Athletes represent WVU at Summer London Olympic Games
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Cliff Williams/NCAA Photos Nicco Campriani |
July 27, 2012 ·
Seven athletes with ties to the West Virginia University rifle and track & field teams are competing at the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games.
Five current and former Mountaineer shooters are competing in the rifle events. The events began over the weekend and will continue through August 6th, at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
Nicco Campriani, the 2011 NCAA air rifle champion, entered the Games as the favorite to win the men’s 10m air rifle and the men’s 50m rifle 3 position events. The reigning air rifle world champion, Campriani is ranked No. 1 in the world in both events. Competing in his second Games for Italy, the Florence native returns to the Olympic stage after finishing 12th in air rifle in Beijing in 2008.
Seven-year Mountaineer rifle coach Jon Hammond will line up against Campriani in the men’s 50m rifle prone and 50m rifle 3 position events. A native of Aberdeen, Scotland, Hammond will be competing in his second consecutive Olympic Games representing Great Britain.
Former Mountaineer Eric Uptagrafft will shoot for the United States in the men’s 50m rifle prone. He’s ranked No. 6 in the world.
WVU senior Petra Zublasing was the first Mountaineer to compete in the London Games. The women’s rifle events began over the weekend. She’s the reigning NCAA air rifle champion, and will shoot for Italy alongside Campriani. An Italian native, Zublasing, ranked No. 32 in the world in the women’s 10m air rifle. In addition to air rifle, she also is scheduled to compete in the women’s 50m rifle 3 position event. She’s shooting in her first Olympic Games.
In addition to these four shooters, USA rifle coach Dave Johnson will represent WVU. The 1983 NCAA smallbore champion, Johnson previously shot at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics and coached the USA at the 2004 Athens Games and the 2008 Beijing Games.
In the track & field arena, WVU will be represented by Sarah-Anne Brault and Clara Grandt. Each qualified as alternates for the Canadian and USA Teams, respectively. Brault is an alternate for the women’s triathlon, while Grandt is an alternate for the women’s 10,000-meter. The women’s triathlon final is scheduled for Aug. 4, while the women’s 10,000m race is set for Aug. 3.