Kim Rhode wasn’t always the most iconic Olympic shooting-sports athlete ever. Like all of us, she had to start somewhere, somehow and some-when. For Rhode, the only Olympic athlete in any sport to ever medal in six consecutive Olympic games, it began like this: Ten years old, on a normal trap field, using Winchester AA shotshells. On that fateful day, Winchester employee Sandy Wood noticed the elementary-school-aged Kim and began working with the young dynamo to sponsor her efforts behind the trigger. A mere three years later, at the age of 13, Rhode won her first world championship in American skeet … and the rest is history.
Some thirty-odd years later, Rhode’s six Olympic medals—including three gold medals while competing in the multiple disciplines of Double trap, bunker trap and international skeet—make her the most decorated shooting sports athlete of all time. Rarified as those laurels may be, Rhode won’t be resting on them anytime soon. Her plans include representing the United States in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and in her home state of California at the Los Angeles games in 2028.
“Winchester has been with me since the very beginning of my career and their support has been remarkable,” said Rhode. “I’ve always tried to do my very best in representing the shooting sports as an inviting activity, for people of all ages and skill levels. I love talking to people who want to get started in shooting just as much as I love to compete.”
Rhode’s a living legend who lives to mentor and inspire. She’s an author and Second Amendment ambassador with an irresistibly cheerful, down-to-earth personality. (If you’d like to read some of Rhode’s advice for new shooters, click here!)
“Kim Rhode has established a legacy in competitive shooting that is unmatched. She is a fierce competitor but also one of the most genuine ambassadors of the shooting sports,” said Matt Campbell, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Winchester Ammunition. “Kim and Winchester will continue to work together at the highest levels of competition, but also in driving more people to participate in the shooting sports.”