Small-Bore Rifle, Three Positions, 50 metres, Open

The two U.S. shooters were Lanny Bassham and Margaret Murdock. Mrs. Murdock had earned her place by defeating the 1972 gold medalist, John Writer, in a tie-breaker based on review of targets. In the competition in Montréal, Murdock appeared to have initially won the gold medal with 1,162, with Bassham seemingly second with 1,161. But after the scores were reviewed it was noted that a scorecard for Bassham had given him a nine instead of the proper 10 for one round, bringing his score up to 1,162. But then, Murdock was the victim of the same countback tie-breaking rule that qualified her for the US team, in which the last kneeling string was used. She was placed second to Bassham, who had 98 on his last kneeling string to 96 for Murdock. Bassham requested that two gold medals be given but this was not according to the rules. At the victory ceremony, he pulled Murdock up to the top step as “The Star Spangled Banner” was played. Margaret Murdock became the first woman to win a medal in Olympic shooting.