Karina Manta

Karina Manta is an American professional figure skater, writer, and former competitive ice dancer, best known for Dancing on Ice (2006-).

Karina started figure skating in 2002 at the age of six. In 2013, she began competing alongside Jonathan Johnson in the ice dance category. Since then, they have competed in national competitions, including Skate America, the US International Classic, and the US National Championships. She has also competed solo in national competitions, being a fan favorite at the US Figure Skating Championships in 2014, and placing in the top 10 from 2015-2019.

In 2018, while competing on behalf of Team USA, Karina decided to come out as bi in a YouTube video alongside her then-partner Aleena, performing a spoken-word poem. She also made history with her skating partner Jonathan later that year, being the first openly LGBT team in 2019 at the US Figure Skating Championships and stating,

My skating partner, Joe Johnson, and I were collectively known for making the sport of ice dance a little bit gayer.

Karina retired from competing in 2019, moving to Canada for a bit to join Cirque du Soleil for a season, and then to compete in the UK show Dancing on Ice in 2020. Since her video, fellow ice skater Amber Glenn has stated that Karina’s coming out had such an influence on her that she decided to come out publicly as bi in 2021.

In 2021, Karina published a book about her life called On Top of Glass: My Stories as a Queer Girl in Figure Skating, which details her life from middle school, all the way to competing for Team USA while being openly bi. Since coming out, she has reflected on how there is more space for queer athletes, especially in figure skating:

Even in the last five years, we’ve seen so much growth. When I came out, I didn’t know other queer women in skating at all. Now I know a lot of queer women in skating! That’s really special, and that means a lot to me. I’m so grateful to have that community.