Barbara Fusar-Poli

Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Italy
Figure skating
Bronze	2002 Salt Lake City	Ice dancing

Barbara Fusar-Poli
Fusar-Poli and partner Maurizio Margaglio compete at the 2001 Grand Prix Final.
Personal information
Country represented	Italy
Born	(1972-02-06) 6 February 1972
Residence	Sesto San Giovanni, Italy
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Partner	Maurizio Margaglio
Former partner	Alberto Reani Matteo Bonfa
Former coach	Roberto Pelizzola P. Mezzadri Natalia Linichuk
Former choreographer	Ludmila Vlasova
Skating club	Agora Skating Team, Milano
Retired	2002, 2006
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	183.46 2006 Olympics
Comp. dance	38.78 2006 Olympics
Original dance	51.73 2006 Olympics
Free dance	92.95 2006 Olympics
Medal record Figure skating Ice dancing Competitor for  Italy Olympic Games Bronze 2002 Salt Lake City Ice dancing World Championships Gold 2001 Vancouver Ice dancing Silver 2000 Nice Ice dancing European Championships Silver 2002 Lausanne Ice dancing Gold 2001 Bratislava Ice dancing Silver 2000 Vienna Ice dancing Grand Prix Final Gold 2001-2002 Kitchener Ice dancing Silver 1999-2000 Lyon Ice dancing

Barbara Fusar-Poli (born 6 February 1972) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Maurizio Margaglio, she is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won eight Italian titles and competed at three Olympics.

Career

Early in her career, Fusar-Poli competed with Matteo Bonfa and then Alberto Reani. After Reani retired, she asked Maurizio Margaglio to skate with her.^[1] She and Margaglio began skating on the senior level in 1994-95, and enjoyed some success in the first years of their career, including winning several Grand Prix medals. In 1999-2000, they won their first medals at the European and World Championships, finishing in second place at both events.

The following season was very successful for the duo, who won every event they entered and became the first Italians to win a World title in any discipline.^[2] They were not as successful in 2001-02, dropping to second at the Europeans and finishing third at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Their medal at the Olympics was not without some controversy, after Margaglio fell during the free dance portion.^[3] The result was protested by the Lithuanian team, who had finished fifth, but the protest was denied.^[4] Fusar-Poli/Margaglio did not compete at the 2002 World Championships and would not return to eligible skating until the 2005-06 season.

With the 2006 Winter Olympics being held in Turin, Fusar-Poli/Margaglio decided to return and compete in their home country.^[5] They did not skate in any international events prior to the Olympics, but did win the Italian National Championships. The Olympics were their first international event under the new scoring system adopted by the ISU, but, Fusar-Poli/Margaglio nonetheless held a narrow lead after the compulsory dance portion of the event, ahead of two-time world champions Tatiana Navka / Roman Kostomarov. This result was described in some news stories at the time as "shocking".^[6][7] In the original dance, Fusar-Poli/Margaglio were performing a rotational lift with only seconds left in their program when Margaglio lost his balance, dropped Fusar-Poli, and fell to the ice himself. Following this conclusion to the program, Fusar-Poli stood glaring at her partner for approximately thirty seconds before the couple took their bows and left the ice.^[8] They dropped to seventh overall, but moved up to sixth place after a clean free dance, and told the media that the incident at the end of the original dance had reflected their anger at the mistake rather than at each other.^[9][10][11] Several years later, Fusar-Poli said that there were Swarovski crystals on the ice from the costumes of earlier competitors, but that the fall was a result of their own mistake and not the ice conditions.^[12] The Olympics were Fusar-Poli/Margaglio's final competitive event together, but they continued to perform in shows.

Fusar-Poli coaches Charlene Guignard / Marco Fabbri,^[13] Tanja Kolbe / Stefano Caruso,^[14] and junior ice dancers.^[15] She is based in Milan at the Agorà ice rink and, since 2012, she also collaborates with Igor Shpilband in Novi, Michigan.^[16][17]

Fusar-Poli has also worked as a reporter for Italian TV and Eurosport coverage of skating events.^[12]

Personal life

Fusar-Poli married her long-time boyfriend, Olympic short track competitor Diego Cattani, in June 2000. Their daughter was born in 2004,^[5] and they later had a second child.^[12]

Programs

(With Margaglio)

Results

With Margaglio

Earlier partnerships

with Reani

with Bonfa

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barbara Fusar-Poli.

• Barbara Fusar-Poli / Maurizio Margaglio at the International Skating Union
• Official Fusar Poli & Margaglio website
• Fusar Poli and Margaglio