International Figure Skating October 2022

As summer draws to a close, we are gearing up for an action-packed season. With several skaters and teams having retired and others unsure about their competitive futures or sitting out the first half of the campaign, the lineups for all the events will be a mix of veterans and rookies. That there will be many new faces on the Grand Prix circuit this year is cause for celebration. While we all love the top skaters in the world, discovering new favorites to cheer for is something I look forward to every season. The seven-event Junior Grand Prix Series opens in Courchevel, France on Aug. 24. All competitions will be live streamed worldwide on the ISU Junior Grand Prix YouTube channel. The Challenger Series will get underway in a couple…

In many ways, Isabeau Levito is a typical teenager. Ask her what she likes to do in her spare time, and the 15-year-old will tell you “I love to hang out with my friends and play with my cats.” She also admits to being “hooked” on reading and every now and again plays a melody or two on the piano. Nothing out of the ordinary there, right? But strap a pair of skates on Levito’s feet, set her free on the ice and that’s when ordinary can suddenly become extraordinary. The American teen is a young phenom on the rise in the world of figure skating, with a trail of success already on her résumé after just one full season on the international scene. This, after all, is a skater…

When Ashley Wagner unofficially retired from competitive skating in 2018, she decided it was time to make a lot of other changes in her life. She left Los Angeles, where she had trained for a decade, and headed east, settling in Boston. Wagner, 31, had reached a point in her life where she needed new inspiration, and moving to a city where she knew no one was just the start. “I moved to Boston because I believe that if you want to change, you need to be pushed outside of your comfort zone,” she said. “I didn’t know anyone in Boston, and I really had to steer my own life for the first time. It was not easy.” But it did not take long for her to find her groove,…

Four years and two days after their first date, Piper Gilles said yes to the proposal of her boyfriend Nathan Kelly. Though they had talked about getting engaged — and Gilles had shown her preferred ring style in a visit to a jeweler — she had no idea if Kelly had bought a ring or when he intended to propose. At the end of last season, Gilles and her on-ice partner Paul Poirier decided to take a six-week break during which Gilles planned to spend part of the time with her family in Colorado. “Nathan had booked a videography job for Porsche Colorado Springs to film Pikes Peak, so I it was perfect timing for us both to go there,” said Gilles. “As it turned out, my brothers and sisters…

Chantelle Kerry and Zachary Donohue have had anything but a normal courtship. The couple first crossed paths at 2020 Four Continents, but it was a fleeting connection. At the time, both were dating other people, but just a few months later Kerry and Donohue ended their respective relationships. “About four months into COVID I was single again. I reached out to Chantelle when I commented on an Instagram post of her with her adorable dog. She ignored me for three weeks before she responded,” recalled Donohue, who was in the United States while Kerry was in her hometown of Sydney, Australia. “He kept replying to things and I was like, ‘why is he messaging me? Whatever,’” Kerry recalled with a laugh. “But when I eventually answered in August, we clicked…

Evan Bates chose a pristine beach in Phuket, Thailand, to propose to his long-time girlfriend Madison Chock. Just days after the Stars on Ice tour had concluded, Chock and Bates headed to Thailand, where Bates attended the International Skating Union Congress in his role as the ice dance representative on the Athletes Commission. When Congress ended, Chock, Bates and a group of skating friends remained in Thailand for a well-deserved vacation. While Chock, 30, knew a proposal was coming, she did not know when. The couple had gone ring shopping in April in New York City, where they found a one-of-a-kind vintage Cartier piece from 1920. Bates, 33, said he chose June 11 for its significance to their relationship — the couple had been dating for six years and skating…