The incredible odyssey of Samuel Costa

It was a very difficult journey to China for Costa. A week ago he didn't even know whether he would be allowed to take part in the Olympics. A month ago he had Corona, with symptoms. He was there again at the last World Cup before the Olympics in Seefeld, but with practically no training. And shortly before leaving for China he was positive again. Something like this is very rare, it happened to him. Then it became a race against time. When it was negative again, he had to undergo a sports medical examination, the second in a few weeks. On Friday he was finally on the plane to Beijing, but on the way to the airport he wasn't sure he would be allowed to board. “I had problems with the app in which the health data has to be entered. “It was all pretty stressful,” says Costa. In Beijing, the odyssey was not yet over When we arrived in Beijing, the odyssey wasn't over yet. The first PCR test was invalid. Costa had to be quarantined for 24 hours. On Sunday he finally got on the hill. He did all 2 training jumps on the 3 training days he had left. “I hadn’t done a jump since Seefeld. The third jump was pretty decent on both days. “I’m hoping for one like that in the competition,” said Costa, who also trained on the cross-country ski trail yesterday. “All this stress wasn’t good for your head either.” Samuel Costa “It snowed, which is supposed to be a rarity here. It was minus 22 degrees, that's extremely cold, but the snow is actually ideal for me," said Costa, who doesn't set any goals given the circumstances and doesn't dare make any predictions: "You always hope that things go well. But I really have no idea what's in it for me. Jumping is almost like roulette for me. I lack training and confidence. All this stress wasn’t good for your head either.” Not a good season His results so far this season don't exactly give cause for much optimism. In the World Cup, a 24th place in Ramsau shortly before Christmas was his best result. “I invested a lot in jumping training during preparation. Cross-country skiing training may have been neglected. I also jumped well in the fall, but that didn’t work out so well in the World Cup.” Costa is the only South Tyrolean combiner at these games. Aaron Kostner was unable to qualify. Perhaps a diet that was supposed to make him more efficient had the opposite effect.

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The incredible odyssey of Samuel Costa

Samuel Costa is taking part in the Olympic individual competition on the large hill in the Nordic Combined today. For the Wolkensteiner, it almost feels like a victory that he can be there at all.

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