Valentina Vezzali

Valentina Vezzali is an Italian foil fencer and politician who won six Olympic gold medals, all in individual or team foil events, across five consecutive Olympic Games.

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2000 Summer Olympics: The Sydney Games, held from 15 September to 1 October 2000. Vezzali won individual foil gold and team foil silver in Sydney.
Foil (fencing): A fencing weapon with a flexible blade, a small guard, and a valid target limited to the torso. Vezzali competed in foil, where right of way shapes attack and defense.
Olympic fencing: The fencing competitions contested at the modern Olympic Games. Vezzali became one of Olympic fencing's most decorated athletes.
Anja Fichtel: A German foil fencer who won Olympic individual gold in 1988 and team gold in 1984 and 1988. Fichtel was a leading foil champion of the generation preceding Vezzali's dominance.
2004 Summer Olympics: The Athens Games, held from 13 to 29 August 2004. She defended her individual foil title and helped Italy win team gold.
Fencing: A combat sport in which opponents score touches with bladed weapons under formal rules. Foil is one of fencing's three weapons, alongside épée and sabre.
Italian Parliament: Italy's national legislature, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic. After her competitive career, Vezzali served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies.
Laura Flessel-Colovic: A French épée fencer who won two Olympic gold medals and five world titles. Flessel's épée career offers a French counterpart to Vezzali's Italian foil achievements.
2008 Summer Olympics: The Beijing Games, held from 8 to 24 August 2008. Her individual foil victory made her the first fencer to win that Olympic event three times.
Right of way (fencing): A fencing rule that awards a foil or sabre touch to the fencer who established the attack. Tactical interpretation of right of way is central to foil bouts.