Joshua Santillan (born February 21, 1992) is a retired American

pair skater Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...

who represents

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. With skating partner

Jessica Pfund Jessica Pfund (born January 9, 1998) is a retired Swiss-American pair skater who represents Switzerland. With skating partner Joshua Santillan, she was the 2015 Autumn Classic International bronze medalist and has competed at two Grand Prix even ...

, he is the

2015 Autumn Classic International The Autumn Classic International is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by Skate Canada. The competition debuted in 2014 in Barrie, Ontario, as one of the inaugural co ...

bronze medalist and has competed at two

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

events. They are the 2022 Swiss national champions.

Personal life

Santillan was born on February 21, 1992, in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

. He enrolled at

Colorado Christian University Colorado Christian University (CCU) is a private Christian university in Lakewood, Colorado, United States. CCU was founded by Clifton Fowler in 1914 as the Denver Bible Institute. History CCU's heritage dates back to the formation of Denver Bi ...

, taking online business courses.

Career

Early career

Santillan began learning to skate in 1996. He teamed up with Olivia Oltmanns in September 2009. The pair's international debut took place in September 2010 at a

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

(JGP) event in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, Austria. Their best JGP placement, 7th, came in September 2011 in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, Latvia. Oltmanns/Santillan moved up to the senior level in the 2014–15 season. They finished 11th at the 2015 U.S. Championships. Trudi Oltmanns coached the pair in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Partnership with Pfund

Santillan teamed up with

in May 2015, following tryouts in Florida and

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

. They decided to be coached by

Lyndon Johnston Lyndon Johnston (born December 4, 1961) is a Canadian former pair skater. With Cindy Landry, he is the 1989 World Figure Skating Championships, 1989 World silver medallist and 1990 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Canadian national champio ...

Ellenton, Florida Ellenton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Manatee County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,129 at the 2020 census, down from 4,275 at the 2010 census. It is part of the North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota ...

and, early in their partnership, also trained with Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora. Making their international debut, the pair won the bronze medal at the

. Appearing as late replacements for

Gretchen Donlan Gretchen Donlan (born November 18, 1993) is an American former pair skater. With partner Andrew Speroff, she is the 2013 Ondrej Nepela Trophy champion, 2013 Ice Challenge champion, and 2012 U.S. national pewter medalist. In July 2014, Donlan te ...

Nathan Bartholomay Nathan Bartholomay (born May 18, 1989) is an American pair skater. With his former partner Deanna Stellato-Dudek, he is the 2018 Ondrej Nepela Trophy silver medalist, the 2018 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national bronz ...

, they finished 8th at their first

event, the

2015 Skate America The 2015 Progressive Skate America was the first event of six in the 2015–16 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the UW–Milwaukee Panther Arena in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ...

. Pfund underwent surgery in mid-2016 due to two torn ligaments in her right foot and returned to the ice three months later. She and Santillan finished 8th at the

2016 Cup of China The 2016 Audi Cup of China was the fifth event of six in the 2016–17 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing on November 18–20. Medals wer ...

. Following the event, she had an amniotic stem cell injection to treat

tendinitis Tendinopathy is a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder ( rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow ( tenn ...

in her anterior tendon and a bone cement injection for a chronic bruise in her

talus bone The talus (; Latin for ankle or ankle bone; : tali), talus bone, astragalus (), or ankle bone is one of the group of Foot#Structure, foot bones known as the tarsus (skeleton), tarsus. The tarsus forms the lower part of the ankle joint. It transmit ...

. In January 2017, Santillan had a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder. The pair placed 5th at the 2017 U.S. Championships. In October 2020, Pfund and Santillan announced their intention to represent Switzerland in competition, but were told by the U.S. Figure Skating Federation that they would have to wait a year to be released. In July 2021, they announced they were allowed to represent Switzerland for the 2021-2022 season. On March 18, 2022, they announced their retirement from competitive skating.

Programs

With Pfund

With Oltmanns

Competitive highlights

Pair skating with Jessica Pfund (for Switzerland)

Pair skating with Jessica Pfund (for the United States)

Pair skating with Olivia Oltmanns (for the United States)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santillan, Joshua 1992 births American male pair skaters Living people Sportspeople from Glendale, California 21st-century American sportsmen