Marlene Cristiano (Tragedies and Triumphs)

Marlene Carlotta Cristiano (born 2 November 1978) is an American gymnast.

Biography
Marlene was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Scranton, to Michael and Carlotta (née Napolitano) Cristiano. Her father is a neurosurgeon and her mother is a small-claims lawyer-turned-homemaker. Marlene is the fourth of five children. All four of her grandparents emigrated from Sicily, and she is a Roman Catholic.

Marlene was a cute and sweet but mischievous little girl who loved tumbling about, and her mother decided that keeping her busy was the best way to keep her out of trouble. As it happened, her mother calculated well, and gymnastics was an excellent outlet for Marlene's tumblesome nature (though the mischief did not necessarily stop). Marlene loved pink and girly things but absolutely adored being silly, especially with hoses and water balloons during the summertime.

She was serious about her gymnastics, however, enough so that she convinced her parents that she was a good candidate to train for the Pan Global Games in Florida. They eventually gave in, and in late 1995 let Marlene leave to train with Gunther Schmidt, who had spotted her during an exhibition following the Pan Global Games that summer. It was in Florida that Marlene met two teammates who were to become her close friends, Cindy McClintock and Kimberly Hart.

Marlene had her first international gymnastics exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 1996.