Federica Faiella

Date of birth: 1 February 1981 Place of birth: Rome Home town: Milan Height: 166 cm Profession: Full-time athlete Hobbies: reading, dancing, cinema Former Partners: Luciano Milo

Massimo Scali

Date of birth: 11 December 1979 Place of birth: Monterotondo Home town: Milan Height: 173 cm Profession: Full-time athlete Hobbies:dancing, going out with friends Former Partners: Flavia Ottaviani

Other Info

Club: Ice Academy Milano Coach: Paola Mezzadri, Roberto Pelizzola Former Coach: Valter Rizzo, Brunilde Bianchi Choreographer: Ludmila Vlasova Practice rink: Forum (Assago -Milan-)

The Story

Federica and Massimo were among the first skaters who trained under coaches Valter Rizzo and Brunilde Bianchi at the rink Mezzaluna in Rome, where they had come to begin a tradition in ice dance. Federica and Massimo both started skating in 1990 attending courses, and in 1997 she teamed up with Luciano Milo while Massimo with Flavia Ottaviani. Both couples soon showed their talent and appeared as the future of Italian ice dance, having a great success since their first season. Faiella & Milo won the 1998 junior Grand Prix Final and were 2nd at the junior World Championships, while Ottaviani & Scali placed 3rd at the junior Grand Prix Final. During the season 1999-2000 Faiella & Milo turned to senior competitions and were 11th at their first European Championship. Unfortunately two months later, at Worlds in Nice, they had to withdraw due to an injury to Luciano's foot while performing their free dance. They split up at the end of the season. Ottaviani & Scali continued competing succesfully at the junior level until 2000, when their partnership came to an end. After the death of the President of Mezzaluna (he was the one who had asked Rizzo and Bianchi to start teaching ice dance in Rome and had always supported this discipline, seeing the great results of the young couples), the new direction of the icerink couldn't assure adequate training conditions anymore, so Valter Rizzo, Brunilde Bianchi and all the skaters they were coaching had to leave Rome and move to Milan. After skating with different partners for a short time, Federica and Massimo teamed up in 2001.

The first two photos are © Marianna G.
Other photos are © Manuela Federella