Ornella Ferrara (born 17 April 1968) is an Italian long-distance runner who specialized in the marathon race. She represented her country twice at the Summer Olympics (1996 and 2000) and was the bronze medalist in the marathon at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics. She has won marathon races in her home country, including the Rome City Marathon, Carpi Marathon and Venice Marathon.

Ornella Ferrara
Ferrara in 2011 at 43.
Personal information
National teamItaly
Born (1968-04-17) 17 April 1968 (age 56)
Limbiate, Italy
Height1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Weight42 kg (93 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
EventLong-distance running
ClubPBM Bovisio Masciago
Achievements and titles
Personal bests
  • Half marathon: 1:11:46 (2000)
  • Marathon: 2:27:49 (2004)
Medal record
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1995 Gothenburg Marathon
European Marathon Cup
Gold medal – first place 1994 Helsinki Team marathon
Women's mountain running
WMRA Challenge
Gold medal – first place 2013 Szklarska Team
Silver medal – second place 2013 Szklarska Individual

Biography edit

She narrowly missed out on a medal at the 1994 European Athletics Championships, coming fourth. After that she won the Venice Marathon, followed by the Ferrara Marathon. A run at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics brought her the marathon bronze medal. She represented Italy in the marathon at the Summer Olympics in both 1996 and 2000, but did not reach the top twelve on either occasion.

In 1997 she came fifth at the World Championships Marathon, claimed the title at the Italian Marathon and closed her year with a third place at the New York City Marathon. She did not compete again until 2000, where she returned to the distance with a seventh-place finish at the Boston Marathon. Ferrara returned to full competition in 2001, reach the podium at the San Diego Marathon and Milan Marathon then running for Italy at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics (where she came 14th).[1]

A third place at the Berlin Marathon highlighted her 2003. She won the 2004 Rome City Marathon with a personal best time of 2:27:49 hours, and was runner-up at the Palermo Marathon later that year. Her next marathon win came at the Brescia Marathon in 2008.[1]

She won the inaugural edition of the Monaco Run in March 2011.[2] A ninth-place finish at the Turin Marathon later that year saw her come second in the Italian championship race behind Martina Celi.[3]

Achievements edit

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing   Italy
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 4th Marathon 2:31.57
Venice Marathon Venice, Italy 1st Marathon 2:32:16
1995 Ferrara Marathon Ferrara, Italy 1st Marathon 2:39:34
World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 3rd Marathon 2:30:11
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 13th Marathon 2:33:09
Rome City Marathon Rome, Italy 2nd Marathon 2:31:30
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 5th Marathon 2:33:10
Italian Marathon Carpi, Emilia-Romagna 1st Marathon 2:28:43
New York City Marathon New York, United States 5th Marathon 2:31:44
2000 Boston Marathon Boston, United States 7th Marathon 2:30:20
Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 18th Marathon 2:31:32
2001 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 14th Marathon 2:32:45
2004 Rome City Marathon Rome, Italy 1st Marathon 2:27:49
2007 Italian Marathon Carpi, Italy 2nd Marathon 2:30:18

Personal bests edit

National titles edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Ornella Ferrara. Marathon Info. Retrieved on 2011-03-23.
  2. ^ Charpentier, Remi (2011-03-21). Marhnaoui and Ferrara win inaugural Monaco Run. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-23.
  3. ^ Sampaolo, Diego (2011-11-13). El Idrissi and Ruban prevail in Turin. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.

External links edit