Susan "Sue" Marie Nattrass, OC (born November 5, 1950) is a Canadian trap shooter and medical researcher in osteoporosis. She was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Competing at an elite international level from the 1970s through the 2010s, Nattrass has had multiple appearances, in one or both of trap or double trap, at Olympic Games,[1] Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and Pan American Games. Nattrass is a repeat World Champion and repeat medalist at the Commonwealth Games, World Championships, and Pan American Games. She was the flag bearer for Canada at the 2007 Pan American Games (and a gold medal winner) and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Susan Nattrass
Susan Nattrass at the 2019 World Masters Championship in Suhl
Personal information
Full nameSusan Marie Nattrass
BornNovember 5, 1950 (1950-11-05) (age 73)
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
Sport
CountryCanada
SportShooting sports
EventTrap shooting
Medal record
Women's trap shooting
Representing  Canada
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Delhi Trap pairs

As of the 2012 Olympics, Nattrass is one of only 122 athletes (and one of only 46 still active), all sports, to compete in at least six Olympic Games, appearing in 1976, '88, '92, 2000, '04 and '08. She won a gold medal at the World Championships in 1974, '75, '77, '78, '79, '81, and 2006.

Beginnings edit

She 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.[2] 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."[3]

Olympics and Commonwealth Games edit

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 Nattrass won three medals: two silver in women's double trap pairs and women's trap pairs and a bronze in women's trap.

She won the Trap Shooting event at the World Championships in 1981 and 2006, twenty-five years apart.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

She has travelled around the world at various competitions for over three decades, nearly always accompanied by her mother and coach Marie.[3][6]

As of August 2018 Nattrass serves on the board of directors, Sections Chairs of the Shooting Federation of Canada.[7]

Education and research edit

Nattrass earned a bachelor's degree in Physical Education from the University of Alberta in 1972 and 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.[8][9]

Since 1996, Nattrass has lived on Vashon Island near Seattle.[3] She moved there when she joined the Pacific Medical Center as a medical researcher in September 1996.[9] 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, takes part in clinical trials, and provides pro-bono screenings in the community.[10]

Awards and achievements edit

Olympic results
Event 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008
Trap (mixed) 25th
173
30th
141
21st
142+46
Not held
Trap (women) Not held 9th
63
6th
61+15
11th
63
Double trap (women) Not held 15th
93
15th
88
Not held
  • Shooting Federation of Canada, Female Athlete of the Year - 1993, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009[11]
  • Washington State Trapshooting Hall of Fame - 2017
  • Seven-time Women's World Trapshooting Champion 1974 – 1981, 2006
  • World record holder Women's Trapshooting 1974 – 1989; Double Trap 1993
  • Six-time Olympian – 1976, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2008 Canadian Olympic teams
  • Two-time gold medalist Women's Double Trap World Cups 1993
  • Four-time silver medalist at World Championships 1971, 1982
  • U.I.T. silver medalist at 1995 Pan American Games
  • Winner of a Canadian Championship for 43 years
  • Silver medalist World Cups: 2000; Bronze medalist World Cups: 2000, 2001
  • Two-time silver and three-time bronze medalist at Commonwealth Games - 2002, 2006, and 2010
  • Gold medalist at Pan American Games 2007
  • Bronze medalist at World Championships 2005
  • University of Alberta Alumni Award 2004
  • Bronze medalist Pan American Games 2003
  • Silver medalist at World Championships 2001
  • Inducted into the Amateur Trapshooting Association's Hall of Fame 1998[12]
  • Canada's Female Athlete of the Year 1977 & 1981
  • Silver medalist at World Championships 1991
  • Great Canadian Award 1990
  • Inducted into Edmonton's Sports Hall of Fame 2000
  • U.I.T. gold medalist at 1988 Olympics
  • Mayor's Silver Ribbon Award 1987
  • One of Edmonton YWCA's Women of the Year 1987
  • Bronze medalist at World Championships 1986
  • Inducted into University of Alberta's Wall of Fame 1985[13]
  • Bronze medalist at World Championships 1985
  • One of the Five Outstanding Young Canadians 1983
  • Bronze medalist at World Championships 1983
  • Premier's Award (Alberta Athlete of the Year) 1982
  • Silver medalist at World Championships 1982
  • Edmonton's Amateur Athlete of the Year 1981
  • Inducted into Alberta Sports Hall of Fame 1980
  • Ontario Athlete of the Year 1977
  • Inducted into Canadian Sports Hall of Fame 1977[14]
  • Inducted into Canadian Olympic Association Hall of Fame 1975[15]
  • Canadian Athlete Reference - The Canadian Encyclopedia[16]

