During my career as an athlete, I had the honor of training with some of the best coaches in the world of figure skating.

Until the age of twelve, I practiced under the supervision of Silvana Grilli and when I turned thirteen, I became part of the Italian National Team. I started my four years of training with Gunter Zoller, an East German coach and General Manager of the Italian National Team at the time. The practices, in both cases, were always well organized and intense. There were not many rules but the few rules were clear could not be questioned. There was one motto at that time: "work hard and when you are done start it again". This philosophy helped me build strong skating skills and good confidence at a young age. In 1990, Carlo Fassi (a three-time Gold medalist at the Olympic Games with three different students in 1974/'78/'80)  became the new coach of the Italian National Team. He, and his wife Christa, became in charge of my training. With Carlo and Christa, I learned the difficult task of becoming as professional as possible within all aspects of the sport, not just during daily practices or in competitions but also in relation to the Media and all entities that are an important part of figure skating on the international level. When the Fassi's decided to return to the US, I  chose to continue working with Michela Boschetto who was already part of the Fassi Team and had been my choreographer since 1993. I put her in charge of my career. At that point, I was spending the high season in Milano, Italy, and the offseason in Lake Arrowhead, CA in order to continue to be mentored by Carlo and Christa Fassi. Michela had the capacity to capitalize on all the instructions that I received and help me perform to the best of my potential from all perspectives and circumstances. I culminated in my carrier with the Olympic Games in Nagano and the World Championships in Minneapolis (USA). I retired in May of 1998. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This picture is not complete without mentioning my participation, as an athlete, in numerous camps with (in chronological order):

Elena Tchaikovskaia (RUS), Russian Olympic committee's main coach

Alexei Mishin (RUS),    Current and former students include Olympic Champions Alexei Urmanov,                                              Alexei Yagudin, Evgeni Plushenko, and European Champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

Frank Caroll (USA),     Inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, the United States                                       Figure Skating Hall of Fame, the Professional Skaters Association Coaches Hall of                                       Fame, and was the 1997 Olympic Coach of the Year

Alain Giletti ( FRA )     1960 World Champion, the 1955-1957 & 1960-1961 European Champion and 

                                      is a ten-time (1951–1957, 1959–1961) French National Champion

Valentyn Nikolayev ( UKR ) Olympic Gold Medallist Coach.

 

A special mention goes to Pasquale Camerlengo, a coach, choreographer, and most importantly a friend.