Wall Street Journal highlights how surprisingly common it is for Olympic athletes to lose their medals. Of the athletes they interviewed, many report that their medals were stolen; though a few cited circumstances that may have been a bit more in their control. There are two shooters mentioned in the story:
Some Olympians don’t like talking about their absent-minded moment. Glenn Eller, a shotgun shooter who won gold in Beijing, says only that someone took it while he was out with colleagues in Fort Worth, Texas, in late 2008. “I put myself in a situation that I probably shouldn’t have been in, and someone stole it out of my pocket,” he says. “I’m trying to forget it and go ahead.” He has since received a replica. …
Corey Codgell, a shotgun shooter who won bronze in Beijing, doesn’t take any chances. She usually keeps her nicked-up medal in her front pocket when she travels. Before letting an audience at an event handle it, she warns everybody: “No one leaves this room until I get my medal back.”
On a slightly related note, Pennsylvania is represented on this year’s shooting team by Jamie Gray and Joshua Richmond.
I also continue to be amazed by the number of Olympic shooters from states that aren’t exactly known for being gun friendly or having a strong gun culture – California has three shooters while Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey each have one Olympian with ties to the state.
I am always amazed by shooters from nations without a gun culture or wide-spread firearms ownership…
I used to work with a woman who’s husband won a bunch of gold medals in rowing (I believe he was hungarian or something). Apparantly, he kept them in a sock, in a sock drawer. Said they were too valuable to display, and he didn’t realy know what to do with them.
If I ever won one (which will be about the same time that porcines turn aviary) I think I’d keep mine in a safe or safety deposit box, and get a replica for display.
Mass Rifle here in Mass takes Olympic competitive shooting VERY seriously, and there are pictures of winners all over the clubhouse walls, and we got a nifty trophy case right at the front door.
I don’t know why New Jersey gun owners aren’t more visible; I keep finding them in the oddest places.