Giuseppina "Giusy" Versace (born 20 May 1977) is an Italian

Paralympic athlete The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer Paralympic Games, Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports a ...

who competes in

sprinting Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...

events in international level events and a television presenter and member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. She was also a member of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

Personal life

Versace is the daughter of Alfredo Versace and cousin to fashion designers

Gianni Versace Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-up ...

Donatella Versace Donatella Francesca Versace (; born 2 May 1955), sometimes simply referred to mononymously as Donatella, is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman, socialite, and model. She is the sister of Gianni Versace, founder of the luxury fashion com ...

and

Santo Versace Santo Domenico Versace (; born 16 December 1944) is an Italian businessman and politician who is the president and co-chief executive officer of Gianni Versace SpA, based in Milan, Italy. Since 2008 he has been elected as Member of the Chambe ...

through her father's side. Versace founded the

non-government organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

Disability No Limits, it is a support charity that encourages disabled children to try different sports. She is also an ambassador for Save the Dream, a national project organised by the

Qatar Olympic Committee Qatar Olympic Committee (, IOC code: QAT) is the National Olympic Committee representing Qatar. History The QOC was formed in 1979 and was granted full recognition by the International Olympic Committee in 1980. QOC's main goal is to bring worl ...

which aims to promote sport among young people.

Accident

On 22 August 2005, Versace was the victim of a serious traffic accident on a motorway. She lost control of the car that she was driving and crashed into crash barriers, which caused her to lose both of her legs below the knee. A few years after the accident, she went to the

Court of Rome The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremon ...

to sue Anas, the company that improves safety of motorways, for the poor maintenance of the crash barrier which caused her life changing injury, the court ruled that the barrier was of "very poor maintenance conditions and had very serious installation anomalies", Anas stated that they "could not allow the barrier extension on the stretch of road without imposing necessary measures to eliminate risks", Versace was awarded compensation of €1,485,182.

Sporting career

Giuseppina Versace - 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships

After Versace's accident, she decided to take up sport in 2010 when she began racing with carbon

prosthesis In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (Congenital, congenital disord ...

. She participated in the Italian Athletics Championships became the first Italian athlete to run with bilateral amputation, she has won eleven national titles to her name as well as national records in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres runs. Her first international debut in the athletics world was competing at the

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2013 World Para Athletics Championships, IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 Jul ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. She was seventh in the women's 200m T44 and was a semi-finalist in the women's 100m T44. The peak of athletics career was in 2016 when she won two medals in the

2016 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2016 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Israel. It was held in Grosseto, Italy and ...

: a silver in the 200m T44 and a bronze in the 400m T44. She competed in the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio de Janeiro where she didn't advance to the finals in 100m T44 and was eighth in the 200m T44.

Professional career

Versace's first television appearance was competing in '' Ballando con le Stelle'' in 2014 with dancing partner Raimondo Todaro and won the competition; she was the first winner with an impairment in any international edition of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. Versace began co-presenting ''La Domenica Sportiva'' (''The Sunday Sport'') in 2015 alongside Alessandro Antinelli, an Italian

sports journalist Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Versace, Giusy 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Reggio Calabria Paralympic athletes for Italy Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Italian television presenters Italian women television presenters Forza Italia politicians Paralympic athletes of Fiamme Azzurre Italian female sprinters Italian amputees Italian sportsperson-politicians Politicians with disabilities Television presenters with disabilities Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)