Life As An Olympic Couple

by Michael Berger

When the games come to a close, 302 gold medals will have been awarded at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Katerina Emmons, a shooter from the Czech Republic, won the very first one.

Emmons was indeed the first athlete in Beijing to hear her national anthem played on the medal stand, amidst the awe and exuberation of being crowned an Olympic champion—a feeling made even more special by the person with whom she was able to share it.

Her husband.

Sometimes the toll of becoming an Olympian—the thousands of hours of training and travel and overall turbulence—can take its toll on a relationship. But not this couple. Not when both members are Olympic champions.

Matthew Emmons first tasted Olympic glory in Athens in 2004, winning gold in the men’s small-bore prone rifle (50 meters) event. In fact, he almost became a double gold medalist before inexplicably shooting at the wrong target in the finals of a subsequent event, dropping him from first place into last.