Samantha Cesario

Samantha Cesario (born August 21, 1993) is an American former competitive figure skater. She won three bronze medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and placed 4th at the 2013 World Junior Championships. On the senior level, she won bronze at the 2013 U.S. Classic and silver at the 2014 Finlandia Trophy.

Samantha Cesario
Cesario at Bompard 2013.
Born	(1993-08-21) August 21, 1993 (age 30) Rockville Centre, New York
Hometown	Oceanside, New York
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Skating club	SC of New York
Began skating	1999
Retired	May 11, 2015

Personal life

Samantha Cesario was born on August 21, 1993, in Rockville Centre, New York.^[1] Her mother, Joanne, is an elementary school monitor.^[2] She grew up in Oceanside, New York, and graduated from Oceanside High School in 2011.^[3] Deciding to focus on skating, she turned down a scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Technology.^[2]

In June 2019, Cesario married her partner of 9 years,^[4] Jesse Kramer.^[5] In August of 2021, Cesario and Kramer announced they were expecting their first child.^[6] On December 18, 2021, Cesario gave birth to a daughter named Whitney Jane.^[7]

Career

Cesario began skating when she was six years old.^[3] She was coached by Mary Lynn Gelderman from the age of eight until the end of her career.^[8][9]

Cesario made her international debut in 2010 when she won the 2010 Gardena Spring Trophy on the junior level. The following season, she made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut, competing at the JGP in Romania where she placed 4th. After winning 2011 Eastern Sectionals she withdrew from the 2011 U.S. Championships due to a back injury.^[10][11] She spent eight weeks in a hard cast. She was later diagnosed with an arthritic facet joint and was administered a cortisone shot to be able to train full run-throughs.^[12]

Cesario made her comeback in the 2011–12 season. She competed at the Junior Grand Prix event in Poland where she took bronze.^[13] She placed third also at her other Junior Grand Prix event in Estonia. In January 2012, she tore her left lateral collateral ligament, resulting in her withdrawing from the 2012 U.S. Championships and keeping her off the ice for six to eight weeks.^[14]

In the 2012–13 season, Cesario competed at the Junior Grand Prix in Austria where she earned the bronze medal. She went to the Junior Grand Prix in Germany, but was injured and withdrew after the short program. At the 2013 U.S. Championships, she placed 8th and earned a spot on the Junior World Team. Cesario placed fourth at Junior Worlds after placing 1st in the short program and 4th in the free skate.^[15] Due to misaligned knees,^[2] she attempted 3Lo–3Lo combinations more commonly than 3T–3T (jumps) in order to reduce pressure on her facet joint.^[16]

In 2013–14, Cesario won bronze in her first event of the season, the U.S. International Classic. She placed fifth and fourth at her two senior Grand Prix assignments, the 2013 Skate America and 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard. She had mononucleosis in May and June 2014.^[8]

During the 2014–15, Cesario won silver at 2014 Finlandia Trophy. She then finished fourth and seventh at her two senior Grand Prix assignments, the 2014 Skate America and 2014 Trophée Éric Bompard.^[17] She went on to place fifth at the 2015 U.S. Championships^[18] before ending her season at 2015 Four Continents Championships, where she finished eighth. On May 11, 2015, Cesario announced her retirement from competitive figure skating due to recurring injuries and disagreements with the judging system. She intended to become a coach.^[9]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating
2014–15 ^[1]^[3]^[8]	Danza Mora by Dr. Samy Farag	Carmen Suite by Giuseppe Grazioli & Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi
2013–14 ^[19]	Fever	Carmen Suite by Georges Bizet, Rodion Shchedrin
2011–13 ^[20]^[21]	Carmen Fantasie by David Garrett	Black Swan by Clint Mansell
2010–11 ^[22]	Carmen Fantasie by David Garrett	Man of La Mancha including The Impossible Dream by Mitch Leigh performed by the Boston Pops Orchestra
2009–10 ^[3]	Nocturne from Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen	Dark Eyes by Lionel Hampton
2008–09 ^[3]	Tango de los Exilados by Vanessa-Mae	Tosca by Giacomo Puccini

Competitive highlights

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

2009–present

International^[23]
Event	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15
Four Continents					8th	8th
GP Bompard					4th	7th
GP Skate America					5th	4th
CS Finlandia						2nd
U.S. Classic					3rd
International: Junior^[23]
Junior Worlds				4th
JGP Austria				3rd
JGP Estonia			3rd
JGP Germany				WD
JGP Poland			3rd
JGP Romania		4th
Gardena	1st J
National^[3]
U.S. Champ.	14th	WD	WD	8th	5th	5th
Eastern Sectionals	3rd	1st	2nd	1st
North Atlantic Reg.	1st	1st
J = Junior level; WD = Withdrew

2003–2009

National^[3]
Event	03–04	04–05	05–06	06–07	07–08	08–09
U.S. Championships						6th J
U.S. Junior Champ.		8th V
Eastern Sectionals				7th N	13th N	3rd J
North Atlantic Regionals	6th V	3rd V		2nd N	2nd N	1st J
Levels: V = Juvenile; N = Novice; J = Junior

References

1. "Samantha CESARIO: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. from the original on May 22, 2015.
2. Albanese, Laura (January 17, 2015). "Oceanside's Samantha Cesario to compete in U.S. Figure Skating Championships". Newsday.
3. . IceNetwork.com. Archived from the original on April 26, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
   • . Archived from the original on May 24, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
4. "instagram_partner". Retrieved March 18, 2023.
5. "instagram_married". Retrieved March 18, 2023.
6. "instagram_pregnancy". Retrieved March 18, 2023.
7. "instagram_birth". Retrieved March 18, 2023.
8. McCarvel, Nick (September 16, 2014). "Cesario still fighting to prove she belongs". IceNetwork.com.
9. Rosewater, Amy (May 11, 2015). "Calling it a career: Cesario decides to retire at 21". IceNetwork.
10. Walker, Elvin (July 17, 2011). "Skate Liberty 2011". GoldenSkate. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
11. Rutherford, Lynn (July 16, 2011). "Cesario's 'Carmen' shines in group B short". icenetwork.com. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
12. Rutherford, Lynn (July 16, 2011). "Cesario's stunning 'Black Swan' wins the day". icenetwork.com. Retrieved September 17, 2011.
13. Felton, Renee; Zinsmeister, Kristin (September 17, 2011). "Team USA brings home two golds from Poland". icenetwork.com. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
14. Rutherford, Lynn (July 20, 2012). "Driven Cesario hopes to be comeback kid, again". IceNetwork.com.
15. "Junior Ladies".
16. Rutherford, Lynn (July 20, 2013). "Cain's 'Ave Maria' free skate wins day at Liberty". IceNetwork.com.
17. Slater, Paula (November 19, 2014). "USA's Cesario aims for top three at nationals". Golden Skate.
18. Rosewater, Amy (February 9, 2015). "Carmen's last stand: Cesario says adiós to program". Icenetwork.
19. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
20. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 4, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
21. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
22. . International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
23. "Competition Results: Samantha CESARIO". International Skating Union. from the original on May 30, 2015.

External links

  Media related to Samantha Cesario at Wikimedia Commons

• Samantha Cesario at the International Skating Union
• Samantha Cesario at IceNetwork.com