It’s not every day you see an Olympic athlete wearing hunting gear put down her rifle halfway through an event, stroll into the crowd, chat with a nice-looking young man for a few minutes — and then see the two start kissing like high school students who have just fallen in love.

But that’s exactly what happened at the Olympic shooting venue today — in front of about 2,000 spectators and scores of happy photographers whose rapid-fire clicking echoed through the hall. Was it love doping? Was it allowed? Was it even good for her?

It clearly was. Katerina Emmons went back to the shooting range, fired off 10 more perfect bullseye scores and an hour later had the gold medal — and her husband Matt — around her neck.

Her great rival Du Li of China, meanwhile, got just a 9 on her 34th shot a moment later — dooming her bid to defend her Olympic gold medal.

I blogged the other day about the unexpected happy ending for Matt, who threw away the gold medal four years ago in Athens when he fired at the wrong target, only to then meet his future wife when she came over to commiserate.

This just makes it an even happier ending for the couple.

PHOTO: Katerina Emmons poses with her husband, U.S. shooter Matt Emmons, after winning the gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting competition at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 9, 2008. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan