MORGANTOWN — The first thing you have to know about Nicco Campriani is that he is not the typical West Virginia University graduate.

To begin with, he’s as Italian as a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs or a sizzling lasagna, none of which he recently admitted could he find in this area to match the cuisine back home.

“I gave up (looking for a good Italian meal). I’m eating sushi,” he revealed in a May interview.

While his classmates were rolling into Morgantown from such burgs as Red Jacket, War and Rhodell, W.Va., three towns whose combined population is 1,577, he took the SST here from Florence, Italy, a city of approximately 370,000 people that is credited with being the birthplace of the Renaissance.

Even though he was attending what now again is America’s No. 1 party school, he is far more serious and dedicated to his academic and athletic pursuits.

Oh, yes, there is one other thing that distinguishes him from other WVU students or graduate.

He possesses a gold medal from the Olympics.

And, at this point, a suggestion is called for. If you are thinking of trying to steal that gold medal away, forget about it.

He won the gold in shooting.

To be more precise, Mr. Campriani — and with a gold medal he may just deserve more formal recognition — won it in record-setting style in the men’s 50m 3 positions rifle competition at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

Despite appearances of clear supremacy, Campriani’s gold did not come easily.

“I had everything to lose,” he said in the moments after the competition had ended. “I worked really hard before the competition, and there were a lot of expectations on me, which made things even harder. The last 20 shots kneeling were really difficult. There were a lot of heartbeats, and I was shaking.

One of the reasons he had “everything to lose” was that he already possessed a silver medal in these games and was favored to win this event, but he had been at it long enough to know there are no guarantees.

“You never know, especially in this event,” he said.

And besides, to win it he had to do well in the final position.

“I won today because of my kneeling position, which is strange for me because I hate kneeling,” he said.

Sometimes it is difficult to understand what goes into reaching such heights as winning a gold medal or a Super Bowl ring. From the outside, the first thought often is that it is only a game, something we all would play for free.

And in our minds, having played as kids against better athletes, we think of the ability to reach such heights as coming from God-given talents, forgetting the work that goes in and the forces that play on the mind to make it almost as difficult in a different way than landing a craft on Mars.

There were, of course, many people who helped him along the way, made it possible for his skills to not only reach great heights, but to do it at just the right moment. Being at your best a week before or a week after the Olympic final is of a little value.

 One such person, of course, was one of his competitors, Jonathan Hammond, his West Virginia coach, who helped him to an NCAA title. But it really was so much more.

“I have a huge, long list of people to dedicate my medal to: Petra (Zublasing), my girlfriend,” he began. “A half hour with her just talking and laughing is like three days. And there are my parents, who have supported me all the way through my American training. They had heart problems in the past, but they are here to support me.”

You can only imagine the emotions they felt, having allowed their son to go off on his American adventure, watching him travel the world in quest of perfection in his chosen sport, to be battling heart problems that have limited their travel … and then to see him on the top step receiving a gold medal.

Now what? Any athlete in this position finds himself completely drained, physically and emotionally, at the conclusion of a campaign such as the one he has had over the past four years after a difficult time in his first Olympics.

“I need a break now from shooting,” Campriani admitted. “I will be back in 2013, but I need a long break. I’m going to study (sports engineering) in Sheffield for a new adventure with a new motivation. I’m glad shooting has ended this way. It’s the best way. I was good and lucky.”

Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com. Follow on Twitter @bhertzel.