Alexia Paganini was born on November 15, 2001, in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The second of three children, she has two brothers – Kevin and Mario. She holds Swiss and U.S. citizenship. Her father, Celso Paganini, is from Brusio, Switzerland. Her mother, originally from the Netherlands, lived for ten years in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Career
Early career
Paganini began learning to skate in 2003. She skated at Westchester Skating Academy for a few years under her former coach, Gilberto Viadana. She represented the United States at two international events. In April 2016, she won the junior gold medal at the Gardena Spring Trophy in Italy. In August 2016, she finished sixth at an ISU Junior Grand Prix event in France. In January 2017, Paganini placed fifth on the junior level at the U.S. Championships. Later that year, she became interested in competing for Switzerland after a suggestion by her coach, Igor Krokavec. Swiss Ice Skating became aware of her interest in April 2017 and soon contacted her.
Paganini made her senior international debut and her first appearance for Switzerland at the Slovenia Open in August 2017; she outscored Australia's Kailani Craine by 2.31 points to win the gold medal. In late September, she competed at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, the final qualifying opportunity for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Ranked sixth in the short program and third in the free skate, she obtained the bronze medal in addition to a spot for Switzerland at the Olympics. In December, the Swiss Olympic Association confirmed that Paganini would represent Switzerland at the Olympics. In January, Paganini finished seventh at the 2018 European Championships in Moscow, Russia. The following month, she competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Ranked nineteenth in the short program, she advanced to the final segment and would finish twenty-first overall. She also qualified to the free skate at the 2018 World Championships, finishing twentieth at the March event in Milan, Italy.
Alexia Paganini began her season with an eighth-place at the CS Autumn Classic. In October she won the International Halloween Cup, after placing second in the short program behind Ivett Tóth, but first in the free. Paganini made her Grand Prix debut at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup. In the short program she scored a personal best and was in third place. In the free skate she marked her personal best and she placed fifth, to finish fourth overall with a total of 182.50, behind Alina Zagitova, Sofia Samodurova, and Lim Eun-soo. Due to Carolina Kostner's withdrawal from the 2018 Internationaux de France because of injury, Paganini was chosen to replace her at the event, giving her a second Grand Prix assignment. She was eighth after the short program, tenth in the free, and finished tenth overall. In December, she won the Swiss Championships for the second time in a row. In January 2019, she competed at the European Championships, held in Minsk, Belarus. Paganini scored a new personal best in the short program, 65.64, and won the bronze small medal, behind Zagitova and Samodurova. She said she was "really happy with my performance. I actually was nervous, but tried not to show it." Paganini placed seventh in the free skate, and she finished sixth overall. She concluded the season at the 2019 World Championships, where she made multiple errors in the short program and placed thirty-third, failing to qualify for the free skate.
2019–2020 season
Paganini began the season with a sixth-place at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International. At her first Grand Prix, the 2019 Skate Canada International, she placed ninth. She was seventh at the 2019 Rostelecom Cup. In December, she won her third straight Swiss National title and was named to the Swiss European team. In January, she placed fourth. She was named to the Swiss World team, but the competition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, in an interview, she announced she was changing coaches and was going to be working with Stephane Lambiel.
