Matteo Rizzo

Matteo Rizzo (born 5 September 1998) is an Italian figure skater. He is the 2019 European bronze medalist, 2018 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Winter Universiade champion, and 2018 Italian national champion. He has won several ISU Challenger Series medals, including gold at the 2017 CS Warsaw Cup. He is also the 2018 World Junior bronze medalist and 2017 JGP Italy champion. Rizzo represented Italy at the 2018 Winter Olympics, qualifying to the free skate and finishing 21st overall.

Matteo Rizzo
Rizzo in 2018
Personal information
Country representedItaly
Born (1998-09-05) 5 September 1998
Rome, Italy
Height1.71 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
CoachFranca Bianconi, Valter Rizzo
Former coachIlaria Ponti, Angela Puglisi
ChoreographerShae-Lynn Bourne, Corrado Giordano, Massimo Scali
Former choreographerValter Rizzo, Vakhtang Murvanidze
Skating clubIcelab Bergamo
Former skating clubSesto Ice Skate
Training locationsBergamo
Former training locationsSesto San Giovanni
Courmayeur
Began skating2006
World standing8 (2018–19)
24 (2017–18)
35 (2016–17)
40 (2015–16)
77 (2014–15)
106 (2013–14)
ISU personal best scores
Combined total260.53
2019 World Team Trophy
Short program93.37
2019 World Figure Skating Championships
Free skate172.89
2019 World Team Trophy
Medal record
Representing  Italy
Figure skating: Men's singles
European Championships
2019 MinskMen's singles
Winter Universiade
2019 KrasnoyarskMen's singles
World Junior Championships
2018 SofiaMen's singles

Personal life

Matteo Rizzo was born on 5 September 1998 in Rome.[1] His parents, Brunilde Bianchi and Valter Rizzo,[2] and sister, Francesca Rizzo, all competed in ice dancing.[1]

Career

Early years

Rizzo began learning to skate in 2006.[3] He competed internationally on the novice level in the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 seasons, winning silver at the Triglav Trophy in April 2012. His junior international debut came in September 2012, at the Ice Star event in Belarus.

2013–2014 season

Rizzo debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in September 2013, placing eleventh at an event in Slovakia, and won the Italian national junior title in December. In January–February 2014, making his senior international debut, he finished ninth at the Bavarian Open and fifth at the Dragon Trophy, before taking the silver medal at the Hellmut Seibt Memorial. He competed at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria but was eliminated after placing thirtieth in the short program.

2014–2015 season

Rizzo placed fifteenth at his sole JGP assignment, in Germany. Competing on the senior level from November to December, he won silver at the Merano Cup, bronze at the Warsaw Cup – his ISU Challenger Series (CS) debut – gold at the Denkova-Staviski Cup, and silver at the Italian Championships. In January 2015, he placed fourth at the 2015 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Austria. His final event of the season was the 2015 World Junior Championships, held in March 2015 in Tallinn, Estonia. Rizzo qualified for the free skate by placing 20th in the short program and finished 22nd overall.

2015–2016 season

Rizzo continued on the JGP series, placing fifth at his assignments in Austria and Spain. He earned a bronze medal at the 2015 CS Denkova-Staviski Cup and finished fifth at the 2015 CS Warsaw Cup. He reached the free skate at two ISU Championships – the 2016 Europeans in Bratislava, and the 2016 Junior Worlds in Debrecen, Hungary. He placed thirteenth at both events.

2016–2017 season

Rizzo competed at JGP events in Germany and Spain, finishing twelfth and eighth, respectively. He placed eleventh at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei and thirtieth at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki.

2017–2018 season

Rizzo began his season in September, at two senior-level competitions. After placing fifth at the 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy with a new free skate personal best, he finished fourth at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, qualifying Italy a spot in the men's discipline at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

In October, Rizzo competed at two JGP events. He placed second in the short program at the JGP Poland in Gdańsk, but his placement in the free skate (tenth) dropped him to sixth overall. Ranked second in the short and first in the free, he won the gold medal at JGP Italy in Egna, setting new personal bests for the short program as well as his overall score.

Returning to the senior level, Rizzo won gold at the 2017 CS Warsaw Cup, having placed first in both segments ahead of Switzerland's Stéphane Walker and Canada's Liam Firus. In December, he won the national title and was selected to represent Italy at the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Rizzo competed in both parts of the team event as part of the Italian team, placing fifth in the short program and fourth in the free skate, while Team Italy finished fourth overall.[4] He finished twenty-first in the men's event.

Returning to the junior level one final time, Rizzo competed at the 2018 World Junior Championships and won the bronze medal after placing sixth in both programs. This was the first World Junior medal for an Italian man.[5] At the 2018 World Championships in Milan, Rizzo placed seventeenth.

