Official Biography
Courtesy of The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia

Miriam Manzano has won the Australian Ladies Figure Skating championship for the past three years, and also held the title in 1993. After missing selection for the 1998 and 2002 Olympic Games, she has set her sights on representing her country in Torino in 2006.

After winning the 2003 national title, Manzano was runner-up to Joanne Carter in 1994, 1996 and 1997, and third in 1995.

Her third in the Karl Schaeffer Memorial trophy in Vienna in 1997 met the qualifying requirements for the 1998 Nagano Olympics, but Australia’s sole place went to Carter who had finished 11th in the 1997 World Championships.

After missing selection, Manzano retired from competitive skating for two years, returning for the 2000 national championships. She placed second to Stephanie Zhang that year, then went on to win her three straight titles.

At the 2002 World Championships the Canberra-based skater placed 16th, then faced another Olympic selection battle for the Salt Lake 2002 Games.

In a three way battle with Zhang and Carter, the latter back from a two year injury spell, Manzano lost out in the Ice Skating Australia-designated selection event, placing sixth behind the fifth placing of Stephanie Zhang, who claimed the one Olympic spot available.

In the past 12 months, Manzano has placed 11th at Four Continents, collected bronze in the Finlandia Trophy in Helsinki, won the Merano Gold Cup and finished seventh in the Karl Schaeffer Memorial in Vienna.

In January 2004 she finished in 11th place behind Joanne Carter’s 10th in the Four Continents competition in Hamilton, Ontario.

In winning the 2003 national championship, Manzano qualified for the 2004 World Championships, scheduled for March 22-29 in Dortmund, Germany.