World-Championship Glow
October 13, 2010 11:30 AM | General
Morgantown, W. Va. - The 2010 summer could easily be dubbed “the summer of Nicco Campriani,” for when the warm-weather season had passed and a damage survey had been completed, the Florence, Italy, native stood head-and-shoulders above the international competition and basked in the glory of the most-successful period in his short but productive career.
Campriani, coming off a brief, six-match season with the WVU rifle team, rejoined the Italian National Team after winning National Rifle Association air rifle and smallbore first team All-America honors, and enjoyed unprecedented success with his home country.
The reigning Great American Rifle Conference air rifle and smallbore champion opened his summer with back-to-back victories on the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup circuit. Campriani shot a winning score of 703.2 and secured the gold medal in the 50M men’s rifle prone at the Fort Benning World Cup on May 30, and followed the performance with a final score of 701.2 in the 10M men’s air rifle at the Belgrade World Cup on July 1. The world cup medals were his first career.
As exciting as those two wins were, they only served to set the stage for Campriani’s young career highlight – a gold medal at the 50th ISSF World Championship. The championship, held every four years and two years after the last Olympic Games, serves as the first opportunity for countries to earn Olympic quota places – a starting position to send athletes to the next Olympic Games.
Campriani entered the championship confident, but also realistic.
“I definitely didn’t expect to win the gold medal, but I thought I could compete against the really good competition,” he explained. “I worked really well this winter, and I used a lot of the work I did with (WVU sport psychologist) Dr. Ed Etzel. I tried to stay calm and stay focused and in the moment.”
The preparation paid off, and on July 31, at the 1972 Olympic Shooting Range of Munich in Munich, Germany, Campriani won the 10M men’s air rifle gold medal with a combined score of 702.5, shooting a near-perfect 599 (100, 100, 100, 100, 99, 100) in the competition round and 103.5 in the finals.
“I thought I could win, but you have to wait for the other scores – you are not alone,” he recounted. “(Your outcome) depends on you and it depends on the other shooters. It definitely was a very nice surprise when I finished competing and watched the board and saw my numbers win.”
The new medal was not Campriani’s only prize – he also won an Olympic quota place and became the first qualified athlete among all sport events for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Additionally, his victory broke a 40-year world championship draught for the Italian shooting team.
“That news was really nice,” said Campriani. “I was lucky, just because that’s how the world championship schedule was put together. If they had put pistol as the first event, then that winner would have earned the honor.
“I was the first to qualify for London, but I also could have been the second or the third. The most important thing is what I do in London.”
The victory was also nice for his national team.
“It’s good for me, for sure, but it’s also good for my federation,” Campriani explained. “It’s good for all of the Italian men shooters. (Shooting) isn’t very famous. We need some important events, like the world championship and an Olympic championship, if we want someone to know that we exist.”
Campriani’s Mountaineer coach, Jon Hammond, who was representing Great Britain, was also competing at the ISSF World Championship. He says that Campriani’s victory is not only big for the young shooter, but also for the WVU program.
“It’s really hard to emphasize how good he (Campriani) is now,” Hammond said. “To not only start making finals at world cups, but to also win medals at world cups, is an incredible feat alone. Then, to finish by winning the world championship, is amazing.
“It’s an incredible story. I think it’s awesome for us to have someone like that on our team, and I think he can go on and be a top-class shooter for many, many years. For as long as he wants to.”
Undoubtedly one of the world’s top shooters of the moment, Campriani is excited for his final season with the Mountaineers. Forced to miss the 2010 NCAA Championships due to a scheduling conflict – Campriani was in Norway defending his air rifle title at the European Championship – he knows that this season is his last chance to win a national championship with the school that has welcomed him with open arms.
“There will be a lot of expectations on the team this season, and on me in particular,” Campriani said of the Mountaineer squad that returns seven seniors and five first team National Rifle Association All-Americans. “We can win – we know we can win. It depends on the other teams, but if we shoot our best, there is not a team in the US that can beat us.
“The other guys have to do their bests, and I have to do my best. We don’t have to focus on winning. People around us will be thinking about the possibilities, but we simply have to perform like we do in training. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible.”
Though he dreams of a nation-best 15th national championship for WVU, Campriani understands and looks forward to the even bigger competitions that loom on the horizon.
“No matter what happens in the future, I will always be a world champion in 2010,” he said. “It’s definitely great for my shooting career, but I don’t think it’s a finishing point. It’s useful experience for the Olympics. An Olympic medal is something that you dream of since you’re a child."
