Olympic Shotgun Shooter Kim Rhode in Record Books
(Reuters) - Kim Rhode could finish her shooting career as the United States greatest Olympian ever but it will be one spent mostly in obscurity defending a sport she maintains is misunderstood.
A gold medal victory in the women’s skeet on Sunday put Rhode into the record books as the first American to medal in five consecutive Olympics and at just 33-years-old, competing in a sport that has seen winners in their 60s, could easily take part in five more Games before putting away her shotgun.
With gold from London, Atlanta and Athens, a silver from Beijing and a bronze in Sydney, Rhode may be entering Michael Phelps like territory but there will be no long lineup of television appearances to schedule or massive endorsement deals to be signed when she returns home.
“Shooting isn’t like Phelps or (Michael) Jordan or something, this is more of sport that you can, when you are at the top level, make a living but it is always a struggle,” Rhode’s father Richard told Reuters. “Shooting is an expensive sport, every time you pull the trigger it costs you money.”
Rhode practises every day firing between 500 and 1,000 rounds, each training session costing between $400 and $600.