Luiz Fernando Manella Pereira (born February 1, 1995, in

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná (state), Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is 388 km (241 miles) away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and f ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

) is a Brazilian former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. He competed in the free skate at three ISU Championships – 2012 Four Continents in

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 ...

, United States; 2012 Junior Worlds in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

, Belarus; and 2013 Junior Worlds in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy, being the second male figure skater to ever represent Brazil at an ISU competition. He was awarded the best figure skater in Brazil prize by the

Brazilian Olympic Committee The Brazilian Olympic Committee (; COB) is the highest authority in Sports in Brazil, Brazilian sport and the governing body of Brazilian Olympic Games, Olympic sport. It was officially founded on 8 June 1914, but World War I caused its official ...

in 2011. In 2015, he was chosen the Brazilian embassador for the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games by the

Personal life

Manella moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

when he was eight years old.

Career

Luiz Manella started skating lessons when we was 12, in order to be able to play ice hockey, however, figure skating caught his attention and a year later he switched. In 2009, he took part in American local competitions. In 2010, his then coach got in touch with the Brazilian Ice Sports Federation, who invited Manella to represent the country at JGP Ostrava, which was his first official competition as a Brazilian skater. Manella competed exclusively as a junior up until the 2012-13 season, when he changed coaches with the goal of getting the first ever figure skating spot for Brazil at the Winter Olympic Games. His first senior international competition was the 2013 US Classic where he finished in 10th place. At the 2013 Junior Worlds, he managed to get the best ever result for a Brazilian skater after he finished in 15th place, although not being able to directly get a spot for the Olympics. He tried again to get an Olympic spot at the

2013 Nebelhorn Trophy The 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy was held on September 26–28, 2013 at the Eislaufzentrum Oberstdorf. It is held annually in Oberstdorf, Germany and is named after the Nebelhorn, a nearby mountain. Medals were awarded in men's and ladies' singles, pa ...

but was unsuccessful, becoming second alternate. In the next season, the Brazilian federation suggested him to switch to

pair skating 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 ...

with Karolina Calhoun, who was also a Brazilian junior skater, however the plans were not successful after Calhoun got injured. In late 2014, Manella was invited to train with Hwi Choi, from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. They were coached by Ingo Steuer, until Manella retired due to injury.

Programs

Results

References

External links

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Luiz Manella
at Tracings {{DEFAULTSORT:Manella, Luiz Brazilian male single skaters 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Londrina Sportspeople from Miami Brazilian emigrants to the United States 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen