Talk:Carlo Fassi

GA review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Carlo Fassi/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: Figureskatingfan (talk · contribs) 21:45, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: Bgsu98 (talk · contribs) 22:50, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Hey there, you know I'll do this one for you. First of all, Fassi won the Italian championships in the men's event in 1943, and then from 1946 to 1954. There were no championships in 1944 or 1945 due to World War II. His championship wins in pairs (with Grazia Barcellona) were from 1942 to 1943, from 1946 to 1951, and in 1954. Those should all be added to the infobox. Bgsu98 (Talk) 22:50, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks, pal. If I understand correctly, you're talking about adding the WWII info. If so, I've looked at several other infoboxes of skaters who competed between the wars, and I wasn't able to find any other instance of it. For me, that would mean it's not a practice for these skaters' infoboxes. If you could find at least one instance of it, please show it to me, and I'll happily make the requested change. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 21:36, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Sorry, I meant that the Italian championship wins should be added to the infobox, which I went ahead and did for you. 😉 There are a lot of sources documenting his wins at the Italian championships; you can find them at Italian Figure Skating Championships. There is zero evidence that competitions were held from 1944–1945; plus records say he had 10 men's championships, and I was able to document 1943, and 1946–1954. Bgsu98 (Talk) 21:44, 1 August 2026 (UTC)

Thanks so much for doing that for me. Duh, I didn't think to go to the Italian Nationals as a possible source for sources. I will do that shortly. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 21:02, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Also, those results tables will need to be transitioned over to the new format the FS Project adopted a few years back. You can see an example at Daniel Grassl#Competitive highlights. Bgsu98 (Talk) 23:08, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure I've told you before what I say about tables, that they're my nemesis, my Kryponite on WP. That why, in the past, I've come to you to help me manage them, which you always have. This time, however, I decided that I was determined to figure them out for this bio. It took me over an hour-and-a-half, but I did! Aren't you proud?! ;) Although I'd appreciate it if you looked them over here. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 21:06, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Also, sources no. 7 and no. 21 are duplicates. Bgsu98 (Talk) 23:18, 29 July 2026 (UTC)

Fixed. All your comments have been addressed. Thanks again, you're a good pal. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 21:09, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

I have adjusted both results' tables (you did fine) to reflect the results of the Italian nationals. Carlo Fassi did win ten titles in the men's event, but just not during the two years that Italy was, uh, occupied elsewhere. Now, with regards to the pairs' event, Olympedia (for example) says that he and Barcellona won ten titles, but that just does not match up with the individual results that I have found. I can account for nine of them. And as you can see from the sources attached to Italian Figure Skating Championships, it does not look as if they even competed in 1952 and 1953. Bgsu98 (Talk) 21:20, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for that. Other sources state that they won ten National titles, but we should go with the results you found. Are there any sources that explictly state that Fassi is tied for the most titles in men's skating and that he and Barcellona won the most in pairs? I think that it's okay to state it in the Italian Nationals article, but not here without a source that states it.

Speaking of, how weird is it that we were working on this bio and on Italian Nationals at the same time? The only reason I worked on this one was because I used it as an example of how to mine sources for a group of editors I'm working with, and Fassi's story drew me in after I noticed that there was all kinds of missing info. I can't tell you how many times that kind of coincidence has happened in my life! Anyway, thanks again. Christine (Figureskatingfan) (talk) 21:40, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

The article I attached to the men's singles table states that Fassi tied the record previously held by Alberto Bonacossa, so yes, they both hold the record for winning the most men's titles (with ten each). I do not have anything that explicitly states that Fassi/Barcellona hold the most titles in pairs. Oh, and it's not really a coincidence; I've been working on that Italian article for at least two years, and as you can see, there are still huge gaps where I cannot find results due to an inaccessibility of Italian newspaper archives. Bgsu98 (Talk) 21:51, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Comments from Bgsu98

The infobox and results tables should be good now. I added a few of the fields in the infobox that were blank for which we have the information. If you can identify his skating club or coach(es), they can be included as well. I will look at the Italian articles to see if any of that is mentioned, because I don't remember.

Note: This source <ref name=CDS01221951>{{cite news |date=22 January 1951 |title=Fassi e la Barcellona brillanti protagonisti nei campionati italiani |trans-title=Fassi and Barcellona brilliant winners at the Italian championships |url=http://dlib.coninet.it/bookreader.php?&c=1&f=9839&p=7#page/6/mode/2up |access-date=3 March 2026 |work=[[Corriere dello Sport]] |page=7 |language=it |via=Biblioteca Sportiva Nazionale }}</ref> identifies his skating club as the Circolo Pattinatori di Milano. Bgsu98 (Talk) 22:03, 2 August 2026 (UTC)

Fun fact: Christa von Kuczkowski (aka Mrs. Carlo Fassi) won the 1961 Italian nationals in the women's event.

This sentence in the lead – "He was opposed to the removal of complusory figures because he predicted that it would result in an undue emphasis on jumps." – seems unnecessary. At the same time, the lead mentions nothing about his career in pairs with Grazia Barcellona. They hold the record for winning the most Italian pairs' titles, but don't ask me for a source for that statement that you'll like. 😉

One suggestion is that you should format your use of numbers uniformly. For example, you write "Fassi came in 13th place at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and came in ninth place at the 1949 European Championships." I would either spell them both out or use numerals for both. The rule about only spelling out numbers under ten does not apply when direct comparisons are being made.

Dennis Bird wrote "rather condescendingly" about Fassi after seeing him compete for the first time at the 1949 World Championships, "Carlo Fassi of Italy was inclined to toe-poke (a common fault in compulsory figure skating) but is generally conceded to have improved since last year's Olympics".[2] This whole section is attributed to Bird. So who is describing Bird as having written about him condescendingly? Also, I know a lot about figures, but I'm not sure what toe-poking is.

The use of "at Europeans" is very informal vis à vis "at the European Championships".

Under Coaching career, "One of his first students was Kuczkowski, who worked with him as a teacher and coach"... I would clarify that with Christa von Kuczkowski's full name, as well as again mention that he found the time to marry her while coaching her.

"Fleming, whom Fassi later called his most talented student and who was his first major skating student..."

You might clarify that Robin Cousins and John Curry were from Great Britain; this demonstrates that students came from around the world to train with him. A casual reader would just assume that they were Americans otherwise.

"He coached Nicole Bobek, who was Fassi's student at the time of his death and saw him as a father figure, working with him twice.[3]" That last part ("working with him twice") does not make sense in this context and actually lessens their relationship. Wait, I see now what you mean. I would still scratch it from that sentence, but expand the following sentence: "Bobek first worked with him in 1990 as a junior-level skater, and then again in 1996..." or however you want to word it.

All of these students you list have major accomplishments which can be attributed to their work with Fassi. I would include their national championships wins as well (Cousins and Curry both won the British Championships several times, all of those women are U.S. Championships, and I think Cornel Gheorghe, who should be wikilinked, was a multiple-time Romanian champion.

Let me know if you have any questions. I haven't gone through the Legacy section yet. Bgsu98 (Talk) 21:49, 2 August 2026 (UTC)