Nedo Nadi

Nedo Nadi (9 June 1894 – 29 January 1940) was an Italian fencer. He is the only fencer to win a gold medal in each of the three weapons at a single Olympic Games and won the most fencing gold medals ever at a single Games—five. Nadi won six Olympic gold medals in total.

Biography

Early life Nedo Nadi was born in Livorno, Italy, the elder son of famous Italian fencing master, Giuseppe (Beppe) Nadi. He had a younger brother, Aldo who was an Olympic gold medallist in his own right. Nedo had his first fencing lesson with a foil at the age of seven in his father's gymnasium at Livorno. His father taught him foil and sabre but believed the épée to be an "undisciplined" weapon and refused to teach it. The brothers therefore used to go and practice by themselves and were essentially self-taught on épée.

1912 Olympic Games Competing for his country at 1912 Stockholm Olympics, Nadi became the youngest fencer to win a foil gold medal. Aged 18 years and 29 days, he beat teammate Pietro Speciale and Richard Verderber of Austria for the individual gold with seven straight victories in the final pool.