Rifle Signs Olympian Sofia Ceccarello to National Letter of Intent
LEXINGTON, Ky. – What’s better than two Olympians? Three.
University of Kentucky rifle head coach Harry Mullins continues to bring the world’s best rifle talent to Lexington, Kentucky, as 2020 Tokyo Olympian and Italian rifle star Sofia Ceccarello has signed a National Letter of Intent for the Wildcats. She will join the roster for the 2022-23 season.
“We are very excited to be welcoming Sofia to Big Blue Nation,” Mullins said. “She is a very talented individual that is going to do great things in our program. When we were evaluating and recruiting her, we fell in love with her work ethic and desire to perfect her craft. We cannot wait to get her on campus next year and watch her compete in the UK Rifle Range.”
Ceccarello, who currently holds a world ranking of seventh in 10m air rifle women and 11th in 50m rifle three positions women by the ISSF, will come to Lexington with a decorated pedigree having competed and succeeded on the biggest international stages. Overall, during ISSF competition she has claimed one gold medal, two silver medals and three bronze medals.
At the top of her accomplishments was competing in both 10m air rifle and 50m rifle three positions at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Ceccarello finished 10th in 10m air rifle women and 21st in 50m rifle three positions women at the event.
Her strong performances in the Olympics qualified her for the 2021 ISSF President’s Cup in Wroclaw, Poland. Ceccarello finished fourth in 10m air rifle women, fifth in 50m rifle three positions women and ninth in 10m air rifle mixed team at the event.
The ISSF World Championships in Lima in 2021 was a breakout event for Ceccarello. On top of winning bronze in 10m air rifle mix team, she finished fourth in 50m rifle three positions women and sixth in 10m air rifle women. She also finished eighth in 50m rifle prone women at the event.
The strong performances continued for Ceccarello at the ISSF World Cup in Osijek, winning bronze in 10m air rifle women and finishing eighth in 50m rifle three positions women, ninth in 10m air rifle mixed team and sixth in air rifle team women.
The European Championships have been a successful event for Ceccarello over the years. In 2021, she won gold in 50m rifle three positions women bronze in 10m air rifle women. She also finished fifth in 2021 in air rifle team women and 11th in 50m rifle three positions team women. At the 2019 European Championships, she won silver in both the 50m rifle prone women and 50m rifle three positions women.
Born in Lugo, Italy, Ceccarello is a resident of Ravenna, Italy and competes for Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Oro, which is a sport section of the Italian police force.
For more information on the Kentucky rifle team, visit UKathletics.com or follow UKRifle on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
