As a fencer, Vezzali won six Olympic gold medals and was a 16-time World Champion in foil.

[2][3] She is one of only five athletes in the history of the Summer Olympic Games to have won five medals in the same individual event.

In 2013, Vezzali became a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies as part of the Civic Choice party.

She medaled in all five of her Olympic appearances from 1996 to 2012; she attempted to qualify for Rio 2016 at the age of 41, but did not gain enough points.

[5] Vezzali has the fourth-most Olympic medals (9) of any Italian athlete and the most of any female summer Olympian from Italy, behind fencer Edoardo Mangiarotti (13), short-track speed skater Arianna Fontana (11) and cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo (10).