yes}} | birth_place = Camberley, Surrey, England | death_date = {{death date and age|2001|6|9|1947|12|20|df=yes}} | death_place = Eastergate, West Sussex, England | height = | weight = | website = | country = | sport = Sports shooting | event = {{unbulleted list|ISSF 50 meter rifle three positions|300 m rifle three positions}} | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Men's shooting}} {{MedalCountry | {{GBR2}} }} {{MedalCount | Olympic Games | 2 | - | - | World Shooting Championships | 7 | 4 | 4 | ISSF World Cup | 1 | 1 | 2 | European Shooting Championships | 14 | 5 | 2 }} {{MedalOlympic}} {{MedalGold | 1984 Los Angeles | 50 m Rifle 3 Positions}} {{MedalGold | 1988 Seoul | 50 m Rifle 3 Positions}} {{Medal|Competition|World Championships}} {{MedalGold | 1978 Seoul| 300 m Standing 40 shots}} {{MedalGold | 1986 Skövde | 300 m Rifle prone}} {{MedalGold | 1986 Skövde | 300 m Standard Rifle}} {{MedalGold | 1986 Skövde | 300 m Prone 40 shots}} {{MedalGold | 1986 Skövde | 300 m Standing 40 shots}} {{MedalGold | 1990 Moscow | 300 m Kneeling 40 shots}} {{MedalGold | 1990 Moscow | 300 m Rifle 3 Positions}} {{MedalSilver | 1978 Seoul | 50 m Rifle 3 Positions}} {{MedalSilver | 1982 Caracas | 300 m Rifle prone}} {{MedalSilver | 1986 Suhl | 50 m Rifle 3 Positions}} {{MedalSilver | 1986 Skovede | 300 m Rifle 3 Positions}} {{MedalBronze | 1978 Seoul | 300 m Standard Rifle}} {{MedalBronze | 1982 Caracas | 300 m Rifle 3 Positions}} {{MedalBronze | 1982 Caracas | 300 m Kneeling 40 shots}} {{MedalBronze | 1990 Moscow | 300 m Standard Rifle}} {{MedalCountry | {{ENG}} }} {{MedalCount | Commonwealth Games | 4 | 5 | 3 }} | show-medals = yes }}
'''Malcolm Douglas Cooper''', MBE, (20 December 1947 – 9 June 2001) was a British sport shooter and founder of Accuracy International. Competing in ISSF 50-metre and 300-metre rifle events, he dominated his events for several years, becoming the first shooter to win the Olympic 50-metre three-position rifle event twice. He held or shared five world records in 300-metre rifle events.
==Sports shooting career== Cooper learned to shoot at school in the UK and New Zealand. He also shot and practised at HMS Collingwood, a naval training establishment at Fareham in Hampshire, alongside Andy (Dusty) Miller, the 1968 Far East Services small-bore individual champion. He qualified to join the British Free Rifle Club in 1969. He was then selected for the British team to the 1972 Summer Olympics, where he finished 12th in the 300 m three-position rifle event and 18th in the 50 m three-position rifle.<ref name=SSUSA>{{Cite magazine |title=Olympic Gold Medalist Malcolm Cooper, Part 1 |magazine=NRA InSights |url=https://www.ssusa.org/content/olympic-gold-medalist-malcolm-cooper-part-1/ |publisher=National Rifle Association of America |year=1989 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006063813/https://www.ssusa.org/content/olympic-gold-medalist-malcolm-cooper-part-1/ |archive-date=2022-10-06 |url-status=live}}</ref>
After disappointing results at the 1974 World Shooting Championships and 1976 Summer Olympics, he made the decision to retire, until an interaction with Lones Wigger during a clinic held by the United States Army Marksmanship Unit in England inspired him to continue.<ref name=SSUSA />
In 1977, Cooper won the European Championships in both 50 m and 300 m three-position events, with his 300 m standing score equalling the world record.<ref name=SSUSA /><ref name="NRA-Obit"/>
Having won most of his matches in 1980, the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott prevented Cooper from competing in Moscow, where he was a favourite to win a medal.<ref name=SSUSA />
Cooper 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 twenty-eight 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.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Tom Chesshyre |title=Faulds shoulders the burden of expectation |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/faulds-shoulders-the-burden-of-expectation-1329589.html |website=Independent |publisher=Independent News & Media |accessdate=25 February 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225134347/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/faulds-shoulders-the-burden-of-expectation-1329589.html |archivedate=25 February 2019 |date=20 July 1996}}</ref>
Cooper won gold medals in the three-positions event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.<ref name="SportsRef">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/malcolm-cooper-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417235903/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/malcolm-cooper-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 April 2020 |title=Malcolm Cooper |accessdate=12 February 2016 |work=Sports Reference}}</ref> The 1988 victory came despite his rifle being seriously damaged two days before the match. Working with the USSR armourer, he repaired the stock in time to compete.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Malcolm Cooper |author1-link=Malcolm Cooper |title=Shooter's Diary: Contingency Planning |url=https://www.ssusa.org/content/shooter-s-diary-contingency-planning/ |website=Shooting Sports USA |publisher=National Rifle Association of America |access-date=15 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520163308/https://www.ssusa.org/content/shooter-s-diary-contingency-planning/ |archive-date=20 May 2022 |date=25 April 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Between the Olympics, Cooper became World Champion at the 1982 World Shooting Championships in 300 m Standard Rifle, by then a non-Olympic rifle discipline in which he claimed several European and world titles and held the world record for a period.{{cn|date=January 2025}}
