Valentina Marchei
Marchei in 2017
Born (1986-05-23) 23 May 1986 (age 37)
Milan, Italy
HometownBasiglio, Italy
Height1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
CountryItaly
CoachFranca Bianconi, Bruno Marcotte, Richard Gauthier
Skating clubSesto Ice Skate
Began skating1993
Retired2020

Valentina Marchei (born 23 May 1986) is an Italian retired pair and single figure skater. As a singles skater, she is a five-time Italian national champion (2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014). Her highest ISU Championship placements were 4th at the 2013 European Championships and 8th at the 2012 World Championships. She represented Italy at the 2014 Winter Olympics and placed 11th. Also, Marchei competed as a pair skater with Ondřej Hotárek, representing Italy. The pair finished 6th at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Personal life

Valentina Marchei was born 23 May 1986 in Milan, Italy.[1][2] She is the daughter of Marco Marchei, a competitor in the marathon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.[3] Her early interests were speed skating and gymnastics.[3] She studied with a focus on sport at university and has worked as a reporter for Italian television.[4]

Career in singles

Marchei began skating in 1993.[1] She was coached by Cristina Mauri from the age of nine.[5]

Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Marchei spent the first part of July training with Viktor Kudriavtsev in Flims, Switzerland. She trained in Courchevel in the remainder of July and August and then Paris and Milan in the winter, coached by Pierre Trente and Cristina Mauri.[5] Marchei injured her knee in September 2007.[5]

In September 2008, Marchei began working with Nikolai Morozov in Hackensack, New Jersey.[6] She missed most of the 2008–09 season after injuring her right ankle on a triple Lutz at 2008 Skate America.[6] Marchei did not receive any Grand Prix invitations in 2009–10.[6] She finished 8th at the 2010 European Championships. In 2010–11, Marchei returned to the Grand Prix series, competing at 2010 Skate Canada International and 2010 Cup of Russia.[7][8] She was 10th at the 2011 European Championships.

In 2011, Marchei changed coaches to Jason Dungjen and Yuka Sato in Detroit.[9] She had ankle and knee injuries in 2011.[10] She finished 8th at the 2012 World Championships in Nice, France.[10] Marchei represented Italy at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where she placed 11th.[2] In September 2014, she withdrew from both of her Grand Prix assignments, the 2014 Skate Canada International and 2014 Rostelecom Cup.[11]

Career in pairs

On 2 July 2014, La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote that Marchei and Ondřej Hotárek were considering skating as a pair.[12] Bruno Marcotte confirmed on 26 July 2014 that the two were training together.[13] They are coached by Marcotte in Montreal and by Franca Bianconi in Milan.[13] On 6 August 2014, Marchei sprained the medial collateral ligament of her right knee.[11] On 8 September, she said she would resume light on-ice training in a few days.[11] Commenting on her switch to pairs, Marchei stated: "At the beginning practicing pairs was just to do shows or stuff like that, but then it was something that got to me. It's crazy. I still do single programs at shows, but it is strange, I'm looking around, where is he?"[14]

2014–15 season

Marchei/Hotárek began the season by winning the bronze medal at the 2014 CS Warsaw Cup as well as the silver medal at the 2014 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. They then went on to win the 2015 Italian Championships.

Selected to compete at the European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, Marchei/Hotárek finished fourth.

At the World Championships in Shanghai, China, they finished eleventh.[14]

2015–16 season

Marchei/Hotárek started the season by winning gold at the 2015 Lombardia Trophy.

Debuting on the Grand Prix series, Marchei/Hotárek competed in the short program at 2015 Skate Canada International but withdrew on the day of the free skate due to Hotárek sustaining a concussion while practicing a triple twist.[15][1] They went on to compete at the 2015 Rostelecom Cup, finishing sixth.

At the Italian Figure Skating Championships, Marchei/Hotárek won the silver medal behind Nicole Della Monica / Matteo Guarise.

