Sullivan County may be the smallest county in our area, but it just happens to have two athletes heading to the summer Olympics!
Thursday night, one of those athletes, Josh Richmond, got a chance to show Newswatch 16 his skills.
As Josh Richmond expertly nails shot after shot of double clay targets, he does it with a natural ease.
“I was growing up in a small town, Hillsgrove, Pennsylvania. It was hard not to be associated with hunting and fishing and just playing outside,” said Josh. “Originally just started out as a hobby and is now my professional lifestyle.”
But this profession comes after years of training at the North Mountain Sportsman Association in Sullivan County, and it's paying off.
Josh is making his way, for the second time, to the Olympic games with the USA Men's Shooting Team, this time in Rio in August.
Josh got his first shot at Olympic Gold during the London games in 2012.
“It's just unreal to think I'm already here, 2016, after the 2012 games. I came up a little short, obviously, wanting to win those, came out 16th,” said Josh. “What that did was just create a bigger burning desire to make this other team, so 2016, here we are now and we're under 70 days until the opening ceremonies.”
Not only does he represent our country in the games, Josh serves our country as an Army Sergeant First Class and is a member of the Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Now as he gears up to go for gold again, he's getting a hero's sendoff from friends and family at this restaurant in his hometown of Hillsgrove.
“He really is trying to represent his community, this entire county, and you know, when you think about it, we have one red light here, we have one school district and two Olympians,” said Josh’s mother, Sandra.
“When we went to London, it was amazing, to see all that go down and now to see it again,” said Mike, Josh’s father.
“This time, I think we're really ready, we're going to bring home the medal this time,” said Josh’s wife, Scharri. “And so, I'm so excited to be there and watch him. I didn't get to go last time. I just had a baby.”
Those babies, now six and four, will be watching and cheering from home when their dad competes on August 10th.
“Go daddy!” yelled sons, Tristan and Beaux.
