Maurice Gordon

Maurie Gordon capped off a fine shooting career by winning the fullbore rifle gold medal at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games.

Gordon, born in Napier in 1926, was for a many years one of New Zealand’s leading competitive shooters, but that gold medal put the icing on a fine career.

After leaving school at 13, he joined his father’s beekeeping business. In 1948, he married Cynthia Weekes and the couple went on to have three children. Gordon took over the family beekeeping business after his father's death in 1977, and retired in 1984.

He represented two rifle clubs during his career, Okawa and then Hawke’s Bay. Three times – in 1951, 1953 and 1970 - Gordon won the Ballinger Belt, New Zealand’s oldest sports trophy (outside of horse racing), awarded for the champion rifle shooter at the national championships. On four other occasions he finished second.

He represented New Zealand at three Commonwealth Games – in Jamaica in 1966, in 1974 and in Edmonton in 1978. He was sixth (with a total of 378) in 1966 and again in 1978 (with 384 points).

But his great moment was in 1974. Not that his Commonwealth Games gold medal was easily won.

The fullbore event is divided into three sections, run over two days.

After the first stage, Gordon was well back in the field, in 17th position among the 29 competitors, and thoughts of a medal were far from his mind. Shooting over distances of 200 yards, 500 yards and 600 yards, he totalled only 100.8 points, well behind the leader and gold medal favourite James Spaight of England.

The New Zealander pulled himself together over the second stage, when he scored possible 50s over 500 and 600 yards and had a 48 over 300 yards. This turnaround in form lifted him to 7th, though Spaight was still more than four points clear. At least Gordon’s improved results qualified him for the top 16 who got to shoot in the third stage.

It was this stage, shot over 900 and 1000 yards, that proved decisive. Gordon shot nervelessly and scored 139.5 to finish with an overall total of 387.26. Second, with 386.27, was the Scot, Colin McEachran, while Spaight failed to cope with the gusty conditions and the glare and could manage only 131.5 in the third stage to drop to the bronze medal position.

Besides his Commonwealth Games adventures, Gordon had several other major international meetings. He competed in the Kolapore Match at the National Rifle Association Imperial meeting in England in 1953, and returned as a coach in 1960, 1967 and 1976. In 1976, he won the St George's Vase at the Imperial Meeting at Bisley, the first New Zealander to do so.

He was honoured with life membership of the New Zealand Rifle Shooting Association.

Maurie Gordon died in Havelock North in 2016, aged 90.