Valentina Marchei & Ondrej Hotarek | Golden Skate

Valentina Marchei & Ondrej Hotarek

daphenaxa

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek (Czech: Ondřej Hotárek) are pair skaters representing Italy.

Marchei was born on 23 May 1986 in Milan, Italy.

Hotarek was born on 25 January 1984 in Brno, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic).

Before teaming up Valentina was quite a successful singles skaters and Hotarek skated in pairs with Stephania Berton.

As a singles skater, Valentina is a five-time Italian national champion (2004, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014). Her highest ISU Championship placements were 4th at the 2013 European Championships and 8th at the 2012 World Championships. She also represented Italy at the XXII Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014 and placed 11th.

As regards Ondrej, with Stefania Berton he is the 2013 European bronze medalist, the 2013 Skate Canada International champion and a three-time Italian national champion. Berton/Hotarek are the first Italian pair skaters to win European and Grand Prix medals.

Valentina and Ondrej teamed up in July 2014. They are the 2015 Italian Champions. They are two-time winners of the ISU SC Warsaw Cup (2016 and 2017). At ISU championships level, they placed 4th at the 2015 European Championships and 9th at the 2017 World Championships. During the XXIII Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang they finished 4th in the team event and 6th in the individual event.

In September 2018 Valentina announced the split of the pair and Ondrej's retirmenet from competitive career (you can learn more about this in the following thread: Marchei and Hotarek split). She aims to continue her pairs career.

Hotarek moved to Italy from the Czech Republic in 2005 and received Italian citizenship in 2010. He got married to 2014 Ice Dance World Champion Anna Cappellini in summer 2015.

The pair was coached by Franca Bianconi, Rosanna Murante and Dmitri Savin.

Last updated on 12 November 2018 by Mohacz​

ISU Bio
http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00015040.htm

Wikipedia
Valentina - http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Marchei
Ondrej - http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondřej_Hotárek

Social media
Valentina's Twitter - https://twitter.com/valemarchei14
Valentina's Instagram - https://instagram.com/valemarchei14/
Valentina's website - http://www.valentina-marchei.com
Ondrej's Instagram - https://instagram.com/ondrejhotarek/

Personal Best Scores pre 2018/2019 season

Personal Best Total Score216.59
Personal Best Score Short Program74.50
Personal Best Score Free Skating138.44

Programs and Videos
2017/2018
SP: "Tu vuò fà l'americano" by Renato Carosone
FS: "Amarcord" by Nino Rota
Ex: "Barbie Girl" by Aqua

2018 World Championships
XXIII Winter Olympic Games (individual event)
SP: http://fsnews.ru/page-al-og2018_pairs_sp.html (the page contains all the SPs. Scroll down to find Valentina & Ondrej)
FS: http://fsnews.ru/page-al-og2018_pairs_fs.html (the same as above)
Ex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR8HnB55ezI
XXIII Winter Olympic Games (team event)
2018 European Championships
2018 Italian Championships
2017 CS Warsaw Cup
2017 GP Cup of China
2017 GP Rostelecom Cup
2017 CS Lombardia Trophy

2016/2017
SP: "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes
FS: "Skyfall (James Bond soundtrack) performed by Adele / "Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation" (soundtrack)
Ex: "Yesterday" Performed by Michael Bolton

2017 World Championships
2017 European Championships
2017 Italian Championships
2016 CS Warsaw Cup
2016 GP Rostelecom Cup
2016 GP Skate America
2016 Lombardia Trophy
SP: no video found
FS: no video found​

2015/2016
SP1: "Morir d'Amor", a revived version of "Claire de Lune", by Marianna Cataldi
SP2: "Carmen" by Georges Bizet
FS: "The Way We Were" (Streisand), "Stayin' Alive" (Bee Gees), "You Light Up My Life" (Debby Boone), "Disco Inferno,"Burn Baby Burn" (The Trammps)

2016 World Championships
2016 Hellmut Seibt Memorial
2016 European Championships
2016 Italian Championships
2015 GP Rostelecom Cup
2015 GP Skate Canada
2015 Lombardia Trophy

2014-15
SP: "Malagueña" by Ernesto Lecuona
FS: "La Strada" soundtrack by Nino Rota

