After winning the 2008 World Championship in pairs roller skating with Sara Venerucci, Guarise switched over to figure skating to compete with Nicole Della Monica. Guarise/Della Monica won seven Italian national pairs titles (2016–22). The pair represented Italy at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics.
Personal life
Guarise was born on September 15, 1988, in Rimini, Italy. In addition to being a figure skater, he also works as a police officer.[1]
Guarise and his partner began the 2017–18 season with silver medals at Lombardia Trophy and Finlandia Trophy. Competing again at the Cup of China, they placed fourth. At the Internationaux de France, they placed third, winning their first Grand Prix bronze medal. Della Monica pronounced herself "really happy with our performance."[14] Della Monica/Guarise won their third straight national title, followed by a sixth-place finish at Europeans. Competing at their second Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, they placed tenth. The season concluded at the 2018 World Championships in Milan, where they placed fifth overall.
2018–19 season
Their 2018–19 season began again at Lombardia Trophy, where they won the bronze medal. Turning to the Grand Prix series, they won silver at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. Della Monica commented, "this is our first silver medal on the Grand Prix. Last year we won our first medal, a bronze, so we are happy that we improved. Next time it maybe will be gold; who knows? It shows that we are on the right track."[15] They won a second silver medal at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup, becoming the first Italian pair team to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, a goal they had set for themselves at the beginning of the year.[16] They placed fifth at the Final, after multiple falls and popped jumps.[17]
After winning their fourth consecutive national title, Della Monica/Guarise competed at the 2019 European Championships. They placed third in the short program, 0.12 points ahead of Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii of Russia, and were awarded a small bronze medal for the result.[18] In the free skate, both teams made errors, with Della Monica putting a hand down on their three-jump combination, as a result, finished fourth in the free skate and fourth overall, 0.14 points behind Boikova/Kozlovskii. Guarise said they were "a little bit disappointed actually because we gave everything we had. It maybe wasn’t 100 percent, but I think it was very good."[19]
At the 2019 World Championships, Guarise collided with French skater Vanessa James in the warmup for the short program, which shook up both skaters. He then doubled his jump attempt, causing them to place eighth in the short.[20] In the free skate, the team had multiple errors, finishing seventh there and eighth overall. Guarise reported that the aftereffects of the collision had been more of a problem than he initially believed.[21] Della Monica/Guarise concluded the season at the 2019 World Team Trophy as part of Team Italy, which finished sixth out of sixth teams.[22]
2019–20 season
Della Monica dislocated her shoulder during the summer, significantly delaying the team's training. They returned to competition at the 2019 Icelab International in Italy, taking the silver medal, a week before their first Grand Prix.[23] At the 2019 Cup of China, they placed fourth.[24] At the 2019 NHK Trophy, Della Monica/Guarise placed eighth.[25]
Della Monica/Guarise were scheduled to compete on the Grand Prix at the 2020 Internationaux de France, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.[29] They placed eighth at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.[30] They were later named to the team for the 2021 World Team Trophy. On April 8, he was named team captain. Finishing the season at the Trophy, they placed second in the short program and fourth in the free skate, while Team Italy finished in fourth place overall.[31][32][33]
2021–22 season
Della Monica/Guarise began the season on home soil at the Lombardia Trophy, where they won the gold medal.[34] They were initially assigned to the 2021 Cup of China as their first Grand Prix of the season, but following the event's cancellation, they were reassigned to a special home 2021 Gran Premio d'Italia, hosted in Turin.[35] They placed third in the free skate despite both falling on their side-by-side jumps, but were fourth in the free skate with several errors and dropped to fourth place overall. Guarise acknowledged " today was hard physically and mentally," which he said did not reflect their training.[36] They were seventh at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup. Della Monica said afterward that she intended to retire at the end of the season to start a family, while Guarise expressed a desire to continue, joking, "maybe she can be my coach one day."[37]
After winning the gold medal at the Italian championships again, Della Monica/Guarise were named to the Italian Olympic team and withdrew from the 2022 European Championships as a precautionary measure after a fall in training.[38]
Della Monica/Guarise began the 2022 Winter Olympics as the Italian entries in the pairs' short program of the Olympic team event, where they placed seventh of nine teams, earning four points for Team Italy.[39] Team Italy did not advance to the second stage of the competition and finished seventh.[40] In the pairs event, they placed tenth in the short program after Della Monica fell on her jump attempt.[41] In the free skate, they dropped to thirteenth.[42]
Partnership with Beccari
2022–23 season
Della Monica decided to retire following the Beijing Olympics, but Guarise opted to continue skating with an eye to competing at the 2026 Winter Olympics, to be held in Italy in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. To that end, he quickly formed a new partnership with former singles skater Lucrezia Beccari.[2] On the end of his partnership with Della Monica, he commented "in life, people take different directions, but we have to remember the journey together with a smile."[43]
Beccari/Guarise made their international debut at the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup, finishing in fourth place. They won the bronze medal at their first Italian championships, and were seventh at the 2023 European Championships.[44]
Beccari/Guarise began the season with a fourth-place finish at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy.[44] At their second Challenger event, the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, they won the silver medal, their first international podium together. They set new personal bests in both the free skate and total score.[45] They were invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2023 Skate Canada International, where they won the bronze medal, despite each making a jump error in the free skate. Beccari remarked that she was "really happy" about her "first important medal," though "about the skate, we are not that happy." Guarise deemed it a "learning experience."[46] They went on to win the silver medal at the 2023 NHK Trophy.[47] Beccari/Guarise finished the Grand Prix with the same placements as fellow Italian team Ghilardi/Ambrosini and Hungarians Pavlova/Sviatchenko, but lost the tiebreaker of cumulative scores, and thus finished as second alternates to the Grand Prix Final.[48] Guarise acknowledged this as disappointing, but said "for our first Grand Prix season we can be pleased."[47]
After winning the silver medal at the Italian championships, Beccari/Guarise competed at the 2024 European Championships in Kaunas, generally noted rated among the title favourites in pre-event assessments.[49] They finished third in the short program with a new personal best score, but then unexpectedly won the free skate and took the gold medal, 3.05 points ahead of Georgian silver medalists Metelkina/Berulava.[50]
Beccari/Guarise were given one of the two Italian berths at the 2024 World Championships in Montreal. The finished eighth in the short program, ninth in the free skate, and ninth overall.[51][52]
