Stefano Cerioni (born 24 January 1964) is an Italian foil fencer, Olympic team champion in 1984, Olympic champion in 1988 and World team champion in 1985 and 1994. He became a fencing master, then a director of foil, first for Italy, then for Russia, then again for Italy.

Athletic career

Cerioni was born in 1964 in Madrid, where his father was working. His parents moved back to Jesi, in Italy, when he was a child. He learned fencing under

Ezio Triccoli Ezio is an Italian masculine name, originating from the Latin name ''Aetius''. It may refer to: * Flavius Aetius (c. 396–454), Roman general, after whom Metastasio's libretto and all the operas below are named. ** Ezio (libretto), opera libretto ...

, a family friend, who also coached Olympic champions Valentina Vezzali and

Giovanna Trillini Giovanna Trillini (born 17 May 1970 in Iesi) is an Italian Foil (fencing), foil fencing, fencer. She is a 4-time Olympic champion (3 times in the team event, 1 time individual) and she won an additional silver and two bronze medals in individual ...

in their formative years. He practiced both sabre and foil, but foil quickly gained his preference. Cerioni won the silver medal at the 1983 Junior World Championships in Budapest, then the gold medal in 1984 in Leningrad. He made his Olympic début at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles. He made his way to the semi-finals, where he met teammate Mauro Numa. Despite a 6–1 lead in the first period, he was defeated 11–9. He fenced

Frédéric Pietruszka Frédéric Pietruszka (born 13 May 1954) is a French fencer. He won a gold medal in the team foil event at the 1980 Summer Olympics and a bronze in the same events at the 1976 and 1984 Summer Olympics. He was president of the French Fencing Fe ...

of France in the “small final” and prevailed 10–5 to win the bronze medal. At the World Championships in Barcelona, Cerioni reached the semi-finals, where he was defeated by teammate Andrea Cipressa. He fenced Germany's

Harald Stein Harald Stein (born 4 August 1942) is a German former sailor who competed in the 1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX ...

for the bronze medal, but was disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour. His bad temper got the best of him once again in the 1986 World Championships in Sofia: this time he received a full-year suspension after abusing the referees during his bout against Joachim Wendt. After his return to competition Cerioni won the 1987–88 Fencing World Cup. At the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in Seoul Cerioni defeated three-time World Champion

Aleksandr Romankov Alexandr Anatolyevich Romankov ( be, Аляксандр Анатольевіч Раманькоў, tr. ; russian: Александр Анатольевич Романьков, tr. ) is a former Belarusian fencer from the former Soviet Union, ...

in the semi-finals, then East Germany's

Udo Wagner Udo Wagner (born 2 November 1963) is a German former fencer. He won a silver medal in the individual foil event for East Germany at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Four years later, he won a gold in the team foil event for Germany at the 1992 Summer ...

, to earn the gold medal. The team ranked only 7th. At the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

he was eliminated in the round of 32 and could not defend his title. Italy also failed to earn a medal in the team event. A year later, Cerioni won the gold medal in the

1993 Mediterranean Games The XII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1993 Mediterranean Games, were the 12th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, from 16 June to 27 June 1993, where 2,598 athletes (1,994 men and 604 women) fr ...

and a team silver medal in the 1993 World Championships in Essen, followed by a team gold medal in the 1994 World Championships in Athens. In March 1996 his maestro Ezio Triccoli died. Cerioni took over Club Scherma Jesi while going on with his career, earning a team silver medal at the 1997 World Championships in Cape Town. He retired in 2000 after 16 years in the national team.

Coaching career

Award ceremony 2014 European Championships FFS-EQ t210409

Cerioni became a fencing master after he ended his athlete career. His most famous pupil is Elisa Di Francisca, whom he trained since she was 8. After the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

he succeeded Andrea Magro as director of foil at the Italian Fencing Federation for the men's team. In 2008 his responsibilities were extended to women's. Under his direction Italy won gold medals in men's team foil and women's team foil and all three medals in women's foil at the

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

, amongst which his own student Di Francesca. In December 2012 he announced that he would join the Russian Fencing Federation–Italy's main rival–as director of foil for both men and women, taking with him assistant coach Giovanni Bortolaso and physical conditioning trainer Maurizio Zomparelli. In the 2013 World Championships in Budapest, Italy took the gold medal in men's team foil and two bronze medals in women's foil. The 2014 European Championships in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, brought two silver medals and two bronze medals. In the World Championships at home in Kazan, Aleksey Cheremisinov took the title while the women's team earned a silver medal.

References

External links

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerioni, Stefano 1964 births Living people Italian male fencers Italian foil fencers Olympic fencers for Italy Fencers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in fencing Fencers from Madrid Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Italian fencing coaches Universiade medalists in fencing Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Italy Mediterranean Games medalists in fencing Competitors at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Universiade bronze medalists for Italy