This entry was posted on 4th January 2016 by ELEY Ammunition.
Matt Emmons is already a proud owner of three Olympic medals and is renowned for this success in target shooting. We wanted to get to the bottom of what motivates Matt to keep doing what he’s doing especially with Rio in sight…
ELEY: What are your shooting dreams and aspirations?
Matt: I want to be one of the best shooters in the history of the sport, a legend. I want to be someone that future generations can look up to as a role model not just because of my results or medals, but also because of who I was as a person and how I played the game.
ELEY: How have you gone about trying to reach your goals and dreams?
Matt: Tons of ways, really, but the first way is by working extremely hard for nearly 20 years. I’ve always been a student of the sport, wanting to learn, innovate and understand how to shoot better and be a better athlete in general. I’ve always tried to do things on and off the range that help my shooting, not hurt it. I try to spend time around people who have good, positive attitudes and habits, which helps me be the best I can be. On top of that, I’ve been very disciplined to do the things needed to be one of the best.
ELEY: Has anyone inspired you during your career to date and how did they inspire you?
Matt: Of course! Tons of people. My family, great athletes from many different sports, business leaders, soldiers, certain movie stars, musicians, etc. There are so many incredible people I’ve admired for various reasons over the years. They are all people who stood out from the crowd and did something special. In shooting, there have been lots of people I’ve respected and looked up to, but one I have to mention is Lones Wigger. Lones was not only one of the best rifle shooters in the history of the sport, but Lones is simply a really cool guy. He worked extremely hard for everything he got, was and still is super passionate about shooting and doing something great, but despite all of his success, he is still a “normal” person who is fun to talk to and be around. He has a charisma that’s contagious.
ELEY: What motivates you to keep going to the range and training, day in day out?
Matt: I love what I do, simple as that. I love working hard at trying to be the best. It’s not the medals or accolades that motivate me the most – it’s the pursuit of mastery that keeps me going.
ELEY: Have there been any low points in your career and what motivated you to keep training and keep competing?
Matt: Of course. Two of my biggest ones are quite famous world-wide. Over the years, there have been plenty of other ups and downs, too. Sometimes it’s tough, but it’s a fact that champions in any walk of life don’t give up on things they believe in and they don’t give up on their dreams. They learn what they can from any failures, made adjustments and continue going on. My shooting dreams and aspirations I listed above are extremely important to me. They are not everything in life to me, of course, but I believe in them and I want to chase them. I have never been the kind of person to roll over and die at the first sign of resistance or trouble. I might pause a bit, learn and then take an alternative route, but I keep going forward. That’s how I approach shooting. Keep moving forward, keep learning. Failure approached properly only makes you stronger, more resilient, and better for the future. You just have to learn from it and not stop moving forward. If you don’t learn and you give up, that is a true failure.
ELEY: After medal wins, how do you motivate yourself to get back to the range and start training again?
Matt: If I want to be a legend in the sport, by definition, I need to keep making finals, making podiums and winning medals. Medals are nice, but I train hard to shoot my best when it matters. It’s a wonderful experience when I can watch my training unfold the way I had hoped in a competition. That feeling of accomplishment never gets old. It’s fun and I truly enjoy it, so I get back to work and try to keep going so I can do it over and over.
ELEY: Has winning an Olympic Quota place affected the way in which you train?
Matt: No, not at all. On the US Team, we were working this year (2015) to build points to be automatically nominated for the Olympic Team. I won my quota in my first start of the year, thereby also earning points toward the Olympic nomination. I still needed to shoot well the rest of the year to build more points so I could be over our minimum threshold of points, so the goal and training never changed. The Olympic Quota was just a product of the journey.
Thanks very much to Matt for this insight into what motivates him.
This entry was posted in news on 4th January 2016 by ELEY Ammunition.
Posted by Thom Erik Syrdahl
Source - http://www.eley.co.uk/
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