2012 Olympics: U.S. Shooter Kim Rhode First Showed Skills on Childhood Safaris

Update: The U.S. skeet shooter featured in this article, Kim Rhode, won gold on Sunday at the London Games.

According to USA Today, "Rhode shot a perfect final round Sunday afternoon to win the gold and become the first U.S. athlete in an individual sport to win five medals in five consecutive Olympics." 

Here's the story behind her success.

Previously posted: Kim Rhode began hunting on safaris at age 12. Now the U.S. riflewoman is on the cusp of setting a record by winning a medal in five straight Olympic Games with a podium finish at the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Rhode will compete in both skeet and single trap in London. She was the double trap queen before the Olympics committee ditched the event. This would be the first time that any Olympian has competed in all three disciplines, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, per USA Today.

Rhode got her start as a youngster because her parents both loved to shoot. As a hunter, she collected her first limit of doves at the age of seven, according to NHFDay.org.

By the age of 10, Kim had enrolled in the NRA’s Junior Shooting Program.

One remarkable story starts out on the African plains as a 12-year-old on safari, when she bagged four animals on her first trip, according to Yahoo! Sports:

"

The shooter bagged four animals on her first African safari. Guides wouldn't let her go on the trip initially, until her father set up a target into which his daughter promptly shot three bullets into the bull's eye. One animal Rhode killed was a kudu twice her size.

"

Talk about a natural. 

Since she started, Rhode has been head-and-shoulders above the competition. From the USA Today report:

"

A promotional poster at Perazzi U.S.A., which makes Rhode's shotguns, shows her at age 17 surrounded by medals and trophies. It reads: "The only problem with owning a Perazzi is …You'll RUN OUT OF ROOM!!"

"

ESPNW did a feature on Rhodes leading up to the Olympics, highlighting the different ways she's a particularly unique woman:

"

She makes her own fresh pasta. She can build a car from the ground up. She collects antique children's books. Her mom keeps her schedule and her dad is her coach. Her name is Kim Rhode and her blog is modestly subtitled "just a girl shooting guns and stuff."

Rhode also has a garage full of antique cars—13 at the moment—including a 1917 Model T Speedster and a couple of Model As. Her favorite remains the sporty '65 AC Shelby Cobra she built with her father's supervision over a five-year period starting in 1996.

"

She's also a tireless worker when it comes to her craft. In a phone interview with Shotgun Life, Rhode revealed that, “I shoot 800-1,000 rounds a day." 

In the same interview, she also revealed her secret weapon for training: "Video games. They’re incredible for hand-eye coordination."

Rhode still loves to hunt. According to the USA Today report, she has an African "mask and spear collection." And, "After the Sydney Olympics, she went banteng hunting and spent time with Aborigines on remote Croker Island in Australia's Northern Territory."

This Olympic superstar is more suited to the African plains than a night out at the opera, and she's chasing history with a vengeance this summer in London.

Follow @JesseReed78