Art Cook

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameArthur Edwin "Art"•Cook
Used nameArt•Cook
Nick/petnamesArtie, Cookie
Born19 March 1928 in Washington, District of Columbia (USA)
Died21 February 2021
AffiliationsMaryland Terrapins, College Park, Maryland (USA)
NOC United States
Medals OG
Gold 1
Silver 0
Bronze 0
Total 1

Biography

Art “Cookie” Cook began shooting at a 1939 Boy Scout camp and later took his shooting skills to the University of Maryland. At the 1948 Olympics he became the youngest American to ever win a gold medal in shooting by winning the English match, a record that lasted until 2008 when Vincent Hancock won gold in the skeet event. His gold was won only after a target check as he tied for first place with fellow American, Walter Tomsen, with 599 of a possible 600, which was a world record at the time. Cookie had also won the US English match title in 1948.

Cook won seven medals and three gold medals at the World Championships in 1949, 1952, and 1954, winning the 1949 English match and adding team golds in prone free rifle in 1952 and 1954. At the 1959 Pan American Games he won two golds (individual small-bore rifle prone and team small-bore rifle prone), after having won silver in the small-bore rifle, 3 positions at the 1951 Pan Ams.

Cook entered the Air Force in 1951 and was assigned to the Gunnery Officers School. During his service he helped develop the USAF Marksmanship Training Program. While in the Air Force he developed a heart ailment for which he was treated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he met his wife, a nurse there. Cook later coached the US Deaf national shooting team in 1969 and 1989. In 1982 he was inducted into the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1948 Summer Olympics Shooting USA Art Cook
Small-Bore Rifle, Prone, 50 metres, Men (Olympic) 1 Gold

Special Notes