[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 119 (Tuesday, August 7, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1447]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING AMERICAN OLYMPIAN KIM RHODE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 7, 2012

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I along with Representative 
Chu rise today in honor and celebration of American Olympian Kim Rhode, 
who became the first American to earn an individual medal in five 
straight Olympic Games following her gold-medal performance on July 29 
in the women's skeet shooting event in London.
  A native of California, Rhode has been competing in trap and skeet 
shooting events since she was a child. She won a gold medal in her 
first Olympics as a teenager--in the 1996 Atlanta Games--and has since 
earned bronze in Sydney (2000) and gold in Athens (2004), all in the 
trap event. She also won a silver medal in the 2008 Beijing skeet 
competition. This accomplishment makes her just the 8th U.S. woman 
Olympian to have won at least five medals in individual competitions.
  With her near-perfect score, Rhode set an Olympic record last Sunday, 
hitting 99 of a possible 100 targets, tying the highest mark ever 
achieved in skeet-style competition. She scored perfect 25-of-25 
figures in the first two rounds of competition, ending her streak at 65 
made shots when she had her first and only miss in the third round. 
Rhode closed out the final round with another perfect 25, finishing 
eight shots ahead of the first runner-up.
  A model athlete and competitor, Rhode's consistency and persistence 
have defined her career and its success. Though she remains a tough 
competitor at age 33, Rhode has stayed family-oriented and remarkably 
balanced for an athlete of her caliber. She shoots for fun with her 
husband, Mike Harryman, and her principal coach and trainer is still 
her father, Richard; her mother, Sharon, helps to manage a schedule 
filled with sponsorship obligations and speaking engagements. Despite 
all her successes, those closest to Rhode say she remains passionate 
about the sport for the best of reasons--her own personal enjoyment.
  Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we congratulate and 
praise Kim Rhode's accomplishments thus far, and wish her the best in 
future competitions. She is a role-model for young athletes in America 
and across the globe, and she is deserving of our most honorable 
recognition.

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