Irene Camber
Irene Camber-Corno was an Italian fencer and Olympic champion in foil competition.
Biography
Irene Camber was born in Trieste, Italy, on 12 February 1926. She began to be interested in fencing at eight years-old in Trieste. Her involvement in fencing was accidental: instead of entering the hall where she used to practice gymnastics, she mistakenly entered the fencing hall. She had four appearances at Olympic Games: London, Helsinki, Rome and Tokyo.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. Four years later at the Helsinki Games, she faced two-time Olympic champion 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. 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.