# Joshua Santillan

Joshua Santillan (born February 21, 1992) is a retired American pair skater who represents Switzerland. With skating partner Jessica Pfund, he is the 2015 Autumn Classic International bronze medalist and has competed at two Grand Prix events. They are the 2022 Swiss national champions.

## Personal life

Santillan was born on February 21, 1992, in Glendale, California. He enrolled at Colorado Christian University, 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 (JGP) event in Graz, Austria. Their best JGP placement, 7th, came in September 2011 in Riga, 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.

### Partnership with Pfund

Santillan teamed up with Jessica Pfund in May 2015, following tryouts in Florida and Colorado Springs, Colorado. They decided to be coached by Lyndon Johnston in Ellenton, Florida 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 2015 Autumn Classic International. Appearing as late replacements for Gretchen Donlan / Nathan Bartholomay, they finished 8th at their first Grand Prix event, the 2015 Skate America.
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. Following the event, she had an amniotic stem cell injection to treat tendinitis in her anterior tendon and a bone cement injection for a chronic bruise in her talus bone. 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

| Season | Short program | Free skating |
| 2018–2020 | Creep by Radiohead performed by Brian Justin Crum | Interstellar by Hans Zimmer |
| 2017–2018 | You Raise Me Up performed by Josh Groban | Gone with the Wind by Max Steiner |
| 2016–2017 | Purple Rain by Prince, The Revolution, Stacy Francis choreo. by Emilie Connors | Don't Cry for Me Argentina (from Evita) by Andrew Lloyd Webber choreo. by Lyndon Johnston |
| 2015–2016 | Gravity by Sara Bareilles choreo. by Amanda Evora | Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin choreo. by Jim Peterson |

### With Oltmanns

| Season | Short program | Free skating |
| 2012–2013 | Sirtaki (from Zorba the Greek) by Mikis Theodorakis performed by André Rieu | Time to Say Goodbye by Francesco Sartori performed by Dimo Dimov, Per Nielsen |
| 2011–2012 | The Pink Panther Theme by Bobby McFerrin | Assassin's Tango (from Mr. & Mrs. Smith) by John Powell |
| 2010–2011 | My Heart Will Go On (from Titanic) by James Horner | Capone (from Michael Flatley's Celtic Tiger by Ronan Hardiman |
| 2009–2010 | (I) Can, Can (You)? by Vanessa-Mae | Arabia (from Don Juan DeMarco) by Michael Kamen |

## Competitive highlights

* GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
* JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
* CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series

### Pair skating with Jessica Pfund (for Switzerland)

Competition placements at senior level :
| Season | 2021–22 |
| Swiss Championships | 1st |
| CS Autumn Classic | 6th |
| Cranberry Cup | 8th |

### Pair skating with Jessica Pfund (for the United States)

Competition placements at senior level :
| Season | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2018–19 | 2019–20 |
| U.S. Championships | 7th | 5th | 8th | | 8th |
| GP Cup of China | | 8th | | | |
| GP Skate America | 8th | | | | |
| CS Finlandia Trophy | | | | 9th | |
| CS Lombardia Trophy | | 4th | | | |
| CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy | | | 4th | | |
| CS Warsaw Cup | | | 5th | | |
| Autumn Classic | 3rd | | | | |

### Pair skating with Olivia Oltmanns (for the United States)

International :
| Event | 10–11 | 11–12 | 12–13 | 13–14 | 14–15 |
| JGP Austria | 11th | 11th | | | |
| JGP Latvia | | 7th | | | |
| JGP United States | | | 12th | | |
| National ||||||
| U.S. Championships | 11th J | 9th J | 11th J | 6th J | 11th |