US trap shooter comes back from the 'dead'

Beijing: Bret Erickson has given new meaning to the sports phrase "coming back from the dead" because the American has really been there and back.

After Erickson's heart stopped beating and he passed out for about three minutes during a training run in 2004, the trap shooter is back on his feet, in the best form of his career and aiming to become the first pacemaker-wearing Olympic champion.

"I want to be the first 'previous dead guy' with a pacemaker to win a gold medal," Erickson, 47, said.

"Actually, I'm shooting as well as I ever have."

He suffered a bifisicular block -- a malfunction to the electrical impulses to his heart -- that left him with no pulse, no breath and his face turning blue after collapsing about 1.5 miles into a vigorous 2-mile track workout.

Erickson was brought back to life when two teammates, who by good fortune were paramedics, quickly started resuscitating him.

"I remember coming around the corner and everything started spinning," he said.

"I headed toward the grass because I figured I was about to fall. I was out, I was dead. The next thing I remembered was the ambulance getting there later on."

The 1.88 metre tall Texan relishes his second life.

"I got a different focus after that," he said.

"I'm smarter now. My focus shifted to my family. I almost lost them. So now I try to spend more time with my family and do more family things."

Gone are the days when Erickson would spend 40 to 50 hours a week training; he shoots an average of 20 hours a week.

"I really feel I'm on top of my game now," Erickson said, pointing to a bronze and silver in two World Cup events this year.

"Right now I'm on pace to win a medal, if not gold."

Erickson also "came back from the dead" in sporting terms.

He is back in the spotlight after years as a trap-shooting also-ran.

"I'd won a world championship before but that was 18 years ago," he said. "I kept making the team but wasn't winning as much as the years before. Now people are paying attention to me again."

"You know you're on top of your game when you go to train and all the other countries' coaches come over to watch because they're worried about you. That's what's happening now."

Erickson will retire after Beijing and focus on his family and working as shooting instructor. He will not go running any more.

"It already killed me once," he said with a smile.