Carolina Kostner , an international ice skating star, was born in Bolzano on February 8, 1987.
Carolina started skating at the age of 4, thanks to her father, a hockey player and her mother, a former skater herself. Both parents were quite well known worldwide. The girl developed her artistic and sporting talent in Ortisei (in the province of Bolzano), her hometown.
When the track on which he trained collapsed in 1999, she decided to move to Oberstdorf, Germany, where she was followed by German coach Michael Huth.
For most of her sporting career, she split between Ortisei and Germany. In 2009 she spent a year in the United States of America, but she didn’t have a particularly positive experience and so she returned to his trusted coach, Huth.
Her first victories took place in 2002, and from that moment she began a successful career that developed in different specialties.
In early 2012, she won the Title of European Champion for the fourth time in her career and at the end of March 2012, in Nice, France, she became world champion and won her first gold.
Furthermore, in February 2014 Carolina Kostner fulfilled her greatest dream, winning a medal in Olympic Games. It was, indeed, during the XXII Winter Olympics, held in Sochi, that she achieved the bronze medal, thanks to an impeccable performance, free of mistakes or falls. The girl presented herself in her greatest physical and psychological shape, giving her best.
Unfortunately, however, his career was interrupted briefly by a rather unpleasant legal affair. Carolina’s former partner, march champion Alex Schwazer, was convicted of doping in November 2014. She became involved in the affair in January 2015, being accused of providing cover to Schwazer during his competitions. As a consequence, she was disqualified for one year and four months. Carolina Kostner pleaded innocent and announced that she would have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Following an agreement with Wada and Coni, however, the she managed to restart training earlier than expected and to take part again in competitions from January 2016.
Her return took place during the Medal Winners Open, an unofficial race in which participants enter only by invitation. She achieved second place.
In 2017 Kostner, in agreement with her coach Michael Huth, decided to move to St. Petersburg, where she’s preparing her real return to competitions under the guidance of Alexei Mishhin, a Guru of Russian Skating.
Carolina is currently part of the Fiamme Azzurre (Italian Penitentiary Police) Sports Group.
Some injuries and the lockdown period have allowed the athlete to think about her professional future, right now still uncertain. There are many hopes of the fans, first of all, to see her at the next Olympics.
Aurora Colasanto 3AL
