FIGURE SKATING: Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya accomplished what no other Australian figure skaters have ever done when they won the 2017 Junior World Pairs Figure Skating Championships in March this year.  
 
The 20-year-old Indigenous man from Western Sydney and his 17-year-old Russian-born partner made headlines around the world for their rapid rise through the ranks, starting with Australia’s first gold at an ISU Junior Grand Prix last October, the Junior World title ahead of the fancied Russian teams and 16th place in their first senior World Championships. in March this year.  
 
Following their world-beating debut season, the pair has been training with the top Russian teams in Moscow with their Sydney coach Andrei Pachin, but now they are home to prepare for the season ahead.
 
To celebrate their astounding Championship win, and to unveil their new short program, Windsor and Alexandrovskaya will perform in a Celebration Gala at Canterbury Olympic Ice Rink in Sydney on Saturday, 19 August at 10.30am.    
 
 “I’ve only been home for less than two weeks since January and it’s fair to say that I’ve been homesick,” Windsor said. “Katia and I have done a lot of work in the off season learning our new short and free programs.”  
 
“It’s been tough to be away from Australia for so long,” he said. “Canterbury is my home rink and where I trained with Galina and Andrei.”  
 
The general public is invited to see Australia’s Junior World Champions.  

PyeongChang 2018 figure skating hopeful, Kailani Craine has launched her 2017 season with a clear message -  she may be young, but she means business.

The 18-year-old has shown her international competition at the Asian Open Trophy and she's not there to muck around, recording a solid third place finish after the free program and another podium.

"This is my first competition of the season, the Asian Open Trophy, I'm competing against some really good skaters from countries such as Japan and Korea," Craine said. 

The Newcastle native finished behind two Japanese skaters, Kaori Sakamoto and Yuna Shiraiwa, in the opening short program of the trophy, but said it is her new free program that she was most excited to perform.

"I'm really using this competition to debut my new free program which I absolutely love!," said Craine, who hopes to make her Olympic debut at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. 

"I would love to record a personal best in this competition, and perhaps some add some new elements to my performance.

"Also if I can improve my ranking that would be an extra bonus."

Skating her four-minute program to Moulin Rouge, Craine landed two triple lutzes, a triple flip and delivered all level 4 spins to score 100.87.

With two falls on her usually reliable triple loop and double axel, she was unable to record the personal best score she was looking for, but as an opening season’s event, the higher technical preparation is on her mind.

"This event is a really good warmup for the upcoming Olympic season, and really every event that I will compete in this season will count towards my Olympic preparation.

"I'm just working towards improving my technical ability and also improving my world ranking."

The three-time Australian Champion also said the fact that this year's 2017 Asian Open Trophy was held in Hong Kong was an added bonus. 

"This year the competition is held in Hong Kong which is really cool because it's my first time visiting here!"

Craine was joined by fellow Australian skaters, James Min and Andrew Dodds who finished 7th and 9th respectively in the men's event, and pairs skaters, Paris Stephens and Matthew Dodds who secured a 4th place finish.

Ashleigh Knight
olympics.com.au