BY TATJANA FLADE
THOUGH ITA LY HAS
a long tradition with
World and European
champions in the
singles and ice dance
disciplines, its pairs
program has always
been in the shadows.
But last season,
Nicole Della Monica
and Matteo Guarise
brought the discipline
into the limelight in
their homeland, and
wrote their own piece
of skating history when
they became the first
Italian pairs team to
ever qualify for a Grand
Prix Final.