Susan Nattrass
Encyclopedia
Susan "Sue" Marie Nattrass, (born November 5, 1950) is a Canadian shooter
and medical researcher in osteoporosis
. She was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta
. She competed at six Olympic Games in 1976, 1988, 1992, and 2000 to 2008; she is one of sixteen shooters worldwide to compete at at least six Olympic Games. She won a gold medal at the Trap World Championships in 1974, '75, '77, '78, '79, '81, and 2006 (see Olympic Trap).
Susan was introduced to trap shooting by her father Floyd Nattrass, who competed for Canada at the World Championships in 1958 and 1968 and at the Olympics in 1964. Nattrass said of her father :
In the 1976 Summer Olympics
she became the first ever woman to participate in a shooting event at the Olympics, as shooting was open to both sexes until 1992. She won a silver medal at the 2001 world championships in Cairo
, Egypt
in the trap event. She finished 9th in the 2000 Summer Olympics
and 6th in the 2004 Summer Olympics
in women's trap shooting.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games
she won other three medals: two silver in women's double trap pairs and women's trap pairs and a bronze in women's trap. She carried the flag for her native country at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She won the Trap Shooting event at the World Championships in 1981 and 2006, twenty five years apart.
After the 1996 Summer Olympics
, the International Shooting Union decided to discontinue the trap and skeet shooting events for women and instead allow women to compete in the double trap, where two clay saucers are thrown simultaneously. This is a difficult transition that Nattrass - who won two World Cups in the double trap in 1993 - equated to a downhill skier having to switch to cross-country. She led a campaign - writing letters, doing surveys, playing politics - against the decision to remove the two events. After five years, the campaign succeeded and women's skeet and trap shooting remained in the Olympics.
In 1981, she was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy
as Canadian Athlete of the Year and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. She is also listed as a recipient of the Vanier Award for Outstanding Young Canadians.
She earned a Bachelors in Physical Education from the University of Alberta in 1972, a Masters in 1974, and has since been an instructor, administrator, lecturer and consultant in physical education and sports psychology. In between her first and second Olympic appearances in 1976 and 1988, she earned her doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1987.
She has travelled around the world at various competitions for over three decades, nearly always accompanied by her mother and coach Marie.
Since 1996, Dr Nattrass has lived on Vashon Island
near Seattle. She moved there when she joined the Pacific Medical Center
as a medical researcher in September 1996. She owns and runs the Puget Sound Osteoporosis Center, where she studies the effects of aging in bones on active sportswomen in their forties and older.
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
and medical researcher in osteoporosis
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a disease of bones that leads to an increased risk of fracture. In osteoporosis the bone mineral density is reduced, bone microarchitecture is deteriorating, and the amount and variety of proteins in bone is altered...
. She was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta
Medicine Hat, Alberta
Medicine Hat, known to locals as "The Hat", is a city of 61,097 people located in the southeastern part of the province of Alberta, Canada. It is enclaved within Cypress County along with the nearby Town of Redcliff, although neither is part of the county....
. She competed at six Olympic Games in 1976, 1988, 1992, and 2000 to 2008; she is one of sixteen shooters worldwide to compete at at least six Olympic Games. She won a gold medal at the Trap World Championships in 1974, '75, '77, '78, '79, '81, and 2006 (see Olympic Trap).
Susan was introduced to trap shooting by her father Floyd Nattrass, who competed for Canada at the World Championships in 1958 and 1968 and at the Olympics in 1964. Nattrass said of her father :
"While other kids would go to the lake for the summer, we always went to trap shoots. My dad started when I was 5; we'd go to shoots, and I did everything I could do be a part of it. Then when I turned 12, he taught me how to shoot."
In the 1976 Summer Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
she became the first ever woman to participate in a shooting event at the Olympics, as shooting was open to both sexes until 1992. She won a silver medal at the 2001 world championships in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in the trap event. She finished 9th in the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
and 6th in the 2004 Summer Olympics
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
in women's trap shooting.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
she won other three medals: two silver in women's double trap pairs and women's trap pairs and a bronze in women's trap. She carried the flag for her native country at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games
2007 Pan American Games
The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to July 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Committees competed in 332 events in 34 sports and in...
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
She won the Trap Shooting event at the World Championships in 1981 and 2006, twenty five years apart.
