Matthew D. Emmons (born April 5, 1981) is an American rifle shooter. He competed in various events at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal.

Career

Emmons started out as a successful junior and has been a holder of the junior world record in

50 metre rifle three positions 50 meter rifle three positions (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event, a miniature version of 300 meter rifle three positions. It consists of the kneeling, prone, and standing p ...

. He won both the 2002 ISSF World Cup Final and the 2004 ISSF World Cup Final in this event. He was also successful in the

50 metre rifle prone 50 meter rifle prone (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event consisting of 60 shots from the prone position with a .22 Long Rifle (5.6 mm) caliber rifle. The time limit is 7 ...

, winning both the

2002 ISSF World Shooting Championships The 48th ISSF World Shooting Championships were held in Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economi ...

and the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in this event. In Athens, he was very close to winning a historic double, but in the three positions competition, he accidentally cross-fired his last shot and finished eighth.Shooting at the 2004 Athina Summer Games: Men's Small-Bore Rifle, Three Positions, 50 metres
sports-reference.com Emmons's gold medal at the

in the prone position came while using a borrowed rifle. In April 2004, just prior to the Olympic Team Trials, Emmons discovered his rifle had been severely sabotaged in the supposedly secure locker room at the United States Olympic Training Center.Emmons on target for gold , Juneau Empire – Alaska's Capital City Online Newspaper
. Juneau Empire (August 22, 2004). Retrieved on April 10, 2017. The precisely tuned barrel and action were heavily damaged by what appeared to be a screwdriver. "I unpacked my gun and I noticed that something wasn't right," Emmons said. "Sure enough, somebody had done something to it. I shot it and I couldn't get the shell out. I said, 'Something's wrong here'." Emmons said it could not have been an accident: "Oh no, no," Emmons said. "Somebody took a screwdriver and went in." Emmons went on to the

, and his gold medal in the prone position event, using his former University of Alaska Fairbanks teammate, Amber Darland's .22 rifle. He never found out who the saboteur was, but said "I'd like to know so I could shake their hand and say thanks." At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, Emmons won the silver medal in the prone competition. In his second event,

, Emmons finished the qualification round in second place, 1 point behind the leader. In the ten-shot final, Emmons overtook the leader after just the first shot. Over the next eight shots, Emmons extended his lead to 3.3 points. Then his 3.3 point lead vanished when he posted a 4.4 on his final shot. He finished off the podium in 4th place. Emmons called the last shot a "freak of nature". "The way I come into a target is I start above the target and come down from 12 o'clock and get into the bullseye", he told reporters. "And as I get down into the bullseye is when I start to get on the trigger (with my finger) and as I was starting to get on the trigger, the gun just went off. I guess I just set it off. I got on the trigger a little too hard. I didn't feel my trigger finger shaking but I guess it was. It just hit the trigger, the gun went off and I was like 'uh, that's not going to be good – I hope it hit the black'. It hit the black, but a little high". At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Emmons won the bronze medal in the

three positions International Rifle events that occur in three positions are conducted with an equal number of shots fired from the Kneeling, Prone and Standing positions, although the order has changed over the years. Each of the three positions shot during the ...

. He placed 19th in this event at the 2016 Games.

Personal life

Emmons has been a resident of Pemberton Township, New Jersey. He holds a degree in management and finance from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is a graduate at the

University of Colorado at Colorado Springs The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2017, UCCS had over 12,400 undergraduate an ...

, Colorado Springs. Emmons married Czech sport shooter and Olympic champion Kateřina Kůrková in

Plzeň Plzeň (; German and English: Pilsen, in German ) is a city in the Czech Republic. About west of Prague in western Bohemia, it is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 169,000 inhabita ...

, Czech Republic, on June 30, 2007. They met at the 2004 Olympics in Athens when Kateřina came to console Matt after his gold medal blunder. They both live and train in Plzeň. They have four children, Julie (born 2009), Emma (born 2015), Martin and Gabriela.Matt Emmons
USA Shooting Emmons was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2010.Vystřílela jsem si zlato i manžela. Kateřina Emmons a její zpověď
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References

External links

*
Emmons's profile at ISSF NEWS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmons, Matthew 1981 births Living people American male sport shooters Shooters at the 2004 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2012 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in shooting Olympic silver medalists for the United States in shooting Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in shooting People from Mount Holly, New Jersey ISSF rifle shooters World record holders in shooting Alaska Nanooks rifle shooters University of Colorado alumni United States Distinguished Marksman Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games medalists in shooting American expatriate sportspeople in the Czech Republic Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games