Fiona May (born 12 December 1969 in Slough, England) was an athlete who competed for the Great Britain and later Italy in the long jump. She won the World Championships twice and two Olympic silver medals. Her personal best jump was 7.11 metres, which was her silver medal result at the 1998 European Championships.
She also competed briefly in triple jump, and her career best of 14.65 metres from 1998 was good enough to place fifth in the world that season.[1]
May originally competed for Great Britain, but married Gianni Iapichino and became an Italian citizen in 1994. Iapichino, a former pole vaulter whose best achievements were a fifth and sixth place at the European Indoor Championships in 1992 and 1994, was her coach as well. May gave birth to a daughter in 2002, and missed the whole season as a result. Her last significant competition to date was the 2005 World Championships, where she failed to reach the final.
May attended Leeds Trinity & All Saints College, a college affiliated the University of Leeds, studying Economics, Business Management and Administration.
In 2006 she retired from competitions and started a new successful career in show business. After some modelling, she became the spokeswoman of the Kinder snacks and she won the Italian version of Dancing with the stars in 2006. Later this year her acting debut will be broadcast on Rai Uno: she's the protagonist of "Butta la luna", a miniseries about racism and social integration.
May's parents are Jamaican,[2] she is also rugby player Marcel Garvey's Cousin.
[edit] Achievements
| Year |
Competition |
Venue |
Position |
Event |
Notes |
Representing  Great Britain |
| 1988 |
World Junior Championships |
Sudbury, Canada |
1st |
| Olympic Games |
Seoul, South Korea |
6th |
| 1990 |
European Championships |
Split, Yugoslavia |
7th |
Representing  England |
| 1990 |
Commonwealth Games |
Auckland, New Zealand |
3rd |
Representing  Italy |
| 1994 |
European Championships |
Helsinki, Finland |
3rd |
| 1995 |
World Championships |
Gothenburg, Sweden |
1st |
| 1996 |
Olympic Games |
Atlanta, United States |
2nd |
| IAAF Grand Prix Final |
Milan, Italy |
3rd |
| 1997 |
World Indoor Championships |
Paris, France |
1st |
| World Championships |
Athens, Greece |
3rd |
| 1998 |
European Indoor Championships |
Valencia, Spain |
1st |
| European Championships |
Budapest, Hungary |
2nd |
| 1999 |
World Championships |
Sevilla, Spain |
2nd |
| 2000 |
Olympic Games |
Sydney, Australia |
2nd |
| 2001 |
World Indoor Championships |
Lisbon, Portugal |
4th |
| World Championships |
Edmonton, Canada |
1st |
| 2003 |
World Championships |
Paris, France |
9th |
| 2004 |
World Indoor Championships |
Budapest, Hungary |
6th |
| 2005 |
Mediterranean Games |
Almería, Spain |
1st |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www2.iaaf.org/Results/lists/1998/outdoor/G/w/TJ.html
- ^ http://www.sporting-heroes.net/athletics-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=9358
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| Name |
May, Fiona |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
Athletics (sport) competitor |
| Date of birth |
12 December 1969 |
| Place of birth |
|
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
|
Italy
Great Britain
England
Maurren Higa Maggi
Tatyana Kotova
