Matthew Emmons, a famous American shooter, is now retired. He was born into a family of hunters. As the saying goes: dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and children of mice will punch holes. Emmons laid a good foundation for the sport from an early age. But as a child, Emmons had little interest in shooting, his interest was in baseball. At the age of 14, a single sentence from a man changed his life. He met FBI firearms instructor Paul Adamovsky at the age of 14. Paul Adamovsky told Matthew Emmons that the university has scholarships for shooting top athletes. Because of his yearning for a scholarship, he fell in love with the sport of shooting. Since then, a new shooting star has risen. He has repeatedly taken the podium at the World Cup and World Championships and has set several world records.
However, the Olympic journey of this excellent shooter was bumpy and full of comedy.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, the 23-year-old Emmons first won the gold medal in the 50-meter rifle. In the final of the men's 50m rifle three-position competition that followed, Emmons also led the way until the final shot. At that time, Emmons was three rings ahead of the second place, and everyone thought that Emmons would win the gold medal. But when his last shot came out, everyone was shocked. His last shot turned out to be "derailed", no, it was off target. What made him most depressed was that when he was blinded to other people's targets, it was 8.1 rings. If it weren't for the bullet "derailment", the gold medal would be his... However, the result was that our Jia Zhanbo unexpectedly won a gold medal.
"Lost in the east, harvested in the mulberry elm". Frustrated at the range, Emmons escaped the hustle and bustle of his teammates' cocktail party and sat alone in a corner of the bar. "God closes a door for you and opens a window for you at the same time," and for Emmons, it was. Because the "goddess" in his life came, bringing him comfort and love.
Katerina Kurkova is a Czech shooter. Everyone is no stranger to her. Her sport is the 10m air rifle, the same as our Olympic champion Du Li. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she defeated Du Li and won the first gold.
At the Athens Olympics, Caterina won a bronze medal for the Czech Republic. Then she sat in the commentary seat and explained the shooting competition for the country. She witnessed the ups and downs of the Emmons game. When Emmons is lonely, Caterina appears, bringing comfort and encouragement. The kind-hearted Caterina and the "unlucky egg" had their first conversation. More than two months later, in the World Cup finals, Caterina and Matthew, the american boy who was 2 years older than her, met again, and the more they talked, the more speculative they became. On June 30, 2007, in Caterina's hometown, they entered the hall of happy marriage.
Time to move on to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Husband and wife work hand in hand to fight for their respective countries (why is this so awkward to say[laugh]). Caterina won the first gold medal, giving the two a good start to their Olympic trip.
But.........
On August 17, 2008, the final of the men's 50m rifle at the Beijing Olympic Games was held. Emmons led nearly four rings in the penultimate round, and the gold medal was almost within reach. And yet again..., mistakes. The last shot this time did not go off target, but only hit a 4.4 ring, and our Qiu Jian won the gold medal with a total score of 1272.5 rings with a stable performance of the last shot. Emmons finished fourth and did not make it to the podium.
Lost the championship, but gained love. Who's to say that Emmons' Olympic journey wasn't good?
Beijing Olympics – Caterina comforts Emmons