Results in World Championships edit

Year Place Gold Silver Bronze
1971   Bologna   Galina Khomutova (URS)   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Nuria Ortiz (MEX)
1974   Bern   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Audrey Grosch (USA)   Francoise Robrolle (FRA)
1975   Munich   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Elisabeth von Soden (FRG)   Natalia Ukolova (URS)
1977   Antibes   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Audrey Grosch (USA)   Wanda Gentiletti (ITA)
1978   Seoul   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Wanda Gentiletti (ITA)   Maria Carmen Garcia de Cubas (ESP)
1979   Montecatini Terme   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Julia Klekova (URS)   Larisa Tushkina (URS)
1981   Tucuman   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Mauricette Colavito (FRA)   Frances Strodtman (USA)
1982   Caracas   Maria Carmen Garcia de Cubas (ESP)   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Elena Shishirina (URS)
1983   Edmonton   Connie Tomsovic (USA)   Elena Shishirina (URS)   Susan Nattrass (CAN)
1986   Suhl   Gao E (CHN)   Elena Shishirina (URS)   Susan Nattrass (CAN)
1991   Perth   Gema Usieto (ESP)   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Roberta Pelosi (ITA)
2001   Cairo   Irina Laricheva (RUS)   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Gao E (CHN)
2005   Lonato   Deborah Gelisio (ITA)   Irina Laricheva (RUS)   Susan Nattrass (CAN)
2006   Zagreb   Susan Nattrass (CAN)   Li Chen (CHN)   Hye Gyong Chae (PRK)

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Sue Nattrass". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Floyd Nattrass". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d "Sports - Vashon's Nattrass captures world title - Seattle Times Newspaper". nwsource.com. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  4. ^ "CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Olympics - 2008 Games - Athletes - Susan Nattrass, Trap Shooting". canoe.ca. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^ Vanier Awards for Outstanding Young Canadians. Archived 2011-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Ed Note: Since 2004, this award has been re-established, under the auspices of Junior Chamber International Canada, as The Outstanding Young Person Award Archived 2013-01-26 at archive.today. Retrieved 3 Dec 2010.
  6. ^ "Daily News - Articles & Info on Health, Money, Social Security, Medicare, Politics - Bulletin Today". AARP. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  7. ^ "People". Shooting Federation of Canada. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  8. ^ "University of Alberta: Sports Wall of Fame". ualbertacentennial.ca. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Susan Nattrass". Archived from the original on 2009-05-19. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
  10. ^ Hulls, Gretchen (March 2007). "Dem Bones, Dem Bones" (PDF). Lake Washington Rowing Club Newsletter. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Awards". sfc-ftc.ca. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  12. ^ "Nattrass, Susan - Inductees". www.traphof.org. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  13. ^ "Susan Nattrass | University of Alberta Sports Wall of Fame". www.sports.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  14. ^ "Canada's Sports Hall of Fame | Stories". www.sportshall.ca. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  15. ^ "Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame". Official Canadian Olympic Team Website | Team Canada | 2016 Olympic Games. 2014-04-02. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
  16. ^ Redmond, Gerald. "Susan Marie Nattrass". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-07-04.

External links edit

Awards
Preceded by Lou Marsh Trophy winner
1981
Succeeded by