Matteo Rizzo returns after surgery to put himself on track for a third gold result in the event

Matteo Rizzo rose to the top of the short program ISU Challenger Series Budapest Trophy 2024 on Friday (October 11) to extend his successful track record in the Challenger Series event.

The Italian was the winner of the Budapest Trophy in 2021 and 2022 and scored 84.77 points to give themselves an edge over the event’s highest-ranked skater, Switzerland’s Lucas Britschgiwho had led the short program until then.

Rizzo was the last to leave and felt the added pressure of competing for the first time since finishing third at the European Championships in January and undergoing hip surgery.

Skate to “Two Men in Love” Through The unstoppableThe world’s top-ranked Italian skater delivered a clean program, including landing a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination and a triple Axel. Rizzo now has a 1.85 point lead over Britschgi heading into Sunday’s free skate.

Although world number 5 Britschgi failed to overtake Rizzo – as he did in 2022 when he finished second behind the Italian in the Budapest Trophy overall rankings – he delivered an equally clean skate set to “Iron Air” Through Paolo Nutiniwhich earned him a solid 82.92 points.

Italian skaters have conquered the event since it opened in 2020. Rizzo missed last year’s event, where Britschgi also finished second overall behind Italian Nikolaj Memola.