| Thomas Garrigus | |
| Birth Date: | November 9, 1946 |
| Birth Place: | Hillsboro, Oregon |
| Death Place: | Plains, Montana |
| Nationality: | American |
| Known For: | 1968 Olympic Silver Medal |
| Education: | Hillsboro High School |
| Children: | Robert Garrigus |
Thomas Irvin Garrigus (November 9, 1946 - December 29, 2006) was an American Olympic athlete who competed in shooting sports. A native of Oregon, he competed at the 1968 Summer Games where he won a silver medal, and later served as a coach.[1]
Garrigus was born in Hillsboro, Oregon,[2] to Donald and Wanda (née Williams) Garrigus.[3] He was raised in Hillsboro, a western suburb of Portland, and began skeet shooting at the age of three.[3] [4] There he graduated from Hillsboro High School before joining the United States Air Force, serving from 1965 to 1969.[3] [4]
In 1968, Garrigus won a spot on the United States Olympic Team to compete at the Summer Games held in Mexico City, and was still a member of the U.S. Air Force Shooting Team.[3] [5] He was the youngest member of the U.S. shooting team at the Games.[4] Competing in shooting for Men's Trap, he won the silver medal for this shotgun event.[5] [6] Garrigus tied for second place in the event, with John Braithwaite of the United Kingdom winning the gold medal with a world record score of 198.[7]
Held on October 19, the event had a three-way tie for second place between Garrigus, Kurt Czekalla of East Germany, and Pavel Senichev of the Soviet Union all with a score of 196.[8] In the first shoot-off between the three competitors, Czekalla and Garrigus had scores of 25 in this event where clay pigeons are shot, while Senichev was eliminated with a score of 22.[8] Garrigus then defeated the East German in the second shoot-off with a score of 25 to 23.[8] This was the highest finish for an American in the event since Mark Arie won the gold medal in 1920.[3]
After leaving the Air Force, Garrigus returned to Oregon and enrolled at Western Business College (now Everest College) and went on to work primarily as a salesperson.[3] He also served as a coach with the U.S. Shooting Team from 1992 to 2002.[3] [9] Garrigus lived in Oregon, where he served as the director for the Hillsboro Trap & Skeet Club before moving to Idaho where he was the director of the Boise Gun Club.[3] In 1993 he married his wife Jackie, and they moved to Montana in 2006 to retire.[3] From two previous marriages, he had two sons, Thomas Bradley and Robert.[3] Son Robert Garrigus is a professional golfer.[10] In 1996, he worked as a referee for the shooting events at the Summer Games in Atlanta and was a torch bearer on the route through Salem, Oregon.[3] Garrigus died in Plains, Montana, at the age of 60.[3]