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You could say that shooting is in the blood for Katerina Emmons, the first gold medallist of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Not only is the winner of the Women’s 10 meter Air Rifle the daughter of two-time world champion Petr Kurka, who doubles as her coach, she is also married to Athens shooting gold medallist, Matt Emmons.

In fact, the 24-year-old Czech Republic sharp-shooter met her husband-to-be at Athens four years ago, when, competing under her maiden name Katerina Kurkova, she won a bronze medal and Matt, representing USA, took the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone gold (a title he will defend in Beijing on August 15).

Katerina, now ranked No. 4 in the world, described Matt as her “best teammate” after clinching her first Olympic gold medal with an Olympic Record 503.5 points, which included a perfect score of 400 points in the qualifying round. As a pair, they “work together as the best team in the world,” she added.

They are considered to be shooting’s ‘golden couple,’ although their Athens meeting was more than your average chance encounter between fellow competitors.

Instead, it came about under far stranger circumstances. After finishing her own events, Katerina worked as a shooting commentator for a Czech TV station.

One of her duties was to report on the Men’s 50m Rifle Three Position, an event future hubby Matt was winning with ease going into the final round. Then, mysteriously and somewhat unusually, the stuff of nightmares happened.

Matt fired at the wrong target, lost his lead and missed out on the medals, finishing eighth.

Feeling sorry for him, as one shooter to another, Katerina sought Matt afterwards and found him seeking solace in a nearby beer garden. A conversation struck up and a relationship started — albeit arranged around the world’s major shooting tournaments — their second meeting, for example, was in Bangkok.

They married in 2007 and have split their time traveling between the U.S. and the Czech Republic.

Shooting, though, wasn’t Katerina’s original sporting love. Growing up in Plzeň, the fourth biggest city in the Czech Republic, she competed as a swimmer until an illness ended a fledgling career.

To stave off boredom, her champion-shot father — who, unlike many sports-mad dads, hadn’t pushed his daughter toward his own chosen sport — suggested she try rifle shooting, which Katerina soon discovered she could excel at.

What started as fun and occasional practice soon became serious sport. Her first major international medal came in 2002 when she won the World Championships at the tender age of 18.

The bronze medal she won in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle at Athens followed two years later, and although she failed to do better than 27th in the Women’s Three Position Rifle competition, she managed to progress in her main event, taking a silver medal in the 2006 World Championships and claiming European Championship gold in 2007.

Having won the Good Luck Beijing International Sports Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup earlier this year, when she matched Chinese champion and World No. 2 Du Li’s 2003 World Record score of 504.9 points, Emmons came to Beijing with high hopes.

Not that she crumbled under the weight of expectation. “I dealt with the pressure,” Katerina told reporters after her victory. “The only way is just not to think about it. Just pull the trigger and shoot.”

She is not sure whether or not she will eventually change her nationality and compete for the USA. “I will leave the door open. If I can, I’d like to shoot for the Czech Republic for as long as possible.”

Indeed, Katerina’s own Beijing Olympic odyssey is not yet over — she could become a double Games medallist as she is due to compete in the Women’s 50m Rifle Three Position competition on August 14, although it isn’t her strongest event.

Then, there is also her dual role supporting Matt, who also has a double Olympic quest. “Half of my job is done and I’ve done it well. Matt is now going to do his job,” she said.

With one medal in the bag, a glut of shooting gold medals could be heading back to the Emmons household from Beijing.

Olympic Olympic

(BEIJING, August 9) — Two gold medals will be awarded tomorrow in the Olympic Shooting competition for the Women’s 10m Air Pistol and the Men’s Trap.

The Men’s Trap will undoubtedly be the highlight of the day because a slew of top-rated shooters will slug it out for the gold medal. Australia’s Michael Diamond has the chance to win his third gold medal in the event and Russia’s Alexey Alipov can win his second.

In the three qualification rounds that were held today, David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic was the top shooter after hitting 73 targets. Italian Giovanni Pellielo also hit 73 targets but is ranked second because he hit two less targets than Kostelecky in the third round.

Diamond and Alipov both hit 72 targets and are placed in the top six, thus setting up a solid platform for them to snare another gold medal.

The final two qualification rounds of the Men’s Trap will begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow and will be followed by the final round at 3 p.m. The six top scoring shooters from the qualification rounds will qualify for the final.

If 33-year-old Kostelecky continues to shoot well, he could cause a major upset by defeating Diamond and Alipov. The giant Czech (he is 1.90m tall) came sixth in the Men’s Trap at Sydney 2000.

World No. 1 Guo Wenjun of China will be looking to win a gold medal on home soil in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol. However, the 24-year-old Chinese shooter will have to beat some very experienced competitors.

