SGT Vincent Hancock wins 2nd Olympic Gold

Congrats to SGT Hancock winning his second gold in Skeet Shooting:

Ignoring a touch of rain and a ton of pressure, the USA's Vincent Hancock hit 'em with his best shots. His record accuracy Tuesday with a double-barreled shotgun gave him his second gold medal in as many Olympics in skeet shooting Ignoring a touch of rain and a ton of pressure, the USA's Vincent Hancock hit 'em with his best shots.

His record accuracy Tuesday with a double-barreled shotgun gave him his second gold medal in as many Olympics in skeet shooting. After hitting an Olympic skeet record 148 of 150 targets over two days — including 25-25 in the final — the 23-year-old stood atop the podium for the playing of the U.S. national anthem.

He held his hand over his heart and stood ramrod straight like the Army sergeant he is.

"Having the opportunity to come out here and represent my country, that's what it's really all about," said Hancock, who won by two targets over silver medalist Anders Golding (146 score). "God has given me the greatest opportunity in the world to represent my country on a stage this grand and especially to have this medal hanging around my neck again."

I saw a couple of interviews with him the past couple of days, and he seems like an amazingly good guy.

Here he is telling his story in uniform.

Congratulations Sergeant.

On a semi-related issue, the minute I saw that Gabby Douglas was from Virginia Beach (where I once lived a few blocks from Ft. Story) I wondered if her parents weren't military.  Then my wife confirmed it for me last night, and USA Today has a nice story about her AF SSG dad:

SAN JOSE - For nearly two years, punctuated by a six-month stint serving in Afghanistan, Timothy Douglas had been the proud father from afar. The Air Force staff sergeant would dial up YouTube videos of his daughter's gymnastics routines and watch them with the disbelieving fellow members of his 203rd Red Horse civil engineering squadron during the lonely nights when they were trying to escape the Kandahar heat.

On Friday, he finally got the opportunity he had been waiting for, flying from Virginia to California with two friends, arriving at HP Pavilion in time to rush down to the railing and call his daughter's name during warm-ups at the U.S. Olympic trials. When Gabby Douglas saw her father, carrying a large U.S. flag on which he'd inscribed "Go Gabby Douglas, Love, Dad," she flashed a large smile and met his eyes for a few long seconds.

"I'm like, 'Who's calling my name?' And then I look up. It was my dad and his friend, and I haven't seen him in a while," Gabby said. "They were holding up the flag. And I almost felt like bawling. I was like, 'Oh, my gosh, Dad!' "

 And for the surprising number of people I have heard from on a related issue, yes, it does appear that under current law you have to pay taxes on your Gold Medal.  But it looks like there is a bill before Congress to fix that:

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., introduced a bill today in the Senate that would exempt U.S. Olympic medal winners from paying federal taxes on their medals and prize moneyearned in the Olympics.

"Our tax code is a complicated and burdensome mess that too often punishes success, and the tax imposed on Olympic medal winners is a classic example of this madness," Rubio said in a paper statement today announcing his legislation.  "Athletes representing our nation overseas in the Olympics shouldn't have to worry about an extra tax bill waiting for them back home."

Under U.S. tax law, the athletes must add the value of their Olympic medals and prizes to their taxable income, and are taxed at a rate of 35% by the IRS.

Americans for Tax Reform found that the value of a gold medal is about $675, meaning that an athlete could be on the hook for a $236 extra tax burden.