After the 1996 Summer Olympics
Shooting at the 1996 Summer Olympics
The shooting competitions at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex near Atlanta, United States. Competitions were held in ten men's events and five women's events...
, the International Shooting Union decided to discontinue the trap and skeet shooting events for women and instead allow women to compete in the double trap, where two clay saucers are thrown simultaneously. This is a difficult transition that Nattrass - who won two World Cups in the double trap in 1993 - equated to a downhill skier having to switch to cross-country. She led a campaign - writing letters, doing surveys, playing politics - against the decision to remove the two events. After five years, the campaign succeeded and women's skeet and trap shooting remained in the Olympics.
In 1981, she was awarded the Lou Marsh Trophy
Lou Marsh Trophy
The Lou Marsh Trophy, also known as the Lou Marsh Memorial Trophy and Lou Marsh Award, is a trophy that is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete, professional or amateur. It is awarded by a panel of journalists, with the vote taking place in December. It was first awarded in 1936...
as Canadian Athlete of the Year and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. She is also listed as a recipient of the Vanier Award for Outstanding Young Canadians.
She earned a Bachelors in Physical Education from the University of Alberta in 1972, a Masters in 1974, and has since been an instructor, administrator, lecturer and consultant in physical education and sports psychology. In between her first and second Olympic appearances in 1976 and 1988, she earned her doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1987.
She has travelled around the world at various competitions for over three decades, nearly always accompanied by her mother and coach Marie.
Since 1996, Dr Nattrass has lived on Vashon Island
Vashon Island
Vashon is a census-designated place in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon-Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...
near Seattle. She moved there when she joined the Pacific Medical Center
Pacific Medical Center
The Pacific Medical Center is a 16-story building on Beacon Hill in Seattle, Washington. It is located at 1200 12th Avenue South. The building is of a Art Deco style. It was completed in 1932 and opened in 1933 as a hospital for the Marines. It continues to function as a medical center...
as a medical researcher in September 1996. She owns and runs the Puget Sound Osteoporosis Center, where she studies the effects of aging in bones on active sportswomen in their forties and older.
| Olympic results | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 |
| Trap Olympic Trap Officially referred to only as trap, and also known in the United States as international trap, bunker trap, trench or international clay pigeon, the single-target Olympic trap shooting event has a history over a hundred years old... (mixed) |
30th Shooting at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Trap Trap was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Open to both men and women, it was decided by a shoot-off between Dmitri Monakov and Miloslav Bednařík, with Monakov emerging as the winner with 8–7.-Qualification round:... 141 |
21st Shooting at the 1992 Summer Olympics - Trap Trap was one of the thirteen shooting events at the 1992 Summer Olympics. It was the last Olympic trap competition open to both men and women. The competition consisted of a qualification round of 150 targets, a semifinal of 50 targets for the top 24 competitors, and a final of 25 targets for the... 142+46 |
Not held | |||
| Trap Olympic Trap Officially referred to only as trap, and also known in the United States as international trap, bunker trap, trench or international clay pigeon, the single-target Olympic trap shooting event has a history over a hundred years old... (women) |
Not held | 9th Shooting at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's trap -Qualification round:OR Olympic record – Q Qualified for final-Final:OR Olympic record... 63 |
6th Shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's Trap The women's trap competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 16 at the Markópoulo Olympic Shooting Centre near Athens, Greece. Suzanne Balogh of Australia won the competition by a wide four-hit margin.... 61+15 |
11th 63 |
||
| Double trap Double Trap Double trap is a clay pigeon shooting sport, one of the ISSF shooting events. Participants use a shotgun to attempt to break a clay disk flung away from the shooter at high speed.... (women) |
Not held | — | 15th Shooting at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's double trap -Qualification round:The qualification round consisted of 20 doubles each in the A, B and C programmes.OR Olympic record – Q Qualified for final-Final:The final repeated the C programme for the top six shooters.OR Olympic record... 93 |
15th Shooting at the 2004 Summer Olympics - Women's Double Trap The women's double trap competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics was held on August 18 at the Markópoulo Olympic Shooting Centre near Athens, Greece. Kim Rhode from the United States, who had become the first Olympic champion in this event eight years earlier, now also became the last.-... 88 |
Not held | |