2018–2019 season

Beginning the season at the 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy, Rizzo ranked fourth in the short with a personal best score of 85.51 and fourth in the free, finishing fourth overall. He then competed at the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy, where he finished sixth. In his Grand Prix debut event, he placed fourth at 2018 Skate America and third at 2018 NHK Trophy. Rizzo's bronze medal at the NHK Trophy was the first Grand Prix medal for an Italian male skater.[6] In December he took gold at the 2018 Denkova-Staviski Cup, and the silver medal at 2019 Italian Championships, behind Daniel Grassl.

Competing at the 2019 European Championships, Rizzo debuted a new free skate to a medley of Queen songs. He placed tenth in the short program and third in the free skate, winning the bronze medal overall with a personal best score of 247.08 points and achieving his first podium finish at a senior-level ISU Championship. In his free skate, he successfully landed a quad toe loop for the first time. Rizzo was the first Italian man to win a European medal since Samuel Contesti in 2009.[7][6]

Rizzo next participated in the 2019 Winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Introducing the quad toe loop into the short program, he finished second there, and then place first in the free skate to win the gold medal with a total of 273.54 points.[8] At the World Championships in Japan, Rizzo placed fifth in the short program with a new personal best score, tenth in the free, and seventh overall. He concluded the season as part of Team Italy at the 2019 World Team Trophy, where he placed fourth among the men competing and Team Italy finished sixth overall.[9]

2019–2020 season

In the summer, Rizzo trained at the Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club under Brian Orser, working to acquire more quadruple jumps for the coming season.[6] Rizzo began the season with two Challengers, winning bronze at the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy and silver at the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial. He attempted the quad loop in competition for the first time.

For his first Grand Prix assignment, Rizzo competed at the 2019 Skate Canada International. In the short program, he placed eighth after underrotating his quadruple toe loop and falling on his combination jump.[10] Despite a number of errors in the free skate, he moved up to finish in sixth place overall.[11] At the 2019 Cup of China, Rizzo placed third in the short program despite falling on his triple Lutz and consequently missing his combination.[12] Fourth in the free skate, he remained in third place overall and won the bronze medal.[13]

After winning the silver medal at the Italian Championships, Rizzo competed at the 2020 European Championships, where he placed seventh in the short program after some minor jump errors.[14] Fifth in the free skate, he rose to fifth place overall, but remarked that it had been "a tough season for me because it’s between the Olympics."[15] Rizzo was also assigned to compete at the 2020 World Championships, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Programs
Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2019–2020
[6]
2018–2019
[16]
  • Volare
    performed by Luca Longobardi
2017–2018
[1]
2016–2017
[3]
2015–2016
[18]
  • Malagueña
    by Ernesto Lecuona
    performed by Brian Setzer
2014–2015
[19]
  • Neph
  • Buckjump
2013–2014
[20]
  • The Kid
  • Meeting the Millionaire
  • City Lights
  • Nonsense Song

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[21]
Event 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20
Olympics21st
Worlds30th17th7thC
Europeans13th9th3rd5th
GP Cup of China3rd
GP NHK Trophy3rd
GP Skate America4th
GP Skate Canada6th
CS Denkova-Stav.3rd
CS Finlandia6th
CS Lombardia5th4th3rd
CS Nebelhorn4th
CS Ondrej Nepela4th2nd
CS Warsaw Cup3rd5th6th1st
Bavarian Open9th5th
Cup of Tyrol2nd
Denkova-Staviski1st1st
Dragon Trophy5th
Golden Bear4th
Hellmut Seibt2nd6th7th
Merano Cup2nd2nd
Shanghai Trophy1st
Toruń Cup1st
Winter Universiade1st
International: Junior[21]
Junior Worlds30th22nd13th11th3rd
JGP Austria5th
JGP Germany15th12th
JGP Italy1st
JGP Poland6th
JGP Slovakia11th
JGP Slovenia8th
JGP Spain5th
EYOF4th
Bavarian Open4th
Crystal Skate6th
Ice Star4th
Lombardia Trophy3rd2nd
Santa Claus Cup5th
International: Advanced novice[22]
Bavarian Open3rd
Gardena7th
NRW Trophy9th
Mont Blanc2nd
Triglav Trophy2nd
National[21]
Italian Champ.4th J5th J1st J2nd2nd2nd1st2nd2nd
Team events
Olympics4th T
5th P
World Team
Trophy		6th T
4th P
J = Junior level; TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled
T = Team result; P = Personal result; Medals awarded for team result only.

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.

2019–20 season
Date Event SP FS Total
20-26 January 2020 2020 European Championships 7
79.07		 5
157.94		 5
237.01
12–15 December 2019 2019 Italian Championships 1
82.08		 2
161.68		 2
243.76
November 8–10, 2019 2019 Cup of China 3
81.72		 4
160.16		 3
241.88
October 25–27, 2019 2019 Skate Canada 9
70.12		 5
153.66		 6
223.78
3–5 October 2019 2019 Shanghai Trophy 1
87.76		 3
160.77		 1
248.53
19–21 September 2019 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial 4
75.87		 1
156.83		 2
232.70
13–15 September 2019 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy 5
71.76		 3
155.62		 3
227.38
2018–19 season
Date Event SP FS Total
11–14 April 2019 2019 World Team Trophy 6
87.64		 5
172.89		 6T/4P
260.53
March 18–24, 2019 2019 World Championships 5
93.37		 10
164.29		 7
257.66
March 7–9, 2019 2019 Winter Universiade 2
90.78		 1
182.76		 1
273.54
21–27 January 2019 2019 European Championships 10
81.41		 3
165.67		 3
247.08
13–16 December 2018 2019 Italian Championships 1
87.20		 2
154.42		 2
241.62
27 November – 2 December 2018 2018 Denkova–Staviski Cup 1
85.52		 1
139.86		 1
225.38
9–11 November 2018 2018 NHK Trophy 4
77.00		 3
147.71		 3
224.71
Oct. 19 – 21, 2018 2018 Skate America 5
78.09		 5
147.72		 4
225.81
4–7 October 2018 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy 6
76.53		 7
141.15		 6

217.68

12–16 September 2018 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy 4
85.51		 4
142.46		 4
227.97
2017–18 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
19–25 March 2018 2018 World Championships Senior 18
77.43		 17
148.01		 17
225.44
5–11 March 2018 2018 World Junior Championships Junior 6
70.24		 6
141.34		 3
211.58
14–23 February 2018 2018 Winter Olympics Senior 23
75.63		 19
156.78		 21
232.41
9–12 February 2018 2018 Winter Olympics (team event) Senior 5
77.77		 4
156.11		 4T
15–21 January 2018 2018 European Championships Senior 6
78.26		 9
141.17		 9
219.43
13–16 December 2017 2018 Italian Championships Senior 1
84.82		 1
158.38		 1
243.20
22–25 November 2017 2018 Cup of Tyrol Senior 3
73.70		 2
149.73		 2
223.43
16–19 November 2017 2017 CS Warsaw Cup Senior 1
75.64		 1
157.34		 1
232.98
10–14 October 2017 2017 JGP Italy Junior 2
77.24		 1
151.94		 1
229.18
4–7 October 2017 2017 JGP Poland Junior 2
74.51		 10
118.28		 6
192.79
27–30 September 2017 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy Senior 5
72.97		 2
150.30		 4
223.27
14–17 September 2017 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy Senior 6
71.67		 3
155.35		 5
227.02
2016–17 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
29 March – 2 April 2017 2017 World Championships Senior 30
63.14		 - 30
63.14
15–19 March 2017 2017 World Junior Championships Junior 13
68.53		 11
128.94		 11
197.47
14–19 February 2017 2017 Bavarian Open Senior 5
65.39		 3
129.79		 5
195.18
14–17 December 2016 2017 Italian Championships Senior 2
74.47		 2
142.27		 2
216.74
17–20 November 2016 2016 CS Warsaw Cup Senior 3
66.55		 6
129.48		 6
196.03
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References
  1. "Matteo RIZZO: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 November 2017.
  2. Golinsky, Reut (2 November 2017). "Catching up with Franca Bianconi". Absolute Skating.
  3. "Matteo RIZZO: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  4. Slater, Paula (12 February 2019). "Canada takes gold at 2018 Olympics in figure skating team event". Golden Skate.
  5. Slater, Paula (10 March 2018). "Alexey Erokhov wins Junior World men's title". Golden Skate.
  6. Flade, Tatjana (11 June 2019). "Italy's Rizzo to train with Orser in the summer". Golden Skate.
  7. Slater, Paula (January 26, 2019). "Fernandez snags seventh consecutive European title". Golden Skate.
  8. Jiwani, Rory (March 7, 2019). "MATTEO RIZZO CLAIMS WINTER UNIVERSIADE MEN'S SINGLES TITLE". Olympic Channel.
  9. Slater, Paula (12 April 2019). "Team USA gains momentum on day two at World Team Trophy". Golden Skate.
  10. Slater, Paula (October 26, 2019). "Japan's Yuzuru front-runner at 2019 Skate Canada". Golden Skate.
  11. Slater, Paula (October 27, 2019). "Hanyu takes first Skate Canada gold in Kelowna". Golden Skate.
  12. Slater, Paula (November 8, 2019). "Han Yan leads men at Cup of China after two-year hiatus". Golden Skate.
  13. Slater, Paula (November 9, 2019). "Boyang Jin wins first Grand Prix gold on home ice". Golden Skate.
  14. Slater, Paula (January 22, 2020). "Brezina: 'Maybe it is a 'bye-bye' and maybe not'". Golden Skate.
  15. Slater, Paula (January 23, 2020). "Russia's Aliev claims gold in Graz". Golden Skate.
  16. "Matteo RIZZO: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019.
  17. AbsoluteSkating [@absoluteskating] (25 March 2018). "#Milano2018 #WorldFigure Exhibition program - music & timing" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. "Matteo RIZZO: 2015/2016". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  19. "Matteo RIZZO: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  20. "Matteo RIZZO: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
  21. "Competition Results: Matteo RIZZO". International Skating Union.
  22. "Matteo Rizzo". tracings.net.
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