Josefa Idem married Guerrini (born 23 September 1964) is an Italian
sprint canoer turned
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. Competing in eight
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
, she has five medals. Winning 35 international medals during her career, Idem was the first Italian woman to win
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
(22 total, five gold) and Olympic medals in canoe sprint. At the
2009 world championships, she became the oldest medalist in the history of the world championships.
After her retirement, she was elected in 2013 as member of
the Italian Parliament for the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, and successively named
Minister for Equal Opportunities, Sport and Youth Policies as part of the cabinet of
Enrico Letta
Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...
. On 24 June 2013, she resigned from the charge because of judicial investigation on allegedly unpaid taxes.
Biography
Josefa Idem was born in
Goch
Goch (; archaic spelling: Gog, Dutch: Gogh) is a town in the district of Kleve, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated close to the border with the Siebengewald in Netherlands, approx. south of Kleve, and southeast of Nijmegen.
Hi ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
, and began paddling at the age of eleven. In 1977, aged thirteen, she competed at the European Championships in
Plovdiv and won gold medals over 200, 500 and 1000 metres as well as a bronze medal in doubles kayaking ("K-2") with Ravetta Rosette. In the following years she focused mainly on her language school education but competed for West Germany at the
1984 Olympics in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, winning a bronze medal in the K-2 500 m with
Barbara Schüttpelz. The next year, Idem switched to the K-1 events.
At the
1988 Olympics in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, she finished ninth in the K-1 500 m and fifth with the West German quartet in the K-4 500 m. In November the same year Idem moved to Italy where she eventually met
Gugliemo Guerrini, her present husband and coach. The cooperation paid off as she won two bronze medals at the
1989 World Championships in Plovdiv, the city where she won her first international medals.
Idem married Guerrini in 1990 and hence became an Italian citizen in 1992. She competed for Italy at the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
the same year, placing fourth. Four years later, however, at the
1996 Olympics in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, she won the bronze medal in the K-1 500 m event.
This was the beginning of her most successful period: from
1997 to
2002 she won three World Championships titles (as well as 10 silver and bronze medals), five European titles and finally the Olympic gold medal in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
2000. In 2003, she gave birth to her second child, but she returned to compete in the K-1 500 m at the Games in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
in 2004, winning the
silver medal.
In her seventh Olympic appearance, at the 2008
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
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 ...
, at the age of 43, she won her fifth medal, the silver in K-1 500 m; after leading for much of the latter part of the race, she was overtaken at the very end by the Ukrainian kayaker, losing to her in a photo finish by only four thousandths of a second, 1:50.677 to 1:50.673. After the race she said that she wanted to continue until the
2012 Olympics in London. Idem qualified for the 2012 Olympics and ultimately achieved a
5th place in the finals.
Today Idem lives in Santerno (in the
province of Ravenna
The province of Ravenna ( it, provincia di Ravenna; ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ravenna. As of 2015, it has a population of 391,997 inhabitants over an area of , giving it ...
), with Guglielmo Guerrini and their two children.
Political involvement
From 2001 to 2007 she served as
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...
city councillor delegate for sports (''assessore'' in Italian), as member of the centre-left
Olive Tree
The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...
. She then became a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, being then named a parliamentary candidate for the Senate after winning the party's 2012 primary elections. She was elected into Parliament as a result of the
2013 general election.
On 28 April 2013, she was named a
minister without portfolio for equal opportunities and sports as part of a
grand coalition cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
headed by Democratic Party member
Enrico Letta
Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...
. However, she resigned two months later on 24 June due to legal charges over allegedly unpaid taxes.
'' Josefa Idems Steueraffäre: Italiens deutsche Ministerin tritt zurück''
Spiegel Online, 24 June 2013 (German)
Idem has also been involved in social work, most prominently as a spokesperson for Emergency
An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...
as well as Associazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla, an organization for multiple sclerosis patients.
Olympic medals
For Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
:
* 1984 Los Angeles: Bronze K2 500 m
For 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 re ...
:
* 1996 Atlanta: Bronze K1 500 m
* 2000 Sydney: Gold K1 500 m
* 2004 Athens: Silver K1 500 m
* 2008 Beijing
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
: Silver K1 500 m
See also
*List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
A small fraction of the world's population ever competes at the Olympic Games; an even smaller fraction ever competes in multiple Games. 849 athletes (260 women and 589 men) have participated in at least five Olympics from Athens 1896 to Beiji ...
* Italian sportswomen multiple medalists at Olympics and World Championships
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Idem, Josefa
1964 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Düsseldorf (region)
Canoeists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Canoeists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Italian female canoeists
Olympic canoeists of Italy
Olympic gold medalists for Italy
Olympic silver medalists for Italy
Olympic bronze medalists for Italy
Olympic medalists in canoeing
ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships medalists in kayak
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Women government ministers of Italy
Letta Cabinet
Democratic Party (Italy) politicians
21st-century Italian politicians
Italian city councillors
Members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
21st-century Italian women politicians
Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)