Victor Steven "Vic" Wunderle (born March 4, 1976 in

Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the United States that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. Lincoln is h ...

) is an

archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Personal

Wunderle was raised in

Mason City, Illinois Mason City is a city in Mason County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,343 at the 2010 census, and 2,155 at a 2018 estimate. Mason City was established in 1857. History The city took its name from Mason County. Geography Mason City ...

and is the son of the famous archery coach Terry Wunderle. His passion for archery started at the age five. He competed in many competitions and received many honors throughout his childhood. After graduating from Illini Central High School in 1994, he attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, where he graduated in 2002 with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences.

2000 Summer Olympics

Wunderle won the silver medal in archery at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. In the semifinals, he barely defeated

Magnus Petersson Magnus Petersson (born 17 June 1975 in Gothenburg) is an archer from Sweden. He is an experienced Olympian, having won a silver medal in 1996. Petersson advanced to the semifinals in archery at the 2000 Summer Olympics, but was defeated ther ...

of Sweden, scoring 108-107 in the 12-arrow match to advance to the gold medal final. There, he faced

Simon Fairweather Simon John Fairweather, OAM (born 9 October 1969) is an archer born in Adelaide, South Australia. He is tall and weighs . Fairweather won the individual gold medal at the World Championships in Poland in 1991. Fairweather was declared the ...

, a favorite son of the host country of Australia. Wunderle was defeated 113-106, taking 2nd place and the silver medal in the competition. He also was a member of the American team that defeated

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in a tie-breaker to win the bronze medal in the team competition.

2004 Summer Olympics

Wunderle competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's individual archery. He won his first three elimination matches, advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Wunderle faced

Marco Galiazzo Marco Galiazzo (born 7 May 1983, in Padova) is an athlete from Italy. He competes in archery for C.S. Aeronautica Militare, and is a former world number one. He was the first Olympic champion in the Italian archery history, w ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, losing to the eventual gold medalist 109-108 in the 12-arrow match. Wunderle placed 8th overall. Wunderle was also a member of the 4th-place American men's archery team at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

2006 Gold Cup

He defeated a promising young French archer, Pierre Georgeault, coached by Yann Léguillon, in the 16th of finals of the competition. He won third place in his match against Crispin Duenas of Canada.

2008 Summer Olympics

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

Wunderle finished his ranking round with a total of 652 points. This gave him the 41st seed for the final competition bracket in which he faced Eduardo Vélez in the first round, beating him 106-102. In the second round Wunderle and his opponent Ilario Di Buò both scored 108 points in the regular match and had to go to an extra round. In this extra round Di Buò scored 17 points, while Wunderle advanced to the third round with 19 points. Wunderle reached the quarter-final by beating Im Dong-Hyun with 113-111, but was eliminated by

Juan René Serrano Juan René Serrano Gutiérrez (born 23 February 1984 in Guadalajara, Jalisco) is an athlete from Mexico. He competes in archery. Serrano competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's individual archery. He won his first match, ad ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, who was the first seed after scoring 679 in the ranking round. Together with

Brady Ellison Brady Ellison (born October 27, 1988) is an American archer who competes in recurve archery. He is currently a Resident Athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He holds the record for the longest conti ...

and

Butch Johnson Richard Andrew "Butch" Johnson (born August 30, 1955 in Worcester, Massachusetts) is an archer from Woodstock, Connecticut in the United States. He has competed in the Summer Olympics five times, and was a part of the gold medal U.S. team at th ...

he also took part in the team event. With his 652 score from the ranking round combined with the 664 of Ellison and the 653 of Johnson the Americans were in 10th position after the ranking round. In the first round they were not able to win against Chinese Taipei that won the confrontation by 222-218.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wunderle, Vic 1976 births Living people American male archers Archers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Archers at the 2007 Pan American Games Archers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in archery Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in archery Texas A&M University alumni People from Lincoln, Illinois Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics World Archery Championships medalists Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in archery People from Mason City, Illinois Archers at the 1999 Pan American Games Archers at the 2003 Pan American Games Archers at the 1995 Pan American Games Competitors at the 2009 World Games World Games gold medalists Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games