USA’s Paralympian Matt Stutzman will be taking part in the individual compound open event today i.e 14th September 2016, but he has had to face some adverse circumstances to get to the Rio Paralympic Games in Brazil.
There was a phase in Stutzman’s life where he could not find a job as he did not have both his arms. The 33-year old was born without both his arms and learned to do everything with his feet, which has seen the American live in adverse conditions since the start of his life.
However, after getting married, Stutzman was unable to find a job because nobody was willing to hire him because of his physical disability.
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Stutzman said, “I couldn’t find a job. I was pretty depressed. No guy who has kids feels good about not being able to take care of them.”
However, one fine day, the athlete got the idea of taking up archery as a sport. He said, “I hunted (with a gun) when I was younger, and one day I got this idea about getting a bow and going out in the woods and harvest an animal to put in our freezer. The hunting season is longer for archery where I live.”
He added that it seemed impossible at first to shoot with his feet. He said, “I mean, I Googled ‘how to shoot with no arms’, and there was nothing (laughs).”
Stutzman, who is known as the ‘Armless Archer’ after he won the silver medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, said that he went on to develop a method of shooting which involved holding the bow with his right foot and triggering the release with his jaw.
The 33-year old explained that because he had to get food for his family, he worked hard at the sport. He said, “That's one of the reasons I got good at archery faster, I had that drive of 'I can’t fail' because I had to provide food. Just that little thing made me feel happy about life. Who knew it was going to take off into what it is now?”
The American had started his Paralympic Games journey in the year 2011 as he participated in Vegas, USA, in an archery tournament. Stutzman said, “I was in Vegas for an archery tournament, and someone approached me and said ‘You should shoot Paralympic archery' and I said 'What is that?'”
Stutzman adds that he started to search on the internet about what the Paralympics Games were and eventually started to practice in order to qualify for the 2012 London Paralympic Games. His hard work and dedication towards the sport and eventually his family, led to Stutzman qualifying for the 2012 US Paralympic archery team and making the trip to London. That was the moment when everything changed for the American.
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The lesser known Stutzman quickly turned into a little star on the media, and his profile was raised after he created a Guinness World Record for the farthest accurate shot which he set in 2015. Stutzman talked about how he has fans now.
He said, “The weird thing about it is the fans now. Everywhere I go there’s like pictures, people interrupting. Learning how to manage that and not make anybody mad is part of it because they’re your fans and they help pay the bills.”
The 33-year old Stutzman has high expectations from himself at Rio as he had bagged the silver in London. But the athlete said he would like to leave a legacy even if he fails to win. “Whether I win or lose, I’m leaving a legacy for people to watch. Look at that guy, he has no arms, and he’s shooting,” he said.
The archer ended by saying that the fact that he can become an inspiration to someone is what is important to him. He said, “He didn’t let having no arms stand in the way of doing something he wanted to do, and for me that’s what’s important, changing just one person’s life. If I get a medal that’s great on top of everything else.”
