Stefanie Pesendorfer (born 31 August 2003) is an Austrian figure skater. She is the 2019 Tirnavia Ice Cup champion, the 2019 Prague Ice Cup champion, and the 2022 Austrian champion. She finished twelfth at the 2018 World Junior Championships and competed at the 2022 World Championships.
Personal life Pesendorfer was born on 31 August 2003 in Wels, Austria. She went to high school at Handelsschule für Leistungssport in Linz.
Career
Early years Pesendorfer began learning to skate in 2007, at age four. After impressing in a kindergarten course, she joined Union Eissportklub in Linz. She competed in the advanced novice ranks from October 2015 through April 2017.
2017–2018 season Coached by Denise Jaschek and Markus Haider in Linz, Pesendorfer made her international junior debut at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Austria in August 2017. She finished sixteenth at JGP Austria and twelfth at her second JGP assignment, in Zagreb, Croatia. Pesendorfer said she was told by her coaches to lose weight as her body began to go through puberty and that she was not given any nutrition advice by Skate Austria.
In December, she won the junior ladies title at the 2018 Austrian Championships and was assigned to the 2018 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria. Competing in March at Junior Worlds, Pesendorfer qualified for the free skate after placing thirteenth in the short program. She finished twelfth overall. Hers was the best Austrian placement in 20 years.
Shortly after the World Junior Championships, she injured her back.
2018–2019 season Pesendorfer sat out the 2018–19 ISU Junior Grand Prix series, competing only at the 2018 Golden Bear of Zagreb and 2018 Skate Celje in the fall. At Skate Celje, she won the junior bronze medal.
At the 2019 Austrian Championships, Pesendorfer won the junior silver medal behind Olga Mikutina. She was assigned to the 2019 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, where she placed seventh.
2019–2020 season Competing on the Junior Grand Prix, Pesendorfer placed eleventh at JGP France and seventeenth at JGP Russia. Making her debut in international senior competition, she competed at three events on the Challenger series, placing ninth at Nebelhorn Trophy, eleventh at the Nepela Memorial, and fifteenth at the Golden Spin of Zagreb.
Placing second at junior nationals for the second consecutive season and then winning bronze in her senior national debut, Pesendorfer finished the season with a fifteenth-placed finish at the 2020 World Junior Championships.
2020–2021 season Debuting at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, an event attended only by European skaters due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, Pesendorfer placed twelfth.
Pesendorfer was diagnosed with two herniated disks in her back; doctors gave her a 30 percent chance of being able to return to skating competitively after surgery. She underwent the surgery as well as months of physiotherapy, and she did not begin skating again until July.
2021–2022 season Pesendorfer placed sixteenth at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy. She went on to win the bronze medal at two minor internationals and finish fifteenth at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria before winning the Austrian national title. Pesendorfer was struggling to train or carry out normal activities; she was diagnosed with depression and prescribed medication.
Despite her national title, Pesendorfer was not named to the Austrian Olympic team. However, she made her World Championship debut and finished thirty-second.
2022–2023 season Pesendorfer moved to a new skating club in Oberstdorf. She began to suffer from panic attacks and became suicidal; clubmates connected her to emergency services. Skate Austria reacted by hiring a psychologist and beginning athlete mental health services.
Beginning the season on the Challenger circuit, Pesendorfer finished in eighth place at both the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy and the 2022 CS Nepela Memorial, before coming tenth at the 2022 CS Ice Challenge. She won medals at a number of other minor internationals, and took the bronze medal at the Austrian championships.
2023–2024 season Competing at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Pesendorfer came in twelfth place. Going on to compete at the 2023 CS Budapest Trophy, Pesendorfer placed fourteenth in the short program but withdrew prior to the free skate. She subsequently competed at the 2023 NRW Trophy where she would place fourth.
At the 2024 Austrian Championships, Pesendorfer won the silver medal behind Olga Mikutina. She then closed the season by finishing fifth at the 2024 Dragon Trophy.
2024–2025 season In August 2024, it was announced that Pesendorfer had left her longtime coaches, Denise Jaschek and Markus Haider, and moved to Oberstdorf, Germany, to train with Niko Ulanovsky and Ria Schiffner.
Beginning the season at the 2024 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur in mid-October, Pesendorfer finished fourteenth. She followed this by placing seventh at the 2024 Santa Claus Cup.
In December, Pesendorfer competed at the 2025 Austrian Championships, where she finished fourth. She was selected to compete at the 2025 European Championships. In January, she won the bronze medal at the Bavarian Open before going on to compete at the European Championships the next week, where she placed twenty-third overall.
She finished the season by winning gold at the 2025 Merano Ice Trophy.
2025–2026 season Pesendorfer did not compete due to a stress fracture in her foot. In January 2026, Pesendorfer gave an interview in Die Zeit where she discussed her mental health issues and pressure to lose weight.
