With two Olympic gold medals in her trophy case, Valentina Vezzali, the defending champion, won her third straight Olympic gold medal in an exciting women’s individual foil medal match.
Vezzali trailed South Korea’s Nam Hyun Hee 4-5 with less than one minute to go. Valentina composed herself, thrust her sword for a point and leveled the match 5-5. With three seconds to go, her final touch earned both gold and unique status in Olympic history.
Vezzali could now become one of the most decorated female fencer in Olympic history—and continues an Italian dominance in this sport. Either Vezzali or Giovanna Trillini, practice partners from the same town north of Rome, have won the World Cup gold medal in women's foil since 1992, except for 2006. Margherita Granbassi (pictured above), a fellow Italian, won that year.
Vezzali, Giovanna Trillini, and Margherita Granbassi all won foil matches to reach the semifinals, as expected, seeded 1, 2, and 3. Nam, however, defeated Trillini 15-10. Vezzali beat Granbassi 12-3, after which Margherita said Vezzali was literally untouchable.
Vezzali had won five total Olympic medals—two individual golds in women’s foil, two team foil golds, and one individual silver. Her training partner, Giovanna Trillini is a seven time Olympic medal winner—four golds, one silver and two bronzes. Margherita has consistently finished in the top three in world foil competition. Granbassi’s talent may only be matched by her beauty, with appearances in magazines accolading her as one of the most beautiful athletes at the Athens Olympics.
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