Skeet shooting gold medal winner returns to Eatonton

Some 60 hours after winning the gold in men’s skeet shooting, Eatonton native Vincent Hancock has yet to really celebrate.

There was a small reception for the team Saturday night in Beijing, followed by a long nap and then packing for a flight that departed China about 2 a.m. Monday, Atlanta time. Fifteen hours later, Hancock, 19, was back on familiar soil, though things had certainly changed.

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Vincent Hancock, 19, said he has wanted to compete in the Olympics since childhood. His dream was realized when he won a spot on the U.S. team and won a gold medal in Beijing.

He was approached by a few strangers at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport who, seeing the gold medal dangling from his neck, wanted to give a congratulatory handshake.

And, of course, a quick stroke of the medal.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet,” said Hancock, clearly uncomfortable with the attention he was receiving from media and a small group of family and friends who welcomed him home Monday night. Several times he tried to put the medal away, but was encouraged to wear it proudly.

“He’s going to have to get used to it,” said his sister, Janie Maddox, 27.

A parade is planned in his honor through downtown Eatonton, she said, and he’ll also be receiving the keys to the city.

“This has put Eatonton on the map,” said Maddox, in reference to the MIddle Georgia birthplace of famed authors Joel Chandler Harris and Alice Walker.

She said just about everyone in town with Internet access was watching Saturday at 4:30 a.m. when Hancock forced Norwegian rival and co-world-record-holder Tore Brovold into a shoot-off. An uncharacteristic miss by Brovold — shooting with Norway’s king and queen in attendance — helped Hancock win the gold.

“When he missed that first shot, I knew I had it,” said Hancock, an Army specialist stationed at Ft. Benning. As part of the Army’s Marksmanship Unit, he trains soldiers heading overseas for battle.

Despite being the youngest member of the American team, Hancock is already something of a legend in the shooting world, having won his first world championship at age 16.

Dean Clark, his coach for the Army team, calls him the “Michael Jordan of shooting. He typically dominates the competition,” Clark said.

He just doesn’t act the part, though Hancock did admit to enjoying one of the perks of being a gold medalist on his flight across the Pacific.

“I got to sit in first class,” he told his family. “That was pretty cool.”