Rossana Pasquino

Started: She took up the sport in 2014. (salernotoday.it, 18 Apr 2020) Reason: She was introduced to fencing by her friend, Italian fencer Francesca Boscarelli, who encouraged her to take up the sport at a local club in Naples, Italy. "I started a bit for fun, a bit as a hobby, to find a sport to practise during the evening after work, so I decided to start practising some sports, then it became a real passion." (salernotoday.it, 18 Apr 2020) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Wheelchair Fencing Instagram profile, 16 Apr 2023) Additional Info: EDUCATION AND OCCUPATION In 2005 she graduated with a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Naples Federico II, and she graduated with a PhD from the same university in 2008. She has completed post-doctoral studies in Belgium and Greece, worked as a visiting professor in Switzerland and Canada, and authored more than 50 scientific papers. In 2012 she took up a position as a permanent researcher at the University of Naples Federico II's department of chemical engineering, materials and industrial production. She began working as an associate professor at the university in 2018, and has also worked for a company that publishes scientific information on physics. "It's a lot of work to balance sport with my career. I feel both [professor and athlete] and not in a unique way. I bring a bit of my professionalism to the platform and a bit of competitive spirit and sportsmanship to the [role of professor]. But I would say that I am a university teacher first and an athlete second. Perhaps this is dictated by the fact that study, research and teaching have occupied a more significant part of my life than fencing competition has so far." (LinkedIn profile, 13 May 2024; Facebook profile, 27 May 2024; vesuviolive.it, 10 Jul 2020; docenti.unina.it, 01 Jan 2019; queensu.ca, 07 Aug 2018) FEDERAL COUNCILLOR In 2021 she was appointed as an athlete representative on the national council of the Italian Fencing Federation [FIS]. "I was a candidate and I was elected. Paralympic, Olympic, I don't pay much attention to it, I feel like a representative of athletes in Italy. It is something we say is innovative, strange but innovative, the fact that a federal councillor is in a wheelchair and is actually a spokesman. It is a prestige for the federation, it is certainly an important message for those who have not believed in it until now." (fanpage.it, 07 Mar 2021)