MORGANTOWN —
Former West Virginia University student-athlete Nicco Campriani shot an Olympic record and won Gold in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions, today, inside the Royal Artillery Barracks, at the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
Campriani was representing his native Italy.
Campriani, a native of Florence, is the first Mountaineer athlete to earn the Gold medal since James Jett (USA) won Gold as an alternate on the men’s 4 x 100m relay team at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.
All told, four former WVU student-athletes have earned Olympic Gold, including Jerry West (USA, men’s basketball, 1960 Rome Summer Olympics) and Jack Writer (USA, 50m rifle 3 positions 1972 Munich Summer Olympics). Additionally, Dr. Ed Etzel, a psychologist for the WVU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, won Gold for the U.S. Team in the men’s 50m rifle prone at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. Dr. Etzel served as the head rifle coach for 11 seasons.
Campriani, ranked No. 1 in the world in the event, won today with an Olympics final record of 1278.5. He shot an Olympic-record 1180 (396 prone, 390 standing, 394 kneeling) in the qualification round and 98.5 in the final. Campriani entered the final in the No. 1 position, eight points ahead of Matthew Emmons (USA).
Today’s finish is a vast improvement on Campriani’s last Olympic 3 positions competition, as he placed 39th at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
Kim Jonghyun of the Republic of Korea won Silver with a final score of 1272.5 (1171, 101.5), while Emmons secured Bronze with a total of 1271.3 (1172, 99.3). Emmons is coached by Dave Johnson, a former Mountaineer shooter.
Seven-year WVU coach Jon Hammond (Great Britain) also shot today and finished with a total score of 1142 (395 prone, 361 standing, 386 kneeling).
Today’s event was the final rifle competition of the Games. Campriani, the 2011 NCAA air rifle champion, leaves London with two medals, having secured Silver in the men’s 10m air rifle on July 30; he also finished eighth in the men’s 50m rifle prone on Aug. 3. Campriani is the first former Mountaineer shooter to win two Olympic medals in one Games and the second to earn two career medals, as Writer also won Silver at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics.
WVU Sports
BREAKING NEWS: Former WVU rifle team member wins Gold Medal
Nicco Campriani, representing Italy, wins gold in final Olympic rifle event
- WVU Sports
-
-
HERTZEL COLUMN- Catastrophes make you stop and think
The scenes have been gruesome, devastation everywhere, words flowing from the mouths of reporters that are as difficult to comprehend as are the images on the eyes.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN- Major delivers message: ‘Roll with the punches’
On graduation day, four or five or who knows how many years into one’s college days, you expect to put on your cap and gown and listen to words of wisdom from a commencement speaker more along the lines of Henry Kissinger or Bill Clinton, but that is not to say it is only a day for an academic elitist.
-
WVU wins regular-season finale
The West Virginia University baseball team guaranteed itself a Top 4 finish in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 5-4 victory at No. 16 Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Irvin’s dreads are gone now he must rebuild reputation
A couple of days back Bruce Irvin sat down in a barber’s chair — stylist’s chair, if you prefer — and made a dramatic and what had to be traumatic move.
He had his dreadlocks removed. -
FURFARI COLUMN: Harrick greatest WVU two-sport coach
The late Steve Harrick was the longest-serving, most-successful two-sport head coach in West Virginia University’s athletic history.
-
HERTZEL COLUMN: Flying WV logo draws attention outside country
Sometimes you hit a nerve, as we did a while back when we wrote about the wide reach of West Virginia University’s flying WV logo.
It has meant a lot to a lot of people. -
Seahawks’ Bruce Irvin suspended four games
Bruce Irvin, one of only two West Virginia University defensive linemen ever to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft, will miss the first four games of the 2014 National Football League season because of a failed test for performance-enhancing drugs.
-
WVU falls to Oklahoma State, 5-0
The West Virginia University baseball dropped its fifth consecutive game with a 5-0 loss to No. 16 Oklahoma State on Friday evening at Allie P. Reynolds Stadium.
-
Reaves rejoins Carey as an assistant coach
Mike Carey has run through a lot of assistant basketball coaches during his time at West Virginia University, so it comes as no surprise that he has started repeating assistants.
Carey announced on Friday that Sharrona Reaves has returned as an assistant on his West Virginia staff. -
HERTZEL COLUMN: Opportunity to see birth of greatness
Sometimes things happen and the significance of them isn’t fully grasped immediately. So it is with the approval of the TIFF financing for a baseball stadium just off I-79 here in Morgantown.
Obviously, this a boon for the West Virginia University baseball program of Randy Mazey, which gains instant creditability. - More WVU Sports Headlines
-
HERTZEL COLUMN- Catastrophes make you stop and think
