About Josefa Idem
Josefa Idem married Guerrini (born 23 September 1964) is an Italian canoe sprinter turned politician. Competing in eight Summer Olympics, she has five medals. Winning 35 international medals during her career, Idem was the first Italian woman to win World Championships (22 total, five gold) and Olympic medals in canoe sprint. At the 2009 world championships, she became the oldest medalist in the history of the world championships. After her retirement, she was elected in 2013 as member of the Italian Parliament for the Democratic Party, and successively named Minister for Equal Opportunities, Sport and Youth Policies as part of the cabinet of Enrico Letta. On 24 June 2013, she resigned from the charge because of judicial investigation on allegedly unpaid taxes. == Biography == Josefa Idem was born in Goch, West Germany, and began paddling at the age of eleven. In 1977, aged thirteen, she competed at the European Championships in Plovdiv and won gold medals over 200, 500 and 1000 metres as well as a bronze medal in doubles kayaking ("K-2") with Ravetta Rosette. In the following years she focused mainly on her language school education but competed for West Germany at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, winning a bronze medal in the K-2 500 m with Barbara Schüttpelz. The next year, Idem switched to the K-1 events.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.