Armed and Fabulous

Imagine you’ve just returned from the Beijing Olympics having won your fourth Olympic medal in shooting.  What’s the worst thing you can imagine happening?  How about having the gun you’ve used since you began competing stolen?

That’s exactly what happened to U.S. Shooting superstar, Kim Rhode.  “It’s like a shoe,” Rhode said. “If something doesn’t fit you exactly right, you’re definitely going to know it…The emotions that hit you when it’s gone are incredible. Like, ‘I have to start completely over again.’”  And start over, she did.

With the anonymous donation of a new Perazzi 2000S to replace her Perazzi MX-12, Rhode headed to London and made it clear she’s feeling pretty comfortable with her new gun.  Setting an Olympic record in the skeet qualifying round by hitting 74 out of 75 targets, she then followed by tying her own record in the final round by hitting all 25 targets.  Winning gold (obviously), she also became the first U.S. Olympian to win a medal in five consecutive Olympics.

(Note to all those concerned: a few weeks after having her gun stolen, it was found in the home of a convict on parole. However, after using the new Perazzi, she decided it was time to retire “Old Faithful.”)

Shipping Horses to the Olympics

This post comes from our affiliate, John Blackburn of Blackburn Architects.

“The largest competitors at this summer’s Olympics in London are not weightlifters….the largest competitors are horses.”

 — Morning Edition, NPR, March 7, 2012

Who knew that horses could arrive via FedEx? What a great story on NPR this morning about how the horses competing in this summer’s London Olympics will arrive safe (and in style). Tim Dutta, who owns an international horse transport company, said he expects to ship between 50 to 60 horses to London this summer. Dutta said that like people, horses respond to flying in various manners. Some are nervous and may require sedatives; others are happy to munch on hay and drink cocktails of apple juice and water to pass the time. And of course, the horses aren’t left to their own devices on the planes — with them is a full entourage, including a vet and a groom. Which reminds me, I’ve read that racehorses can supposedly benefit from a little jet lag….wonder if the same holds true for events like dressage. Listen or read the full story on NPR.

Horse on a plane! (from nymag.com)