Karina Manta (born March 20, 1996) is an American former competitive ice dancer.
Early life Manta was born on March 20, 1996, in Olympia, Washington. She began figure skating in 2002.
Career Manta previously competed in ice dance with Jonathan Thompson. Manta has partnered with ice dancer Joseph Johnson since 2013. The team is coached by Patti Gottwein in Colorado Springs. Manta and Johnson received their first Grand Prix assignment in 2018, competing at Skate America. They finished in 10th place with a total score of 139.33.
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.
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.
As of February 2026, Manta and Johnson coach figure skaters at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink in New York City.
Personal life In 2018, Manta was a college student. 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.
Programs SeasonShort programFree skating2018–2019 Malagueña Alcoba Azul Sweet Dreams Sweet Dreams (are Made of This) 2017–2018 Right Now Fireball Your Song One Day I'll Fly Away 2016–2017 Dream a Little Dream I Wanna Be Like You Dream On 2015–2016 The Love for Three Oranges Cinderella Maple Leaf Rag Bethana The Entertainer
Competitive Highlights GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series
(with Joe Johnson) InternationalEvent14–1515–1616–1717–1818–19 Skate America10th Autumn Classic3rd Nebelhorn14th US Classic5th5thLake Placid IDI6th5thNationalU.S. Champ.10th J7th8th9th7th TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew
References
External links Official website