Stefano Caruso (born 19 April 1987) is a former competitive

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

with dual German and Italian citizenship. Representing Germany with

Tanja Kolbe Tanja Kolbe (born 7 September 1990) is a German former competitive ice dancer. With Stefano Caruso, she won seven international medals and two German national silver medals. They placed eighth at the 2013 European Championships and competed at ...

, he won seven international medals and two German national silver medals. They placed eighth at the 2013 European Championships and competed at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games (russian: XXII Олимпийские зимние игры, XXII Olimpiyskiye zimniye igry) and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (russian: Сочи 2014), was an international ...

, finishing 19th. Earlier in his career, Caruso competed for Italy with Isabella Pajardi.

Personal life

Stefano Caruso was born 19 April 1987 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy, to a Hungarian mother and a father from

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He moved to Milan in 2000. He studied languages and communication in

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes C ...

. In September 2013, he became a German citizen while retaining his Italian citizenship. In January 2014, he began working for the Bundeswehr's sports group.

Career

Early career

Caruso started skating as an eight-year-old in Mentana, Rome. He trained in ice dance from the start and teamed up with Isabella Pajardi in 2000. They won the 2008 Italian national junior title and placed 9th at the 2008 World Junior Championships. After they split up in 2010, Caruso had tryouts with an American,

Isabella Tobias Isabella Tobias (born August 23, 1991) is an American-born Israeli ice dancer who competes with Ilia Tkachenko. Together they have won four medals on the ISU Challenger Series. Earlier in her career, Tobias skated with Otar Japaridze for Georgi ...

, and a Canadian.

Partnership with Kolbe

Caruso teamed up with

in 2010 to represent Germany. In their first season together, they took bronze at the 2010

Ice Challenge The Icechallenge (formerly known as the Leo-Scheu-Gedächtnislaufen or Leo Scheu Memorial) is an annual international figure skating competition organized by the Grazer Eislaufverein and sanctioned by the Austrian Figure Skating association and the ...

and at the 2011 German Championships. In their second season together, Kolbe/Caruso won two international medals, gold at the

2011 NRW Trophy The 2011 NRW Trophy was an international figure skating competition during the 2011–2012 season. An annual event organized by the Skating Union of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), it has been sanctioned by the Deutsche Eislauf Union and the Intern ...

and bronze at the Istanbul Cup. They took the silver medal at the German Championships and were assigned to the 2012 European Championships where they finished 12th. The duo split up after the event but teamed up again in July 2012. In the 2012–13 season, Kolbe/Caruso took silver again at the German Championships and earned another trip to the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

where they finished 8th. They won two international medals – bronze at both the New Year's Cup and

Volvo Open Cup Volvo Open Cup is a figure skating competition held in Riga, Latvia. It was part of the ISU Challenger Series in the 2014–15 season. The competition may include men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing at various levels. ...

. In the 2013–14 season, Kolbe/Caruso were invited to their first

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

event, the

2013 Trophee Eric Bompard Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

where they placed 7th. They added two more international medals to their collection – bronze at the 2013 Ondrej Nepela Trophy and

. In February 2014, Kolbe/Caruso competed at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

in Sochi and finished 19th. They announced the end of their partnership in June 2014.

Post-competitive career

After ending his competitive career in 2014, Caruso began a coaching partnership with

Barbara Fusar-Poli Barbara Fusar-Poli (born 6 February 1972) is an Italian ice dancing coach and former competitor. With partner Maurizio Margaglio, she is the 2001 World champion, 2001 European champion, and 2002 Olympic bronze medalist. They won nine Italian tit ...

at Milan's Agorà ice rink. In November 2021, ''

Berliner Zeitung The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...

'' reported that Caruso was facing allegations of misconduct from multiple students.

Programs

With Kolbe

With Pajardi

Competitive highlights

''GP =

; JGP = Junior Grand Prix''

With Kolbe for Germany

With Pajardi for Italy

References

External links

* *
Tanja Kolbe / Stefano Caruso official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caruso, Stefano Italian male ice dancers German male ice dancers 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Rome Naturalized citizens of Germany Figure skaters at the 2014 Winter Olympics Olympic figure skaters of Germany German people of Italian descent 21st-century Italian dancers 21st-century German dancers Competitors at the 2009 Winter Universiade