Maria Scutti

Maria Scutti

Personal information
Nickname	Golden women
Nationality	Italian
Born	August 1928 (1928-08) Altino, Italy
Died	2005 (aged 76–77)
Sport
Country	Italy
Sport	Paralympic athletics Paralympic swimming Wheelchair fencing Para table tennis
Retired	1962
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Paralympic Games 10 3 2 Paralympic Games Athletics [1] 1960 Rome Club Throw A 1960 Rome Club Throw B 1960 Rome Javelin A 1960 Rome Javelin B 1960 Rome Precision Javelin A 1960 Rome Precision Javelin B 1960 Rome Precision Javelin C 1960 Rome Shot Put A 1960 Rome Shot Put B 1960 Rome Club Throw C 1960 Rome Javelin C Swimming [2] 1960 Rome 50 m Breaststroke C4 1960 Rome 50 m Backstroke C4 Fencing [3] 1960 Rome Foil Individual Table tennis [4] 1960 Rome Doubles B

Maria Scutti (August 1928 - 2005) was an Italian paralympic athlete who won 15 medals, ten of which were gold, at the 1960 Summer Paralympics in Rome.

Nicknamed the "golden woman" (donna d'oro) thanks to these successes, Maria Scutti is the athlete who got the highest number of medals in a single edition of the Paralympic Games (in four different sports), and the second Italian athlete for total number of medals won, behind Roberto Marson (26 medals in 4 editions). ^[5]

Biography

Scutti at Paralympic foil competition in Rome 1960

Maria Scutti was born in August 1928 in Altino, in the province of Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy. Married and mother of two children, in 1957, at the age of 29, she lost the use of her legs following a road accident while driving a motorcycle-van. During her rehabilitation after hospitalization at the center for paraplegics in Ostia, she discovered a passion for sports and in 1958 began to compete in many disciplines. ^[6]

Scutti competed in the 1960 Summer Paralympics in her home country, Italy. She entered eleven throwing events in athletics, winning nine of them and coming third in the remaining two. ^[1] She won a gold in swimming for the 50 m breaststroke as well as a silver in the 50 m backstroke. ^[2] Scutti also won silver medals in both wheelchair fencing and table tennis. ^{[3] [4]} These accomplishments mean that Scutti is one of the most successful Paralympians at a single Games.

Ended the sporting career in 1962 with budget of 22 gold medals, 9 silver medals, and 2 bronze medals, Scutti died in 2005 at the age of 77 years old. ^[6]

See also

• Italy at the 1960 Summer Paralympics
• List of multiple Paralympic gold medalists at a single Games
• Italy at the Paralympics - Multiple medallists

References

1. "Athletics at the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
2. "Swimming at the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
3. "Wheelchair fencing at the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
4. "Table Tennis at the Rome 1960 Paralympic Games". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
5. Sebastiano Lavecchia (10 January 2017). "Maria Scutti, la donna d'oro di Roma 1960" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
6. Teresa Di Rocco (9 December 2018). "Altino premia la "donna d'oro"". Il Centro (in Italian). Retrieved 4 April 2021.

External links

• Maria Scutti at Paralympic.org