Haddad: A missed target and a prize still won

Czech Republic's Katerina Emmons is congratulated by her husband Matt Emmons after winning a gold medal during the womens 10 meter air rifle final round at the Beijing Olympics. Emmons made one of the biggest gaffes in Olympic history, inadvertently shooting at the wrong target to cost himself what appeared to be a sure gold medal. But with that disappointment came joy: He met his future wife, a Czech Republic shooter, after she came over to console him. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File)

Czech Republic's Katerina Emmons is congratulated by her husband Matt Emmons after winning a gold medal during the womens 10 meter air rifle final round at the Beijing Olympics. Emmons made one of the biggest gaffes in Olympic history, inadvertently shooting at the wrong target to cost himself what appeared to be a sure gold medal. But with that disappointment came joy: He met his future wife, a Czech Republic shooter, after she came over to console him. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev, File)

During the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, American rifle shooter Matt Emmons was about to use his last bullet and win his second gold medal of the games.

All the 23-year-old needed was a score of 7.2. On his first nine shots in the finals his lowest score was a 9.3.

He took careful aim and pulled the trigger. His bullet pierced the bull’s eye. But Emmons did not win gold. He immediately found himself in eighth place.

Emmons had been aiming at the wrong target. This extremely rare mishap in competitive target shooting is called a crossfire. He hit the target in lane three while he was shooting from lane two. The judges had to give him a score of 0.

When judges checked the wrong target they determined Emmons would have scored an 8.1, giving him his Gold Medal victory. Emmons later explained that he usually looks at the lane number on the target through his viewfinder as a reference point and then lowers his gun to hone in on the target. “On that shot, I was just worrying about calming myself down and just breaking a good shot, and so I didn’t even look at the number,” he told the media. “I probably should have. I will from now on.”

This story initially made me ponder the importance of always knowing what our target is and how we must deliberately identify what we are aiming for and keep it in our sights every day of our lives.

But then I learned that there was more to this story of Matt Emmons that shaped his character and his future.

After his errant crossfire shot a female sport shooter and Olympic champion named Katerina Krková from the Czech Republic came over to console him. It was the first time they met. Three years later they were married and started a family.

Emmons went on to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. During those games he won the silver medal in the prone competition. But during his second event — once again the 50-meter three-position competition — Emmons made a mistake on his final shot, this time pulling the trigger prematurely and costing him gold once again.

Emmons said, “Things happen for a reason. I said that last time, and it’s the truth. Maybe last time, the reason was Katy (Katerina). This time I don’t know yet, but I’m sure something good’s going to come from it.”

Oftentimes in life the very act of being bold enough to take aim and try will result in something good, even if we don’t win the prize we thought we were after. This young man kept aiming high and kept enduring, even when he sometimes missed his mark.

The ability to carry on and see the good things in our lives, even amidst trials and failures, is something every young person must learn.

The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. The prize belongs to those who endure to the end. May we all endure well, look for the good and bring about the good that we can.


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