Going on to compete at the 2016 European Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia, Marchei/Hotárek finished fifth. They went on to compete at the 2015 Hellmut Seibt Memorial, where they won the gold medal.

At the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, Marchei/Hotárek finished fourteenth.[1]

2016–17 season

Marchei/Hotárek began the season by winning the silver medal at the 2016 CS Lombardia Trophy.

They then competed on the Grand Prix series, finishing eighth at 2016 Skate America and fourth at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup. They went on to also win the gold medal at the 2016 CS Warsaw Cup.

At the 2017 Italian Championships, Marchei/Hotárek won the silver medal for the second consecutive year.

Selected to compete at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, Marchei/Hotárek finished sixth.

Competing at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, Marchei/Hotárek placed ninth.[16]

2017–18 season

Marchei/Hotárek began the season with winning the bronze medal at the 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy.

They then competed on the 2017–18 Grand Prix series, finishing fifth at the 2017 Cup of China and fourth at the 2017 Rostelecom Cup. They also won the gold medal at the 2017 CS Warsaw Cup.

At the 2018 Italian Championships, Marchei/Hotárek won the silver medal for the third year in a row.

Competing at the 2018 European Championships in Moscow, Russia, Marchei/Hotárek finished fifth.

Selected to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics in both the Team and Pair events, Marchei/Hotárek placed second in the free program segment of the team event, helping Team Italy finish in fourth place overall. In the pairs event, Marchei/Hotárek placed seventh in the short program and sixth in the free skate, finishing in sixth place overall.

At the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Italy, Marchei/Hotárek finished in tenth place.[17] On 16 September 2018 Marchei announced the end of her partnership with Hotárek via Instagram.[18]

On 1 September 2020, two years after she last competed, Marchei announced her retirement via Facebook, citing that she considered returning, if not for the ongoing pandemic.[19]

Programs

With Hotárek at the 2018 Olympics Gala

With Hotárek

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2017–18
[17]
2016–17
[16]
2015–16
[1][21]
2014–15
[22]

Single Skating

Marchei at the 2012 Rostelecom Cup
Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2013–14
[23]
2012–13
[24][25]
2011–12
[9]
  • Johnny's Mambo
2010–11
[26]
2009–10
[27][28]
2008–09
[29]
2007–08
[5][30]
2006–07
[31]
2005–06
[32]
2004–05
[33]
  • Xotica
    by Rene Dupere
2003–04
[34]
2001–02
[35]
  • Flamenco

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Pairs with Hotárek

With Hotárek at the 2018 European Championships
International[36]
Event 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18
Olympics 6th
World Champ. 11th 14th 9th 10th
European Champ. 4th 5th 6th 5th
GP Cup of China 5th
GP Rostelecom Cup 6th 4th 4th
GP Skate America 8th
GP Skate Canada WD
CS Golden Spin 2nd
CS Lombardia Trophy 2nd 3rd
CS Warsaw Cup 3rd WD 1st 1st
Lombardia Trophy 1st
Seibt Memorial 1st
National[36]
Italian Champ. 1st 2nd 2nd
Team events
Olympics 4th T
2nd P
TBD: Assigned; WD: Withdrew