If this past summer is a precursor, then the summer of 2012 may serve as the sequel to the “summer of Nicco Campriani.”
Campriani, coming off a brief, six-match season with the WVU rifle team, rejoined the Italian National Team after winning National Rifle Association air rifle and smallbore first team All-America honors, and enjoyed unprecedented success with his home country.
The reigning Great American Rifle Conference air rifle and smallbore champion opened his summer with back-to-back victories on the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup circuit. Campriani shot a winning score of 703.2 and secured the gold medal in the 50M men’s rifle prone at the Fort Benning World Cup on May 30, and followed the performance with a final score of 701.2 in the 10M men’s air rifle at the Belgrade World Cup on July 1. The world cup medals were his first career.
As exciting as those two wins were, they only served to set the stage for Campriani’s young career highlight – a gold medal at the 50th ISSF World Championship. The championship, held every four years and two years after the last Olympic Games, serves as the first opportunity for countries to earn Olympic quota places – a starting position to send athletes to the next Olympic Games.
Campriani entered the championship confident, but also realistic.
“I definitely didn’t expect to win the gold medal, but I thought I could compete against the really good competition,” he explained. “I worked really well this winter, and I used a lot of the work I did with (WVU sport psychologist) Dr. Ed Etzel. I tried to stay calm and stay focused and in the moment.”
The preparation paid off, and on July 31, at the 1972 Olympic Shooting Range of Munich in Munich, Germany, Campriani won the 10M men’s air rifle gold medal with a combined score of 702.5, shooting a near-perfect 599 (100, 100, 100, 100, 99, 100) in the competition round and 103.5 in the finals.
“I thought I could win, but you have to wait for the other scores – you are not alone,” he recounted. “(Your outcome) depends on you and it depends on the other shooters. It definitely was a very nice surprise when I finished competing and watched the board and saw my numbers win.”
The new medal was not Campriani’s only prize – he also won an Olympic quota place and became the first qualified athlete among all sport events for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Additionally, his victory broke a 40-year world championship draught for the Italian shooting team.
“That news was really nice,” said Campriani. “I was lucky, just because that’s how the world championship schedule was put together. If they had put pistol as the first event, then that winner would have earned the honor.
“I was the first to qualify for London, but I also could have been the second or the third. The most important thing is what I do in London.”
The victory was also nice for his national team.
“It’s good for me, for sure, but it’s also good for my federation,” Campriani explained. “It’s good for all of the Italian men shooters. (Shooting) isn’t very famous. We need some important events, like the world championship and an Olympic championship, if we want someone to know that we exist.”
Campriani’s Mountaineer coach, Jon Hammond, who was representing Great Britain, was also competing at the ISSF World Championship. He says that Campriani’s victory is not only big for the young shooter, but also for the WVU program.
“It’s really hard to emphasize how good he (Campriani) is now,” Hammond said. “To not only start making finals at world cups, but to also win medals at world cups, is an incredible feat alone. Then, to finish by winning the world championship, is amazing.
“It’s an incredible story. I think it’s awesome for us to have someone like that on our team, and I think he can go on and be a top-class shooter for many, many years. For as long as he wants to.”
Undoubtedly one of the world’s top shooters of the moment, Campriani is excited for his final season with the Mountaineers. Forced to miss the 2010 NCAA Championships due to a scheduling conflict – Campriani was in Norway defending his air rifle title at the European Championship – he knows that this season is his last chance to win a national championship with the school that has welcomed him with open arms.
“There will be a lot of expectations on the team this season, and on me in particular,” Campriani said of the Mountaineer squad that returns seven seniors and five first team National Rifle Association All-Americans. “We can win – we know we can win. It depends on the other teams, but if we shoot our best, there is not a team in the US that can beat us.
“The other guys have to do their bests, and I have to do my best. We don’t have to focus on winning. People around us will be thinking about the possibilities, but we simply have to perform like we do in training. It’s hard, but it’s not impossible.”
Though he dreams of a nation-best 15th national championship for WVU, Campriani understands and looks forward to the even bigger competitions that loom on the horizon.
“No matter what happens in the future, I will always be a world champion in 2010,” he said. “It’s definitely great for my shooting career, but I don’t think it’s a finishing point. It’s useful experience for the Olympics. An Olympic medal is something that you dream of since you’re a child."
If this past summer is a precursor, then the summer of 2012 may serve as the sequel to the “summer of Nicco Campriani.”
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