Fiona May (born 12 December 1969) is a retired track and field athlete who competed for the United Kingdom and later Italy in the long jump. She won the World Championships twice and two Olympic silver medals. Her personal best jump was 7.11 metres, which was her silver medal result at the 1998 European Championships.
Early life Born in Slough and raised in Derby, May studied A-levels in Communications and Economics at South East Derbyshire College.Derby Evening Telegraph Wednesday 24 August 1988, page 1 She trained at Derby Ladies Athletics Club.
May attended Leeds Trinity & All Saints College, a college affiliated with the University of Leeds, studying economics, business management and administration.
Career She left her British coach in December 1992. May originally competed for Great Britain, but became an Italian citizen upon her marriage to her coach Gianni Iapichino in 1994. She left the British team due to lack of money provided. In the 1996 Summer Olympics she damaged her ankle and knee.Derby Evening Telegraph Tuesday 3 December 1996, page 16
She also competed briefly in the triple jump, and her career best of 14.65 metres from 1998 was good enough to place fifth in the world that season.
May missed the whole 2002 season as a result of her pregnancy and childbirth. Her last significant competition was the 2005 World Championships, where she failed to reach the final. May and Iapichino were married until 2011.
In 2006, she retired from competitions and started a new successful career in show business. After some modelling, she became the spokeswoman of the Kinder snacks and she won the Italian version of Dancing with the Stars in 2006. Later that year her acting debut was broadcast on Rai Uno as the protagonist of Butta la luna, a miniseries about racism and social integration.
Other ventures In 2019, Fiona May become the testimonial of the Italian Salesians of Don Bosco's missions in Africa and particularly of their Ethiopian activities for mothers.
Family May's parents are Jamaican, and she is also rugby player Marcel Garvey's cousin.
She married her coach Gianni Iapichino, a former pole vaulter whose best achievements were a fifth and sixth place at the European Indoor Championships in 1992 and 1994, on Saturday 9 October 1993 at St Peter's in Littleover.Derby Evening Telegraph Monday 11 October 1993, page 3
She gave birth to their daughter Larissa in 2002. Larissa is following her parents' footsteps, winning the Italian and European titles for the 300 metres hurdles, the long jump silver medal at the 2023 European Indoor Championships, and the long jump gold medal at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Achievements Representing and 1986World Junior ChampionshipsAthens, Greece8th6.11 m1987European Junior ChampionshipsBirmingham, United Kingdom 1st6.64 m w1988World Junior ChampionshipsSudbury, Canada 1st6.88 m w (wind: +2.1 m/s)Olympic GamesSeoul, South Korea 6th6.62 m1990Commonwealth GamesAuckland, New Zealand 3rd6.55 mEuropean ChampionshipsSplit, Yugoslavia 7th6.77 m (wind: +1.3 m/s)1991World ChampionshipsTokyo, Japan19th (q)6.54 m1992Olympic GamesBarcelona, Spain —NM1993World ChampionshipsStuttgart, Germany14th (q)6.42 mRepresenting 1994European ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland 3rd6.90 m (wind: -0.7 m/s)1995World ChampionshipsGothenburg, Sweden 1st6.98 m w1996Olympic GamesAtlanta, United States 2nd7.02 mIAAF Grand Prix FinalMilan, Italy 3rd6.86 m1997World Indoor ChampionshipsParis, France 1st6.86 mWorld ChampionshipsAthens, Greece 3rd6.91 m1998European Indoor ChampionshipsValencia, Spain 1st6.91 mEuropean ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary 2nd7.11 m1999World ChampionshipsSevilla, Spain 2nd6.94 m2000Olympic GamesSydney, Australia 2nd6.92 m2001World Indoor ChampionshipsLisbon, Portugal 4th6.87 mWorld ChampionshipsEdmonton, Canada 1st7.02 m w2003World ChampionshipsParis, France 9th6.46 m2004World Indoor ChampionshipsBudapest, Hungary 6th6.64 mOlympic GamesAthens, Greece 28th (q)6.38 m2005Mediterranean GamesAlmería, Spain 1st6.64 m
See also Italian sportswomen multiple medalists at Olympics and World Championships Italian record progression women's long jump Italian all-time lists – Long jump Italian all-time lists – Triple jump FIDAL Hall of Fame Naturalized athletes of Italy
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