Nelli Differt

Nelli Differt (née Paju; born 24 July 1990) is an Estonian fencer.^[2][3][4] A bronze medallist at the 2023 European Championships, Differt competed at the 2024 Summer Olympics, finishing fourth in the women's individual épée.

Nelli Differt
Differt in 2013
Personal information
Born	Nelli Paju (1990-07-24) 24 July 1990 (age 34) Haapsalu, Estonia[1]
Sport
Country	Estonia
Medal record Fencing Representing  Estonia European Championships 2023 Plovdiv Individual

Biography

Born Nelli Paju on 24 July 1989,^[5] Paju graduated from the Haapsalu Wiedemann Gymnasium in 2009. She began training as a fencer in 2000, under the guidance of Helen Nelis-Naukas. In 2012, she graduated as a physiotherapist from the University of Tartu.^[6]

In 2007 Paju won the European Junior Championships in fencing with the Estonia women's team. In 2010 she and the team were successful, winning the World Cadets and Juniors Fencing Championships.^[7] She took part in Fencing at the 2015 Summer Universiade, taking home an individual bronze medal in the individual épée on the first day of the competition. It was Estonia's first medal in the sport for ten years.^[8]

Differt competed at the 2023 European Fencing Championships in Plovdiv, winning a bronze medal in the women's individual épée event after defeating opponents from Georgia, Estonia, Belgium and France. She lost in the semi-finals to Italian Mara Navarria. At the age of 32, it was her first individual adult medal of her career.^[9]

She competed in the women's épée event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, winning three matches to reach the semi finals before losing her last two, to finish fourth overall.^[10] Her national coach is fencer Kaido Kaaberma.^[11]

Personal life

Differt is the daughter of Andres and Leelo Paju. She has two siblings.^[12] She married Gunnar Differt in 2017, taking his surname.^[7]