Karina Manta

Karina Manta (born March 20, 1996) is an American former competitive ice dancer.

Karina Manta
Manta and Joseph Johnson in 2018
Born	(1996-03-20) March 20, 1996 (age 28) Olympia, Washington
Hometown	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Discipline	Ice dance
Began skating	2002
Retired	April 18, 2019

Early life

Manta was born on March 20, 1996, in Olympia, Washington.^[1] She began figure skating in 2002.^[1]

Career

Manta previously competed in ice dance with Jonathan Thompson.^[1] Manta has partnered with ice dancer Joseph Johnson since 2013.^[1][2] The team is coached by Patti Gottwein in Colorado Springs.^[1] Manta and Johnson received their first Grand Prix assignment in 2018, competing at Skate America.^[3][4] They finished in 10th place with a total score of 139.33.^[2][5]

On April 18, 2019, Manta announced that she was stepping away from competitive figure skating. She and Johnson plan to move to Montreal in June and join Cirque du Soleil.^[6][7]

In 2020, it was announced that Manta would join the cast of ITV's Dancing On Ice. During the thirteenth series, she was a replacement partner for Graham Bell, whose original partner, fellow newcomer Yebin Mok, was injured during training. Bell and Manta were voted off during Week 3. Manta won the fourteenth series with Regan Gascoigne.

Personal life

As of 2018, Manta is a college student.^[1] In 2018, she came out as bisexual in a video accompanied by her girlfriend. This made her the first female figure skater competing on behalf of Team USA to come out.^[3]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating
2018–2019 ^[1]	Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona Alcoba Azul by Elliot Goldenthal choreo. by Trina Pratt, Ben Agosto	Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics performed by Emily Browning Sweet Dreams (are Made of This) by Eurythmics performed by Dave Stewart & His Fabulous Orchestra choreo. by Christopher Dean
2017–2018	Right Now by Pussycat Dolls Fireball by Pitbull	Your Song One Day I'll Fly Away by Elton John, Tony Phillips performed by Ewan McGregor, Nicole Kidman
2016–2017	Dream a Little Dream I Wanna Be Like You by Robbie Williams	Dream On by Aerosmith
2015–2016	March: The Love for Three Oranges Waltz: Cinderella by Sergei Prokofiev	Maple Leaf Rag Bethana The Entertainer by Scott Joplin

Competitive Highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

(with Joe Johnson)

International^[2]
Event	14–15	15–16	16–17	17–18	18–19
GP Skate America					10th
CS Autumn Classic		3rd
CS Nebelhorn				14th
CS US Classic			5th		5th
Lake Placid IDI			6th	5th
National
U.S. Champ.	10th J	7th	8th	9th	7th
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

References

1. "Biography". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
2. "Profile – Karina Manta & Joseph Johnson | ice-dance.com". www.ice-dance.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
3. "Karina Manta is Team USA's First Out Female Figure Skater". November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
4. "Welcome to U.S. Figure Skating". www.usfsa.org. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
5. "Entry/Resultlist". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
6. Johnson, Joe (April 18, 2019). "A retirement tweet pic.twitter.com/RDghJ2ooFQ". @JoeJohnsonIce (in French). Retrieved April 19, 2019.
7. circusrunaway (April 19, 2019). "Saying Goodbye". Circus Runaway. Retrieved April 19, 2019.