Gary Lee Anderson (born October 8, 1939) is a former Nebraska state legislator and an

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sport shooter. He was the only shooter to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 300 m rifle event before it was discontinued. He also set six individual world records, and won seven

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and 11 national titles, as well as 11 gold medals at the

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

Early life and education

Born in

Holdrege, Nebraska Holdrege is a city in Phelps County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 5,495 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Phelps County. The Nebraska Prairie Museum is located in Holdrege. History Holdrege was established in 1883 whe ...

, Anderson grew up on a farm near

Axtell, Nebraska Axtell is a village in western Kearney County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Kearney, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 732 at the 2020 census. History The first settlement at Axtell was made in the 1870s ...

, and graduated from Axtell High School in 1957. He attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

for one year and then enlisted in the army. He served in the army until 1962, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. After resigning from the army, Anderson served with the

Nebraska Army National Guard The Nebraska Army National Guard is a group of Army National Guard units in the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Adjutant General for these units is Major General Daryl L. Bohac, who was announced as the new Deputy Director of the Army National Guard ...

from 1963 to 1965 and the

California National Guard The California National Guard is part of the National Guard of the United States, a dual federal-state military reserve force. The CA National Guard has three components: the CA Army National Guard, CA Air National Guard, and CA State Guard. ...

from 1965 to 1968. During this time he received degrees from

Hastings College Hastings College is a private Presbyterian college in Hastings, Nebraska. History The college was founded in 1882 by a group of men and women seeking to establish a Presbyterian college dedicated to high academic and cultural standards. ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

and the

San Francisco Theological Seminary The San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) is a seminary in San Anselmo, California with historic ties to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). SFTS became embedded in a new Graduate School of Theology of the University of Redlands in 2019. It was ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Political career

Anderson was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to a four-year term in the

Nebraska Legislature The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the sm ...

in 1972. During his term, Anderson felt that the Republican Party was too engaged in partisan politics, so he changed affiliation from the Republican to the

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. At the end of his term, Anderson did not seek re-election.

Sport shooting career

From a very young age, hunting and shooting fascinated Anderson. Without benefit of a coach or proper equipment (including ammunition), he taught himself how to shoot by dry-firing his rifle for hours at a time. Dreams of becoming an Olympic gold medalist in shooting led Anderson to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. In 1959, after convincing skeptical army coaches that his implausibly high shooting scores were accurate, he was assigned to the elite

United States Army Marksmanship Unit The United States Army Marksmanship Unit (USAMU or AMU) is a part of U.S. Army providing small arms marksmanship training for soldiers and enhancing Army recruiting. The unit was originally established in 1956 at the direction of president Dwight ...

at Fort Benning,

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. His first international competition was the Pan American Games in 1959—only two years later, in 1961, he would win his first national championship. At the 1962 World Shooting Championships in Cairo, Egypt, he stunned the shooting world, then completely dominated by Russian shooters, by winning four individual titles and setting three new world records. At the 1964 Olympics in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Anderson confirmed his performance in Cairo was not a fluke, setting a new world record and winning the 300 meter free-rifle gold medal. At the 1966 World Shooting Championships in

Wiesbaden, Germany Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, he won three additional titles. Anderson continued to demonstrate his dedication to shooting by besting his own world record and winning a second gold medal in the 300 meter free-rifle event at the 1968 Olympics in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. In ten years, his two Olympic gold medals, seven World Championship gold medals, six world records, and 12 national titles were and continue to be the most major international shooting titles ever won by an American. Following retirement from active competition, he continued to devote his time and energy to shooting sports by coaching young shooters, teaching shooting clinics, speaking at numerous shooting sports functions, and authoring hundreds of magazine articles and three books about shooting. Even during his "retirement" from shooting competition, Anderson competed in the National Highpower Championships at

Camp Perry Camp Perry is a National Guard training facility located on the shore of Lake Erie in northern Ohio near Port Clinton. In addition to its regular mission as a military training base, Camp Perry also boasts the second largest outdoor rifle range ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, winning the President's National Trophy in 1973, 1975 and 1976. Anderson worked at the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

(NRA) where he served as Executive Director of General Operations. He was responsible for the development of safety, training and competition programs. Among hundreds of other honors, Anderson was awarded the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice (NBPRP) Distinguished International Shooting Badge (Serial number one) in April 1963 by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. While at the NRA, he served on the NBPRP board, and was one of the first people to advocate and pioneer a shift in priorities to youth and junior shooting. As a result of this shift, Anderson became the founding and administrative director of the USA Shooting Team Foundation and, in 1993, he moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

to become the Shooting Competitions Manager for the 1996

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

. In 1996, Anderson accepted a position with

Fulton County, Georgia Fulton County is located in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,066,710, making it the state's most-populous county and its only one with over o ...

, to manage the Wolf Creek Shooting Venue, a facility destined to become a premier national and international center for the shooting sports. Anderson's influence on shooting sports extends well beyond the United States. He traveled extensively throughout his career in shooting, serving as a genuine ambassador for shooting sports, attending eleven Summer Olympic Games, three as a competitor and eight as technical delegate or a jury member. He is the first American ever elected to the position of Vice President of the International Shooting Union, and still serves in that capacity today. Anderson is also the recipient of one of only five prestigious honorary memberships to the historic and renowned shooting club, Hauptschutzengesellschaft, in

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. After his active career, Anderson has continued to work with shooting. He was Shooting Competition Manager at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, and served as Director of Civilian Marksmanship in the U.S.

Civilian Marksmanship Program The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) is a U.S. government-chartered program intended to promote firearm safety training and rifle practice for all qualified U.S. citizens with a specific emphasis on youth. Any U.S. citizen not otherwise legall ...

from 1999 to 2009 (now Director Emeritus). He is also one of the vice presidents of the

International Shooting Sport Federation The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) is the governing body of the Olympic shooting events in rifle, pistol and shotgun ( clay target) disciplines, and of several non-Olympic shooting sport events. ISSF's activities include regulati ...

. In June 2012, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

awarded Anderson the IOC's highest honor, the Olympic Order for outstanding services to the Olympic Movement.

References

External Links

* at the

Nebraska State Historical Society History Nebraska, formerly the Nebraska State Historical Society is a Nebraska state agency, founded in 1878 to "encourage historical research and inquiry, spread historical information ... and to embrace alike aboriginal and modern history." I ...

* *
Profile at USA Shooting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Gary 1939 births Living people People from Holdrege, Nebraska Sportspeople from Nebraska American male sport shooters United States Army officers United States Distinguished Marksman ISSF rifle shooters Shooters at the 1964 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in shooting Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Hastings College alumni University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumni San Francisco Theological Seminary alumni Nebraska state senators Nebraska Republicans Olympic medalists in shooting Nebraska Democrats Pan American Games medalists in shooting Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Shooters at the 1959 Pan American Games Shooters at the 1963 Pan American Games Shooters at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1963 Pan American Games Recipients of the Olympic Order