“I first got into competitive shooting by accident really; I grew up around guns since most of the men in my family were hunters. From childhood, I always enjoyed shooting, but never knew it was a sport of any sort until I was about 15 years old. My father works on a military base in New Jersey and he's basically in charge of all of the shooting ranges there. The FBI uses one of the ranges and back around 1995 the head firearms instructor was talking to my dad about how to pay for college and said that there were universities with shooting teams that gave scholarships and asked my dad if I liked to shoot. My dad's answer was "oh, yeah, he's loves to" and the man, Paul Adamowski, said "well, bring him over and I'll see if he has some talent." I shot with him a little and he said I was pretty good with a rifle, so that's what he started me with. He told me early on that I could go to the Olympics - of course at that point, I didn't think I'd ever be that good, but I never forgot what he told me. I got the Olympic bug at a junior training camp in 1997 when I saw exactly what I had to do to make the national team and go to the Olympics”

While Matt tried his hand all three Olympic disciplines, it was rifle that kept his attention. In 1997, after a little over a year of shooting, one of Matt’s friends talked his father into allowing him to compete in an international shooting event. It was there that he was able to rise above the field and catch the eye of USA Shooting by winning both the prone and 3X40 events. Just one short year later when Matt, only 17 years old, won the prone competition at the National Championships and was named to the National Rifle Team.

Did you know?

• Emmons holds a degree in management and finance from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is a graduate at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs.
• Matt owns an electric guitar. He purchased a book to teach himself how to play in 2005, and says that he has gradually improved while practicing in the athlete dorms.
• This rifleman is not just about shooting around the range. Matt once pitched a perfect game for his high school baseball team in Pemberton, N.J.
• Matt also holds a degree in management and finance from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
• Ice hockey is Matt’s favorite pro sport
• Matt married Czech sport shooter and Olympic champion Kateřina Kůrková in Pilsen, Czech Republic on June 30, 2007. They met at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. At the 2008 ISSF Final Matt announced that he and Katerina are starting a family, Emmons junior is due in the Spring 2009.

Relationship with ELEY

"We set high standards – both for ourselves and our equipment. With ELEY, you always know what you are getting - great service and the best ammunition. Our ideal company to represent has not only a great product, but also has wonderful people to deal with. I think those two things really do go hand in hand and, well, ELEY has it. Perfect!” Matt Emmons, 2008