Irene Camber

Irene Camber-Corno (12 February 1926 – 23 February 2024) was an Italian fencer and Olympic champion in foil competition.

Irene Camber

Camber in 1960
Personal information
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1926-02-12)12 February 1926 Trieste, Italy
Died	23 February 2024(2024-02-23) (aged 98) Lissone, Italy
Height	169 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
Country	Italy
Sport	Fencing
Event	Foil
Club	SS Cassa di Risparmio, Milan
Medal record Olympic Games 1952 Helsinki Foil Individual 1960 Rome Foil Team World Championships 1953 Brussels Foil Individual 1957 Paris Foil Team 1954 Luxembourg Foil Team 1957 Paris Foil Individual 1952 Copenhagen Foil Team 1953 Brussels Foil Team 1955 Rome Foil Team 1962 Buenos Aires Foil Team

Biography

Irene Camber was born in Trieste, Italy, on 12 February 1926.^[1] She began to be interested in fencing at eight years-old in Trieste. Her involvement in fencing was accidental:^[2] instead of entering the hall where she used to practice gymnastics, she mistakenly entered the fencing hall.^[2] She had four appearances at Olympic Games: London (1948), Helsinki (1952), Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964).^[2]

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial chemistry, she made her debut at the London Games in 1948. She was defeated in the semi-finals.^[2] Four years later at the Helsinki Games, she faced two-time Olympic champion (at Berlin and London Games) 45-year-old Hungarian Ilona Elek. She won the match by 4–3. She did not appear at the Melbourne Games, since she was pregnant. At the Rome Games in 1960, she won a bronze team medal.^[1] She lastly took part in the Italian fencing team at the Tokyo Games. She won medals at the world fencing championships. Then she began to serve as the national team coach at the Munich Games, and Antonella Ragno, her pupil, won the gold medal. Camber also worked at Montedison chemical corporation during her fencing career.^[1]

Death

Camber died in Lissone on 23 February 2024, at the age of 98.^[3]

Achievements

Camber received a gold medal in the individual foil at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.^[4][5] At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome she received a bronze medal in foil team. She also earned two titles – one individually (1953) and one with the Italian team (1957) – and six more medals at the Fencing World Championships.^[1]

See also

• Walk of Fame of Italian sport
• Italian sportswomen multiple medalists at Olympics and World Championships

References

1. "Irene Camber-Corno". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
2. "The Olympic Dictionary" (PDF). Gazzetta. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
3. "Addio A Irene Camber, La Signora Della Scherma Italiana. Il Presidente Federale Azzi: "Campionessa Ed Esempio. Ricordo Indelebile L'abbraccio Con Le Fiorettiste D'oro All'ultimo Mondiale Di Milano"". Federazione Italiana Scherma. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
4. "1952 Summer Olympics – Helsinki, Finland – Fencing" databaseOlympics.com (Retrieved on 7 June 2008)
5. "Irene Camber Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2010.

External links

• Irene Camber at Olympedia
• Irene Camber at the Italian National Olympic Committee (in Italian)
• Irene Camber at the CONI honored athlete website (in Italian)