Valentina Vezzali | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Maria Valentina Vezzali | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname(s) | Cobra | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country represented | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Iesi, Italy |
14 February 1974 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weapon(s) | Foil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hand | right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 53 kg (117 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National coach(es) | Andrea Cipressa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | G.S. Fiamme Oro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FIE Ranking | rankings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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The Honourable Valentina Vezzali |
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Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies | |
Assumed office 19 March 2013 |
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Personal details | |
Born | 14 February 1974 Iesi, Marche, Italy |
Nationality | Italian |
Political party | Scelta Civica |
Spouse(s) | Domenico Giugliano |
Children | 2 |
Profession | Agent of the Polizia di Stato |
Valentina Vezzali (Italian pronunciation: [valenˈtina vetˈtsali]; born 14 February 1974) is an Italian fencer and politician. As fencer she has won six Olympic gold medals in foil competitions.
Together with the German shooter Ralf Schumann, the Slovak slalom canoeist Michal Martikán and the japanese female judoka Ryoko Tani, Vezzali is one of only four athletes in the history of the Summer Olympic Games to have won five medals in the same individual event.
In 2013, she became a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies as part of the Scelta Civica party.
Vezzali is the first fencer in Olympic history to win three Individual Foil gold medals at three consecutive Olympics – Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. She also won fourteen gold medals at the World Fencing Championships, six in individual competitions (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011) and another eight in team competitions (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013), plus four silver medals (two individual, 1994 and 2006, and two with Italian team, in the same years) and three bronze medals (individual, 1995, 1998 and 2012).
In European championships, she won nine gold medals (individual: 1998, 1999, 2001, 2009, 2010; team: 1999, 2001, 2009, 2010), three silver medals (individual: 2003, 2007; team: 2007), two bronze medals (individual: 1993; team: 1998).