“My Olympic season has already started”. Interview with Matteo Rizzo

“ – I’m not going to Worlds.
– You’re not going to Worlds…?!”

What does this mean, you ask?

It means that we hadn’t properly done our homework before interviewing Matteo Rizzo at 2025 Bellu Memorial in Bucharest, this February.

It also means that we actually didn’t feel the need to do it. In our mind, it was certain that Matteo would go to Worlds in Boston, looking to qualify Olympic spots for the Olympics on home soil next year, in Milano-Cortina.

But the thing is: this was not a regular pre-Olympic season for Italy’s Matteo Rizzo.

It was, in fact, his comeback season after a major surgery, one year ago – a surgery that forced him to stay off the ice for a couple of months (a long and painful rehabilitation included), then restart skating anew (only gliding and doing crossovers for a while, “but not backward crossovers!”), then regain some of his jumps, then alarmingly lose some of his jumps (“I feel like the triple Axel is my jump and I was not able to do it anymore”), be struck with all kinds of emotions in the process (happiness, enthusiasm when he returned, doubts, questioning, frustration when things didn’t go as planned), then come back to competitive arena nine full months after the surgery, at CS Budapest Trophy last October, and meet there competitors who “were pushing a lot” (Matteo smiles – he’s talking about Lukas).

And Italian Nationals in December were Matteo’s only fourth competition after the surgery, after a particular off-season, so he might have not been ready yet for a confrontation with his teammates, “we’re like five very competitive”.

“And you cannot change the Nationals’ score, and, unfortunately, Nationals was one of those competitions where I really didn’t skate the free, I lost 40 points compared to them, and I cannot catch up or change that in any way”.

So Matteo (kind of) knew he was not going to make the team for Worlds, but he received the email with the official selection “30 minutes before doing the free here, in Bucharest… We knew already, but they sent us the official decision just now”.

He simply says: “I feel like… There can be better moments to get this email”.

And then he moves on – he has moved on already. And he almost sees not going to Worlds as a blessing in disguise: he simply has more time to prepare.

“I think it will actually help me a lot on stabilizing the programs, because I really want to work. I’ve been working a lot on the quads, I can do Toe loop again, and with the Loop the percentage is going high, and then I have all summer to really work on my choreography”.

But not just that: eyes on the Olympics, he has already included three quads in his long program, a layout that he tried for the first time in Bucharest, at 2025 Bellu Memorial.

“I’m trying to do three quads [in the free] because I want to be at the Olympics”.

Challenging as this may be, he is determined to make it happen. He then adds with a smile, a serious smile: “After the surgery, nothing can stop me”.

***

Interview by Florentina Tone / Bucharest

***

I’m talking to Matteo minutes after his free skate at 2025 Bellu Memorial, on February 22nd, at Berceni Arena, the new rink in Bucharest.

[He’s been to Romania once before, at Crystal Skate in Brasov, with his dad, but he doesn’t remember much, “I was little”. We check that for him: he was indeed at Crystal Skate as a junior, in 2012 – he was 13 at the time and finished on the 6th place.]

We find a quieter place for our interview, in a cubicle above the ice, while on the ice senior women have already started their free skate – their music, their intros and their scores are the actual background of our conversation.

Short sentences, almost in a staccato rhythm, yet thorough and very analytical, Matteo tackles all moments of the year that passed.

***

Florentina Tone: Matteo, this time last year you were having a big surgery on your hip, missing the World Championships altogether and starting rehabilitation – I’d like to come back to that moment because it feels important, decisive even, for where you are now. Was Milano Olympics on sight when you decided you would get the surgery, you know, to be in the best physical shape possible, or was it something inevitable if you wanted to continue your competitive career?

Matteo Rizzo: I needed to do it in order to continue to do sport, not to be competitive – even to do sport.

So it was 100% necessary.

You knew you needed the surgery at a certain point [No, no!, Matteo’s answer comes fast], or was it something that you discovered during a check-up?

We discovered it in early December 2023. That’s why I didn’t do Nationals that year, because I was going [to all these exams], with all the doctors, to check what I should do.

And then I asked the doctors if I had the possibility to compete one more time, because [2024] Europeans were in just 4 weeks. And they told me: Yes, but you have to reduce the load of work.

