Júlía Sylvía Gunnarsdóttir

Júlía Sylvía Gunnarsdóttir
Personal information
Born (2005-01-15) 15 January 2005
Reykjavík, Iceland
Home townReykjavík
Height1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Figure skating career
Country Iceland
DisciplinePair skating (since 2024)
Women's singles (until 2023)
PartnerManuel Piazza
CoachOndřej Hotárek
Rosanna Murante
Benjamin Naggiar
Skating clubUngmennafélagið Fjölnir
Began skating2011
Medal record
Icelandic Championships
2023 Akureyri Singles
2024 Reykjavík Pairs

Júlía Sylvía Gunnarsdóttir (born 15 January 2005) is an Icelandic pair skater. With her current skating partner, Manuel Piazza, she is the 2025 Diamond Spin champion, 2025 Cup of Innsbruck bronze medalist, 2024 NRW Trophy bronze medalist and a two-time Icelandic national champion (2025–26). Gunnarsdóttir and Piazza are the first pairs team to represent Iceland in international competition.[1]

As a single skater, Gunnarsdóttir is the 2024 Reykjavík International Games champion, the 2023 Diamond Spin bronze medalist, the 2023 Icelandic national champion, and the 2022 Icelandic national Junior champion. She is the first Icelander figure skater to win an international competition.[2]

Personal life

Gunnarsdóttir was born on 15 January 2005 in Reykjavík, Iceland.[1]

Career

2024–25 season: Debut of Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza

Gunnarsdóttir transitioned from singles to pair skating over the summer before the 2024–25 season. Her coaches were contacted by Italian pair skater Manuel Piazza's coaches, inquiring as to whether she would be interested in switching disciplines.[3] Gunnarsdóttir traveled to Italy for a tryout with Piazza and his team, and the pair officially announced their partnership for Iceland in August 2024.[4] They split their training between Reykjavík, Iceland with coach Benjamin Naggiar and Bergamo, Italy with coaches, Ondřej Hotárek and Rosanna Murante.[5]

Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza made their international debut in November 2024 at the 2024 NRW Trophy. They placed third in both the short program and the free skate to claim the bronze medal behind new Swiss team Oxana Vouillamoz / Tom Bouvart and Swedish sibling pair Greta Crafoord / John Crafoord. At their second international event, the 2024 CS Warsaw Cup, Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza placed twelfth.[6]

Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza competed at the 2025 Icelandic Championships at the end of November unchallenged, winning their first national pairs title by default. Having earned their ISU technical minimum scores at the NRW Trophy, Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza were assigned to compete at the 2025 European Championships in Estonia in January. At Europeans, Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza scored a personal best of 48.58, placing eighteenth in the segment. They did not advance to the free skate portion of the competition.[6]

2025–26 season

Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza opened their season with a fourth-place finish at the 2025 Lombardia Trophy. One week later, they placed eighth at the ISU Skate to Milano.[6]

In October, Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza competed at the 2025 Diamond Spin and the 2025 Swiss Open, winning gold and placing fifth, respectively. The following month, the pair won the bronze medal at the 2025 Cup of Innsbruck and the gold medal at the 2026 Icelandic Championships. In January, Gunnarsdóttir/Piazza placed eleventh at the 2026 European Championships, scoring personal bests in all three competition segments.[6]

Programs

With Piazza

Season Short program Free skating
2025–2026
[7]
2024–2025
[1]

As a single skater

Season Short program Free skating
2023–2024
[8]
  • Lie
    by BTS
    choreo. by Benjamin Naggiar
2022–2023
[9]
2021–2022
[10]

Competitive highlights

Pair skating with Piazza

Competition placements at senior level [6][11]
Season 2024–25 2025–26
European Championships 18th 11th
Icelandic Championships 1st 1st
CS Warsaw Cup 12th
Cup of Innsbruck 3rd
Diamond Spin 1st
Lombardia Trophy 4th
NRW Trophy 3rd
Road to 26 Trophy 7th
Skate to Milano 8th