Australia’s Lalita Yauhleuskaya will probably be Guo’s main threat. Yauhleuskaya, 44, won a bronze medal in the event at Sydney 2000 when she was still shooting for her native Belarus. Athens 2004 was the first Olympics in which she represented the green and gold of Australia.

Bulgaria’s Maria Grozdeva is another experienced campaigner who will be desperate for gold. Grozdeva, 36, has won three Olympic bronze medals in the event, as well as winning two gold medals in the Women’s 25m Pistol.

Olympic Olympic

(BEIJING, August 9) — The outstanding performances of the Czech Republic’s Katerina Emmons and China’s Pang Wei were the highlights of the first day of the Olympic Shooting competition.

Emmons and Pang won gold medals in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle and Men’s 10m Air Pistol respectively.

Emmons coolly broke the Olympic Record for the Qualification Round of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle by shooting a perfect 400. The previous record was 399, achieved by Russian Lioubov Galkina at Athens 2004.

Emmons continued on her merry way by breaking the Olympic Record for the Final Round of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle. Her final round score was 103.5, two-fifths of a point higher than the next best score by silver medalist Galkina. The bronze medal was won by Croatia’s Snjezana Pejcic who shot a final score of 500.9.

Emmons’ final score of 503.5 eclipsed the previous record of 502.0 set by China’s Du Li at Athens 2004.

Pang’s gold medal somewhat erased China’s disappointment at the performance of Du in the Women’s 10m Air Rifle. The Athens gold medalist seemingly collapsed under pressure in the final round and could only manage a final round score of 100.6, which was the second worst score out of the eight shooters who participated in the final round.

Pang’s performance was the complete opposite of Du’s. Despite being only 22 years old, Pang reveled in a field bereft of the world’s top-ranking shooters and skipped to an easy victory with a final score of 688.2.

The Republic of Korea’s Jin Jong-oh won the silver medal with a final score of 684.5 and Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea won the bronze medal with a final score of 683.0

Pang must have greatly benefited from Wang Yifu being the coach of the Chinese shooting team because Wang won the gold medal in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol at Athens 2004.

Wang was not exactly glowing in praise when describing Pang’s gold-medal-winning performance. “Pretty good. The first shot in the final was not very satisfying, but he caught up quickly and performed very well,” Wang said.

When asked whether Du’s perceived failure influenced him, Pang said: “I didn’t know the result of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle. I’m deliberately not informed to protect me from extra pressure.”

The only other event today was the first three qualification rounds of the Men’s Trap. David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic is leading after hitting 73 targets. Previous Olympic gold medalists, Australia’s Michael Diamond and Russia’s Alexey Alipov, are well-positioned after hitting 72 targets.

Olympic Olympic

(BEIJING, August 9) — Young Chinese shooter Pang Wei stormed home to win the gold medal in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol in Beijing on August 9. Pang shot a final score of 688.2.

Pang, who is only 22 years old, was unthreatened in the final round and ended up winning by the wide margin of 3.7 points. The Republic of Korea’s Jin Jong-oh won the silver medal with a final score of 684.5.

The battle for the bronze medal was a tightly contested affair between Kim Jong-su of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the United States’ Jason Turner. Kim nailed the bronze medal with a strong finish, shooting 10.3 and 10.0 for his last two shots, which gave him a final score of 683.0.

Turner’s last two shots were poor and he finished in equal fourth place with his compatriot Brian Beaman at the end of the final round. Both men shot a final score of 682.0. Turner was officially awarded fourth place after wining a shoot-off between the two Americans, shooting 10.5 to Beaman’s 10.3.

Pang shot a score of 586 in the qualification round, which was two points higher than the next best score, shot by both Jin and Kim.

Pang’s coach Wang Yifu, was the gold medalist in the event at Athens 2004.

One of the favorites for the event, France’s Franck Dumoulin failed to qualify for the final round. Dumoulin won the gold medal for the event at Sydney 2000.

Olympic Olympic

(BEIJING, August 9) — David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic is in first place after the first three qualification rounds in the Men’s Trap finished today.

Kostelecky hit 73 targets. In second and third place are two Italian shooters, Athens 2004 silver medalist Giovanni Pellielo with 73 targets (ranked second because he hit two less targets than Kostelecky in the third round) and Erminio Frasca with 72 targets.

Alexey Alipov of Russia, Erik Varga of Slovakia, Michael Diamond of Australia and Croatia’s Josip Glasnovic took the following four places with 72 hits each.

The top six ranked shooters of the qualification rounds will advance to the final. The two remaining qualification rounds will begin at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, with the final round beginning at 3:00 p.m.

Olympic Olympic