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.
Biography 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).Ornella Ferrara. Marathon Info. Retrieved on 2011-03-23.
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.
She won the inaugural edition of the Monaco Run in March 2011.Charpentier, Remi (2011-03-21). Marhnaoui and Ferrara win inaugural Monaco Run. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-23. A ninth-place finish at the Turin Marathon later that year saw her come second in the Italian championship race behind Martina Celi.Sampaolo, Diego (2011-11-13). El Idrissi and Ruban prevail in Turin. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.
Achievements Representing 1994European Championships Helsinki, Finland4thMarathon2:31.57Venice MarathonVenice, Italy 1stMarathon2:32:16 1995Ferrara Marathon Ferrara, Italy 1stMarathon2:39:34World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 3rdMarathon2:30:111996Olympic Games Atlanta, United States13thMarathon2:33:09Rome City Marathon Rome, Italy 2ndMarathon2:31:30 1997World Championships Athens, Greece5thMarathon2:33:10Italian MarathonCarpi, Emilia-Romagna 1stMarathon2:28:43New York City MarathonNew York, United States 5thMarathon2:31:442000Boston Marathon Boston, United States7thMarathon2:30:20Olympic Games Sydney, Australia18thMarathon2:31:322001World Championships Edmonton, Canada14thMarathon2:32:45 2004Rome City Marathon Rome, Italy 1stMarathon2:27:49 2007Italian MarathonCarpi, Italy 2ndMarathon2:30:18
Personal bests Half marathon - 1:11:46 hrs (2000) Marathon - 2:27:49 hrs (2004)
National titles Italian Long Distance Mountain Running Championships Long-distance mountain running: 2011
References
External links
Onella Ferrara at Marathoninfo