Ladies' singles

Marchei at the 2006 Skate America
International[37]
Event 01–02 02–03 03–04 04–05 05–06 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14
Olympics 11th
Worlds 23rd 23rd 11th 13th 8th 18th 16th
Europeans 15th 31st 19th 5th 6th 8th 10th 8th 4th 6th
GP Bompard 10th 6th 9th
GP Cup of China 9th
GP NHK Trophy 11th 6th
GP Rostelecom 5th 9th
GP Skate America 9th 10th WD 9th 4th 7th
GP Skate Canada 8th
Challenge Cup 2nd
Cup of Nice 2nd 2nd
Denkova-Staviski 1st
Finlandia Trophy 12th 8th
Golden Spin 7th 6th
Ice Challenge 2nd
Lombardia Trophy 1st
Merano Cup 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 3rd
NRW Trophy 1st
Nepela Memorial 2nd
Schäfer Memorial 4th
Universiade 2nd 2nd
International: Junior[37]
Junior Worlds 14th 16th
JGP Bulgaria 9th
JGP Czech Rep. 12th
JGP Germany 13th
JGP Japan 6th
JGP Netherlands 6th
JGP Serbia 6th
Gardena 5th J
National[37]
Italian Champ. 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 4th 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st
Team events
Olympics 4th T
3rd P
World Team
Trophy		 6th T
8th P
J: Junior level; WD: Withdrew
T: Team result; P: Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.

Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.

With Hotárek

2017–18 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 19–25, 2018 2018 World Championships 8
71.37 		8
130.65 		10
202.02
February 14–15, 2018 2018 Winter Olympics 7
74.50 		6
142.09 		6
216.59
February 8–12, 2018 2018 Winter Olympics (Team event)
\ 		2
138.44
\
January 15–21, 2017 2018 European Championships 4
71.89 		5
132.31 		5
204.20
December 13–16, 2015 2018 Italian Championships 1
71.64 		2
107.15 		2
178.79
November 16–19, 2017 2017 CS Warsaw Cup 1
66.70 		1
126.44 		1
193.14
November 3–5, 2017 2017 Cup of China 5
59.53 		4
128.48 		5
188.01
October 20–22, 2017 2017 Rostelecom Cup 3
68.48 		4
125.15 		4
193.63
September 14–17, 2017 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy 3
61.32 		3
119.54 		3
180.86
2016–17 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 29–April 2, 2017 2017 World Championships 9
71.04 		9
132.88 		9
203.92
January 25–29, 2017 2017 European Championships 6
66.53 		6
125.40 		6
191.93
December 14–17, 2016 2017 Italian Championships 2
66.04 		1
127.34 		2
193.38
November 17–20, 2016 2016 CS Warsaw Cup 1
67.04 		1
122.22 		1
189.26
November 4–6, 2016 2016 Rostelecom Cup 3
66.82 		5
120.79 		4
187.61
October 21–23, 2016 2016 Skate America 6
62.49 		8
107.20 		8
169.69
September 8–11, 2016 2016 CS Lombardia Trophy 1
59.40 		2
120.16 		2
179.56
2015–16 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 28–April 3, 2016 2016 World Championships 13
59.76 		15
110.97 		14
170.73
February 23–27, 2016 2016 Hellmut Seibt Memorial 1
57.78 		1
122.42 		1
180.20
January 25–31, 2016 2016 European Championships 8
58.47 		4
124.14 		5
182.61
December 16–19, 2015 2016 Italian Championships 2
63.74 		1
118.88 		2
184.28
November 20–22, 2015 2015 Rostelecom Cup 4
62.43 		6
115.76 		6
178.19
November 20–22, 2015 2015 Skate Canada International 6
54.00 		WD WD
September 17–20, 2015 2015 Lombardia Trophy 1
63.85 		1
113.57 		1
179.56
2014–15 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 23–29, 2015 2015 World Championships 9
60.56 		11
111.99 		11
172.55
January 16–February 1, 2015 2015 European Championships 4
57.95 		4
117.44 		4
175.39
December 20–21, 2014 2015 Italian Championships 1
58.44 		1
115.32 		1
173.76
December 4–6, 2014 2014 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 2
55.18 		2
112.00 		2
167.18
November 21–24, 2014 2014 CS Warsaw Cup 4
52.32 		3
102.28 		3
154.60

