The emotions that sport can offer are most often unattainable, because sport is synonymous with challenge, with oneself and especially with others. A basket, a goal, a point scored at the last second of a match, or an athlete's victory by a hundredth of a second in an athletic or swimming race, a sprint victory in cycling or an overtaking pass at the last corner in motorcycling or motoring, give unique emotions to fans all over the world.

And then there are the impossible challenges, which often remain in the collective memory of a people and sometimes of all people in the world. Memorable challenges, such as when a small team beats a top team in a major final, or when an unknown athlete wins a competition against the stars of that sport. Sports also give birth to real legends, such as Muhammad Ali, Carl Lewis, Michael Jordan, Diego Armando Maradona, Michael Phelps, and many others.

Finally, in sports, epic rivalries arise between two athletes or two teams that divide entire nations for many years between those who support one or the other. Just remember the duels in tennis between Björn Borg and John McEnroe or Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, the one in basketball between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, and the one in soccer between Lionel Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo. In Italy, the most famous rivalry was that between the two great cyclists Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, still remembered by all even for the political implications it represented in the post-World War II years (Bartali was a Catholic Democrat, Coppi a Communist).

Another historic rivalry was that between the two great world fencing stars, Giovanna Trillini and Valentina Vezzali. Both were born in Jesi, in the Marche region, athletes in the same sports club, the “Jesi Fencing Club,” students of the same master, Ezio Triccoli, and lovers of the same weapon, foil. The two clubmates in their youth and national teammates until the end of their careers, in the span of twenty years they dominated all over the world imposing their law, that of the unbeatable.

Trillini, four years Vezzali's senior, began winning Olympic medals in 1992 at the Barcelona Games, where she won gold in the individual and team event. Valentina, who watched Giovanna as a young girl to “steal” secrets, arrived four years later at the 1996 Atlanta Games and immediately surpassed her “teacher,” winning gold in the team event and silver at the individual level with her, while Trillini settled for a bronze. From that Olympic edition and until 2008, when Giovanna retired from competition, the two female fencers born in the same city and students of the same master gave birth to a rivalry that divided the whole of Italy. Trillini was the calm, reflective athlete who did not appear very often on TV and did not like the star system.

Vezzali, on the other hand, was the more spirited athlete who loved the spotlight, exposing herself in politics and attending ceremonies. Two completely different people who, when they competed together in the team trials did not even touch each other with their eyes, even though they always won afterwards and a final hug was granted.

When they had to compete against each other on the platform, however, they would give each other a hard time. It was a rivalry that had lasted almost twenty years and had become famous throughout the international fencing world. Even fencers from other nations, who rarely managed to win against one another, sided with either Giovanna or Valentina. It was a rivalry that was good for fencing and for the sport, because the two athletes, while not losing, reached such a level of perfection that from 1992 to 2012, together they won 17 medals at the Olympic Games, 45 at the world championships and 27 at the European championships.

But who was the best? Undoubtedly Valentina Vezzali, who still holds a series of virtually unbeatable records. She is the most successful fencer ever in foil, the woman who has won the most Olympic medals in fencing, nine, and the Italian sportswoman who has won the most gold medals at the Olympic Games along with fellow fencers Edoardo Mangiarotti and Nedo Nadi. She is the sixth sportswoman in the world to have won three Olympic gold medals in a single individual specialty and the fifth to medal five times, standing on the podium from Atlanta 1996 to London 2012. In short, no female fencer has ever won as much as she has.

But Giovanna Trillini still had an amazing career, with 4 Olympic gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals, 9 world titles (and 10 other medals between silver and bronze) and 2 European titles (and 4 other medals) won in her career, even today she remains a legend of foil.