Samuel COSTA

Italy's Samuel Costa made his debut in the World Cup at his home competition in Val di Fiemme in 2012 but had already been part of the Italian team for one of the Individual Gundersen competitions of the World Championships in Oslo in 2011, which he finished on rank 47. He made his first Olympic experiences in Sochi in 2014, where he finished 30th.

Born in 1992, talented ski jumper Costa came into his own in the season of 2015/16 in which he finished on a strong 21st rank after constantly raking in Top 30 position during the season. This feat seemed even more astonishing as Costa came back from a knee surgery at the beginning of the winter and missed all competitions until Ramsau am Dachstein the last weekend before Christmas. With a seventh rank in Chaux-Neuve, he levelled up his career-best to a Top Ten rank.

In the winter of 2016/17, Costa's development continued. By now, Costa had ascended to the rank of team leader with teammate Alessandro Pittin not being able to rise to his level again. Not only did Costa claim a Team Sprint podium event at his home venue of Val di Fiemme, he also collected his first two individual podium positions on the first two days of the Nordic Combined TRIPLE in Seefeld. Costa finished on a 14th place in the overall rankings this year.

In his free time, Costa likes to spend time outside, hiking and climbing in the mountains, a passion he often shares with friend and fellow Nordic Combined athlete Johannes Rydzek from Germany.