“My only enemy is time!”

Samuel Costa is coming out of a hard year. After struggling with knee problems for years, he finally had to undergo surgery before the Olympic season, losing the Games in PyeongChang and the entire winter in the process. TUESDAY TALK caught up with the 25-year-old from Val Gardena and got all the updates on his knee and plans for the upcoming winter.

You had to sit the Olympic season out due to your knee injury. What is the status of the knee right now and will you be able to train normally when the summer training starts again?

Samuel Costa: My knee is very stable, there is only a little bit of liquid inside that means that I can only flex it until 95% of my full capacity. With the right training it should getting better so I should been able to train normally in a few weeks.

How did you spend the past season while not competing?

Costa: Until the end of 2017, I spent the most of the time on the sofa, in the swimming pool and in the rehabilitation clinic. After that I had a 2 week vacation in Sri Lanka.

Until now I have had a lot of physiotherapy and I want to thank my physical team (Comploi, Facchini and Friedl). Without their help it wouldn’t be easy for me to come back so fast on a good level.

I had also a week training with Martin Moser the boss of “Pedalo”and his training method helped me a lot to get coordination and power in my leg and knee back.

I am happy to have these people around because it was a really difficult situation for me.

What are you looking forward to most upon returning?

Costa: I missed  the feeling of ski jumping and competition the most. I am also looking forward to train again with my teammates at the training camps.

Maybe you’ve had a chance to look at the preliminary calendars for the next season. Which events are you most excited about?

Costa: I really like the calendar for the next year. The Lillehammer tour will be a hard weekend and I am happy that Chaux-Neuve takes the TRIPLE because I enjoy the atmosphere there. The World Championships in Seefeld are the event I am most excited about. My home town is on the border with Austria so I hope a lot of people will come to share this wonderful experience.

You have been on the podium in Seefeld before. With which kind of goals do you approach the upcoming championships?

Costa: Seefeld is not my favourite hill but it fits really my jumping technique really well. I was in Seefeld to watch the competition this season and the cross-country track seems pretty nice. Of course the main goal is to get on the podium. To be honest, this goal is quite far away now. The main goal for me is to become 100% healthy and when I archive this goal everything is possible. My only enemy is time.

How are you going to spend the rest of the “off-time” before summer training starts again?

Costa: A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to join him on a 10-day surfing trip in Portugal. So I took this opportunity to take a short “time-out”.