PALAZZO Xenia Francesca

Date of Birth: 29 Apr 1998

Age: 23

Gender: Female

Sport Class: S8,SM8

Place of birth: PALERMO

Birth Country:

Italy

Place of residence : VERONA

Residence Country:

Italy

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Swimming	Women's 50m Freestyle - S8	3
	Women's 400m Freestyle - S8	3
	Women's 100m Backstroke - S8	4
	Women's 200m Individual Medley - SM8	2
	Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay - 34 Pts ITA Italy	1

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Backstroke - S8 Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 200m Individual Medley - SM8 Heat 1	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 200m Individual Medley - SM8 Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay - 34 Points Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 400m Freestyle - S8 Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 50m Freestyle - S8 Heat 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 50m Freestyle - S8 Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
Paralympic Games
6	200m Freestyle - S14	2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	2:19.21
8	100m Backstroke - S14	2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	1:17.64
10	200m Individual Medley - SM14	2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	2:48.04
11	100m Breaststroke - SB14	2016	Rio de Janeiro, BRA	1:29.72
World Championships
2	400m Freestyle - S8	2019	London, GBR	4:51.21
4	100m Freestyle - S8	2019	London, GBR	1:06.27
5	100m Backstroke - S8	2019	London, GBR	1:20.32
5	200m Individual Medley - SM8	2019	London, GBR	2:51.15
7	50m Freestyle - S8	2019	London, GBR	31.97
7	200m Freestyle - S14	2013	Montreal, QC, CAN	2:22.09
11	100m Backstroke - S14	2013	Montreal, QC, CAN	1:23.06
11	100m Breaststroke - SB14	2013	Montreal, QC, CAN	1:27.00
11	200m Individual Medley - SM14	2013	Montreal, QC, CAN	2:44.71
European Championships
1	100m Freestyle - S8	2020	Funchal, POR	1:05.83
1	400m Freestyle - S8	2020	Funchal, POR	4:54.62
1	4x100m Freestyle Relay - 34 Points	2020	Funchal, POR	4:26.39
1	400m Freestyle - S8	2018	Dublin, IRL	4:59.51
1	200m Individual Medley - SM8	2018	Dublin, IRL	2:48.98
2	50m Freestyle - S8	2020	Funchal, POR	31.16
2	200m Individual Medley - SM8	2020	Funchal, POR	2:49.00
2	50m Freestyle - S8	2018	Dublin, IRL	31.34
2	100m Freestyle - S8	2018	Dublin, IRL	1:07.12
3	100m Backstroke - S8	2020	Funchal, POR	1:20.73
3	4x100m Medley Relay - 34 Points	2020	Funchal, POR	5:16.98
5	100m Backstroke - S8	2018	Dublin, IRL	1:21.93
9	100m Butterfly - S8	2018	Dublin, IRL	1:28.69

Listening to music, reading. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019; xeniapalazzo.it, 10 Apr 2019)

Occupation:

Marco Polo Technical Institute, Verona, ITA

Languages spoken:

English, German, Italian, Russian

Verona Swimming Team [Italy]

Marcello Rigamonti [club], ITA

Sporting relatives:

Her mother Nadia Valkova was an international level water polo player. Her brother Misha has also represented Italy in Para swimming, and competed at the 2018 European Championships in Dublin, Ireland. (libero.it, 08 Mar 2013; Il Corriere di Verona, 12 Jan 2017; SportsDeskOnline, 23 Aug 2018)

2013 for Italy, in Sheffield, Great Britain (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

She took up the sport in 2004 in Palermo, Italy. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Her mother encouraged her to take up swimming as part of her physiotherapy. "It has gone from simple therapy to a love for a sport that I still practise now. [Doctors at] all the medical centres said, 'She won't walk, she won't speak, she won't do anything'. But here I am." (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019; Tv2000it YouTube channel, 09 Oct 2018)

To compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (xeniapalazzo.it, 21 Nov 2019)

"I do one workout a day for two hours plus 30 minutes of stretching, accompanied by an hour of gym where I do many free body exercises." (xeniapalazzo.it, 21 Nov 2019)

Competing at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

US swimmer Michael Phelps, Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Her family. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Philosophy:

"Go ahead, you can do it." (Comitato Italiano Paralimpico YouTube channel, 22 Aug 2016)

In 2020 she received the Gold Medal for Athletic Valor from the Italian Paralympic Committee [CIP]. (Verona Swimming Team Facebook page, 04 Aug 2020)

She was named the 2014 Emerging Athlete of the Year by the Sports Veterans Veronesi Group in Verona, Italy. (veronafedele.it, 16 Mar 2015)

General Interest

Classification
S8, SB8, SM8 (IPC, 14 Mar 2021)

Type of Impairment
Cerebral Palsy (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Origin of Impairment
Congenital (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

Impairment Details
She was born with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, a type of brain damage that occurs when an infant's brain does not receive enough oxygen and blood. This was caused by disseminated intravascular coagulation. She also sustained a brain haemorrhage that affected the right side of her brain, resulting in quadriplegia. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019)

General
HERITAGE
Her father is from Sicily, Italy, and her mother is Russian. (libero.it, 08 Mar 2013)

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/xeniafrancesca.palazzo.9
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/XeniaFrancescaPalazzo1998
https://instagram.com/xeniafrancescapalazzo
Athlete Website: https://www.xeniapalazzo.it

Legend

:: Gold Medal
:: Silver Medal
:: Bronze Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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