FAIRFIELD – The town of Fairfield showed its appreciation for Paralympic Gold Medalist Matt Stutzman by welcoming him back to town with a parade on Saturday, Sept. 7.

Residents lined Burlington Avenue with American flags and signs congratulating Stutzman on the gold medal he won in archery at the Paralympic Games in Paris on Sept. 1. Not only did Stutzman take home the top prize but he also set a record, scoring 149 out of a possible 150 points.

In Central Park, Stutzman was mobbed by fans asking for his autograph. Stutzman, known as the “Armless Archer,” was happy to fulfill their request, putting a marker in between his toes to neatly sign his name. Friends and family members of Stutzman spoke during the ceremony, sharing both funny and touching stories from Stutzman’s life.

Stutzman’s father, Leon, said his son always wanted to be an athlete, seeking to overcome the challenge of being born with no arms. In fact, as a young boy, Stutzman told his parents he wanted to play in the NBA.

“I looked at my wife and I said, ‘Do you think we should tell him?’ and she said, ‘No, I think he’ll get it,’” Leon said.

Speaking about the Paralympic Games, Leon said that Matt wanted to give his family a good time in Paris.

“And he did a tremendous job at that,” Leon said.

When Stutzman’s mother, Jean, came to the front of the bandstand, she didn’t take the microphone. She just gave her son a hug, which was all she needed to say.

A few of those who spoke were Stutzman’s friends from drag racing, which is his other main pursuit besides archery. Skeeter Hidy said there were three heroes on the stage that day, not just Matt but also his parents, who adopted him when he was 13 months old, showing the “courage to take this lad on.”

Christian Umphress, another friend from drag racing, said it was fitting that Stutzman won the gold medal because he has a “heart of gold,” and that he would “give you the shirt off his back.”

Fairfield Mayor Connie Boyer presented Stutzman with a framed Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the City of Fairfield. She thanked his family for “raising an exceptional person,” and added that Stutzman is a deep inspiration.

“We can all learn from you,” Boyer told Stutzman.

Those who know Stutzman have learned that he’s got a great sense of humor. While Stutzman was recounting his trip to Paris, he said that he made it until Atlanta “before my arms got tired” and he had to stop and get on another plane. Even before the event, he was referring to the 2024 Paralympic Games as the “Memories Game” because he planned to retire from the Paralympics after the competition.

“It wasn’t about a medal,” Stutzman said, while holding back tears. “The medal just happened to be the bonus.”

One of the highlights of the Paralympics was that Stutzman got to have his whole family on the podium to accept the medal.

“They said, ‘Hey Matt, congrats on your win, we need you to do an interview,’ and I said, ‘I’ll do the interview if you get my family on the podium,’” he said.

Stutzman said watching the competition on TV does not give viewers a proper sense of scale, because he’s shooting at a target 50 meters away where the bull’s eye is only 3 inches wide. He said the mental and physical toll of the competition had made him exhausted, so when it was all over, he wanted to relax. After going through the mandatory drug-testing, he met his family at a fancy restaurant to eat around 12:30 a.m.

“There’s escargot and all these cheese platter plates. People are celebrating and having a good time, and I sit down and lean over to [wife] Jessica and say, ‘I didn’t know that when I won a gold medal, I was going to spend $2,000 on supper,” Stutzman joked. “I said, ‘You know they have a McDonald’s right up the road.’”

Jessica told The Union that sitting in the stands and watching her husband compete was “the most nerve-racking thing I’ve ever experienced.”

“We were on the edge of our seats,” she said. “My and the kids’ voices were hoarse from yelling so much.”

Stutzman said that he’s 99 percent sure that Paris will be his final Paralympic Games, though there’s still a tiny chance he’ll come back to compete in the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. Stutzman said he couldn’t think of a better way of ending his career than to go out as a gold medal-winner.

“It’s been 12 years between medals,” Stutzman said, referring to the silver medal he won at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. “I have 11 wins and three losses in my 12 years.”

Stutzman added that he wasn’t the only “Armless Archer” at the Paralympics. In fact, Stutzman said that he and four other archers without arms competed in this Paralympics.

The Union asked Stutzman if he had ever met those other armless archers before.

“I taught them all how to shoot,” he said. “They’re from all over the world, Mexico, India, Belgium and Russia. I told them at these games, ‘It’s your job now to carry on the armless archer tradition.’”

Stutzman said he was overwhelmed by Saturday’s crowd that showed up to support him. He said he’s also thankful to fans who contributed funds to allow his family to make the trip to Paris to see him compete in person.

The gold medalist said that, even if this was his final Paralympics, he still plans to shoot his bow on the side, but his professional life will focus on other endeavors, such as his drag racing career and other pursuits.

“I do a lot of motivational speaking, so my plan is to travel the world and give people hope,” he said.