The Italian won the 50 metres rifle three positions Olympic gold medal at London 2012 and Rio 2016, where he also won the 10m air rifle gold medal.

But he claims his latest challenge could be even tougher.

Campriani retired as an athlete after his Rio 2016 heroics but his latest venture, which will be documented by the Olympic Channel, will target the minimum qualifying score for the refugee athletes as they seek a place at Tokyo 2020.

"That gold medal should have been a silver; I won due to a mistake made by the other finalist [Russia's  ergey Kamenskiy]," he told the Olympic Channel.

"At the time I struggled to come to terms with that gold and I donated the difference in prize money to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"Later I was invited to Zambia to visit the Meheba Refugee Camp, one of the biggest refugee camps in Africa. 

"That experience had a huge impact on me and made me think about how I could use my status as an Olympian, and the network I had grown, for a cause that I feel close to my heart."

Campriani moved to Lausanne in 2017 to become the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) sports intelligence manager and presented his refugee project proposal to the local immigration office at the end of 2018.

He started interviewing candidates and, out of a restricted group of local refugees, he selected three people, a man named Mahdi, and two women, Khaoula and Luna.

This weekend, Campriani will take the trio into their first test at the Italian Shooting Championships in Bologna, and he hopes his coaching efforts can inspire other Olympians to follow suit.

"I wanted to show that an Olympic champion has access to an unique network and can quickly raise funds," said Campriani.

"My aim is to inspire Olympians, perhaps from another country or another sport, to do the same. 

"It's a win-win situation. 

"When an athlete retires, one of his biggest challenges is to find new goals and, most of all, a new purpose."

The Florence-born shooter claimed his visits to Zambia reminded him not to feel sorry for the refugees but to give them a belief, a statement he is now using to help the athletes chase their Olympic dreams. 

"This sport has taught me a lot about how to manage my emotions, my fears and my instincts," said Campriani. 

"I want to help these guys to have a better control of their body, to manage their breathing, to read their heartbeat. 

"It's about moving on from the fears of your past, not forgetting but learning how to deal with it, in order to focus on the present moment. 

"It's a process of self-discovery and I'd like to transfer these skills."

Campriani took almost two years to achieve the minimum qualifying score for the Olympics but said the sporting outcome is secondary in the challenge's aims.

He admitted the journey is an experiment.

"These guys train at the World Archery Excellence Centre in Lausanne, they have only me as a reference, they can't compare themselves with other shooters," added Campriani.

"If things go as they should, I'm confident that at least one of them will go to Tokyo. 

"We'll know it next June when the IOC Executive Board will announce the next Olympic refugee team. 

"In any case, this project has no finish line, regardless of the outcome, this will be a life-long friendship. 

"After many years, I almost forgot the feeling of chasing an Olympic qualification. 

"It's nice to live it again, although through someone else's eyes."

The journey of the three selected refugees is being documented by the Olympic Channel original series Taking Refuge: Target Tokyo 2020 due to be broadcast early next year.