And I couldn’t do the Loop jump anymore – so just the triple, not the quad. And I couldn’t do a full free program either, they told me it’s better not to until the competition. I had to take painkillers every day and they said: After the competition, you have to come back and get the surgery if you want to continue with sport [Matteo emphasizes].

That was the situation, so of course I said Yes. And it was actually a good moment after 2024 Europeans, after the bronze medal, to get the surgery.

And from there it started all the rehabilitation. It was quite long.

But did you expect to get a bronze medal at the Europeans under these circumstances?

Well, of course, I was not trained to be, like, in Top 3 – I was not. I knew that I could do okay in the short, but then I actually popped the quad, so it was a big, big mistake for me.

And in the free, I knew it was going to be hard to go until the end, because I hadn’t done a full free since the end of November…

Your run through was actually at the Europeans…

Yeah. So I just tried to do everything in the free step by step. And until the last jump was all okay, I just fell in the last triple Axel.

But it was still a very good program. And I knew it was not enough for a medal, but I knew for sure it would be enough to be like Top 5, because I knew the situation, about the competition.

But then, you know, everything can happen in our competition, like today for me here. [At Bellu Memorial in Bucharest, Matteo tried a three-quad layout in the free skate for the first time in competition, but things didn’t go quite according to plan and he only scored 146.52 points.]

So, of course, at Europeans it was a big result, big emotions for me.

I mean, I knew I was going to have a surgery, but with the medal it was easier to do it [smiling].

“WHEN I STARTED THE REHABILITATION I WAS NOT EVEN ABLE TO LIFT MY LEG – NOT EVEN ONE CENTIMETER”

You mentioned the rehabilitation was long, how did you handle it? And were there any moments when you felt it was difficult to come back to your old competitive self?

I did the surgery on January 22nd [2024]. And then I was home for 5 weeks with a machine that was moving my leg. But I couldn’t walk without crutches.

After 5 weeks, I went to Rome, to the Olympic Training Center, for another 10 weeks. So until beginning of April, middle of April, I was in Rome doing rehabilitation.

Every day?

From Monday to Friday, 7 hours a day. And on Saturday, I was taking the train to go back home. And then on Sunday night, I would go back to Rome. So yes…

It wasn’t easy.

No, it was not easy, but I knew there were good people there for me. And the Olympic Committee was giving me a lot of support there. So I’m really grateful for this.

And when I started the rehabilitation I was not even able to lift my leg. Like, not even one centimeter. And it was very painful when it was lifted also.

So, of course, in the first part, I was doubting a lot. But I had to trust the process, I had to trust the physiotherapist.

I went back home in the middle of April and I was jumping a little bit on the ground and running, like, softly running.

But when did you step on the ice for the first time again?

After the surgery, I think it was after three months at least. More or less.

[He starts counting the months in Italian: Febbraio, Marzo, Aprile…], more than three months.

No stepping on the ice at all before that?

No, no. I was in Rome. No ice.

I could not, because I was doing 7 hours a day of rehabilitation. And [even when I came back] I could not jump for another month and a half at least.

“MY BODY WAS TIMING MY SKATING”. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND

But how is it when you step back on the ice after a major surgery? Is it like you never skated before and need to start from scratch, or how is it?

It was half this because during the surgery they also fixed a little bit the position of my right leg, so they closed the rotation [the angle].

So I had to change the balance of my right leg completely.

And when I went back on the ice, I realized I had to move the blade from the original position and I had to re-adapt all my body to the new position of the leg first.

And then all the muscles were changing because the position of the leg was different.

And how did you handle this emotionally? I can imagine it was quite frustrating, to say the least…

At the beginning, I was very happy to go back on the ice, so there was no frustration. Even if I was not jumping and, I remember, I couldn’t even do turns because, on the turns, I was twisting on my hip and I could not.

So for like two-three weeks, just gliding.

Crossovers?

Yeah. But not backwards! [smiling]

And then, when I started jumping, I was very happy, so, again, there was no frustration. And I started by doing all the single jumps, all the double jumps for like two-three weeks. And then I remember that I texted…

I tried to do a few triples, like Toe loop especially, and the double Axel. But I texted the doctor and I told him: I’m getting back to the jumps. He said: Okay, you’re doing very good, but remember, your body is not ready yet.

