Elisa Di Francisca

Elisa Di Francisca (Italian pronunciation: [eˈliza di franˈtʃiska]; born 13 December 1982) is an Italian former foil fencer, Olympic champion in 2012, World champion in 2010 and three-time European champion. She won the 2010–11 World Cup series and has seven World Cup victories to her name. With the Italian team, she was Olympic champion in 2012, five-time World champion and seven-time European champion.

Biography

Di Francisca was born in Jesi, a town of the province of Ancona in Marche, to a Sicilian father and a mother from Marche. She is the eldest of three children: her sister Martina was born in 1984 and her brother Michele in 1991. She first tried ballet, but found it too quiet for her taste. Along with her sister, she turned to fencing, the town's national sport: led by maestro Ezio Triccoli, Club Scherma Jesi produced Olympic champions Stefano Cerioni, Giovanna Trillini and Valentina Vezzali. Di Francesca immediately took to the sport and went on after her sister gave up, dragging her brother in her wake.

In 2013 Di Francisca took part in the ninth edition of Ballando con le stelle, the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars. Paired with dancer Raimondo Todaro, she won with 56% of the vote.

Di Francisca is involved in several campaigns to end violence against women, testifying from her own experience of an abusive relationship when she was in high school. After the 2012 Summer Olympics she visited Kenya as part of a campaign by NGO Intervita Onlus to help underprivileged children and women. She is also committed to promoting Italy, especially Marche, her home region. She was one of the ambassadors of Expo 2015 and the face of the 2015 campaign of the Wine Institute of Marche promoting Verdicchio.