“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.

Today, Matt is an Olympic champion focused not only on bettering his performance in the next Olympiad, but on living his life to the fullest. He is engaged with plans to marry in June 2007. When he has time to visit Alaska, Matt enjoys camping, hiking, fishing and cross country skiing.

Did you know?

• A graduate of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Matt says that he wants to make the state his home following his Olympic career. “It has a small town feel, and the people from the area are so supportive. I just love it there.
• 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 recently married Czech Republic shooter, Katerina (Katy) and now spends a lot of time in (he’s slowly learning the language)