Patricia McKillop

Patricia ("Pat") Jean McKillop, née Fraser, and now Buckle also simply known as Pat McKillop[1] (born July 15, 1956) is a former field hockey player from Zimbabwe,[2] who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.[3][4]

Not to be confused with Patricia A. McKillip.
Patricia McKillop
Personal information
Birth namePatricia Jean Fraser
Born (1956-07-15) 15 July 1956
Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia
Spouse(s)Collin Williams
Medal record
Women's Field Hockey
Representing  Zimbabwe
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place1980 MoscowTeam Competition

Because of the boycott led by the United States in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, only the Soviet team remained. The Soviets and international Olympic authorities then invited countries that had not qualified for the tournament. A late request was sent to the government of the African nation, which hastily assembled a team less than a week before the competition started.[5]

To everyone's surprise, they won. They defeated Poland 4-0, drew 2-2 with Czechoslovakia, won 2-0 over the host Soviet Union, drew 1-1 with India and lastly trounced Austria 4-1 to claim Zimbabwe's only medal in the 1980 Games.[6] McKillop was the co-top scorer of the tournament with six goals, including three penalty corners, tied with the Soviet Union's Natella Krasnikova.[3][7]

McKillop represented Matabeleland in basketball. She played her club hockey for the Bulawayo Athletic Club and went on to coach the Zimbabwe Under-21 women’s team for three years, leading them to the Women's Hockey Junior World Cup in Canada in 1989. She has also represented Zimbabwe in golf.[3]

Personal life

Patricia McKillop was married to Collin Williams who was a Zimbabwean first-class cricketer and a field hockey coach after getting divorce for her first marriage. She has three sons, all of whom have represented Zimbabwe in international-level sports. The eldest who was born after the first marriage, Michael McKillop, has captained the Zimbabwe men’s hockey team and also appeared in nine first-class cricket matches for Matabeleland;[8] next is Sean Williams who has played age level international hockey and international cricket for Zimbabwe;[9] and last is Matthew Williams, who has captained Zimbabwe's national hockey team and played first class cricket.[3][10]

References
  1. "Pat McKillop". Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2013-11-05.
  2. "Patricia MCKILLOP - Olympic Hockey | Zimbabwe". International Olympic Committee. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. "Golden Girl Buckle on Moscow 1980". The Sunday News. Zimpapers (1980) LTD. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
  4. Harris, Cathy (2008-05-11). "Caught in Time: Zimbabwe win hockey gold, 1980 Moscow Olympics". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  5. "Hockey at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games: Women's Hockey". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  6. Sportsencyclo. "Patricia McKillop - Olympic Facts and Results". www.olympiandatabase.com. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  7. Marufu, Albert (2011-07-04). "Zimbabwe: Golden Girl Goes Down Memory Lane". Zimbabwe Standard (Harare). Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  8. "She powered Zim to Olympics glory". DailyNews Live. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  9. Kumar, Abhishek (2015-09-26). "Sean Williams: 8 interesting things to know about the Zimbabwean". Cricket Country. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  10. "Willaims' Olympic pain". Zimbabwe Daily. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
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