Samuel Contesti (born 4 March 1983) is a French-Italian former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. He originally competed for France, then switched to Italy after the 2006–07 season. He is the 2009 European silver medalist and a five-time Italian national champion (2008–12).

Personal life

Samuel Contesti's father, Yves, was a professional football player in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

. He has two older sisters. Contesti married Geraldine Zulini in February 2007 and their son, Ennio, was born in June 2009. Their second child was born in 2012.

Career

Contesti initially competed for France, placing ninth at the 2005 European Championships and 26th at Worlds the same year. The next season, he placed 5th at

Trophée Eric Bompard The Grand Prix de France is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It was previously known as the Grand Prix International de Paris (1987–1993), Trophée de France ...

and 2nd at French Nationals but did not compete at Europeans or Worlds. In autumn 2006, Contesti was assigned to compete at

Skate America Skate America is an international, senior-level figure skating competition held as part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. It is hosted by U.S. Figure Skating. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: m ...

, however, the French skating federation decided to withdraw his name. In 2007, he won bronze at French Nationals. Having married an Italian, Contesti began competing for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in March 2008. In spring of 2008, he moved to

Courmayeur Courmayeur (; Valdôtain: ) is a town and ''comune'' in northern Italy, in the autonomous region of Aosta Valley. History The toponym ''Courmayeur'' has been mentioned as ''Curia majori'' (1233–1381), ''Corte Maggiore'' (1620), ''Cormoyeu'' (164 ...

, Italy. By capturing silver at the 2009 European Championships, Contesti became the first male single skater to win a medal for Italy at the event in 55 years, since

Carlo Fassi Carlo Fassi (20 December 1929 – 20 March 1997) was an Italian figure skater and international coach whose students included several World and Olympic champions. As a single skater, he was the 1953 World bronze medalist, a two-time European cha ...

's gold in 1954. At the 2009 World Championships, Contesti placed 5th, his career-best finish at the event. Contesti confirmed his retirement from competition on 15 June 2012.

Programs

Competitive highlights

''GP:

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

For Italy

For France

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Contesti, Samuel French male single skaters Italian male single skaters 1983 births Living people Figure skaters at the 2010 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of Italy European Figure Skating Championships medalists Sportspeople from Le Havre