Fiorella Negro

Fiorella Negro was an Italian ice-skater. Born in Milano, she moved to Bormio in the Valtellina area in the war years with her parents Achille and Mina. Negro began to skate at the age of 9 and, and at just 14 years and 8 months, competed in the figure skating singles at the 1953 European Championships, finishing 12th. The following year she débuted at the Worlds with a 17th place overall, followed by a 14th at that year’s Europeans, held in Bolzano, Italy.

Negro trained for up to nine hours-a-day, making many sacrifices along the way. She was twice the Italian champion, at Milano in 1954 and Torino the following year. The finest result of her career was in finishing seventh at the 1955 Europeans in Budapest, won by the Austrian Hanna Eigel. At the age of 17 Negro represented Italy at the 1956 Olympics on home ice at Cortina, finishing 15th.

After many controversies with the two-time Olympian, and successful coach, Carlo Fassi, Negro quit competition in 1957. She married Pierluigi Romerio Bonazzi, and had a daughter (Paola). She was always closely linked to the city of Bormio. She was a member of the local Rotary club, and in December 2016 donated a defibrillator to the Bormio Ice Palace. Ironically, she died of a sudden heart attack in November 2019 at the age of 81.