Stefania Berton (born 19 July 1990) is an Italian competitive pair skater. With partner

Ondřej Hotárek Ondřej Hotárek (born 25 January 1984) is a Czech-Italian pair skater and coach who began competing for Italy in 2006. He competed with Valentina Marchei until the end of their partnership in 2018. With former partner Stefania Berton, he is the ...

, she is the 2013 European bronze medalist, the 2013 Skate Canada International champion, and a three-time Italian national champion. Berton/Hotárek are the first Italian pair skaters to win European and Grand Prix medals. Berton previously competed as a single skater and

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

Personal life

Stefania Berton was born 19 July 1990 in

Asiago Asiago (; Venetian language, Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German language, German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) with the title of ciin the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' o ...

, Italy. In January 2012, she became a member of the sports group of the Italian police. She became engaged to American pair skater Rockne Brubaker on 2 February 2013. The couple married on June 5, 2015 in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Career

As a singles skater, Berton won the silver medal at the 2007 Italian Nationals and placed 6th at the 2006 Junior Grand Prix Final. As an ice dancer, she competed on the novice level with

Marco Fabbri Marco Fabbri (born 2 February 1988) is an Italian ice dancer. With his skating partner, Charlène Guignard, he is a two-time World Figure Skating Championships, World medalist, a two-time European Figure Skating Championships, European champion (2 ...

Partnership with Hotarek

Berton teamed up with

to compete in pair skating in early 2009. They won the silver medal at 2010 Italian Nationals and were selected to compete at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

. They placed 11th in their debut at the event. During the 2010–11 season, Berton/Hotárek won silver at the

Nebelhorn Trophy The Nebelhorn Trophy is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the German Ice Skating Union () and held in Oberstdorf, Germany. The competition debuted in 1969 and is na ...

and also debuted on the Grand Prix circuit, finishing sixth at

Cup of Russia The Rostelecom Cup () – originally known as the Cup of Russia () – was an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Figure Skating Federation of Russia. The first i ...

. They won their first Italian national title and were sent to the 2011 European Championships. They placed fourth in the short program and fifth in the free program, setting personal bests in both, and finished fifth overall with their best combined total to date, 164.83 points. Berton/Hotárek began the 2011–12 season at the 2011 Ondrej Nepela Memorial, where they won the silver medal. In the Grand Prix season, they placed 4th at 2011 NHK Trophy and then won bronze at

2011 Rostelecom Cup The 2011 Cup of Russia, Rostelecom Cup was the final event of six in the 2011–12 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Megasport Arena, Ice Palace Megasport in Moscow ...

, making them the first Italian pair to medal on the Grand Prix circuit. At the 2012 European Championships, they placed 4th, historically the highest Italian result in pairs. In the 2012–13 season, Berton/Hotárek were assigned to the 2012 Skate Canada International and 2012 Trophée Eric Bompard. After taking bronze at both events, they won bronze at the 2013 European Championships, becoming the first Italian pair skaters to medal at Europeans. Berton/Hotárek started the 2013–14 Grand Prix season at the

2013 Skate America The 2013 Hilton HHonors Skate America was the first event of six in the 2013–14 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October ...

and finished 5th. They won their first GP title at the 2013 Skate Canada and then finished 4th at the 2014 European Championships, behind

Vera Bazarova Vera Yevgenyevna Bazarova (, born 28 January 1993) is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Yuri Larionov, she is the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a three-time European medalist (silver in 2012; bronze in 2011 and 2014), t ...

/ Yuri Larionov. Berton/Hotárek finished 11th in the pairs event at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Russia. For the 2014-15 season, Berton/Hotarek were assigned to

2014 Skate America The 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America was the first event of six in the 2014–15 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on Oct ...

and the 2014 Rostelecom Cup. On 2 July 2014, ''

La Gazzetta dello Sport (; English: "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any type in Italy (in 2018). History and profile was fou ...

'' reported that their partnership had ended. In August 2014, Berton said she had not wanted to split from Hotarek and that she was searching for a partner to continue her competitive career.

Programs

With Hotarek

Single skating

Competitive highlights

Pair skating with Hotárek

Single skating

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berton, Stefania 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Asiago Italian female pair skaters Italian female single skaters European Figure Skating Championships medalists Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters for Italy 21st-century Italian sportswomen