Meet Me
Hi, my name is Victor Wunderle. My friends call me Vic. I was raised in Mason City, Illinois where I have spent the majority of my life. This is the area in which most of my family resides.
I began shooting archery at the age of five. Both my father
and grandfather shot archery for hunting and recreation. As for me, I guess there
is just something with little boys and anything that shoots, whether it is a slingshot, BB gun, or bow and arrow. My first bow was made from a limb off of the willow tree in my back yard.
My father gave me an arrow he had taped a piece of cloth around the end of so I couldn’t hurt anyone. I would run around the yard all day shooting at trees with my newly acquired toy.
A couple of years later my father brought me to an archery tournament with him. Unbeknown to me, I won the under 12 age category. I was too
young to read the score board and my father would not tell me that I had won because he was afraid I would be too excited
the remainder of the day. At the end of the tournament, the awards were given
out. All of the kids got participation medals except for me. I felt a little sad because I was left out. Then the awards
were given for third place, second place, and finally when it was time for first, my name was called. I had won my very first tournament! From there I went on to
many other local, state sectional, national, and finally world titles.
After graduating from Illini Central high school in 1994, I began college at Texas A&M University. At Texas A&M, I competed on the pistol, rifle, archery, and fishing teams. I won and placed in tournaments from a local level to national championships. In addition, I was involved with several bible study groups. On several occasions I took off from school and work to train full time for the Olympics and the Olympic
tryouts. I finally graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Wildlife
and Fisheries Sciences in December, 2002. During my training and travels, I also
took classes at Bradley University, San Diego State University, Blinn College, and Collin County Community College.
I tried out for the US Olympic
archery team 3 times before I made it. In 1992, as a 16 year old boy, I finished
16th place in the tryouts. In 1996, I finished 6th place
in the Olympic trials. I lost to the best in the world though as our team went
on to win the Olympic Gold Medal that year. In the 2000 Olympic trials, I finished
an exciting first place by almost a 100-point margin. I spent the year training
at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego and at my parents’ home in Illinois.
I then got to travel to Sydney, Australia and represent the US in the world’s greatest sporting event where I
was fortunate enough to bring home an Olympic Individual Silver Medal and a Team Bronze Medal.
Four years later, I again finished first
in the US Olympic trials and went to Athens, Greece to represent the United States. In the individual competition, I
was defeated by the eventual Olympic Gold Medalist by a mere point in my quarter-final match, landing me in 8th place.
In the team competition, I shot well but the team came up one point short of winning our semi-final match that would have
assured us either a gold or silver medal. The bronze medal then escaped our grasp by two points landing the team in
the 4th place position, just out of the medals.
Just recently I returned home from Beijing, China with a 6th place individual finish and a 9th place
team finish. Although I was unable to bring home a medal I certainly had some exciting moments including upsetting the
reigning world champion and number one ranked archer in the world. I became the only archer to make the final 8 in all
of the last 3 Olympics.
I love archery and plan to continue competing for years to come. There are many exciting
tournaments coming up this next year. Keep your eyes open and continue checking my website for many exciting adventures
to come!