2015 World Championships
2015 European Championships
2015 Italian Championships
2014 Warsaw Cup

Competitive History
2017/2018
2018 World Championships - 10 (202.02)
SP: 8 (71.37)
FS: 8 (130.65)​
XXIII Winter Olympic Games (individual event) - 6 (216.59)
SP: 7 (74.50)
FS: 6 (142.09)​
XXIII Winter Olympic Games (team event) - 4 (56)
FS: 2 (138.44)​
2018 European Championships - 5 (204.20)
SP: 4 (71.89)
FS: 5 (132.31)​
2018 Italian Championships - 2 (178.79)
SP: 1 (71.64)
FS: 2 (107.15)​
2017 CS Warsaw Cup - 1 (193.14)
SP: 1 (66.70)
FS: 1 (136.44)​
2017 GP Cup of China - 5 (188.01)
SP: 5 (59.53)
FS: 4 (128.48)​
2017 GP Rostelecom Cup - 4 (193.63)
SP: 3 (68.48)
FS: 4 (125.15)​
2017 CS Lombardia Trophy - 3 (180.86)
SP: 3 (61.32)
FS: 3 (119.54)​

2016/2017
2017 World Championships - 9 (203.92)
SP: 9 (71.04)
FS: 9 (132.88)​
2017 European Championships - 6 (191.93)
SP: 6 (66.53)
FS: 6 (125.40)​
2017 Italian Championships - 2 (193.38)
SP: 2 (66.04)
FS: 1 (127.34)​
2016 CS Warsaw Cup - 1 (189.26)
SP: 1 (67.04)
FS: 1 (122.22)​
2016 GP Rostelecom Cup - 4 (187.61)
SP: 3 (66.82)
FS: 5 (120.79)​
2016 GP Skate America - 8 ()
SP: 6 (62.49)
FS: 8 (107.20)​
2016 Lombardia Trophy - 2 (179.56)
SP: 1 (59.40)
FS: 2 (120.16)​

2015/2016
2016 World Championships - 14
2016 Hellmut Seibt Memorial - 1
2016 European Championships - 5
2016 Italian Championships - 2
2015 Rostelecom Cup - 6
2015 Skate Canada - WD
2015 Lombardia Trophy - 1

2014/2015
2015 World Championships - 11
2015 European Championships - 4
2015 Italian Championships - 1
2014 Golden Spin of Zagreb - 2
2014 Warsaw Cup - 3

Videos from Before they Became a Pair
Valentina's highest scoring SP 2013 NHK
Berton & Hotarek Time of My Life EX
Ondrej 2009 Tutti in Pista, Sesta Ice Skate EX

Other Exhibitions
2018 Florence Ice Gala
2017 Golden Skate Awards
2015 Golden Skate Awards
Valentina Marchei e Ondrej Hotarek pattinano al buio #view4theblind (Skating in Blindfolds)
2014 Oberstdorf Show

Golden Skate Articles and Threads
July 2014 Thread - New Pair Team Marchei and Hotarek
April 2012 Interview "Italy's Berton and Hotarek Gain Ground"
July 2004 "Vivacious Valentina"

Other media and articles
17 March 2018 video interview "TOP CLUB | Valentina Marchei & Ondrej Hotarek" by Che CLasse TV
Jan 2016 Video interview
August 2015 TSL Interview with Valentina and Ondrej
March 2015. Report about Worlds
Posted 1/31/15 "Fast success has Marchei, Hotárek dreaming big; Former Italian singles champion has had to quickly learn intricacies of pairs" by Jean-Christophe Berlot
Posted 8/11/14 "Two disciplines, one skater: Marchei's bold move; Five-time Italian champion not ready to give up singles career just yet" by Vladislav Luchianov
July 2014 Article about the formation of the team

Miscellanea
27 March 2017 video story "The Love Story Between Two Figure Skaters | A Game for Two" by Olympic Channel
1 March 2016 "Valentina Marchei & Ondrej Hotarek - Italy - A Moment With"
Valentina and Ondřej pronounce their names is this ISU "Moment With...." video:
 
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daphenaxa

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
I love them so much and it is so heart-warming to see them both succeed after a difficult path in figure skating.

