Shooting has always come naturally for John Barkemeyer, so it would make sense that he would load up his gun and head to the 2014 Huntsman World Senior Games.
Little did he know as he packed his suitcase for the weeklong trip to St. George’s Utah, that he would be coming home with a little more weight around his neck.
After participating in several of the categories available for his age range, Barkemeyer came home with a little glimmer and not necessarily in his eye.
Barkemeyer participated in the shotgun sports event and competed in all of the categories available.
Two bronze medals, two silver medals, and three gold medals were enough for Barkemeyer to distinguish the trip as successful.
“I won three gold, two silver, and two bronze, I won seven,” he said.
Barkemeyer won bronze in the wobble trap and handicap trap categories, with silver in the trap doubles, and sporting clays. He really shone during the skeet, five stand, and trap singles events, where he ended up taking home the gold title.
Aside from the shooting events, there are several other categories for participants to choose from.
“I was in the shooting part of it, but there are many, many events, softball, volleyball, baseball, badminton, bowling, I don’t know how many events there are,” Barkemeyer said.
The shooting event hosted over 130 talented shooters throughout the 12 age and gender categories.
“I participated in my age group, from 80-85, and that is where I won my medals,” he said, adding he didn’t count how many were competing in his category.
It was after a friend admitted his desire to participate in the games that Barkemeyer decided to sign up.
“I said okay, if you can drive we will drive down,” Barkemeyer said. “We drove straight through.”
It took the pair 13 hours of driving to get to Utah, and they did not hesitate when it came to heading home.
There is no need to pre register, you just show up and participate, with only the first 130 athletes making the cut per event.
“When we left there I finished shooting and we loaded up our guns and come home, I didn’t even know I had won my last medal until I got home,” he said, adding that it is currently on its way.
“One of the events, they give the medals late at night, and I had finished shooting in the morning and we had just jumped in the car and come home,” Barkemeyer said.
Barkemeyer said it is not just Canada and the United States fighting for the gold, but several other countries travel to Utah in hopes of taking something home with them.
“It’s quite an event… there are shooters and people from all over the world play,” he said. “A lot of countries participate in the different events.”
This is the second year Barkemeyer has participated in the games, and said he won five medals in 2009.
That year he came home with a gold in sporting clays, a gold in trap doubles, a gold in trap handicap, and a silver in trap singles.
Shooting is more than just a hobby for Barkemeyer, and is a sport he has been fond of since he was young.
“I shoot a lot,” Barkemeyer said. “I think I have been shooting since I was about ten.”
With nearly 71 years with a gun in his hand, it is no surprise that he managed to bring home the gold.
The sport of shooting has taken Barkemeyer around the world, and it wasn’t always for competitions.
“I have been all over the world shooting,” he said. “I have shot in five different countries.”
Barkemeyer was in the military for nearly 38 years, and it was during his timeserving that he traveled the world so thoroughly.
“I went into a lot of countries,” he said.
For Barkemeyer, shooting is about the competition.
“I really enjoy shooting a shotgun,” he said. “The competition… normal things that happen in sports, and playing sports.”
“When I first started shooting I was in the military in the air force,” Barkemeyer said, adding that he taught the pilots how to shoot skeet, a form of shooting that is not used in modern day aircraft.
“It was straight deflection shooting, so if they wanted to shoot another airplane down they had this little sight on their dash… you followed the airplane you were going to shoot and then you lead it, and that is what skeet shooting is about.”
