You may have never heard of her, but Kimberly Rhode, 32, has a chance to become one of the most decorated U.S. Olympians of all time. If the shooter places on the podium in London, she’ll become the first American athlete to medal in an individual sport in five straight Olympic Games. Rhode won her first gold in 1996, a week after turning 17. She won a bronze in Sydney, another gold in Athens and a silver in Beijing. As a young girl, Rhode developed her shooting skills while on African safari trips with her family. She also credits video games with keeping her sharp by improving her hand-eye coordination.
50 Olympic Athletes to Watch
From Qatar to South Africa, Russia to the U.S., TIME takes you around the globe to meet the extraordinary men and women you’ll be seeing this summer at the London Games
Kimberly Rhode
Shooting, U.S.
Full List
Athletes to Watch
- Rebecca Adlington
- Tony Azevedo
- Kenenisa Bekele
- Yohan Blake
- Usain Bolt
- Veronica Campbell-Brown
- Mark Cavendish
- Oksana Chusovitina
- Tom Daley
- Phil Dalhausser
- Gabrielle Douglas
- Kevin Durant
- Brady Ellison
- Matthew Emmons
- Jessica Ennis
- Allyson Felix
- Missy Franklin
- Tony Gunawan
- Bahiya Al-Hamad
- Trey Hardee
- Im Dong Hyun
- Larisa Iordache
- Yelena Isinbayeva
- Lolo Jones
- Lin Dan
- Liu Xiang
- Ryan Lochte
- Holley Mangold
- Ous Mellouli
- Carolina Mendoza
- LaShawn Merritt
- Alex Morgan
- Fabiana Murer
- Aliya Mustafina
- Sally Pearson
- Michael Phelps
- Paula Radcliffe
- Kimberly Rhode
- Dayron Robles
- Caster Semenya
- Hope Solo
- Nur Suryani Mohd Taibi
- Katie Taylor
- Allison Schmitt
- Aisuluu Tynybekova
- Kohei Uchimura
- Kerri Walsh
- Rau’shee Warren
- Jordyn Wieber
- Mariel Zagunis