Rio 2016 Shooting Sport Events Finish In Style, As Campriani Claims His Third Olympic Title

Today’s 50m Rifle 3 Position Men event closed the Shooting sport events of Rio 2016. Italy’s Niccolo Campriani made history by winning his second gold medal in Rio – his third gold in career – becoming the most successful Olympic rifle shooter of all times.

Niccolò Campriani of Italy became the only shooter to win two gold medals at the 2016 Olympic Games, as he successfully defended the 50m Rifle 3 Position Men title he had won in London four years ago, on the last Shooting sport day of Rio 2016, on August 14.

Campriani climbed atop of the podium in spite of a disappointing 9.2-point last shots, as Russia’s Sergey Kamenskiy closed his match with an 8.3 that landed him in second. Campriani totalized 458.8 points, to Kamenskiy’s 458.5. The Russian athlete would have needed just an 8.7 to win his first Olympic gold. France’s Alexis Raynaud – a 21-year old first-time Olympian ranked 43rd in the world – took Bronze with 448.4 points.

“This medal is a gift,” Campriani said. “It isn’t true that you need no emotions to win a medal in this sport. I am Italian, I am Mediterranean, I am full of emotions. The key is to learn how to deal with emotions. You can’t just wait for the clouds to move out, you have to learn how to dance in the rain.”

28-year old Campriani had won the 50m rifle 3 positions’ gold and the 10m air rifle silver in London. Here in Rio, he secured both the air rifle and the rifle 3 positions titles, becoming the most successful Olympic rifle shooter of all times: nobody else has won 3 individual rifle shooting gold in the 120-year Olympic history of the sport.

“Maybe I will quit,” Campriani shockingly announced. “I have been in the sport for 16 years. I believe sport is a tool to become a better person. Now I know that I am good at shooting, and we only have one life, so I want to find out what else I am good at. I will take a final decision in the next months. I need some time to cool down.”

Italy’s Niccolo Campriani,
photo: ISAF

Thanks to his 2 Gold medals, Campriani lifted Italy atop of the Rio 2016 Shooting sport medals standings. After 15 out of 15 Shooting sport events conducted in Rio between the 6th and the 14th of August, his country collected 7 medals, including 4 gold and 3 silver, besting Germany (3 gold, 1 silver) and the People’s Republic of China (1 gold, 2 silver, 4 bronze). (Click here for the full medals standings and records table).

“We have witnessed the best shooting sport competitions in the history of the sport here in Rio de Janeiro, we would like to thank the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, and all the volunteers who worked with us in these days,” the ISSF President Olegario Vazquez Raña said. “The rule changes we adopted after London 2012 proved to be successful, improving the presentation of our sport.”

“The reactions of the spectators and the media coverage we recorded in these days were exceptional,” the ISSF Secretary General Franz Schreiber said. “Sometimes changes are not easy, but the results pay off, and prove that we are going in the right direction.”