Because when they fixed my hip and the bones, they had to cut a little part of a bone… And, after that, it was bleeding, it had to close again, and it takes like several weeks to do that.

So it’s just like my body was timing my skating. Not the skating was timing my body, you know.

“I FEEL LIKE THE TRIPLE AXEL IS MY JUMP AND I WAS NOT ABLE TO DO IT ANYMORE”

And you just took everything step by step, with single jumps, doubles… When did you get your triples back?

I think it was late May. Not all triples in one week, but two or three weeks again, and then the Axel.

I think the order was Toe loop, Salchow, then… I think I did Flip, Lutz and then Loop, I can check on my phone, I’m not very sure. But even with that, there was no frustration, because I was back on the ice.

I think it was like late May when I did the triple Axel one day.

But it was only for two days that I had it.

And then it disappeared?

Yes… Anyway, the rehabilitation was never over. Even now, it’s never over. Because, as I said, I had to change the position of the leg, the muscle had to change the automatism – and it’s a very long process.

And every day, after practice, I was with my off-ice coaches and they were doing massage and hip mobility with their arms, they were helping me a lot.

And this mobility routine, we are still doing it, but just a few times a week, whereas before it was every day until September.

Basically all off-season…

Yes. And then, from June, July, August, I started to get frustrated. Because I realized I couldn’t do a triple Axel anymore.

I feel like the triple Axel is my jump, and I was not able to do it anymore.

And then I also realized that I was not able to do the Toe loop anymore. I remember I was always reporting this to my coaches, like I have pain when I pass [the weight on] the right leg, and I feel like I have no power.

And I spoke to the doctors, and the thing is, my right abductor muscle is now shorter by 2 cm after the surgery, with the new position.

So that’s why, when I started the season, in late October, and until [2025] Europeans, I only had quad Loop, and not quad Toe, because I couldn’t do the quad Toe.

And when did the quad Toe return?

In January, before Europeans.

“WE REALIZED THIS IS JUST MY SIXTH COMPETITION, AND IT’S THE END OF THE SEASON”

Matteo, lead me a bit into the preparation for this season, the pre-Olympic season. Given the fact that you still needed to do rehabilitation, how did that go, what was your focus? How did you and your team look at things?

[Smiling – a rare smile from Matteo, he’s a very serious interviewee and the topic is even more serious:] It’s actually very difficult to be objective in this.

Because we started the season by saying: Ok, we haven’t done the preparation we needed to do in the summer, so we will not be ready in the first part of the season, as we want to be.

When I say we, it’s my team. So we knew it.

But, of course, when you go to the competition you always try to do the best. And my first competition was Budapest Trophy, in late October, nine months after the surgery.

How is it to come back after nine months? Because it’s a long break.

It actually felt like never leaving, but I was away for a long time, that’s true, I was not competing for almost a year.

And in Budapest there was Lukas [Britschgi], so I knew the guys were pushing, they were pushing a lot [smiling again]. So I just tried to do my best – and it was by far the best competition of the season for me right now.

But still, I was not doing the [quad] Toe, and the Loop was not there, it was two-footed and for sure under rotated. I also moved one triple Axel in the first half of the free, because I could not do two Axels in the second half.

And then, going through the season, in the Grand Prix, of course I wanted to do something good… but we realized later that we needed more time.

And even now, at this competition [Bellu Memorial], it’s late February, and I’m actually trying to put the level higher for next season. I don’t care about this season anymore, I just care about the next one.

So we’re trying to put the technical level high, with two quads in the short and three quads in the free – even though the first one here didn’t go in, and I popped the third one, which is a shame.

But we realized: this is just my 6th competition, and it’s the end of the season.

So I need to compete more in order to have more stable competitions, because it’s hard to have good results in big events if you don’t compete so often.

Practices are going very well now, but still: it’s the end of the season, I should be in this shape in like November.

The way I see it, this was more like a comeback season for you, not so much the usual pre-Olympic one…

Yeah, if we were to analyze the season, this has to be a comeback season, because I was very late in the preparation, I could not actually expect more than what I did.

But for me as an athlete it’s very frustrating to not achieve the results that I want.

