Samuel Contesti (born 4 March 1983 in Le Havre, France) is a French-Italian figure skater who competed for Italy. He originally competed for France, then switched to Italy after the 2006-2007 season. He is the 2008-2012 Italian national champion and the 2009 European silver medalist.
| Samuel Contesti | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Contesti at the 2009 European Championships. | |||||||||||||||
| Full name | Samuel Contesti | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 March 1983 Le Havre, France | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||||||||
| Country |  Italy | ||||||||||||||
| Coach | Geraldine Zulini Peter Grütter | ||||||||||||||
| Skating club | SGA d'Annecy | ||||||||||||||
| Began skating | 1987 | ||||||||||||||
| Retired | June 2012 | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
Contesti initially competed for France, placing 9th at the 2005 European Championships and 26th at Worlds the same year. The next season, he placed 5th at Trophée Eric Bompard and 2nd at French Nationals but did not compete at Europeans or Worlds.
In fall 2006, he was assigned to compete at Skate America, however, the French skating federation decided to withdraw his name.[1] In 2007, he won bronze at French Nationals.
Contesti moved to Italy after his marriage to an Italian.[2] He began competing for Italy in March 2008.[1] In spring of 2008, he moved to Courmayeur, Italy.[1] 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's gold in 1954.[2] At the 2009 World Championships, Contesti placed 5th, his best finish to date in that event.
Contesti confirmed his retirement from competition on 15 June 2012.[3]
Personal life
His father Yves was a professional football player in Ligue 1.[1] He has two older sisters. In February 2007, Contesti married Geraldine Zulini who also coaches him.[1] Their son, Ennio, was born in June 2009.[1]
Programs
Competitive highlights
for Italy
| Event | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympic Games | 18th | ||||
| World Championships | 5th | 7th | 18th | 10th | |
| European Championships | 2nd | 5th | 6th | 7th | |
| Italian Championships | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Skate America | 8th | ||||
| NHK Trophy | 4th | ||||
| Skate Canada | 5th | ||||
| Cup of China | 4th | 6th | |||
| Cup of Russia | 4th | ||||
| Finlandia Trophy | 3rd | ||||
| Golden Spin of Zagreb | 2nd | ||||
| Karl Schäfer Memorial | 2nd | ||||
| NRW Trophy | 2nd | 2nd | 4th | 1st | |
| Ondrej Nepela Memorial | 3rd | ||||
| International Challenge Cup | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | ||
| Mont Blanc Trophy | 1st | 1st |
for France
| Event | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Championships | 26th | |||||
| European Championships | 9th | |||||
| French Nationals | 11th | 6th | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | |
| Trophée Eric Bompard | 9th | 5th | ||||
| Bofrost Cup | 4th | |||||
| Crystal Skate of Romania | 3rd | |||||
| Copenhagen Trophy | 1st | |||||
| Karl Schäfer Memorial | 5th | |||||
| Gardena Spring Trophy | 3rd |
References
- ^ a b c d e f Flade, Tatjana (2009-07-26). "Sweet Revenge". GoldenSkate.com. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
- ^ a b Mittan, Barry (2009-09-24). "Contesti Contends in Championships". SkateToday. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
- ^ Buongiovanni, Andrea (2012-06-15). "Contesti, la parabola Dall'argento europeo a un addio inatteso". Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2012-06-17.
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External links
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