Italy’s Berton and Hotarek gain ground | Golden Skate

Italy’s Berton and Hotarek gain ground

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek drew attention this season by winning the first ever Grand Prix medal for an Italian pair skating team at the 2011 Cup of Russia. They also came close to the podium at the European Figure Skating Championships in the past two years, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.


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claphappy

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 24, 2011
Wonderful article! I love this pair & am really looking forward to seeing them develop! :D


“Since January, we both are members of the Italian police, like Carolina Kostner for example, and we get a salary,” Berton revealed.
Does anyone know more about this? I had never heard about Kostner being apart of the police before. Is it some sort of honorary thing or something?
 

jiggs

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
Does anyone know more about this? I had never heard about Kostner being apart of the police before. Is it some sort of honorary thing or something?

Yes, Carolina is part of the "Gruppo Sportivo Fiamme Azzurre" which is some kind of sports club from the police supporting professional athletes financially in their careers. A lot of famous Italian athletes are part of it, especially in athletics. I think you get some kind of monthly salary or something.

I know some other countries in Europe have a similar thing, in Austria and Germany for example it is not offered by the police but by the army. Young athletes join the sports club of the army and receive a substantial amount of money, kind of like a monthly salary. It's the way how these states support their athletes, especially in the beginning of their careers.

However, athletes are hardly ever involved in any police/army matters. They represent their sports club, but that's about it. Carolina has been part of it for several years now and I have only once seen a photo of her at some kind of public police event.

I think this is a good move for Stefania and Ondrej. I wish them all the best, they are so sweet and have improved tremendously. I would love to see them on the podium at Euros next year.
 

mousepotato

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 24, 2010
I was hoping after S/S and K/S dropped out of Euros they would make it on the podium but they made too many mistakes. I'm hoping they do well this season. They are a great pair!
 

Tanja90

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 28, 2009
I was hoping after S/S and K/S dropped out of Euros they would make it on the podium but they made too many mistakes. I'm hoping they do well this season. They are a great pair!

Me too...But they were facing severe physical problems in that period, Ondrej in particular....They were close to dropping out of the competition too...
 

DianaSelene

Medalist
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
I guess the Italians being part of the police is like Russian CSKA sports club which used to come from the military. It was called the Central Sport Club of the Army.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Thank you, as always, so much for the lovely article, Tatjana! :thumbsup:

I fell in love with this Italian pair last season (2010-11), with their SP Astor Piazzolla's Tango Four Seasons and LP Romeo and Juliet! :love:

Yes, yes, they may have some technical inferiority, such as twist lifts, but I admire their efforts to bring touch of ice dance into pair skating. Also, I love 3T-2T-2T in their LP!; how many pair teams will go for 3-jump combo??? :cool:

Stefania/Ondrej and Narumi/Mervin are two favorite pair teams I am currently rooting for!
These teams do NOT have ordinally, typical, boring pair programs just going for element after element while skating to a sort of background music.
I hope both teams will be able to improve their shortcomings; twist lifts for Stefania/Ondrej, and SBS jumps for Narumi/Mervin of course, and will get onto the podium many times in the future. :yes:
 
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