Because, of course, here [in Bucharest] I was planning three quads, and I know at home I can do three quads in the free. It’s just that something didn’t turn, but I know it’s the lack of competition.

“IN THE OLYMPIC SEASON EVERY COMPETITION WILL BE WITH TWO QUADS IN THE SHORT AND THREE QUADS IN THE FREE”

Listen, when I first saw your name on the roster of Bellu Memorial, I thought maybe you don’t have the minimum for Worlds or something, which of course was not the case – but how come that you came to Bucharest for this competition instead of going, let’s say, to Road to 26 Trophy on home soil?

It would have been an honor for me to participate in Road to Milano Cortina Trophy, but I was the second substitute from Italy, not the first one. So when someone withdrew from competition, Corey Circelli went in.

But you needed to have games in your feet, as they say…

Yeah [smiling], so I found this competition, and then I will go in two weeks in Oslo to do another one [Sonja Henie Trophy], because I want to compete and I want to do three quads in the free.

Because two quads in the short… I did all past season with two quads in the short, I’m kind of used to it, it was already the second season with two quads.

But I tried three quads in the free in competition for the first time today.

And it’s always an icebreaker when you want to do something – I feel like my Olympic season just started.

Oh, so that’s the way you see it…

Yeah, because I missed half of this one, so I can just put it back for the next one.

And doing two competitions this season already with three quads in the free, or actually with the mentality of going for three quads, it will help me for the next season.

Because in the Olympic season every competition will be with two quads in the short and three quads in the free.

“THIS IS THE PROCESS – AND I REALLY TRUST THE PROCESS”

Even if we are at the end of the season I’d like for us to talk about your programs a bit: you started with the set of programs from last season, then you changed the free before Europeans… How were those decisions made?

Basically, last season I was very much struggling on the short, and I was going very well on the free.

This season is exactly the opposite, and that was actually the goal for the short: to be stable in the short program.

Like: this season, I don’t have the 100% numbers, but my average is about 85 to 86 points in the short, which in six competitions for me is very good, because last season I think it was like 72, something like this. It was very low.

And I wanted to do the first part of the season with the old free program… But, since the beginning, I felt I was struggling with something.

So I realized I could change the program after Nationals, and at Europeans I did a new program, one that didn’t work in competition, but in practice it’s very nice.

Also here it’s a shame that it didn’t work, but from inside I enjoyed it, I really enjoyed it.

I wanted to ask you about this free program in particular, to “Miserere”, sang by Zucchero and Luciano Pavarotti, and choreographed by Luca Lanotte – how was the music chosen? Did Luca suggest it, or did you?

I actually asked Luca to choreograph this program because this is a music I wanted to do since a few years, and I really feel it.

And it’s a shame that our sport is a little bit complicated, with the scores, because I know this program is very good, but I also realized that if I don’t do the jumps, it doesn’t work.

But it’s very normal, because clean programs, even if they are not the best ones in the choreography, they can be! And my program, I know it has a very good part in the choreography, and also the last part I really enjoy, but I feel that without the jumps it cannot be high…

But this is the process, I really trust the process, and, once again, for me to put three quads in the free, at 26 years old [smiling], which right now in figure skating I’m getting old, and after the surgery, it’s very challenging.

I said it on my Instagram, this was a challenging weekend because of the three quads in the free…

…plus two in the short equals five.

Yeah, yeah – so for sure it’s gonna be a nice moment when I go back home, I can practice a little bit more, and then in Oslo I will try again the same thing: to lift a little bit more the short program points, and deliver the free program like I do in practice.

[At Sonja Henie Trophy in Oslo, 6-9 March, 2025, Matteo Rizzo was only surpassed by Adam Siao Him Fa. Matteo scored 76.75 points in the short and 166.32 points in the free.]

“AFTER THE SURGERY NOTHING CAN STOP ME”

Okay, going into Boston, going into…

I’m not going to Worlds.

[Really surprised] You’re not going to Worlds?

No.

You’re a substitute for Worlds?

Yes.

…I didn’t do my homework apparently – I was like: it goes without saying that Matteo is going to Worlds.

No, it was quite funny, because I received the email 30 minutes before doing the free, so…

Here?

Yes.

