Maria Valentina Vezzali (; born 14 February 1974) is an Italian

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, ...

and retired fencer. As a fencer, Vezzali won six

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

s and was a 16-time World Champion in foil. She is one of only five athletes in the history of the

Summer Olympic Games 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 ina ...

to have won five medals in the same individual event. In 2013, Vezzali became a member of the

Italian Chamber of Deputies The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical func ...

as part of the

Civic Choice Civic Choice ( it, Scelta Civica; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his pol ...

party. In 2021, she became Italy's cabinet undersecretary in charge of sports.

Fencing

Vezzali was the first fencer in Olympic history to win three individual foil gold medals at three consecutive Olympics –

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Athens 2004 The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and

Beijing 2008 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 Nat ...

. Vezzali won nine Olympic medals in all: five in individual foil (three gold, one silver, one bronze) and four in team foil (three gold, one bronze). She medaled in all five of her Olympic appearances from 1996 to 2012; she attempted to qualify for

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

at the age of 41, but did not gain enough points. Vezzali has the third-most Olympic medals (9) of any Italian athlete and the most of any female summer Olympian from Italy, behind fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti (13) and cross-country skier

Stefania Belmondo Stefania Belmondo (born 13 January 1969) is an Italian former cross-country skier, a two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion in her career. Biography Debut Belmondo was born in Vinadio, in the province of Cuneo (Piedmont), the d ...

(10). She also won sixteen gold medals at the

World Fencing Championships The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE; ''International Fencing Federation'' in English). Contestants may participate in foil, épée, and sabre events. Hi ...

, six in individual competitions (1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2011) and another ten in team competitions (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2013), plus six silver medals (two individual, 1994 and 2006, and four with Italian team, in 1994, 2006, 2011, 2016) and four bronze medals (individual, 1995, 1998, 2012 and 2014). 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).

Political career

Vezzali was a member of the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

in the XVIIth Legislatura between 2013 and 2018. She was originally a member of the

party led by

Mario Monti Mario Monti, (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a technocratic government in the wake of the Italian debt crisis. Monti served as a European Commi ...

. In 2021, she was named cabinet undersecretary in charge of sports for Italy. On 27 July 2022, Vezzali joined

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

(FI).

Prize List

;

Fencing World Cup The FIE Fencing World Cup is an international fencing competition held by the Fédération Internationale d'Escrime. In each weapon (Men's and Women's Épée, Sabre and Foil), three Grand Prix, five World Cup events and several satellite events ...

Foil (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010)

Achievements

Olympic Games

World Championships

Honours and awards

: ''Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for: Grand Officer

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-rankin ...

), 1 September 2008.

Personal life

She published two autobiographies: ''A viso scoperto'' ("With uncovered face"), written with Caterina Luchetti in 2006, and ''Io, Valentina Vezzali'', written with Betta Carbone in 2012. She married Italian soccer player Domenico Giugliano and has two sons: Pietro, born on 9 June 2005, and Andrea, born on 16 May 2013.

References

External links

*
Valentina Vezzali
at Italian Fencing Federation * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vezzali, Valentina 1974 births Living people People from Iesi Civic Choice politicians Deputies of Legislature XVII of Italy 21st-century Italian women politicians Italian female fencers Olympic fencers of Italy Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic silver medalists for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in fencing Fencers of Fiamme Oro Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in fencing Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in fencing Competitors at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Universiade gold medalists for Italy Universiade silver medalists for Italy Medalists at the 1995 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from the Province of Ancona Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy)