Wheaties and the Olympics

1960 -- A USAMU Europe Trip and the Rome Olympics

Twenty-one members of the United States Army International Rifle and Pistol Teams trained for the 1960 Olympics by competing in Germany, Italy, Sweden,   Finland and Switzerland in May of that year.     Gary was the youngest member of the team.

Gary assembles his spotting scope at a range in Finland, 1960.   He still has the scope.

The first competition was in Germany on the Wiesbaden ranges that were to host the World Shooting Championship six years later.  From there they flew to Italy for competitions in Rome.  There was a special event for the Army team at Anzio where the U. S. Army made its Anzio Beach landing in 1944.  Gary shot a 594 in the 50m prone event to become a surprise winner.  This was his first international competition gold medal. 

 

Gary's first  international competition gold medal,  awarded by the Italian Shooting Federation during the USA-Italy duel competition in May 1960

The team traveled from Rome to Stockholm for a competition with Scandinavian teams.  Gary was having problems with back pain so the Team Captain arranged for a massage.  The massage may have made the difference, because the next day he fired a 379 standing enroute to winning the 50m three-position event.  That score was the highest 50m  standing score anyone had ever fired in competition at the time.  The awards for his winning scores in Sweden were two Oreffors vases that still grace the living room in our home.  

Award from the Swedish Shooting Federation (2 Oreffors vases)

The Army team's trip was well-planned not only to gain competition experiences for the Army shooters, but also to gain maximum tourism experiences for the whole delegation.  The team's travel from Stockholm to Helsinki, Finland was by boat through the island-studded waters east of Stockholm and across the Baltic Sea to Helsinki.  The last stop in Switzerland was highlighted by a day-long cog railway trip up to the top of Mount Pilatus.      

In Switzerland, they competed in the beautiful Swiss city of Lucerne where Gary broke the 300m prone World Record and decided to start shooting Anschutz small bore rifles.  Dieter Anschutz had learned that several U. S. team members were unhappy with the U. S. made rifles they were being issued.  When the team arrived Switzerland in 1960, Dieter was there with rifles for team members to try.   The picture below was taken of Gary the first time he shot an Anschutz rifle, which he promptly purchased from Dieter for $165.   After Dieter's visit, several members of the American team switched to Anschutz.  Jim Hill's silver medal in the Rome Olympics 50m prone event and Gary's victories in the 1962 World Championship with Anschutz rifles played a big role in Anschutz's subsequent emergence as the world's dominant small bore rifle producer.  One can only speculate on how history might have been different if U. S. rifle manufacturers at that time had put a little more effort into producing rifles that met the needs of the U. S. Army International Rifle Team.  

Gary with his first Anschutz 1960

After they finished in Switzerland, the team's gear was shipped back to Fort Benning in a Conex container.  One of the team leaders, a Lt. Colonel, loaded the container with cheap liquor  and other contraband.  Gary thinks someone on the team reported him because somehow this attracted the attention of Army criminal investigation service.  They even interrogated Gary to find out what he knew, which wasn't much.  This particular USAMU officer's career ended prematurely.  

The team tryouts for the 1960 Olympics (August 24-September 1) were held at Ft. Benning, GA Parks Range.  Gary made the team as an a team alternate, but did not compete in Rome (alternates were kept as part of the team then).  This was his first contact with the USSR shooters who were dominating international shooting at the time.   He trained with the team, but had lots of time to photograph and talk to other shooters, most notably the Russians.    He still recounts how their willingness, even then at the height of the cold war, to answer questions and share information helped him make a big jump in scores after the Rome Olympics between 1960 and 1962.

The Athlete's Pin, Rome 1960

                                                            

Warm-Up Suit and Airline Bag Rome Olympics 1960

A ticket for the shooting event, Rome 1960

A letter received by Gary at the Olympic Village from then VP Richard Nixon

The 1960 Olympics were the first to be fully covered by television.   Taped footage of the Games was flown to New York City at the end of each day and broadcast on the CBS television network in the United States.    An Olympic Stadium was built for the opening and closing ceremonies and track-and-field competition.  Several ancient sites were restored and used as venues.     There were 5000 athletes representing 83 nations.

Avery Brundage was the President of the IOC from 1952 to 1972.   He "resisted all concessions to modernity and his greatest dread was creeping commercialism."     Athletes could lose their amateur standing by accepting any kind of payment or endorsements during the Brundage years. Gary was once asked to endorse Wheaties Breakfast Cereal, but he had to decline.  Brundage encouraged all Olympic countries to stop their athletes from cashing in on their sporting fame.