Programs Season Short program Free skating2024–25 Caruso Mountains Solas x Interstella Outro 2023–24 The One That You Love Game of Survival Quick Musical Doodles 2022–23 2020–22 River Wild Horses Anything Goes Back to Black Got My Number 2019–20 Radar Love 2018–19 The Last of Her Kind The Vampire Masquerade 2017–18 Pa' Bailar
Competitive highlights
Detailed results
Senior level
2023–2024 season Date Event SP FS Total 7–9 February 2024 2024 Dragon Trophy 4 55.74 5 95.57 5 1151.31 13–17 December 2023 2024 Austrian Championships 1 58.62 2 114.31 2 166.69 16–19 November 2023 2023 NRW Trophy 4 46.70 5 83.15 4 129.85 20–23 September 2023 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 10 51.43 13 81.31 12 132.74 2022–2023 season Date Event SP FS Total 9–13 November 2022 2022 CS Ice Challenge 8 53.92 11 100.08 10 154.00 28–30 October 2022 2022 Tirnavia Ice Cup 4 51.48 1 106.44 1 157.92 29 September – 1 October 2022 2022 CS Nepela Memorial 6 49.28 10 84.47 8 133.75 21–24 September 2022 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 9 52.78 7 101.53 8 154.31 2021–2022 season Date Event SP FS Total 21–27 March 2022 2022 World Championships 32 47.23 - 32 47.23 24–27 February 2022 2022 Challenge Cup 12 50.28 8 93.41 9 143.69 2–6 February 2022 2022 Sofia Trophy 1 60.35 1 112.86 1 173.21 18–23 January 2022 2022 Bavarian Open 6 52.46 3 110.41 4 162.87 18–21 November 2021 2021 Skate Celje 2 60.15 4 92.62 3 152.77 11–14 November 2021 2021 CS Cup of Austria 22 45.78 10 99.46 15 145.24 28–31 October 2021 2021 Tirnavia Ice Cup 3 49.00 3 95.62 3 144.62 10–12 September 2021 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy 22 46.85 13 94.12 16 140.97 2020–2021 season Date Event SP FS Total 23–26 September 2020 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 20 35.90 6 96.01 12 131.91 2019–2020 season Date Event SP FS Total 12–14 December 2019 2020 Austrian Championships 3 56.43 3 91.66 3 148.09 4–7 December 2019 2019 Golden Spin 12 49.64 16 89.42 15 139.06 8–10 November 2019 2019 Prague Ice Cup 3 51.09 1 109.26 1 160.35 31 October – 3 November 2019 2019 Tirnavia Ice Cup 1 55.22 1 104.66 1 159.88 25–28 September 2019 2019 Nebelhorn Trophy 12 47.75 8 98.91 9 146.66 19–21 September 2019 2019 Nepela Memorial 12 47.32 11 88.69 11 136.01
Junior level
2019–2020 season Date Event SP FS Total 2–8 March 2020 World Junior Championships 16 53.67 15 96.87 15 150.54 12-14 December 2019 2020 Austrian Junior Championships 2 50.06 1 98.06 2 148.12 22-24 November 2019 2019 Skate Celje 3 45.50 1 92.88 1 138.38 24-27 October 2019 2019 Golden Bear 4 52.25 1 96.07 2 148.32 11-14 September 2019 2019 JGP Russia 14 48.72 18 86.22 17 134.94 21-24 August 2019 2019 JGP France 13 50.30 9 98.70 11 149.00 2018–2019 season Date Event SP FS Total 10-14 April 2019 2019 Triglav Trophy 2 46.39 1 93.74 1 140.13 13-14 February 2019 2019 EYOF 8 49.35 6 97.66 7 147.01 5-10 February 2019 2019 Bavarian Open 4 51.31 4 95.70 4 147.01 13-16 December 2018 2019 Austrian Junior Championships 2 51.08 2 97.35 2 148.43 22-25 November 2018 2018 Skate Celje 4 41.71 3 81.72 3 123.43 25-28 October 2018 2018 Golden Bear 15 42.06 10 84.17 12 126.23 2017–2018 season Date Event SP FS Total 5-11 March 2018 2018 World Junior Championships 13 54.16 12 99.54 12 153.70 22-25 February 2018 2018 Challenge Cup 3 54.49 3 104.63 3 159.12 8-11 February 2018 2018 Dragon Trophy 8 42.45 2 90.39 2 132.84 13-16 December 2017 2018 Austrian Junior Championships 2 50.45 1 95.11 1 145.56 22-26 November 2017 2017 Skate Celje 9 38.97 2 74.85 3 113.82 8-12 November 2017 2017 Leo Scheu (Ice Challenge) 6 43.39 2 89.32 2 132.71 26-29 October 2017 2017 Golden Bear 2 50.60 7 85.31 4 135.91 27-30 September 2017 2017 JGP Croatia 12 45.65 12 84.94 12 130.59 30 August - 2 September 2017 2017 JGP Austria 16 42.69 17 75.23 16 117.92
References
External links