Rio Olympics 2016: Kim Rhode - The champion they're not talking about

Since the times sports have captured the imagination of masses and found massive love from them, there has been this lingering uncomfortable question that has often raised its head to divide sports lovers. Should sports be allowed to mix with politics? If yes, then how much? At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the question has come once again under the scanner as it has accounted for a champion athlete.

While the Rio carnival is abuzz with the names of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and teen prodigy Simone Biles, there are merely murmurs about a certain Kim Rhode, and some of them even disgruntled. So, who is Kim Rhode after all?

The woman in question happens to be an American double trap and skeet shooter who has cornered a piece of glory once every four years since her first appearance on the grandest stage in 1996 and with another medal in Rio, a bronze in Skeet, became the only athlete, male or female, to win medals across six summer Olympics.

Even before conquering history with her gun in Rio, Rhode was the most successful female shooter and a triple Olympic champion who had two Gold medals in Double trap and one in Skeet. Her Gold winning feat in 2012 London Olympics also saw her equaling a world record when she shot 99 out of 100 clays. Now with a Bronze in skeet in 2016, the 37 year old has achieved an unique distinction of having won an Olympic medal on every continent in her 20 year long shooting career.

Also read: Dark side of Rio Olympics on show as Brazil fans' boos reduce silver medallist Renaud Lavillenie to tears

Despite her glorious achievements, it is quite possible that many of the readers of this article haven’t heard much about her during the ongoing Olympics. That is partially because the shooter hasn’t been spoken of in the same breath as Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky in the media.

The reason behind such a snub by the media is suspected to be because of Rhode not being the most politically correct sportsperson around. Besides, what hasn’t helped the cause of the mother of one is her outspokenness in support of some sensitive issues in the country. The first of them is the divisive national talking point of the Second Amendment.

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. The sanctity assigned to life and liberty by the Declaration of Independence of the United States necessitates the auxiliary right to private ownership of arms.

In the wake of shooting massacres all over the United States that have claimed more than thousands of lives in the past few years, the public sentiment has turned against the Second Amendment and it has come under both academic and judicial scrutiny as well.

The Obama administration has drawn flak for not being able to bring in a stricter gun regime in the country and has continuously stood by the Second Amendment, much to the chagrin of those who lost their dear ones to mass shooting incidents that have mushroomed all over the country in the past decade. The gun violence resulting from the gun culture has made people question the relevance of the Second Amendment.

So polarizing has the debate been that the US Shooting team failed to garner sponsors ahead of the Rio Olympics from outside the firearm industry.

Kim Rhode, who has been wielding the gun for most part of her 37 years of life is one such public figure who has, from time to time, spoken in support of the Second Amendment. She is even an honorary member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a body widely believed to have been behind the push for adopting the literal interpretation of the second amendment.

Even from Rio, she wasn’t mincing any words when asked her views on the topic, something she has gotten used to now by the virtue of being a shooter.The Californian said, “The Second Amendment was put in there not just so we can go shoot skeet or go shoot trap. It was put in so we could defend our first amendment, the freedom of speech, and also to defend ourselves against our own government.”

Reminded of the San Benardino massacre that took place in December in 2015 and claimed 14 lives, Rhode said, “Such massacres make me want to carry (weapons) even more.” In 2012, weeks after her 3rd shooting Gold, Rhode had appeared on stage at the Republican National Convention and spoke out in support of presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in the build-up to the 2012 election.

Gun laws have been beefed up in California and have resulted in making life more difficult for the shooter. Talking about it, she said, “I shoot 500 to 1,000 rounds a day, so having to do a background check every time I purchase ammo, or every time I want to bring ammo in or out of a competition or a match, those are very challenging for me,” says Rhode. “Also, I’ve had guns in my family for generations that have been passed down, and now I’m going to register them as assault weapons. And they will not be passed on to my son, or to me from my father. It definitely does affect me and give me a reason to speak out more.”

The media hasn’t taken too kindly of her unabashed advocacy of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump either who himself has lashed out at the gun control movement on more than one occasion. Over last one year, Trump has emerged as the most polarizing political figure, not just in the US, but all over the world.

As the elections draw closer, the world waits with bated breath what the businessman who has promised measures like banning Muslims from the country and constructing a high rise wall to keep Mexican neighbors away from the United States eventually manages to do.

The snub of the champion shooter, if it has anything to do with her political views is rather unfortunate. To try to make a statement by undermining someone’s hard earned glory definitely warrants questioning. No matter how unpopular or divisive one’s political views are, they should not be allowed to take anything away from the achievement that Rhode has managed.

Despite the despicability of his political views, there is little doubting that Bobby Fischer was one of the best things to happen to chess. Similarly, on the Olympics stage, Rhode is a champion who deserves to be feted for a long and glorious career, irrespective of what her views on gun control are.