Matt Emmons is a native of New Jersey, and an American competitive sport shooter. He began shooting competitively at high school. At 17 he became a member of the National Rifle Team. In college he won the NCCA a rifle championship four times when he in college. He has had an amazing career of success in his field. But, he also has had a bizarre history of bad luck in the Olympic shooting events.

In the 2004 Summer Olympics he had to participate with a borrowed rifle because someone sabotaged his personal shooting rifle. Just before the team trials, he discovered that his rifle had been deliberately damaged while locked in the supposedly secure locker room at the United States Olympic training Center. Using a screw driver, someone caused enough damage that he had to borrow another shooter’s rifle which he used to win several events. The person doing the damage was never caught.

On top of that at the Athens Olympics in 2004, he was well ahead on points and assured of winning the gold medal with a final shot to go. Shooting in lane two, he somehow fired at the target in lane three. In spite of a great shot, his mistake resulted in his being given a zero and losing the gold medal

Four years later at the 2008 Beijing Olympics he was once again so far ahead on points he only needed a low score to assure a win of the gold medal. It was on his final shot when Emmons bad luck struck again. As he lowered his rifle for the shot, his finger accidentally hit the trigger, it fired and missed the entire target. He lost another chance at a gold medal.

I'm sorry for Emmons and his strange experience of bad luck. It is a peculiar and unfortunate history of being so close to success and not achieving it.