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Valentina MARCHEI". Sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014.
  3. ^ a b Catton, Pia (18 February 2014). "Valentina Marchei: The Sexiest Skater You Don't Know". The Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ Shkrebtienko, Oxana (19 October 2013). "Valentina Marchei: "When I'm in Italy, my heart is warmed."". Absolute Skating.
  5. ^ a b c d Mittan, Barry (17 March 2008). "Italian Valentine". SkateToday. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  6. ^ a b c Herrmann, Suzanne (2009). "Valentina Marchei – "I never look back; I just attack."". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  7. ^ Herrmann, Suzanne (20 November 2010). "Valentina Marchei @ Skate Canada". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  8. ^ Herrmann, Suzanne (23 November 2010). "Valentina Marchei – Positively Persistent". AbsoluteSkating.com. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  9. ^ a b "Valentina MARCHEI: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 10 April 2012.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ a b Bőd, Titanilla (15 May 2012). "Valentina Marchei: "I've never had such a close team"". Absolute Skating.
  11. ^ a b c Reboa, Luca (8 September 2014). "Valentina Marchei: fra pochi giorni il ritorno sul ghiaccio, ma niente Grand Prix" [Valentina Marchei will return to the ice in a few days but out of Grand Prix]. Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio (in Italian). Archived from the original on 9 September 2014.
  12. ^ Buongiovanni, Andrea (2 July 2014). "Ghiaccio, Berton-Hotarek, favola finita; C'è un progetto Marchei-Hotarek" [Ice skating, Berton-Hotarek story over; Marchei-Hotarek may skate together]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian).
  13. ^ a b Rutherford, Lynn (26 July 2014). "Detroit postcards: More pair action off ice than on". IceNetwork.
  14. ^ a b Bőd, Titanilla (22 March 2015). "Valentina Marchei and Ondřej Hotárek: "The key word is trust"". Absolute Skating.
  15. ^ Marchei, Valentina. "Withdrawal". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017.
  17. ^ a b "Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017.
  18. ^ Marchei, Valentina (13 September 2018). ""Il futuro appartiene a chi crede nella bellezza dei propri sogni" scriveva Eleanor Roosevelt" ["The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams," wrote Eleanor Roosevelt.] (Instagram) (in Italian). Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
  19. ^ Marchei, Valentina (1 September 2020). "Sono mesi che penso a come scrivere questo post. Forse perché fino ad oggi non-ero pronta a "lasciar andare" quella parte di me che è stata tutto quello che ero: Vale, la pattinatrice.⛸" [I've been thinking about writing this post for months. Maybe because until today I wasn't ready to "let go" that part of me that was all I was: Vale, the skater.⛸] (Facebook) (in Italian).
  20. ^ ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup 2017 Exhibition (Television production). Match! Arena. 22 October 2017.
  21. ^ Marchei, Valentina (16 September 2015). "We have been waiting a lot To release our musics for The season 2015/2016" (Facebook).
  22. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  23. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2 June 2014.
  24. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  25. ^ Sciarrillo, Laura (7 November 2012). "Valentina Marchei tells us about creating her new programs". ArtOnIce.it.; "Valentina Marchei: ecco come ho costruito i miei programmi" (in Italian).
  26. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  27. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  28. ^ Castellaro, Barbara; Sciarrillo, Laura (23 August 2012). "Valentina Marchei: "I am fighting to realize my dreams"". ArtOnIce.it. "Valentina Marchei: "Ho tanti sogni e lotto per realizzarli"" (in Italian). 21 August 2012.
  29. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 April 2009.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  30. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  31. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  32. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 April 2006.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  33. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 11 May 2005.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  34. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 August 2004.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  35. ^ "Valentina MARCHEI: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 August 2002.((cite web)): CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  36. ^ a b "Competition Results: Valentina MARCHEI / Ondrej HOTAREK". International Skating Union.
  37. ^ a b c "Competition Results: Valentina MARCHEI". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015.

External links

Media related to Valentina Marchei at Wikimedia Commons

Lombardia Trophy champions in figure skating – Women's singles
NRW Trophy champions in figure skating – Women's singles
Lombardia Trophy champions in figure skating – Pairs
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