Sara Conti (born 2 August 2000) is an Italian pair skater. With her skating partner, Niccolò Macii, she is the 2023 World bronze medalist, the 2023 European champion, a two-time ISU Grand Prix Final medalist, five-time ISU Grand Prix medalist, and the 2023 Italian national champion. They are the first (and to date, only) Italian pair to medal at the World Championships and to win gold at the European Championships.
Personal life
Conti was born on August 2, 2000, in Alzano Lombardo, Italy.[1] Her father passed away from COVID in 2020 during the pandemic's initial onset.[2]
She began dating her pair partner, Niccolò Macii, in 2018 before amicably splitting in 2023.[3][4][5][6]
In 2019, it was announced that Conti had teamed up with Niccolò Macii to pursue pairs skating.[7]
2019–20 season
Conti/Macii debuted at the 2019 IceLab International Cup, where they placed fifth. They went on to compete at the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup and the 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, finishing fifteenth and thirteenth, respectively.[8]
Given two assignments on the Grand Prix, Conti/Macii won the bronze medal at 2022 Skate Canada International, their first Grand Prix medal, which he called "like a dream." They finished second in the free skate, and came within 0.30 points of silver medalists Chan/Howe.[11] At their second assignment, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy, Conti/Macci won the silver medal despite having to abort their final lift in the free skate. He said afterward "the last lift angers us, because we can do it so easily," while adding they were "happy with our result."[12] These placements ultimately earned them a berth at the 2022–23 Grand Prix Final, held on home ice in Turin.[13] At the Final, Conti/Macii placed fourth in the short program, 2.24 points back of Canadians Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps in third.[13] With a new personal best of 119.72 in the free skate they rose to third overall, taking the bronze medal over the Canadians by less than three points. Macci remarked afterward that "let's say we're still somehow outsiders who are getting almost too many results. But we're extremely happy about this result that we didn't expect it at all."[10]
Shortly after the Final, the duo won their first national title at the 2023 Italian Championships.[8] At the 2023 European Championships in Espoo, Finland, Conti/Macii won the short program and placed second in the free skate, ultimately winning the gold medal. They became the first Italian pair team to ever win a European title.[14][15] Conti/Macii then went on to compete at the 2023 International Challenge Cup, where they won the gold medal.[8]
At the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, Conti/Macii placed third in both the short program and free skate, ultimately winning the bronze medal. Conti/Macii became the first Italian pair team to ever medal at a World Championships, which she said made them "very proud of what we were able to achieve in a patriotic kind of way."[16] Conti/Macii then joined Team Italy at the 2023 World Team Trophy, where they placed fourth in the short program and third in the free skate. Team Italy finished fourth overall.[17][18]
During the off-season, Conti/Macii selected the song, "Intermezzo sinfonico," which was Macii's grandparents' wedding song and served as a tribute to his late grandfather, who had passed away in 2022.[3][19][20]
They would begin the season by winning the gold medal at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy.[8] On the Grand Prix, they entered the 2023 Grand Prix de France as the title favourites, but placed narrowly second in the short program after Conti stepped out of their throw landing.[21] In the free skate, Conti had another throw stepout, as well as one on her jump sequence attempt. The team placed second in that segment as well, finishing with the silver medal, 5.21 points behind gold medalists Pereira/Michaud of Canada. Conti said afterward that they were "so happy with our free skating," stating "we are a top couple and we have to stay here. We want to improve our program and will be ready for our next Grand Prix. We know we can do much better."[22] At their second event, the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo, they repeated the short program throw error from France and came second again in the segment. They were third in the free skate after Macii fell on a jump, but remained second overall.[23]
Competing at the 2023–24 Grand Prix Final in Beijing, Conti/Macii skated a clean short program to place third in the segment. They won the free skate, but finished second overall, 0.55 points behind gold medalists Hase/Volodin of Germany. Conti declared of the result that they were "so happy. Finally. Our season starts right now! The two months before were preparation, now we have arrived!"[24]
Conti suffered from a bad flu in the days before the Italian championships, and as a result the team withdrew.[25] They next appeared at the 2024 European Championships, where struggles in both programs saw them come sixth.[26] Conti/Macii next won gold at the International Challenge Cup for the second consecutive year.[8]
Prior to the 2024 World Championships, Conti/Macii made the decision to go back to their "Oblivion (Una sombra más)" short program that they had used the previous three seasons.[27] Going on to compete at those championships in Montreal, Conti/Macii came third in the short program with a clean skate and a season's best score of 72.88. They were 0.65 points back of Japan's Miura/Kihara in second, and 0.78 ahead of Hase/Volodin in fourth. Conti effused that "finally, we had a really good short program!" They struggled with numerous errors in the free skate, coming sixth in that segment and dropping to sixth place overall. Conti called it "disappointing, but it's a competition."[28]
2024–25 season
Going into the season, Conti/Macii selected the song, "Papa, Can You Hear Me?", for their free program in dedication of Conti's late father.[2]
