(GunReports.com) — Kim Rhode can legitimately be called the “greatest U.S. Olympian ever” because she stands alone as the only American to win individual medals in five straight Olympic Games. That journey began with a gold medal as a 16 year old in Atlanta in 1996 and was bookended yesterday by a near-perfect effort in which she hit 99 out of 100 targets, including 25 straight in the final round, capturing the gold medal in women’s skeet shooting.
Rhode’s accomplishment is all the more remarkable because her sport of women’s double trap, in which she also medaled in 2000 (Sydney, bronze) and 2004 (Athens, gold), was eliminated from the Olympics. Rhode switched to skeet and won a silver medal in 2008 in Beijing. Yesterday, the 33-year-old Californian’s great performance received widespread media coverage, giving the shooting sports prime-time exposure — including live coverage of the event by MSNBC and an appearance on NBC’s Today Show.
Some Olympic athletes keep their medals in their sock drawers. Some hang them in their homes as a permanent decoration. But Rhode? Well, she carries her four medals around with her. “I like to take them with me, so a lot of times they’re with me or in my back pocket as I used to carry them when I was younger,” Rhode said. “Now I’m getting too many. They don’t quite fit, but in my purse usually or when I’m at home, they’re in a safe.” She even allows friends and children to wear her medals sometimes.
Rhode had her shotgun stolen just weeks after returning from Beijing. She had used that gun in all four previous Olympic appearances. Two men followed her to a rest stop while she was on the road and they took her gun from her car while the vehicle was unattended. Rhode obtained a new 12 gauge Italian Perazzi by way of donations, but her gun that she won four medals with was eventually returned to her in January 2009 when police obtained it in a routine parole check. Rhode’s medals were safe because she carries them in her purse.
