Mara Navarria (; born 18 July 1985) is an Italian right-handed

épée The (, ; ), also rendered as epee in English, is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons used in the sport of fencing. The modern derives from the 19th-century , a weapon which itself derives from the French small sword. This contains a ...

fencer, 2018 individual world champion, two-time Olympian, and 2024 team Olympic gold medalist.

Early and personal life

Navarria, whose paternal grandfather was from

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, was born in

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

and grew up in Carlino. She took up fencing at AS Sangiorgina (now Gemina Scherma) in

San Giorgio di Nogaro San Giorgio di Nogaro (, locally ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about south of Udine. As of 31 December 2004, it had ...

under the coaching of Dario Codarin. After her secondary studies in Cervignano, she moved to Rome to join Centro Sportivo Esercito, the sport section of the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

, under coach Oleg Pouzanov. Navarria married her physical trainer Andrea Lo Coco. They have a son, Samuele. Her sister Caterina and her brother Enrico are

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

fencers.

Career

She won the

Fencing World Cup The Fencing World Cup is an international fencing competition held by the International Fencing Federation. In each weapon (Men's and Women's Épée, Sabre and Foil), three Grand Prix, five World Cup events and several satellite events are conte ...

in the junior category in 2004 and 2006. She was first selected into the senior Italian team for the

2005 European Fencing Championships The 2005 European Seniors Fencing Championships were held in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary from 27 June to 3 July 2005. Overview Medal table Results Men Foil individual Épée individual Sabre individual Foil team Épée team Sabre team ...

, where she finished 49th in the individual event and 9th with the team. In the 2009–10 season Navarria was part of the Italian team that earned a silver medal after being defeated in the final by Poland. The year after, at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

on home ground, in Catania, Navarria was stopped in the table of 16 by Poland's Magdalena Piekarska and finished 12th. In the team event, Italy lost in the semifinal to China, which had just placed two fencers on the individual podium. They defeated Germany 45–33 to win the bronze medal. Navarria began the 2011–12 season by her first victory in the senior World Cup with a gold medal in Doha, followed by a silver medal in Budapest. She qualified to the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as a member of the Italian team. In the individual event, she was defeated in the table of 32 by Maya Lawrence of the United States. In the team event, Italy lost to the United States in the first round and ended up 7th after the ranking matches. Navarria finished the season 12th in world rankings, a career best as of 2014. Navarria took a break in her career in the 2012–13 season to give birth to a son, Samuele. She came back to competition at the

2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games () and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 in Mersin, Turkey. Mersin was announced as the host cit ...

in Mersin, where she finished 7th. At the

in Budapest, she was stopped in the quarter-finals by Russia's Anna Sivkova, who eventually earned a silver medal. In the team event Italy lost to Russia 27 to 28 in the quarter-finals and finished 5th. The following season, Navarria reached the quarter-finals in the Havana and Rio de Janeiro World Cup tournaments. In the 2014 European Championships, she lost to France's Lauren Rembi in the second round. In the team event, Italy were defeated by Romania in the semi-finals. They then prevailed over Estonia to earn a bronze medal. In the

in Kazan, Navarria was knocked off in the second round by Estonia's Erika Kirpu, who would eventually take the silver medal. In the team event, Italy took revenge on Romania in the quarter-finals, but lost to Estonia in the semifinal. They overcame Hungary in the small final to earn a bronze medal. In the 2014–15 season Navarria climbed her first World Cup podium since her comeback with a silver medal in Barcelona after losing in the final to China's Xu Anqi.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championships

European Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

*
Profile
at the European Fencing Confederation * at the

Italian Fencing Federation The Italian Fencing Federation (, FIS) is the national governing body for the fencing sport in Italy. The FIS is currently based in Rome. The FIS was founded in 1909 and was one of the nine founding nations of The Fédération Internationale d'Es ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navarria, Mara 1985 births Living people 21st-century Italian sportswomen European Games bronze medalists for Italy European Games medalists in fencing Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2023 European Games Fencers at the 2024 Summer Olympics FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Italy Italian female épée fencers Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games competitors for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Olympic fencers for Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in fencing People of Sicilian descent Sportspeople from Udine Summer World University Games medalists in fencing World Fencing Championships medalists