According to Matt Stutzman, mastering the regulation of adrenaline is essential for becoming a competitive archer. Before training, he would do a fast parachute jump. He claims, “I would shoot my bow, get on a plane, and jump out.” After that, I would land nearby, shoot my bow till my adrenaline wore off, climb back up, and leap out once more.
While not every athlete will benefit from this type of training, Stutzman is an exception to the rule. To begin with, the Iowan American, who was born without arms, is a world-champion archer and amateur parachutist. Additionally, he has been pursuing a “Michael Jordan moment”—the time when a single individual transforms not only his sport but also the public’s image of it—since he was a little boy. And when the Paris Paralympics roll around in a year, it looks like he’ll have fulfilled his dream.
Who is Matt Stutzman?
Born without arms and adopted at four months old, Stutzman grew up in a family of hunters in Iowa, and he had always wanted to be like his father and brother. Stutzman, who hails from Fairfield, Iowa, is distinct from many other para-archers: while all have some form of impairment, most are still able to use their arms to hold the bow. But Stutzman, who was born with no arms, uses his legs instead. Stutzman says he learned about the sport watching TV one night and was spurred into action when he Googled “teach an armless man to shoot a bow” and came up with nothing.
“I remember going to an archery store and telling a guy I wanted to buy a bow,” Matt says with a chuckle. “The guy said to me, ‘You need a crossbow because a crossbow is like a gun and easier to shoot. “I said: ‘No, I want a compound bow.” He said, “How are you going to shoot it. And I didn’t know, I just wanted one.”
Stutzman nevertheless purchased the bow and, using a method he had invented, was competing against competitors who were not injured very shortly. When a buddy pointed out that the sponsor was only giving him money, he sought a sponsor, “because you have no arms.” Stutzman’s Jordan mode kicked in. “It started then”, he says. “Eight hours a day in a chair for pretty much the next eight years. That was all I did, practice and practice and practice.”
Olympic Game Journey
After concentrating on his new interest for a year, Stutzman won silver in the men’s compound at the London Paralympic Games. For the following four years, he was the top-ranked para archery in the world. Stutzman achieved his first solo World Para Archery championship in February of last year, after a spell of bad luck and the pandemic’s disruption. He finished with a flawless score of thirty in his final round. The emotions in Dubai were emotional as well as boisterous; Stutzman kept telling the audience, “World Champ Baby!”
Just one day shy of turning thirty-three, on December 9, 2015, Matt broke the record for the longest Guinness-ratified distance by an athlete or anyone worldwide when he struck a target from 310 yards. Among other achievements, he won bronze in the 2019 World Archery Para Championships. The father of three is aiming to improve on his silver finish in the men’s compound at the 2012 Paralympics as he enters his third Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020.
What hurts, though, is how he performed at the Rio 2016 Paralympics; he was just one point away from qualifying for the men’s compound open semifinals. There was a lot of buzz during those Games. As one of the BP Team USA athlete ambassadors for Rio 2016, he shot a bow and arrow without using his arms, and the images of him became some of the most iconic in the entire world.
Sole Competitor Yet Not Intimidated
Stutzman was the only competitor competing in the Paralympic Games without an arm for many years. However, three more people have joined him in Paris: Piotr Van Montagu from Belgium, Víctor Sardina Viveros from Mexico, and Sheetal Devi from India, who is the sole woman and adolescent in the group.
Is His Journey Over?
Twelve years have passed since Stutzman’s silver medal-winning debut at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. However, his Paralympic career is coming to an end. He previously talked about the physical toll competitive shooting has had on his hips, saying, “I knew going into this it was going to be my last Games, so there’s a lot of emotion and I didn’t expect this medal, to be honest.”
Due to hip problems, he has stated that the 2024 Paralympic Games could be his final and that he is looking into alternative sports. But to him, his proudest achievement is inspiring others like him, he told World Archery: “There’re more armless archers involved in this sport now. You can take away all my medals, and I wouldn’t care, because that would be my medal.”
