Italy’s Niccolo Campriani shocked the shooting sport world as he announced his retirement, earlier this year. The 30-year old Italian athlete became the most successful Rifle shooter in the Olympic history as he won two Gold medals in Rio de Janeiro, adding to the Gold and Silver he claimed at London 2012. Nobody else had won three individual Olympic titles in Rifle shooting before him.
Niccolò came back to Europe after the Games, and donated his air rifle to the Olympic museum in Lausanne - an air rifle that he had contributed to design as a sport engineer. He never fired a shot again. “I quit” he said, even resigning from his position within the Italian military sport groups.
We met Niccolò at the ISSF World Cup in Munich (GER), in May, as he came to collect the 2016 ISSF Shooter of the Year award. For the first time, he was there as a spectator. No pre-event training; no eliminations, qualifications or finals. He just relaxed and watched his former opponents compete on the lines of the 1972 Olympic shooting range, one of the sport’s most iconic venue.
How did you come to that decision?
I gave a lot to this sport. Sixteen years of my life. But after Rio, I felt I was not able to guarantee full commitment anymore, so I decided to quit and move forward.
But you are still here…
Obviously, I still love this sport. I will continue to help Petra (Zublasing, his girlfriend, who’s competing for the Italian Rifle National Team, ed.), and all the athletes who ask for suggestions. It’s a new prospective, but that’s not less satisfying for me. Next to that, I came here to Munich to receive the Shooter of the Year trophy.
Somebody said you might come back. Is that just a rumour, or is there some truth behind it?
There’s some truth behind the rumour. I might consider to come back only if the proposed mixed gender team event will make it through, and will become part of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic program. That’s the only chance to see me shooting in the future.
You mentioned the proposed Olympic program for Tokyo 2020, what do you think about it?
I really hope that the proposed 10m Air Rifle Mixed Gender Teams event will be staged in Tokyo. I competed in the mixed event at the European Games in 2015 (when he and his girlfriend Petra Zublasing won gold, ed.). From the point of view of the shooters, that’s a very nice competition. It boosts different feelings compared to the individual match we are used to.
While many athletes share your view, some people criticized the proposal. What do you think about the current discussion going on in the shooting world?
I believe that unity should be the keyword, right now. I know that the proposed program has been controversial to some, and I agree that we should always discuss and involve everybody in the democratic decision process but there is a time for discussion and there is a time for decision making. We should all understand that we are one sport, we all are in the same boat and it’s essential to share a common vision for our future. This is an appeal to all the stakeholders to stand united: federations, industries, coaches and the athletes who represents the core of our sport.
The full interview will be published on the 2017/03 issue of ISSF News Magazine, available soon for free download here: http://www.issf-sports.org/theissf/communication/theissfnews.ashx.