Athlete of the Week – Skater Julia Sauter
Good results for the Romanian representative at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield.
Florin Orban, 20.01.2026, 13:45
The European Figure Skating Championships have been recently held in Sheffield, England. Romania was represented in the women’s individual competition by the German-born Julia Sauter, one of the most valuable European skaters. Julia was 11th in the overall ranking. After a modest performance in the short program, in which she ranked 18th, the Romanian athlete of German origin fared much better in the free program, where she ranked sixth. Her excellent performance on the last day of the women’s individual competitions gives us hope for a good result at the Olympic Games scheduled soon in Italy.
Julia Sauter was born in Germany, in Weingarten, Baden-Württemberg, on June 18, 1997. She is registered with the Corona Braşov club. As a junior, she competed for Germany. At her first participation in a European senior championship, in 2015, in Stockholm, Julia Sauter ranked 35th. In 2016, in Bratislava, she finished 27th, then, in 2017, in Ostrava, 25th. In 2019, in Minsk, she passed the short program phase, and after the free program she finished the competition in 14th place. She has progressed from year to year, now reaching close to the contenders for the European podium. Last year, at the continental championships held in Tallinn, Estonia, after the short program, she ranked 8th. In the free program, she obtained the 10th mark of the competition, and the total ultimately took her to 7th place. It was the best Romanian result ever at a European figure skating championship.
In March of last year, she obtained Romania’s first ticket for the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo. She ranked 19th in the women’s individual event at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, and entering the top 24 offered Romania a place in the Olympic competition. She was sure that she would occupy it herself only after, in October last year, she obtained Romanian citizenship, a necessary condition for participating in the Games for Romania. (EE)