Stefania Berton (born 19 July 1990) is an Italian former competitive

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

. 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 t ...

, she is the 2013

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

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. Ac ...

Personal life

Stefania Berton was born 19 July 1990 in

Asiago Asiago (; Venetian: ''Axiago'', Cimbrian: ''Slege'', German: ''Schlägen'' ) is a minor township (population roughly 6,500) in the surrounding plateau region (the ''Altopiano di Asiago'' or '' Altopiano dei Sette Comuni'', Asiago plateau) in th ...

, 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 Rockne Lee Brubaker, II (born June 21, 1986) is an American former competitive pair skater. With Keauna McLaughlin, he is the 2010 Four Continents silver medalist, the 2007 World Junior champion, and a two-time (2008–2009) U.S. national cham ...

on 2 February 2013. The couple married on June 5, 2015 in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

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.

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 international senior-level figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union and held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany. It became part of the ISU Challenger Series in the 2014–15 season. The competit ...

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

Cup of Russia The Rostelecom Cup (russian: Кубок Ростелекома), formerly the Cup of Russia (russian: Кубок России), is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating ser ...

. 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 The 2011 Ondrej Nepela Memorial ( sk, Memoriál Ondreja Nepelu) was the 19th edition of an international figure skating competition annually held in Slovakia. It was held from September 28 to October 2, 2011 at the Ondrej Nepela Ice Rink in Brati ...

, where they won the silver medal. In the Grand Prix season, they placed 4th at

2011 NHK Trophy The 2011 NHK Trophy was the fourth 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 Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena in Sapporo from November 10–13 ...

and then won bronze at 2011 Rostelecom Cup, 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 The 2012 Skate Canada International was the second event of six in the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario on October 26–28 ...

and

2012 Trophée Eric Bompard 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. 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 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 (russian: Ве́ра Евге́ньевна База́рова, 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 Eur ...

Yuri Larionov Yuri Yuryevich Larionov (russian: link=no, Юрий Юрьевич Ларионов, born 19 August 1986) is a Russian pair skater. With former partner Vera Bazarova, he is the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, a three-time European m ...

. Berton/Hotárek finished 11th in the pairs event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. For the 2014-15 season, Berton/Hotarek were assigned to 2014 Skate America and the

2014 Rostelecom Cup The 2014 Rostelecom Cup was the fourth 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 Luzhniki Small Sports Arena in Moscow on November 14–16. Med ...

. On 2 July 2014, '' La Gazzetta dello Sport'' 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

World Championships 2010 Berton and Hotárek

Single skating

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berton, Stefania 1990 births Living people People 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 of Italy Sportspeople from the Province of Vicenza