Carolina Kostner

Italy's most decorated figure skater, the 2012 World Champion and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, who holds the record for most European Championship medals by a singles skater.

Carolina Kostner was born on 8 February 1987 in Bolzano, in Italy's Ladin-speaking South Tyrol region, to a family steeped in sport: her mother Patrizia was a nationally ranked skater and her father Erwin played ice hockey for Italy. She became the first Italian skater to medal at the World Junior Championships in 2003, and beat Michelle Kwan for World Championship bronze in Moscow in 2005. Kostner won her first European title in 2007 and went on to become the most decorated singles skater in European Championship history with 11 medals, including five titles. She reached the pinnacle of her career at the 2012 World Championships in Nice, becoming Italy's first-ever World champion in ladies' singles, before serving a 16-month ban in 2014-15 for admitting she had lied to anti-doping testers who came looking for her then-boyfriend, Olympic race walker Alex Schwazer. Despite the ban costing her two full seasons, Kostner returned to competition and continued winning European medals through 2018. Her crowning Olympic achievement came at the 2014 Sochi Games, where she won bronze to become Italy's first-ever Olympic medalist in ladies' singles figure skating, retiring after the 2018 World Championships and going on to become Technical Director of the Fiamme Azzurre sports group and a choreographer for skaters including 2026 world champion Yuma Kagiyama.

Fast, artistically refined skater renowned for speed across the ice and consistent triple-triple combinations, particularly the triple flip-triple toe loop

The most decorated figure skater in Italian history, celebrated for artistry and longevity across a career spanning four Olympic cycles

• 2012 World Champion
• 2014 Olympic Bronze Medal
• 5x European Champion, 11x European medalist (record)
• First Italian World Champion in ladies' singles