Samuel Contesti has decided to retire (Gazzetta dello Sport article)

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

And it also means that finally Parkinson is going to get the chance to compete at ISU championships.

I'm a bit surprised about Contesti, though. I must say, he did look out of place in the top 10 of Europeans and Worlds with the current amazing depth of talent; still, he was quite successful, entertaining and popular, plus definitely a lock for the Italian team.

[briancoogaert]

Not that he is very young. But I'm surprised.
And I'm still sad he didn't compete at 2006 Olympics for France.

[ioana]

It's always sad when someone is forced into retirement either by injury or lack of training conditions, instead of doing it on their own terms...Best of luck to him in the future!

[skatak]

I remember a French nationals several years ago, he faced a music problem in his program and did not cope with it well... shame because I notice he had a really nice skating (and probably already a good 3A). Shame that comp. because he ended so low when he could have been much higher, ...
anyway it was always nice to see him skate ! Au revoir Sam !

[kittyjake5]

Lots of Luck to Samuel! I always enjoyed his skating. Also, Congrats to him on becoming a father for the second time.

[bardtoob]

I really enjoyed his programs this last season. I could really feel the pride he felt in skating them, and ending his career in Nice was just right :'-)

[AusTechSpec]

This also means we'll have both Parkinson and Bacchini at Euros and Worlds ! Which also means Italy won't be at World Team Trophy this season.

Noticed parkinson was at Broadmoor Open,, not protocols but someone blogged the event here....

Paul Parkinson: 3A, 3A (both solid); 3Lz+2T+2Lo; 2 falls on 4S attempts.

wouldn't count him out just yet...