Single skating

Competition placements at senior level [12]
Season 2023–24
Icelandic Championships 1st
Diamond Spin 3rd
Nordic Championships 9th
Reykjavik Games 1st
Volvo Open Cup 8th
Competition placements at junior level [12]
Season 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
Icelandic Championships 2nd 1st
JGP Czech Republic 31st
JGP Italy 36th
JGP Slovenia 28th
JGP Turkey 19th
Nordic Championships 19th 16th
Reykjavik Games 2nd 6th
Santa Claus Cup 30th

Detailed results

Pair skating with Manuel Piazza

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System [13]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS 162.62 2026 European Championships
Short program TSS 57.45 2026 European Championships
TES 32.80 2026 European Championships
PCS 24.65 2026 European Championships
Free skating TSS 105.17 2026 European Championships
TES 52.83 2026 European Championships
PCS 52.34 2026 European Championships
Results in the 2024–25 season[6]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Nov 13–17, 2024 2024 NRW Trophy 3 47.04 3 93.46 3 140.50
Nov 20–24, 2024 2024 CS Warsaw Cup 14 41.93 11 87.42 12 129.35
Nov 29–Dec 1, 2024 2024 Icelandic Championships 1 42.30 1 95.31 1 137.61
Jan 28 – Feb 2, 2025 2025 European Championships 18 48.58 N/a N/a 18 48.58
Feb 18–20, 2025 Road to 26 Trophy 6 50.54 7 87.76 7 138.30
Results in the 2025–26 season[6]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 11–14, 2025 2025 Lombardia Trophy 5 53.21 4 105.70 4 158.91
Sep 18–21, 2025 2025 Skate to Milano 9 53.09 8 98.94 8 152.03
Oct 16–19, 2025 2025 Diamond Spin 1 48.65 1 91.75 1 140.40
Nov 13–16, 2025 2025 Cup of Innsbruck 6 51.72 2 102.44 3 154.16
Nov 28–30, 2025 2025 Icelandic Championships 1 51.59 2 99.23 1 150.82
Jan 13–18, 2026 2026 European Championships 9 57.45 11 105.17 11 162.62

References

  1. ^ a b c "Julia Sylvia GUNNARSDOTTIR / Manuel PIAZZA: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 March 2025.
  2. ^ Arnarson, Ágúst Orni (18 August 2024). ""Við höfum ekki þekkst lengi en það gengur vel"" ["We haven't known each other long, but things are going well"] (in Icelandic). Vísir.
  3. ^ "GOEing into Detail with Júlía Sylvía Gunnarsdóttir & Manuel Piazza" (video). YouTube.com. Anything GOEs. 28 January 2025.
  4. ^ @skatingicelandofficial; (15 August 2024). "Skautasamband Íslands tilkynnir með stolti að Júlía Sylvía Gunnarsdóttir og Manuel Piazza (ITA) munu keppa fyrst allra í parakeppni á listskautum fyrir hönd ÍSS!" [The Icelandic Skating Association is proud to announce that Júlía Sylvía Gunnarsdóttir has teamed up with Manuel Piazza (ITA).] (in Icelandic) – via Instagram.
  5. ^ "Júlía Sylvía og Manuel með lágmörk inn á Evrópumeistaramót" [Júlía Sylvía and Manuel with minimum scores heading into the European Championship] (in Icelandic). Icelandic Skating Association. 17 November 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "ISL – Júlía Sylvía GUNNARSDÓTTIR / Manuel PIAZZA". SkatingScores.com. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  7. ^ "Julia Sylvia GUNNARSDOTTIR / Manuel PIAZZA: 2025/2026". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 15 September 2025.
  8. ^ "Julia Sylvia Gunnarsdottir: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Julia Sylvia Gunnarsdottir: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Julia Sylvia Gunnarsdottir: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Competition Results: Julia Sylvia GUNNARSDOTTIR / Manuel PIAZZA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 1, 2025.
  12. ^ a b "ISL – Júlía Sylvía GUNNARSDÓTTIR". SkatingScores.com. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference SS-SSLM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).