first Olympics. At the end of the individual competition, however, he remains out of the podium after being defeat in semifinals against the future Olympic champion Lei Sheng and losing then the match for bronze (15-14) in favor of the Korean Choi Byung-chul. The possibility of redemption comes a few days later. On 5 August 2012, after the world and European titles, Baldini finally obtained the Olympic gold medal. The Italian team led by Coach Stefano Cerioni, and composed by Valerio Aspromonte, Baldini, Andrea Cassarà and Giorgio Avola, defeats Japan in the final, with a score of 45–39, granting Baldini the honor and burden of latest assault, in this case against Yuki Ota. Season-2013 started with a good series of results for Baldini, who reached back the top of the world ranking thanks to two successes in the World Cup Paris, Bonn and an individual bronze at the European Championships in Zagreb. On 12 August 2013 he won the gold (team) at the World Championships in Budapest, after defeating Russia of former coach Stefano Cerioni in the semifinals: in this match Baldini inherited a difficult situation, with his opponents leading 43–41 at just 49 seconds from the end, but with a partial 4-1 he leads the Italian team to a 45–44 victory. In 2014 he won silver with his team at the European Championships in Strasbourg and a bronze at the World Championships in Kazan. In 2015 he won the gold medal in men's team foil at the World Championship in Moscow and he qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games where he took part in the team event only. Personal life Baldini earned a bachelor's degree in political science in 2015 and a master's degree in international relations at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston. Since 23 April 2013 Baldini has been a spokesperson with UNICEF's Vogliamo Zero campaign for the elimination of infant mortality under the age of five. On 29 July 2020, Baldini married Turkish Olympian fencer Irem Karamete, whom he also coaches. References External links (archive) 1985 births Living people Italian foil fencers Italian male fencers Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers of Italy Olympic gold medalists for Italy Olympic medalists in fencing Sportspeople from Livorno Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Doping cases in fencing Italian sportspeople in doping cases Universiade