Okay…

Yeah, so the Italian Federation just sent us the email. We knew already, of course, but they sent us the official decision just now.

And who is going to Boston?

Nikolaj and Daniel. We have a national ranking based on the season, by the three best competitions, one has to be in the second half of the season, and Nationals.

And you cannot change the Nationals score, and, unfortunately, Nationals was one of those competitions where I really didn’t skate the free, I lost 40 points compared to them, and I cannot catch up or change that in any way.

So you knew it, but the confirmation came…

Just today.

And you needed to adjust, I assume, or because it was something that you expected…

I feel like… There can be better moments to get this email… [Saying it again:] There are better moments to receive those emails.

But I really wish them good luck, because it’s an important World Championships.

Let’s say the pressure is not on you…

No. Usually it was always on me…

And it can give you a bit of…

I think it will actually help me a lot on stabilizing the programs, because I really want to work.

I’ve been working a lot on the quads, I can do Toe loop again, and with the Loop the percentage is going high, so we are working on that first.

And then I have all summer to really work on my choreography.

I will change my short program for the Olympic season, but I will keep this free program and have time to work on details.

Some people like to keep a secret of their Olympic programs until quite late…

[Decided:] No, no, this will be my free program.

And, for sure, I will change the short and I will ask Massimo Scali to do it.

But I will decide it after the season ends, I still have time.

So in two weeks’ time, you’re actually finishing this season – that’s why you said your Olympic season has already started.

Yeah, I feel like it started already, because, as I said, I want to do the Olympic season with the three quads in the free.

And if I were to start that in September, three quads in the free, I know it can be hard.

I prefer to do it now, and then start the season already with a feeling of having three quads in the free. Or, maybe, if I can jump another quad during the summer, four quads in the free.

Quite determined, I’d say.

[Serious smile] Yeah, after the surgery, nothing can stop me.

“WHAT WE ALL NEED TO REALIZE: UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2025 IT’S A TEAMWORK”

That brings me to my next question: Olympics on home soil is maybe the dream of every athlete, but not all athletes are lucky to experience that during their competitive years. So, one year ahead, how do you look at 2026 Milano-Cortina? Do you feel thrilled about it, ecstatic about it, scared about it?

No, no – I’m really looking forward, because I feel it’s going to be an amazing event and a big opportunity for our country to show how good we are and how beautiful it is.

And that’s why I really care about next season, and I’m already starting in February 2025 – because Olympics are in one year, and one year can be a lot, but it’s not.

And for sure it’s going to be challenging. First, because…

You need to have the spots, ideally three spots…

We hope to get two spots at least after Worlds.

Afterwards, we might have three, because the possibilities are there, but we always have to get those. And even if we get three spots, one then has to go to Beijing to confirm the third spot.

So I think what all the athletes and the Federation need to realize, from my point of view, is that until September 2025 it’s a teamwork.

It’s not individual, because at these World Championships one can take a medal and think for himself, but it’s not the case, because if one takes the medal and the other one is out, we don’t have three spots.

So that’s why I’m saying we really need to think as a team, to get as many spots as we can, to get more comfortable for next season.

It’s also very nice that in Italy now we have a big competition between us – this is also very challenging. It’s not that you are alone and then you know for sure you’re going to the Olympics if you have the spots and you qualify.

It can be that we take three spots and three other guys are going.

What are you hoping? I mean, I know it’s a teamwork until a point but then…

I hope we really work as a team until there.

But from there, of course, it will be individual to get everybody their own spot.

It goes without saying that you want to go.

[In a heartbeat:] Oh, of course, yeah! I’m trying to do three quads [in the free] because I want to be there, yes.

And I feel… uncomfortable a little bit, because the decision of who’s going will be made only in December 2025.

Very late.

Very late.

Two months before. No, less than that: one month and…

[In a heartbeat again:] One month and ten days.

You know it for sure: one month and ten days.

Yeah, so it’s nothing! It’s very nothing and it’s very late also.

And for us it’s quite complicated also to work outside the arena, for sponsorship or stuff, because it’s very late.

I would like to have more time if I’m going, but I know this is the rule of our Federation. But I’m saying this because in other sports, not in figure skating, it’s different.

Like: you can know 6 months in advance already, or even one year. But this is our sport.

