Irene Camber-Corno (12 February 1926 – 23 February 2024) was an Italian
fencer and Olympic champion in
foil
Foil may refer to:
Materials
* Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine
* Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal
* Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food
* Tin foil, metal foil ma ...
competition.
Biography
Irene Camber was born in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
, Italy, on 12 February 1926.
She began to be interested in fencing at eight years-old in Trieste. Her involvement in fencing was accidental:
instead of entering the hall where she used to practice gymnastics, she mistakenly entered the fencing hall.
[ She had four appearances at Olympic Games: London (1948), Helsinki (1952), Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964).][
After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial chemistry, she made her debut at the London Games in 1948. She was defeated in the semi-finals.][ Four years later at the Helsinki Games, she faced two-time Olympic champion (at Berlin and London Games) 45-year-old Hungarian Ilona Elek. She won the match by 4–3. She did not appear at the Melbourne Games, since she was pregnant. At the Rome Games in 1960, she won a bronze team medal.][ She lastly took part in the Italian fencing team at the Tokyo Games. She won medals at the world fencing championships. Then she began to serve as the national team coach at the Munich Games, and Antonella Ragno, her pupil, won the gold medal. Camber also worked at Montedison chemical corporation during her fencing career.][
]
Death
Camber died in Lissone on 23 February 2024, at the age of 98.
Achievements
Camber received a gold medal in the individual foil at the 1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland.
After Japan declared in ...
in Helsinki
Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...
.["1952 Summer Olympics – Helsinki, Finland – Fencing"]
''databaseOlympics.com'' (Retrieved on 7 June 2008)1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...
in Rome she received a bronze medal in ''foil team''. She also earned two titles – one individually (1953) and one with the Italian team (1957) – and six more medals at the Fencing World Championships.
See also
* Walk of Fame of Italian sport
* Italian sportswomen multiple medalists at Olympics and World Championships
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Camber, Irene
1926 births
2024 deaths
Italian female fencers
Olympic fencers for Italy
Fencers at the 1948 Summer Olympics
Fencers at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Fencers at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Fencers at the 1964 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for Italy
Olympic bronze medalists for Italy
Olympic medalists in fencing
Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Sportspeople from Trieste
20th-century Italian sportswomen