page_title: Elisa Di Francisca
section_title: After the London Games
hierarchical_section_title: Elisa Di Francisca / Career / After the London Games
caption_attribution_description: English: Italy (from left to right: Elisa Di Francisca, Arianna Errigo, coach Andrea Cipressa, Martina Batini, and Valentina Vezzali) at the award ceremony of the women's team foil event at the European Fencing Championships at Rhénus Sport in Strasbourg on 14 June 2014. Français&#160;: L'équipe d'Italie (de gauche à droite, Elisa Di Francisca, l'entraîneur Andrea Cipressa, Arianna Errigo, Martina Batini et Valentina Vezzali) à la cérémonie protocolaire du fleuret féminin par équipes aux championnats d'Europe d'escrime au Rhénus Sport de Strasbourg, le 14 juin 2014.
context_page_description: Elisa Di Francisca is an Italian 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.
context_section_description: After the Olympics the women's foil team national coach Stefano Cerioni announced he would leave the Italian Fencing Federation for the Russian Fencing Federation, their historical rivals. Cerioni had also been Di Francesca's own coach at CS Jesi for fourteen years. Di Francisca chose Olympic champion Giovanna Trillini as her new coach "because she is a great champion, because we know each other and we have fenced together and supported each other before London, and because this solution does not keep me away from Jesi, where are my family, my friends and my fencing hall."
  In the 2012–13 season Di Francisca placed third at the Gdańsk Grand Prix and second at the Tauberbischofsheim World Cup. At the European Championships in Zagreb she inflicted a 15–5 defeat to Errigo in the quarter-finals and eventually won the continental title after prevailing against Russia's Diana Yakovleva. She dedicated her victory to motorcycle racer and fellow Jesi dweller Alessia Politi, who had just been critically injured during practice for the Italian championship at Misano.
  A month later at the World Championships she cruised to the semi-finals, where she met Carolin Golubytskyi. The bout was marked by an incident similar to that of their London Olympic encounter: during a collision Di Francisca struck a hard blow to Golubytskyi's mask with her bell guard, sending her opponent stumbling. She was shown a red card for dangerous action and received a penalty hit. The bout went into overtime and Golubytskyi struck the winning hit, dooming Di Francisca to a bronze medal. In the team event the Italian "Dream Team" asserted their domination in emphatic manner, cruising to the final then prevailing 45–18 against France to earn the world title.
  In the 2013–14 season Di Francisca claimed three silver medals in St Petersburg, Tauberbischofsheim and Turin, as well as a bronze medal in Marseille. At the European Championships in Strasbourg she made her way to the semi-finals where she met Valentina Vezzali. After a cagey beginning which saw the first period end on 1 all, Di Francisca took control of the bout, striking 10 hits in a row and closing on 15–3. In the final she met another Italian, Martina Batini, against whom she had lost in the final at Tauberbischofsheim earlier in the season. Her opponent took a 5–2 lead, but Di Francisca hit 13 times in a row to conquer her third European title. In the team event Italy reached the final without any hassle, but met with strong opposition from Russia, who led most of the match. Chosen to close against Inna Deriglazova, Di Francisca entered the last leg on 38–40 for Russia. Deriglazova gained a 4–0 lead, taking the score to 44–38 with only one hit needed for the victory and 2′04″ to go. Di Francisca hit six times in a row to level the score. She finally struck the winning hit with one second remaining, allowing Italy to retain their European title and taking her second double European gold haul in a row.
  At the World Championships in Kazan Di Francisca had a tight 15–14 victory over Egypt's Eman Shaaban, then reached easily the quarter-finals. She met Martina Batini, who took revenge of the Strasbourg final by defeating her 15–6. In the team event, Italy cruised again to the final, where they met Russia once more. The score stayed very tight until the three last legs. Di Francisca entered the penultimate leg on 33–35 for Italy and consolidated the advantage, taking it to 35–40 before Errigo closed on 45–39. Italy finished the year having won all team competitions.
  In the 2014–15 season Di Francesca earned a silver medal in the Turin Grand Prix after losing 7–15 to Arianna Errigo in the final. After the Gdańsk World Cup in January 2015 she had a problem with her left ankle and was rested for the following World Cup stage in Algiers. She bounced back to win three competitions in a row: the Havana Grand PrixTauberbischofsheim, the Tauberbischofsheim World Cup and the Shanghai Grand Prix.
caption: Di Francisca (L) with Team Italy and coach Andrea Cipressa on the podium of the 2014 European Championships
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