You have to really deliver one month before the start of the Olympics.

Yeah, it feels like it’s more important to go to the Olympics than what you do at the Olympics. This is the…

…paradox.

Exactly. Because you can work very hard and be very in shape in December. But then it’s not very easy to keep the shape until February 6th.

This is my point of view – but, of course, I always respect everything.

And the fact that I’m here, in a competition that I never did in my life, which is very nice, because the arena is very nice and the environment is very nice – this is the proof that I really respect everything.

I respect the system and I want to try my best to be there with my power and my team.

“THE TECHNICAL PART IS GROWING A LOT, BUT WE ARE ACTUALLY LOSING THE SKATING PART”

Matteo, there’s something else I want to ask you – how do you see the men’s competition at the moment?

In the world? So, in the US, there is Ilia, who is very strong, very solid, he has a lot of points in the technical part.

Then we never know with Jason, because as soon as he gets in shape, Jason is an amazing skater. And I really feel that he can make a difference in figure skating, because we kind of losing that part.

The technical part is growing a lot, but we are, actually, to be objective, losing the figure skating part, the skating itself…

And Jason is one of those skaters that when you look at him…

He’s keeping the torch.

Exactly.

Then, going back to Asia, there is Yuma, of course.

But all the next seven skaters in Japan… This season is actually a surprise for me, because it’s the first time that they are not in super shape, but they all are capable of going over 280 points.

Everybody of those seven, they did it already.

Then we have, of course, Mikhail, who is going very strong right now. I’m very happy for him, he’s a very young and talented guy. [Mikhail Shaidorov had just won Four Continents, Matteo is aware of the results]

And I’m for sure missing someone… [He’ll keep saying that, he really wants to mention all top skaters]

In Europe?

And then in Europe, we have a strong field compared to other years. Yeah, because it’s Lukas, it’s Kevin, it’s Adam, it’s Nika, Selevko brothers also…

I’m not mentioning the Italians, we talked about it already – we are like five, very competitive.

I’m missing somebody for sure, and I don’t want to forget anyone – but I think Top 15 in the world… Wait, Top 2 or 3 are very high, but then from 4 to 15… You can be 15 with 250 points.

I remember I checked, in 2018, when I did my first Olympic Games, I did 232 points and I was 21st.

But Olympic Games are something different…

About that: having gone already to the Olympics, do you feel more comfortable with the idea, not as pressured? [Yeah.] Because, like you said, the Olympics are something different…

So I did the first Olympics as a young guy, as a young skater, and I skated the best I could there, and I was very happy. We got 4th as a team and I was 21st, but with my personal best.

Of course I was looking for something else in the 2022 Olympics, but I was coming from a very hard season in the summer: I had gone to Egna, I went back to Bergamo, it was a difficult moment in my private life also… Then in my family time, it was a hard moment for me.

And the Olympics went actually better than I thought.

The way I see it, it was a difficult Olympics anyway.

Yes, with COVID and everything.

And then I was struggling a lot, I remember, for the Team event, because I was warming up, I had to do the free and I was warming up – but then we didn’t qualify, so I had to stop the warm up.

And that gave me a headache for two days because I never did that in my life, to be ready and not compete – I was in shock [short laugh]. So, yeah.

But for the next one, also for the Team event, we’re really looking forward to whoever is going, because we know we have possibilities for a medal. The Federation is working hard to help us, the president of the Federation especially, and I’m really grateful to him.

And the individual [event] will be something I will enjoy even more.

A lot of people will enjoy more this edition of the Olympics as a whole… Thank you, Matteo.

Thank you and I’m sorry if I speak too much [smiling].

Oh, not a problem – quite the opposite: we aim to have in-depth stories on Inside Skating, it’s the thing that we love the most, so thank you for taking the time to talk to us in details.

***

[Story and interview by Florentina Tone
Photos by Alberto Ponti at 2024 Europeans and 2025 Europeans
Other photos by Wilma Alberti at 2024 Europeans
and Florentina Tone at 2025 Bellu Memorial]

KNOW MORE:

Europe, embrace your new talent: Italy’s Matteo Rizzo

Matteo Rizzo: “The goal has to be high — if not, you’re not going to improve”