Carolina Kostner is an Italian figure skater. She is the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, the 2012 World champion, a five-time European champion, and the 2011 Grand Prix Final champion. She is also a medalist at five other World Championships, six other European Championships, and three other Grand Prix Finals, the 2003 World Junior bronze medalist, and a nine-time Italian national champion. Kostner has won 11 medals at the European championships, most recently in 2018, and is the most decorated singles skater in the history of that competition.
Kostner in 2014
Kostner in 2004
Kostner performs at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships.
Kostner with coach Michael Huth in 2010
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance; the four individual disciplines are also combined into a team event, which was first included in the Winter Olympics in 2014. The non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating, Theater on Ice, and four skating. From intermediate through senior-level competition, skaters generally perform two programs, which, depending on the discipline, may include spins, jumps, moves in the field, lifts, throw jumps, death spirals, and other elements or moves.
Figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu (2019)
"Central Park, Winter: the Skating Pond", 1862 lithograph
Close-up of a figure skating blade, showing the toe picks, the hollow (groove) on the bottom of the blade, and screw attachment
Blade sharpening