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Vic Wunderle Olympic Individual Silver and Team Bronze Medalist 2000 Sydney
Olympic Team 2004 Athens Olympic Team 2008
Beijing Olympic Team
Pan-American Games 7 Gold,
2 Silver, 1 Bronze 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007 2-time Individual Jr. World Champion 40-time United States National Champion
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| Photo: Giovanni Laudicina |
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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 currently am training for the
2012 Olympic Tryouts. Keep your eyes open and continue checking my website for many exciting adventures to come!
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