Vision Matters: Are You On Target?
Three time Olympian Matt Emmons has won over 50 medals in his career.
Whether you’re a worker bee or an elite, Olympic athlete, vision matters. But, so does execution.
True story: Athens, Greece. August, 2004. Matt Emmons, a 23 year old kid from New Jersey, was hot on the trail of his second gold medal. It was down to the last round in the 50 Meter Rifle 3 Positions he had a solid, 3 point lead. Get near the bull’s-eye, scoring 8 points and the gold would be his. The place got really quiet, Matt exhaled himself into position, and took aim.
Associated Press gives us the story:
“Matt Emmons was focusing on staying calm…
Emmons fired at the target…
‘On that shot, I was just worrying about calming myself down and just breaking a good shot… When I shot the shot, everything felt fine,’ Emmons said… [but] no score appeared, he gestured to officials that he thought there was some sort of error with his target.
‘On those targets, sometimes every once in a great while, it won’t register. The shot just doesn’t show up, so that’s what I thought happened.’
A perfect score — dead center in a bull’s-eye that is smaller than a dime — is worth 10.9 in the final round, but all Emmons needed was an 8.0 for gold. His shot …was an 8.1, but it didn’t count, of course. Because the right placement on the wrong target is worth 0 points. [italics & bold mine]”
Ever hit the right mark on the wrong target? (more…)