View source for Ornella Ferrara

{{short description|Italian long-distance runner}}
{{distinguish|Ornella Ferrari}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = 
| headercolor = 
| birth_name = 
| fullname = 
| image = Ornella Ferrara.jpg
| imagesize = 
| caption = Ferrara in 2011 at 43.
| nationality = 
| national_team = [[Italy national athletics team|Italy]]
| club = PBM Bovisio Masciago
| coach = 
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|4|17|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Limbiate]], Italy
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| height = 1.55 m
| weight = 42 kg
| country = 
| sport = [[Athletics (sport)|Athletics]]
| event = [[Long-distance running]]
| pb = *{{nowrap|Half marathon: 1:11:46 (2000)}}
*{{nowrap|Marathon: 2:27:49 (2004)}}
| show-medals = 
| medaltemplates = {{MedalCompetition|[[World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[1995 World Championships in Athletics|1995 Gothenburg]]|Marathon}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[European Marathon Cup]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[1994 European Marathon Cup|1994 Helsinki]]|Team marathon}}
{{MedalSport | Women's [[mountain running]]}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[WMRA Mountain Running Challenge|WMRA Challenge]]}}
{{MedalGold|[[2013 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships|2013 Szklarska]]|Team}}
{{MedalSilver|[[2013 World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships|2013 Szklarska]]|Individual}}
}}
'''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 [[1997 World Championships in Athletics|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).<ref name=MI>[http://marathoninfo.free.fr/athletes/ferrara.htm Ornella Ferrara]. Marathon Info. Retrieved on 2011-03-23.</ref>

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.<ref name=MI/>

She won the inaugural edition of the [[Monaco Run]] in March 2011.<ref>Charpentier, Remi (2011-03-21). [http://www.iaaf.org/news/kind=100/newsid=59600.html Marhnaoui and Ferrara win inaugural Monaco Run]. [[IAAF]]. Retrieved on 2011-03-23.</ref> A ninth-place finish at the [[Turin Marathon]] later that year saw her come second in the Italian championship race behind [[Martina Celi]].<ref>Sampaolo, Diego (2011-11-13). [http://www.iaaf.org/LRR11/news/newsid=62932.html El Idrissi and Ruban prevail in Turin]. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-11-13.</ref>

==Achievements==
{| {{AchievementTable|Event=yes}}
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing {{ITA}}
|-
|rowspan=2|1994
|[[1994 European Athletics Championships|European Championships]] 
|[[Helsinki, Finland]]
|4th
|Marathon
|[[1994 European Athletics Championships – Women's Marathon|2:31.57]]
|-
|[[Venice Marathon]]
|[[Venice, Italy]]
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|Marathon
|2:32:16 
|-
|rowspan=2|1995
|[[Ferrara Marathon]] 
|[[Ferrara, Italy]]
|bgcolor="gold"  | 1st
|Marathon
|2:39:34
|-
|[[1995 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] 
|[[Gothenburg]], [[Sweden]]
|bgcolor="cc9966" | 3rd
|Marathon
|2:30:11
|-
|rowspan=2|1996
|[[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] 
|[[Atlanta]], [[United States]]
|13th
|Marathon
|[[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Women's Marathon|2:33:09]]
|-
|[[Rome City Marathon]] 
|[[Rome, Italy]]
|bgcolor="silver" | 2nd
|Marathon
|2:31:30 
|-
|rowspan=3|1997
|[[1997 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] 
|[[Athens, Greece]]
|5th
|Marathon
|2:33:10
|-
|[[Italian Marathon]]
|[[Carpi, Emilia-Romagna]]
|bgcolor="gold"  | 1st
|Marathon
|2:28:43
|-
|[[New York City Marathon]]
|New York, United States
|bgcolor="cc9966"  | 5th
|Marathon
|2:31:44
|-
|rowspan=2|2000
|[[Boston Marathon]] 
|[[Boston]], [[United States]]
|7th
|Marathon
|2:30:20
|-
|[[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] 
|[[Sydney]], [[Australia]]
|18th
|Marathon
|2:31:32
|-
|2001
|[[2001 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] 
|[[Edmonton, Canada]]
|14th
|Marathon
|[[2001 World Championships in Athletics – Women's Marathon|2:32:45]] 
|-
|2004
|[[Rome City Marathon]] 
|[[Rome, Italy]]
|bgcolor="gold" | 1st
|Marathon
|2:27:49 
|-
|2007
|[[Italian Marathon]]
|[[Carpi, Italy]]
|bgcolor="silver"  | 2nd
|Marathon
|2:30:18
|}

==Personal bests==
*[[Half marathon]] - 1:11:46 hrs (2000)
*[[marathon race|Marathon]] - 2:27:49 hrs (2004)

==National titles==
*[[Italian Long Distance Mountain Running Championships]]
**[[Mountain running#Long-distance mountain running|Long distance mountain running]]: 2011

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{sports links}}
*[http://marathoninfo.free.fr/athletes/ferrara.htm Onella Ferrara] at Marathoninfo

{{Footer Rome Marathon Champions Women}}
{{Italian Athletics Champions in women's marathon}}
{{Footer Italy athletics team at the 1996 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer Italy athletics team at the 2000 Summer Olympics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrara, Ornella}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Italian female long-distance runners]]
[[Category:Italian female marathon runners]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic athletes for Italy]]
[[Category:Athletes from the Province of Monza e Brianza]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships medalists]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for Italy]]
[[Category:Italian female mountain runners]]
[[Category:21st-century Italian sportswomen]]
[[Category:Italian Athletics Championships winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Italian sportswomen]]