WHAT Iten, Kenya is to distance runners, Jesi, Italy is to foil fencers. Located just off the Adriatic coast, the town of 40,000 has produced four Olympic gold medallists. The first Jesi native to stand atop the podium was Stefano Cerioni, who was a member of Italy’s gold-winning men’s team in 1984 and took the individual prize four years later. In 1992 Giovanna Trillini, another Jesi product, won both the women’s individual and a team gold medal. By 1996 it was the turn of Jesi’s Valentina Vezzali, who was part of a women’s team that took gold that year. She then went on to dominate women’s foil like no other fencer before her, winning three straight individual golds in 2000, 2004 and 2008. This year’s Italian team, coached by Mr Cerioni, featured both Ms Vezzali and Elisa Di Francisca (pictured), the latest fencing sensation from Jesi.
As the matches began on July 28th all eyes were on Ms Vezzali, who carried the Italian flag at the opening ceremony. Now 38 years old—past her prime, but not entirely over the hill—and the mother of a young boy, she was competing to become the first woman in Olympic history to win four consecutive individual gold medals in any discipline. The only Olympians who have accomplished the feat are the Americans Carl Lewis, a sprinter, and Al Oerter, a discus thrower. The numerous Italian fans who had come to the ExCel Centre, where the event was held, were cheering for her to make history.
Ms Vezzali did not disappoint at the start. She easily reached the semi-finals, where she was joined by Ms Di Francisca and Arianna Errigo, the rare Italian fencer who does not hail from Jesi. At that stage, however, Ms Vezzali was pitted against Ms Errigo, 14 years her junior, and at last showed her age. Ms Errigo’s consistently aggressive attacks (accompanied by shaking fists and primal screams) wore out Ms Vezzali, who took more calculated steps and relied on counter-attacks. The upstart prevailed by a score of 15-12.
That left Ms Vezzali to face South Korea’s Nam Hyun-hee in the bronze medal match. It looked like she would struggle to return to the medal podium at all, as she trailed by four points with seconds left in the last round. But the Italian fans came to her aid, shouting “Dai Vale!” (“Go Vale!”) and “I-talia! I-talia!” while waving red, white and green flags. Ms Vezzali then rallied, in an impressive display of discipline and focus, to reverse the seemingly insurmountable deficit and eke out a 13-12 victory.
