Irene Camber or Irene Camber-Corno (12 February 1926 – 23 February 2024) was an Italian fencer and Olympic champion in foil competition.

Biography

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 (1948), Helsinki (1952), Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964). 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-fold Olympic champion (at Berlin and London Games) 45-year-old Hungarian Ilona Elek. 

Camber 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. Camber also won medals st 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.

Camber died on 23 February 2024, at the age of 98.

Achievements

Camber received a gold medal in the individual foil at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome she received a bronze medal in foil team. She also earned two titles – one individually (1953) and one with the Italian team (1957) – and six more medals at the Fencing World Championships.

See also

• Walk of Fame of Italian sport
• Italian sportswomen multiple medalists at Olympics and World Championships