Julia Sauter

Julia Franziska Sauter (married name: Sauter-Czarnik; born 18 June 1997) is a German-Romanian figure skater. Representing Romania, she has won twelve senior international medals as well as seven Romanian national titles. She has reached the final segment at two World and three European Championships, with a top-ten result at two European Championships.

Personal life
Sauter was born on June 18, 1997 in Weingarten, Württemberg, Germany. She is a dual citizen of Germany and Romania.

In 2019, while visiting the United States, she met and began dating American ice hockey player, Robbie Czarnik. Afterwards, Czarnik soon moved to Landshut, Germany to be with Sauter. They married in September 2021.

In addition to figure skating, Sauter also worked as a kids-aid in a school, a part-time waitress, and as a figure skating coach at her training rink in Ravensburg to pay for her figure skating due to a lack of funding from the Romanian Figure Skating Federation. In 2023, her club was able to provide her with funding, allowing her to quit her part-time jobs, although she continues to coach and choreograph at her rink.

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 choreographer, Roxana Luca.

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.

Sauter represented Germany at junior international events in 2010 and 2011.

She made the decision to represent Romania in 2011 at the age of fourteen due to not being invited to enter the elite group of figure skaters in Germany because at the time, she was unable to perform specific elements that were required of her. As a result, Sauter had to sit out of competitions for a whole year as is required when figure skaters switch countries. In March 2013, she made her first international appearance for Romania. She competed at three consecutive World Junior Championships, from 2014 to 2016, but never made the cut for the free skate.

2018–19 season
Sauter began the season at the 2018 Crystal Skate of Romania, winning the silver medal, fourteenth at the 2018 CS Alpen Trophy, and fifth at the 2018 Warsaw Cup.

At the 2019 European Championships in Minsk, Belarus, Sauter qualified to the final segment of an ISU Championship for the first time in her career. She went on to finish fourteenth overall.

Making her World Championship debut at the 2019 edition in Saitama, Japan, Sauter placed twenty-ninth in the short program and didn't advance to the free skate.

2019–20 season and 2020–21 season
Sauter left longtime coach, Marius Negrea after deciding to move to from Ravensburg to Landshut, where her newlywed husband was living. She did not compete during the 2019–20 season, which she later cited was due to a lack of motivation, having achieved her dream of finishing in the top 30 at a World Championships the previous season as well as an ankle injury that kept her off the ice for six weeks. She also missed the 2020–21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic preventing her from getting any ice time to train.

In October 2020, Sauter decided to return to return to coach, Marius Negrea and worked virtually with him until August 2021 when the ice rink in Ravensburg re-opened. Prior to that, Sauter trained in Atlanta, Georgia from April to July, where her husband's parents live, and worked with Negrea virtually.

2021–22 season
Making her return to competition at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, Sauter finished thirteenth. She went on to place twentieth at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, and third at the 2021 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur.

At the 2022 Romanian Championships, Sauter won her sixth national title. She then finished fourth at both the 2021 Skate Celje and the 2021 Santa Claus Cup.

Although assigned to compete at the 2022 European Championships, Sauter had to withdraw from the event after testing positive for COVID-19. She then went on to win bronze at both 2022 Skate Helena and the 2022 Dragon Trophy.

Competing at the World Championships for the second time in her career, in Montpellier, France, Sauter qualified for the free skate after placing nineteenth in the short program. She came eighteenth in the free skate, moving up to eighteenth place overall.

2022–23 season
Sauter began the season by finishing eighth at the 2022 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur and winning silver at the 2022 Crystal Skate of Romania. She was invited to her first Grand Prix event, the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy, where she placed tenth. She then won silver medals at the 2023 Bosphorus Cup and 2023 EduSport Trophy. At the EduSport Trophy, Sauter landed her first ever triple lutz in competition at the age of twenty-five.

At the 2023 European Championships in Espoo, Finland, Sauter achieved a top ten finish for Romania, which for the first time would allow two Romanian woman to enter the next year. She then went on to win a gold medal at the 2023 Bellu Memorial.

Sauter started a GoFundMe to pay for the travel expenses to go to the 2023 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. At the World Championships, Sauter placed twenty-second in the short program and twentieth in the free skate, finishing twentieth overall.

2023–24 season
In her first competition of the season, Sauter was sixth at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial. She appeared at three other minor internationals, including a second consecutive silver medal at the EduSport Trophy. Sauter was ill before the 2024 European Championships and was only able to resume training two weeks beforehand. She came ninth overall. This was the best result ever for a Romanian women's representative at the European Championships. Sauter said of her result that "It feels pretty good to have made the Top 10 again." and that she was pleased to be competing at the Championships with another Romanian woman.

At the 2024 World Championships, Sauter came in 27th place with mistakes on two of her jumping passes in the short program, and she did not make the free skate.

Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results
Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.