Ralf Schumann
Ralf Schumann (born June 10, 1962) is a German 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol shooter. He is the World Record holder, twice Olympic Champion and twice World Champion.
Born in Meissen outside Dresden, he took on pistol shooting in 1977 and was eventually trained at the East German national shooting arena in Suhl, Thuringia. Suhl is still his shooting base, living in nearby Stockheim. He has on several occasions been voted the athlete of the year in Thuringia.
His international breakthrough came in the years before the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where he was considered the most likely winner. However, he was beaten by Afanasi Kuzmins of the Soviet Union (later Latvia) by 598 to 597 in the qualification round, and was never allowed to come back in the finals, Kuzmins performing a perfect 100. (In an interview, Ralf quoted his young son's reaction: "Daddy, why didn't you win?")
After this, the targets were changed, lowering results considerably, but Schumann's hegemony has only increased. He won the 1990 World Championships and the 1992 Olympics. He performed 596 on several occasions before raising the World Record to 597 in 1995 and equalling it in 2000. He also holds the final World Record and the Olympic records (from 1996).
Being the favourite in every competition he enters, it is natural that his failures to win have received some attention. Most notable among these is his performance in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when at the prospect of winning his third consecutive Olympic gold medal (something no RFP shooter before has managed) he only finished fifth. However, his results since then have proved that this was not the beginning of a long-term decline, and he is indeed again the one man to beat in Athens.