<p>ROME — Six-time Olympic fencing champion Valentina Vezzali was named the Italian government’s cabinet undersecretary in charge of sports on Friday.</p>
<p>The 47-year-old Vezzali will oversee relations with the Italian Olympic Committee, known as CONI, and also manage amateur sports across the country.</p>
<p>She will immediately be tested by government measures aimed at containing spread of the coronavirus that limit the practice of many sports.</p>
<p>The announcement was welcomed by CONI after <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-italy-olympic-games-sports-europe-thomas-bach-b0ec411008947294ce7674bc9f5a0ad3">Italy narrowly avoided being put on probation</a> by the International Olympic Committee in January because of supposed interference by the previous government.</p>
<p>CONI president Giovanni Malagò said Vezzali’s nomination was “exactly” what the Olympic body hoped for.</p>
<p>“We had asked for someone competent who knows our problems, which are numerous and unfortunately urgent,” Malagò said, noting that Vezzali is “the winningest female athlete in Italian sports history.”</p>
<p>Vezzali, who retired in 2016, also won a silver and two bronzes for a total of eight medals in her Olympic career — plus 16 golds at the world championships and 13 European titles.</p>
<p>Vincenzo Spadafora was the sports minister in the previous government.</p>
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