Reversal of the situation. Julia Sauter, announcement of retirement, after putting Romania on the map at the Winter Olympics. “It's not a sport you can get rich from”
Julia Sauter (28) finished 17th in the women's figure skating competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The gold medal was won by American Alysa Liu.
Julia Sauter Photo/AFP
For Sauter it was the first participation in the Olympic Games. After the short program he was in 16th place, and in the end he finished the competition in 17th, with a total of 190.93 points (63.13 in the short program and 127.80 in the free program).
Julia Sauter adds another important competition to her record
She participated five more times in the World Championships and took 7th place at the European Championships in 2025. 17th place is the best ranking ever achieved by a female figure skater from Romania at the Olympic Games.
However, the best result in the history of Romanian figure skating at the Olympic Games remains the 14th place, achieved by Cornel Gheorghe in 1994 and Gheorghe Chiper in 2006.
“When I heard 190 points, wow, to be honest, I never thought of such a thing. I was so happy.
I think throughout the season I tried to always stay in the moment. Roxana (not her trainer) helped me develop step by step. I also bought a sports psychology program to have in my «suitcase». I notice that everything is getting better and better, including the way I approach competitions. Of course, the goal was for everything to come together perfectly at this competition.
“I don't know how much longer I will compete. Maybe another year, two at the most!”
It was a little more difficult, but now I had these tools. I know I'm in the here and now, and those are the things I focus on, and it worked. We work, for example, with breathing techniques to always come back to the present.
Another tool is consistency in training, which I've been working hard on throughout the season, and learning to build on that, and that was also a process. At the beginning of the season, I was always going to competitions and I was stuck in the past. I was thinking about bad competitions and that made me nervous. Today I was really present in the here and now, and it worked, and I'm still speechless.
(no. Asked how long she would like to compete for) I don't know yet, maybe one more year, maximum two. I really don't know, I have to see how I feel. I want to feel fulfilled. Unfortunately, this is not a get rich sport. And at some point you have to face reality. You want to start a family, you want a house, you want certain things in life, and you are not young anymore!”, said Julia Sauter, for Golden Skate.