“The future of the sport with armless archers is going to go well above and beyond what I started and for me, that’s my gold medal,” Stutzman said, after the victory. “No one imagined armless people competing with armed people in archery, so what happened today was amazing. “I knew it was a historic moment and of course, I wanted to be on the winning end of it,” he added. Stutzman envisions that there could be as many as seven armless archers represented at the next Paralympic Games, in Los Angeles, in 2028
GIVING HIS BEST SHOT IN PARIS
In the French city, 41-year-old Stutzman is competing in his fourth Paralympic Games. The native of Fairfield, Iowa, is hopeful that he will be able to shoot enough precise arrows to win a gold medal at the Paralympics for the first time. Here, Matt is joined by his partner Jessica and several family members for his Paralympic swansong. Together, their five boys’ range in age from twelve to twenty-one. “I was very emotional seeing my family – I tried not to cry,” Stutzman said. “Just being here, having my family watching me underneath this awesome venue with the Eiffel Tower – whatever happens from here on out, I’m happy and satisfied.”
“This moment is special I don’t know how you top today, other than winning a gold medal. I feel like there has been a gold medal in my heart already.” Nobody is questioning the Para Archery veteran’s chances of winning a gold medal in Paris given his excellent form and laid-back attitude in the first match. Nevertheless, Stutzman has persevered since 2022 despite suffering a right hip ailment.
Stutzman’s 2022 global title from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is proof that he has stayed at the top of his game while facing much younger archers. Stutzman won the title of Male Para Archer of the Year for 2022 from World Archery due to his achievements. Fans and casual onlookers alike are consistently amazed by Stutzman’s skill and lethal precision as an armless archer.
He holds the bow with his right foot and uses his left foot to first position the arrow. Next, he uses a device fastened to his right shoulder to draw back the bow’s string. At last, he opens his jaw to set off the device and let the arrow fly. During a lengthy, successful, and groundbreaking archery career that lasted nearly 13 years, he demonstrated an amazing ability to reliably strike the center of the target.
Kung-Fu and Jackie Chan
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Yet another highlight of Stutzman’s highly successful evening was a rendezvous with film and martial arts entertainment legend Jackie Chan. Both were enamored to be in the company of one another. “I met Jackie Chan – he’s a hero of mine and I’ve watched all of his movies,” Stutzman said. “He knew that, and he wanted to come and watch me compete.”
“I walked in, and he hugged me – I felt so star-struck and didn’t know what to say. “He picked up my bow and was like wow, this is so heavy, and you hold this with your legs,” Stutzman noted, joking with the comic actor from Hong Kong that he has no other viable option. Stutzman became a bright light and screen star of his own, as his notoriety grew exponentially after he was prominently featured in the 2020 Paralympics-themed documentary ‘Rising Phoenix.’
A Touch of Serendipity?
Stutzman prevailed over unexpected and difficult equipment issues in the warm-up for the Sardina Viveros match on Friday. He interprets it as a hopeful, telling story of something positive rather than anything negative.
Stutzman said in 2012. “In most other sports you have to be tall and fast and dunk, and therein most all these stipulations to being good. But with archery, you don’t have to be any of those. Anyone could do archery and be good at it.” During the current Games, Matt Stutzman disclosed to the Washington Post that he has been battling hip problems as a result of the manner he must hold his leg during competitions to shoot.
Stutzman intends to continue competing in sports; drag racing is his most recent endeavor. Stutzman told the Southeast Iowa Union that at the age of seven, he received good experience operating a tractor. He eventually earned a license to operate standard, non-modified vehicles. He has always enjoyed working on vehicles, and he takes care of the upkeep on his vehicle.
He adapted his current racecar, which he acquired two years ago, to suit his demands. One such change is shortening the steering wheel. Competition for Matt Stutzman has already started in Iowa and other Midwestern states.
His Final Words
“Archery changed my life. I went from living off of Social Security, which was $600 a month, to now I don’t need Social Security. I can take care of my kids. Now people know who I am. This is bigger than archery now.”
Final Thoughts
Stutzman may have made history, and become a legend in the Paralympic Archery Division, but he also reminds us that he is just a man. A man with a family and kids. He shows the world that even if you have a disability, you are not “disabled”. You are simply unique and must find your unique passions and path. For him it was overcoming physical challenges. For you, it could be anything you set your mind to. Matt Stutzman shows us that a life beyond your abilities is possible.
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