In the small town of Wellington, east of Kansas City, you'll find 812 of Zach Garrett's biggest fans.
"We've had a lot of good things happen in Wellington, but Zach going to the Olympics obviously topped it all," said Wellington resident Brian West.
Garrett grew up in the sleepy town, eventually finding the road to Rio as a member of the U.S. Men's Archery team.
"He's a dedicated person; he would spend three or four hours every night after school practicing his archery at home," said Mindy Hampton, superintendent of Wellington-Napoleon schools.
The town watched on Saturday as Garrett and his teammates shot their way to a silver medal, hitting ten bull's-eyes overall.
"My husband and children and I were sitting in the living room and we were yelling and screaming and jumping up and down and crying," said Hampton.
After graduating from high school in 2013, Garrett moved to California to begin training for the Olympics. Hampton remembers Garrett as a driven young man, who from time to time would show off his skills.
"It was dark and he was setting up his archery goal across the football field and he made all ten perfect shots," recalled Hampton.
Some of his other talents are still on display at the school, like an impressive mural Garrett painted in the school library.
"Zach's very grounded. He's very mature. He's very intelligent," said Hampton. "Smart, smart kid."
A kid who grew up on the road to Rio, with some big support from this small town.
"We love what you're doing for our country, for our state, for Wellington," said Hampton.
Garrett's family, which still lives in the Wellington area, is in Rio to cheer him on. They'll have another chance on Wednesday, when he competes again in the individual archery competition.
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Justin Wilfon can be reached at justin.wilfon@kshb.com.
