Matteo Rizzo returns from surgery and is on his way to his third gold finish in the event

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

Winner of the Budapest Trophy 2021 and 2022, the Italian scored a goal 84.77 points to place ahead of the event’s best-placed skater, the Swiss Luke Britschgiwho had previously directed the short program.

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

Skating too “Two men in love” from The irrepressible onesThe world’s best Italian skater delivered a clean program, including landing a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination and a triple Axel. Rizzo is now 1.85 points ahead of Britschgi before the free skate on Sunday.

While World No. 5 Britschgi failed to overtake Rizzo – just as he did in 2022, when he finished second to the Italian in the Budapest Trophy standings – he delivered an equally clean set of skates “Iron Sky” from Paolo Nutiniwhich earned him a solid 82.92 points.

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