Julia Sauter

Julia Franziska Sauter (married name: Sauter-Czarnik; born 18 June 1997) is a German-born Romanian figure skater.

Sauter has expressed interest in becoming a full-time figure skating coach and choreographer after she retires from competitive figure skating.

Her figure skating role models are Kiira Korpi, Yuna Kim, Kaetlyn Osmond, Carolina Kostner, as well as her coach and choreographer, Roxana Hartmann.

Career Early years

Sauter began figure skating in 2002 at the age of four. Her childhood coaches were Diane Eisele and Silvia Jansson before Marius Negrea began coaching her in 2010 at the age of twelve. She then went on to win a gold medal at the 2023 Bellu Memorial. The result came as a shock and deep disappointment to her, as she felt she was well prepared for the competition.

2024–25 season

Sauter went to the United States to train during the summer. She also struggled to motivate herself after failing to make the free skate at the World Championships. Although her mental health improved by the end of the summer, she experienced severe inflammation in her shin in September and could not walk.

2025–26 season: Milano Cortina Olympics Sauter opened the season by finishing eleventh at the 2025 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. She then went on to place fifth at the 2025 Swiss Open and fourth at the 2025 Cup of Innsbruck. In December, she won gold at the 2025 Skate Fehervar. One month later, Sauter competed at the 2026 European Championships in Sheffield, England, United Kingdom, where she earned personal best free skate and combined total scores, finishing in eleventh place overall.

In February, Sauter made her Olympic debut. She placed sixteenth in both program segments and concluded the event in 17th overall. Sauter scored a personal best, and her placement was the highest thus far for a Romanian women's singles competitor at the Olympics. She credited her success to improving her mental training.

One month following the Olympics, Sauter competed at the 2026 World Championships. Before her short program, she experienced a panic attack, leading her to single her opening triple Lutz jump: "Before my short program, I had a panic attack. Suddenly, I didn’t know what was happening or where I was. But everything happens for a reason. I'm glad that I still qualified for the free skate." Following her free skate, she shared, "The Olympics were my high, and the last four weeks I really had to push myself through it. It was hard, and I'm really proud of what I achieved. I mean, I made it through to the final, that was the first goal." She finished in twenty-second place overall.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2025–2026