Daniel Grassl

Daniel Grassl (born 4 April 2002) is an Italian figure skater. He has won ten senior international medals, including gold at three ISU Challenger Series events (2018 CS Inge Solar Memorial – Alpen Trophy, 2019 CS Asian Open Trophy, 2019 CS Ice Star) and is a two-time Italian national champion (2019, 2020). He placed sixth at the 2019 European Championships and won bronze at the 2019 World Junior Championships.

Early years

Grassl began learning to skate in 2009. His first coach was Ludmila Mladenova in Merano. He competed internationally in the advanced novice ranks from the 2012–2013 season through 2014–2015.

Making his junior international debut, Grassl won the bronze medal at the Lombardia Trophy in September 2015. He won his first Italian national junior title in December of the same year.

2016–2017 season

During the season, Grassl trained in Egna, Italy, coached by Lorenzo Magri. In August 2016, he competedat his first ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignment, in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains. After finishing 7th in France, he had the same result at his next JGP event, in Yokohama, Japan. In December, he repeated as Italy's national junior champion.

In February 2017, Grassl won silver at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Erzurum, Turkey.

2017–2018 season

Coached by Magri, Grassl began his season on the JGP series, placing 6th in Brisbane, Australia, and then 7th in Egna, Italy. His senior international debut came in late October 2017, at the Golden Bear of Zagreb in Croatia; ranked first in both segments, Grassl outscored British champion Graham Newberry by 13.33 points for the gold medal. During his time in Croatia, he was the youngest skater ever to land a quad lutz. In November, he stepped onto two more senior international podiums, taking gold at the Ice Challenge in Austria (27.33 points ahead of silver medalist Javier Raya from Spain) and then bronze at the Merano Cup in Italy (where he finished behind Newberry and Raya).

2018–2019 season

In August, Grassl won bronze at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovakia. In October, he received the senior gold medal at the Golden Bear of Zagreb after becoming the first European to land a quad loop in international competition. In December, he outscored Matteo Rizzo by 4.48 points to become the Italian national senior champion.

Grassl next competed at his first European Championships, where he placed ninth in the short program and fifth in the free skate, for sixth place overall.He described himself as "really excited for my first Europeans and I’ve really enjoyed it."As Rizzo won the bronze medal at Europeans, he was assigned to Italy's lone men's place at the 2019 World Championships, while Grassl was sent to the 2019 World Junior Championships.He placed third in the short program, winning a bronze small medal, despite a minor error on his triple Axel.

2019–2020 season

Grassl began his season on the Junior Grand Prix in Poland, where he won the bronze medal.His second event was the Italian JGP event, held in his home rink, where he won the gold medal, qualifying to the Junior Grand Prix Final.Grassl noted "I am very pleased to be able to win for the first time in the rink where I am training every day. I am happy that so many people came to watch."Moving to the senior level Challenger series, Grassl won both the Asian Open and the Ice Star.

At the JGP Final in Torino, Grassl was the lone Italian skater to qualify at either senior or junior level.Two days before the competition was to begin, his right skate broke, which he attempted to remedy with tape.This proved inadequate in skating the short program, where he placed fifth after missing the second part of his jump combination.Grassl then replaced his skates with only a day's preparation, and struggled in the free skate, finishing last among the competitors.Commenting on the experience, he said "I tried, but it's not enough time, so the performance is not what I wanted. But I'm happy that I’m here. It was my goal for this season."Shortly afterward, he won his second consecutive Italian national title.

• At the age of 15, Grassl became the youngest person to land a quad Lutz jump in international competition (2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb). His record was broken by Stephen Gogolev in 2018.
• The first European skater to have completed a quad loop in international competition. He landed the jump in his free skate at the 2018 Golden Bear of Zagreb.

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. Current ISU world bests highlighted in bold and italic.