Giuseppina "Giusy" Versace (born 20 May 1977) is an Italian Paralympic athlete who competes in

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

events in international level events and a television presenter and member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the Action party.

Personal life

Versace is the daughter of Alfredo Versace and cousin to fashion designers Gianni Versace, Donatella Versace and

Santo Versace Santo Domenico Versace (; born 16 December 1944) is an Italian businessman and politician who is the president and co-chief executive officer of Gianni Versace SpA, based in Milan, Italy. Since 2008 he has been elected as Member of the Chambe ...

through her father's side. Versace founded the non-government organisation Disability No Limits, it is a support charity that encourages disabled children to try different sports. She is also an ambassador for Save the Dream, a national project organised by the Qatar Olympic Committee which aims to promote sport among young people.

Accident

On 22 August 2005, Versace was the victim of a serious traffic accident on a motorway. The lost control of the car that she was driving and crashed into crash barriers, which caused her to lose both of her legs below the knee. A few years after the accident, she went to the

Court of Rome The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremoni ...

to sue Anas, the company that improves safety of motorways, for the poor maintenance of the crash barrier which caused her life changing injury, the court ruled that the barrier was of "very poor maintenance conditions and had very serious installation anomalies", Anas stated that they "could not allow the barrier extension on the stretch of road without imposing necessary measures to eliminate risks", Versace was awarded compensation of €1,485,182.

Sporting career

Giuseppina Versace - 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships

After Versace's accident, she decided to take up sport in 2010 when she began racing with carbon

prosthesis In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

. She participated in the Italian Athletics Championships became the first Italian athlete to run with bilateral amputation, she has won eleven national titles to her name as well as national records in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres runs. Her first international debut in the athletics world was competing at the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, ...

in Lyon. She was seventh in the women's 200m T44 and was a semi-finalist in the women's 100m T44. The peak of athletics career was in 2016 when she won two medals in the

2016 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2016 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Israel. It was held in Grosseto, Italy and too ...

: a silver in the 200m T44 and a bronze in the 400m T44. She competed in the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio de Janeiro where she didn't advance to the finals in 100m T44 and was eighth in the 200m T44.

Professional career

Versace's first television appearance was competing in Ballando con le Stelle in 2014 with dancing partner

Raimondo Todaro The seventh series of ''Ballando con le Stelle'' was broadcast from 26 February to 30 April 2011 on RAI 1 and was presented by Milly Carlucci with Paolo Belli and his 'Big Band'. Couples Scoring Chart : indicate the lowest score for each w ...

and won the competition, she was the first winner with an impairment in the international edition of

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

. Versace began co-presenting La Domenica Sportiva (The Sunday Sport) in 2015 alongside Alessandro Antinelli, an Italian

sports journalist Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Versace, Giusy 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Reggio Calabria Paralympic athletes for Italy Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Italian television presenters Italian women television presenters Forza Italia politicians Paralympic athletes of Fiamme Azzurre Italian female sprinters