GO CARL

Somerville Man Captures Gold, Bronze in Wheelchair Games

By Ronnie ThomasStaff Writer (Decatur Daily)

Carl Flemons drove toward home Thursday from the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Omaha, Neb., with one gold and two bronze medals.
Flemons, 52, of Somerville won first place in trapshooting and third place in 9-ball and archery. He competes in the Class III Masters Division.

Best performance

“It’s the best I’ve ever shot in competition,” he said of the gold he mined in trap shooting.

Flemons, an Air Force veteran who injured his spinal cord in a motorcycle accident in 1980, was competing in the event for the sixth time.

“The games just get better and better,” he said. “It was a whole lot of fun and very rewarding to compete and watch the newly injured guys achieve goals they never believed they could.”

In nailing his gold medal, Flemons knocked down 41 of 50 clay pigeons in the first round and 42 in the second round.

“You shoot from 16 yards away and rotate through five posts, which are set up in a semicircle,” he said.

A good omen

“You get 10 shots at each post. Maybe it was a good omen that I drew the first position to start the competition.”

Flemons, a 1973 Brewer High graduate, also competed in table tennis and bowling.

The games are open to U.S. military veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, certain neurological conditions, amputations or other mobility impairments.