Valentina Marchei
Marchei in 2017
Born	(1986-05-23)23 May 1986 (age 38) Milan, Italy
Hometown	Basiglio, Italy
Height	1.61 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
Country	Italy
Began skating	1993
Retired	2020
Medal record
Italian Championships 2004 Milan Singles 2008 Milan Singles 2010 Brescia Singles 2012 Courmayeur Singles 2014 Merano Singles 2015 Turin Pairs 2005 Merano Singles 2011 Milan Singles 2013 Milan Singles 2007 Trento Singles 2016 Turin Pairs 2017 Egna Pairs 2018 Milan Pairs

Valentina Marchei (born 23 May 1986) is an Italian retired pair and singlefigure skater. As a singles skater, she is a five-timeItalian national champion (2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014). Her highest ISU Championship placements were 4th at the2013 European Championships and 8th at the2012 World Championships. She represented Italy at the2014 Winter Olympics and placed 11th. Also, Marchei competed as apair skater withOndřej Hotárek, representing Italy. The pair finished 6th at the2018 Winter Olympics.

Valentina Marchei was born 23 May 1986 inMilan, Italy.^[1][2] She is the daughter ofMarco Marchei, a competitor in the marathon at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics.^[3] Her early interests were speed skating and gymnastics.^[3] She studied with a focus on sport at university and has worked as a reporter for Italian television.^[4]

Marchei began skating in 1993.^[1] She was coached by Cristina Mauri from the age of nine.^[5]

Ahead of the 2007–08 season, Marchei spent the first part of July training withViktor Kudriavtsev inFlims, Switzerland. She trained inCourchevel in the remainder of July and August and then Paris and Milan in the winter, coached by Pierre Trente and Cristina Mauri.^[5] Marchei injured her knee in September 2007.^[5]

In September 2008, Marchei began working withNikolai Morozov inHackensack, New Jersey.^[6] She missed most of the 2008–09 season after injuring her right ankle on a triple Lutz at2008 Skate America.^[6] Marchei did not receive any Grand Prix invitations in 2009–10.^[6] She finished 8th at the2010 European Championships. In 2010–11, Marchei returned to the Grand Prix series, competing at2010 Skate Canada International and2010 Cup of Russia.^[7][8] She was 10th at the2011 European Championships.

In 2011, Marchei changed coaches toJason Dungjen andYuka Sato in Detroit.^[9] She had ankle and knee injuries in 2011.^[10] She finished 8th at the2012 World Championships inNice, France.^[10] Marchei represented Italy at the2014 Winter Olympics, where she placed 11th.^[2] In September 2014, she withdrew from both of her Grand Prix assignments, the2014 Skate Canada International and2014 Rostelecom Cup.^[11]

On 2 July 2014,La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote that Marchei andOndřej Hotárek were considering skating as apair.^[12]Bruno Marcotte confirmed on 26 July 2014 that the two were training together.^[13] They are coached by Marcotte inMontreal and byFranca Bianconi inMilan.^[13] On 6 August 2014, Marcheisprained themedial collateral ligament of her right knee.^[11] On 8 September, she said she would resume light on-ice training in a few days.^[11] Commenting on her switch to pairs, Marchei stated: "At the beginning practicing pairs was just to do shows or stuff like that, but then it was something that got to me. It's crazy. I still do single programs at shows, but it is strange, I'm looking around, where is he?"^[14]

Marchei/Hotárek began the season by winning the bronze medal at the2014 CS Warsaw Cup as well as the silver medal at the2014 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. They then went on to win the2015 Italian Championships.^{[citation needed]}

Selected to compete at theEuropean Championships inStockholm, Sweden, Marchei/Hotárek finished fourth.^{[citation needed]}

At theWorld Championships inShanghai,China, they finished eleventh.^[14]

Marchei/Hotárek started the season by winning gold at the2015 Lombardia Trophy.

Debuting on theGrand Prix series, Marchei/Hotárek competed in the short program at2015 Skate Canada International but withdrew on the day of the free skate due to Hotárek sustaining a concussion while practicing a triple twist.^[15][1] They went on to compete at the2015 Rostelecom Cup, finishing sixth.

At theItalian Figure Skating Championships, Marchei/Hotárek won the silver medal behindNicole Della Monica /Matteo Guarise.

Going on to compete at the2016 European Championships inBratislava,Slovakia, Marchei/Hotárek finished fifth. They went on to compete at the 2015 Hellmut Seibt Memorial, where they won the gold medal.

At the2016 World Figure Skating Championships inBoston,Massachusetts, Marchei/Hotárek finished fourteenth.^[1]

Marchei/Hotárek began the season by winning the silver medal at the2016 CS Lombardia Trophy.

They then competed on theGrand Prix series, finishing eighth at2016 Skate America and fourth at the2016 Rostelecom Cup. They went on to also win the gold medal at the2016 CS Warsaw Cup.

At the2017 Italian Championships, Marchei/Hotárek won the silver medal for the second consecutive year.

Selected to compete at the2017 European Championships inOstrava,Czech Republic, Marchei/Hotárek finished sixth.

Competing at the2017 World Championships inHelsinki,Finland, Marchei/Hotárek placed ninth.^[16]

Marchei/Hotárek began the season with winning the bronze medal at the2017 CS Lombardia Trophy.

They then competed on the2017–18 Grand Prix series, finishing fifth at the2017 Cup of China and fourth at the2017 Rostelecom Cup. They also won the gold medal at the2017 CS Warsaw Cup.

At the2018 Italian Championships, Marchei/Hotárek won the silver medal for the third year in a row.

Competing at the2018 European Championships inMoscow,Russia, Marchei/Hotárek finished fifth.

Selected to compete at the2018 Winter Olympics in both theTeam andPair events, Marchei/Hotárek placed second in the free program segment of the team event, helping Team Italy finish in fourth place overall. In the pairs event, Marchei/Hotárek placed seventh in the short program and sixth in the free skate, finishing in sixth place overall.

At the2018 World Championships inMilan, Italy, Marchei/Hotárek finished in tenth place.^[17]On 16 September 2018 Marchei announced the end of her partnership with Hotárek via Instagram.^[18]

On 1 September 2020, two years after she last competed, Marchei announced her retirement via Facebook, citing that she considered returning, if not for the ongoing pandemic.^[19]

GP:Grand Prix; CS:Challenger Series; JGP:Junior Grand Prix

Current personal best scores are highlighted inbold.

Media related toValentina Marchei at Wikimedia Commons

• Valentina Marchei / Ondrej Hotarek at theInternational Skating Union
• Valentina Marchei at theInternational Skating Union

• Italian female single skaters
• Italian female pair skaters
• Figure skaters at the 2007 Winter Universiade
• 1986 births
• Living people
• Figure skaters from Milan
• Medalists at the 2007 Winter Universiade
• Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics
• Figure skaters at the 2018 Winter Olympics
• Olympic figure skaters for Italy
• Winter World University Games medalists in figure skating
• FISU World University Games silver medalists for Italy
• 21st-century Italian sportswomen

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• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from July 2021
• Pages using infobox figure skater with unknown parameters
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from March 2024
• Commons category link is on Wikidata