Cooper represented England at four Commonwealth Games between 1974 and 1990, winning twelve medals: four gold, five silver, and three bronze.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/christchurch-1974|title=1974 Games|website=Team England}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/brisbane-1982/athletes|title=1982 Athletes|website=Team England}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/edinburgh-1986/athletes|title=1986 Athletes|website=Team England}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/auckland-1990/athletes|title=1990 Athletes|website=Team England}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/50835|title=Athletes, 1974 England team|website=Team England|access-date=13 September 2019|archive-date=3 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903053537/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/50835|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Personal life== Cooper was born in 1947 in Camberley and learned to shoot whilst attending the Royal Hospital School<ref>Richard Hide, house and shooting partner at RHS, Holbrook, UK 1959/60</ref> at Holbrook in Suffolk, UK before his family moved to New Zealand where he attended Westlake Boys High School and learned the art of shooting small bore rifles. His father, who was in the Royal Navy was drafted there. Cooper started shooting competitively in 1970. In 1978 he co-founded rifle making company Accuracy International.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Alan Tovey |title=The company behind the rifle used by the world's deadliest sniper |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/defence/10762782/Accuracy-International-the-gun-maker-of-choice-for-Britains-elite-marksmen.html |website=The Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited |accessdate=25 February 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926130954/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/defence/10762782/Accuracy-International-the-gun-maker-of-choice-for-Britains-elite-marksmen.html |archivedate=26 September 2018 |date=2 February 2015}}</ref> He married Sarah Robinson in 1974.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/15/guardianobituaries.sport|title=Malcolm Cooper obituary|website=The Guardian|date=15 June 2001 |last1=Hicks |first1=Peter }}</ref>
Cooper died in June 2001 after an eight-month battle with cancer. He died at his home in Eastergate, West Sussex.<ref name="SportsRef"/><ref>{{cite news |title=Obituaries - Malcolm Cooper |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1308753/Malcolm-Cooper.html |accessdate=25 February 2019 |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited |date=12 June 2001 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130421121957/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1308753/Malcolm-Cooper.html |archivedate=21 April 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==See also== * Alister Allan * Barry Dagger * Sarah Cooper
==References== <references>
<ref name="NRA-Obit">{{cite journal |editor1-last=Robertson |editor1-first=Karen |title=Malcolm Cooper MBE |journal=NRA Journal |date=Winter 2001 |volume=LXXX |issue=3 |page=81 |url=https://nra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/2001winter.pdf |access-date=2 November 2023 |publisher=National Rifle Association |issn=0028-0070}}</ref>
</references>
==External links== *{{Sports links}} *[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1308753/Malcolm-Cooper.html The Telegraph: Obituary]
{{Olympic Champions Shooting FR3X40}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Malcolm}} Category:1947 births Category:2001 deaths Category:Olympic shooters for Great Britain Category:British male sport shooters Category:ISSF rifle shooters Category:Shooters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:English Olympic competitors Category:Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Category:Sportspeople from Camberley Category:People educated at Westlake Boys High School Category:Olympic medalists in shooting Category:People educated at the Royal Hospital School Category:Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Shooters at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Category:Shooters at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Category:Shooters at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Category:Shooters at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists in shooting Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists in shooting Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in shooting Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Category:Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Category:20th-century English businesspeople Category:Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Category:Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Category:Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Winners of the Earl Roberts Memorial Challenge Cup Category:World champions in shooting Category:European champions in shooting