Quick Facts
LeoBiography
Karen Patricia "Pat" Spurgin (later Pitney, born August 10, 1965) is an American sports shooter, now living in Fairbanks, Alaska. Born in Billings, Montana, she competed and won a gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics. She became the first Olympic Champion in Air Rifle for Women, at the time being an 18-year-old student at Murray State University, Kentucky.
Pat Pitney has volunteered as an assistant coach for the Alaska Nanooks at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for almost two decades. The team has won the NCAA Rifle Championship nine times since 1994.
The Pat Spurgin Rifle Range in Murray, Kentucky is named after her.
Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games
Pat was selected as one of torchbearer for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Torch Relay. She took a travel of 3 100 miles on the biggest Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker "50 Let Pobedy" to the North Pole, where the crew ignited the cauldron.
Alaska State Office of Management and Budget
In December 2014, newly elected Alaska Governor Bill Walker appointed Pat as director of the Office of Management and Budget, ending her career as vice chancellor for administrative services at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her career as director has been focused on improving the Alaska State Budget because of the impact collapsing oil prices has had on the state.