Vale was a single skater until 2014. She was at the olympics in Sochi where she finished 11th. She was a very good single skater and always had very enjoyable programs but she never managed to completely break through.
Here is her SP at WC07 with an epic ending.
Here is her LP at Euros 2014 where she finished 6th. (Her best result was 4th in 2013)

Ondrej was born is Czech Republic but moved to Italy to skate pairs. He was very successful with Stefania Berton. They were the bronze medalist in 2013 European championship.

Valentina and Ondrej teamed up in July 2014 and are training in Canada with Marcotte and in Milan with Bianconi. At 1st they teamed up to do some show together but then they thought they had a chance to succeed in competition.
They won the Italian championship in December 2014 and went to be 4th at Euros 2015 and 11th at worlds! How badasse can you be???????
Here is their SP
Here is their LP
They have such good chemistry on ice. They are both lovely and Valentina truly is a champion! She transitioned from singles to pair in such a short amount of time it is really admirable. They also do flawless side by side triple lutz because they are BOSS.

Apparently Meagan Duhamel said they would be dangerous competition around 2017 if they keep improving at that way. So Marchei/Hotarek olympic champions has a good sound to it :biggrin:
 
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matmuh

what are levels anyway
Record Breaker
Joined
May 2, 2014
thanks for the thread,i love them too!!! and i absolutely loved their LP! i cant wait to see what they will show us next season, their chemistry is amazing as if they have been a pair team for years
 

reni

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I love Valentina when she was a single skarter. Two programs are so lovely. And sbs 3lz is amazing.

I met them at worlds when they cheered up for Anna and Luca. They were very nice and sweet to fans.
 
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solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
@daphenaxa - thanks, they definitly need a fan-thread!
I liked Valentina as a single skater, but I like her better as a pair skater, because sometimes I thought she was overly expressive to the audience, now she can also focus on Ondrej and she brings out something in him that I havent't seen before, even though I always thought that he was a very strong pair skater. They're really exciting to watch.
I'm pretty sure they'll have the 3Tw next season and then they should be on the podium at Europeans, as they were really close this season without it.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
A warm welcome form me, too, tara! :)

Yes, they ARE amaging! :love:
Just unbelieve it's the first year to skate together. Unison and chemistry already there. Impressive is that Vale used to be sigle skater until recently, is a big success to switch to a pair skater, and at her age! :clap: Also my jaws went :jaw: when I heard the J-Sport commentator saying on TV it's been 13 years (or, was it 11 years?) since Ondrej did 3Lz at any competition last (when he was still a single skater). :cool: Kudos to both Vale and Ondrej!
 

apgold

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Country
United-States
Count me in as a fan. I always liked Valentina's skating and glad she found the right pairs skater in Ondrej.

In general, I don't really follow pairs that closely but they are a team I look forward to seeing develop.
 

solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
haha! so cool! that's very cute that she says Ondrej has super powers because she never landed triple loop when she was single. Their relationship really seems nice. They bring the best out of each other. Very impressive also for his recovered 3lz after 11 years!
Didn't she say in some interview that he never lost his 3Lz? And showing the younger guys on the rink how to do it? :)
 

daphenaxa

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 17, 2015
oh i didn't know that! well great that he never lost it then! and could incorporate it in their routine :)
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Check out the OP! I have added a lot of stuff to it. I particularly like their exhibitions.
 

cathlen

Team Gorgeous Cacti!
Record Breaker
Joined
May 2, 2015
Country
Poland
Here is a link to a better quality video of their SP in Warsaw Cup
I always liked Valentina. She looks like a real Italian girl with Italian temper :love: I'm very happy that her teamork with Ondrej is so succesfull. They're awesome on the ice together. Wish them medal in next EC :cheer:
 

matmuh

what are levels anyway
Record Breaker
Joined
May 2, 2014
thanks doris and cathlen! i think medal is possible once they have triple twist and if they can add 3Lz to their SP:love:
 

matmuh

what are levels anyway
Record Breaker
Joined
May 2, 2014
Thoso Abs! not Ondrej's, Valentina's of course :biggrin: she posted that lift position few times already, its pretty :love: possible we will see it next season
 
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