Australia’s largest, strongest and youngest Junior Worlds Figure Skating team in recent history will compete at the Junior World Figure Skating Championships in Taipei this week.  
 
Contesting the Ladies, Men, Dance and Pair titles will be Holly Harris (14), James Min (16), ice dancers Matilda Friend (17) and William Badoui (18) and pair skaters Harley Windsor (20) and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya (17).
 
The rise of pair skaters Windsor and Alexandrovskaya has them tipped as genuine medal contenders.  
 
After winning Australia’s first gold in a Junior Grand Prix and backing it up with a fifth place in the Junior Final and performing high-quality high-level triple throws and twists in their first season, the expectations of the indigenous Sydney-sider and his Moscow-born partner are high.
 
“Last year when we started I could not expect the result we had,” Alexandrovskaya said of their performances so far. “Australia is not a figure skating country. But this (the pairing) has worked.”
 
“We are going for a medal but we have to skate clean to do it,” Windsor said. 

National Junior Men’s Champion James Min is no stranger to world competition who already has two World Junior Championships under his belt (placing 31st and 27th).
 
The engaging Adelaide teenager, who is the eldest son of Cambodian refugees, weighs just 44kgs – but is accomplishing multiple triple jump combinations and what he lacks in stature he makes up for in performance skills and execution.
 
“The key is on-going development,” said coach Richard Laidlaw who has taught Min since his first days on the ice.  
 
“He has a good jumping technique now. All the triples are in place and we will continue to develop quads next season. For now though, it is about doing what he can do well,” Laidlaw said.
 
Min is much more focussed on the process rather than the outcome.
 
“I’m doing clean run throughs and my fitness is great,” he said. “I am obsessed over my lutz at the moment because it’s not 100 percent where I want it to be every day.”
 
“I just need to focus on what I need to do in the moment. Think about the process and not the outcome and do what I do in training.”
 
At 14, Holly Harris is the youngest in the Australian team but has impressed in her debut junior international season placing 11th in her first Junior Grand Prix (Germany) and collecting a silver medal in Riga, Latvia late last year with mature performances, technically and artistically, that belie her tender years.
 
Harris, who trains most of the year in Colorado Springs with her mum Karen looking after her whilst her father and siblings remain in Sydney, is a talent to watch for the future.
 
Coach Tom Zakrajsek confirmed Harris’ potential.
 
“Holly has been working very hard and training very thoroughly to prepare for World Juniors,” Zakrajsek said.
 
“I feel fortunate to be coaching her as she is a young talent with a bright future. She has very specific goals for the event regarding personal bests and she will using her first appearance at theses championships to gain experience so that she can springboard to greater achievements over the next few years.”

For ice dancers Matilda Friend and William Badaoui, its’ another week, another country and another comp.
 
Junior Worlds closes a long and demanding season for duo, who in February, competed back to back in the Four Continents Championship in PyeongChang and the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan.
 
Baddoui says competing at the Asian Winter Games, where they finished in 6th place with two new PBs, has given them a big confidence boost.
 
"Just the scale and level of competition at Asian Winter Games, everything feels a little bit easier when you come out of a competition that big," he said.
 
"Experiencing something that was so close to an Olympics, which is our ultimate goal, gave us new motivation and drive." Friend said.
 
The Junior and Senior Ice Dance national champions goal for Junior Worlds is to earn a high enough ranking after their short dance to make it through to the free dance , which both acknowledge will require a flawless skate and top effort given the calibre of the 31 teams competing.
 
"But we're also looking for a PB and to improve our ranking from last year,” they said.
 
The Junior World Figure Skating Championships will be held from Wednesday March 15 to 18 in Taipei and begin with the men’s short program on Wednesday followed by the Pairs short.

Gangneung Ice Arena has proven it is well and truly ready to host the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, as the Australian Figure Skating Team wrapped up their ISU Four Continents Championships campaign with great results across the board.

Serving as the Test Event for the 2018 Games, the South Korean arena saw the largest Australia contingent of skaters compete at the event, with athletes in every discipline for the first time since 2006.

The first pairs skaters in over a decade, Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, finished the Championship in 11th place, with consistent results in both the short and free program.

“I feel like we're becoming more of a mature senior team now,” said 20-year-old Windsor, who has been skating with 17-year-old Alexandrovskaya since January 2016.

“Overall we are pretty happy with our senior championship.”

Windsor and Alexandrovskaya will now turn their attention to Junior World Championships in mid-March before taking on the world’s best at World Championships later in the month, which is also an Olympic qualification event. 

In the men’s event, Sochi 2014 Olympian Brendan Kerry produced fantastic results, finishing 11th overall with a season’s best and his highest ever Four Continents result.

“I was incredibly happy and incredibly annoyed after my season’s best,” said Kerry who recorded his first short program score inside the top ten at an ISU Championships.

“I had so much fun out there and gave it my all.”

Despite nailing majority of his routine, the 22-year-old walked away frustrated with a mistake on his triple axel in the short program.
 
“I missed my money jump. Ask anyone at my training rink and they'll tell you- it's never the 3A he's worried about.”

But a mistake won’t deter Kerry in his quest for PyeongChang 2018 qualification as he hopes to feature on the Olympic program for the second time.

“That's my number one focus.

“I know that if I give my absolute best at every other event and treat it like an Olympic qualifying competition that when the time comes it won't be as big of a deal,” said Kerry who was also eager to test out the Gangneung Arena.

“The Olympic venue was awesome! Less intimidating than I thought it would've been.”

Kerry now turns his attention to Sapporo, Japan where a team of 30 Australian athletes will make their Asian Winter Games debut.

“I'm excited to do the AWG as there isn't any pressure for a specific result - it's a competition I can do just to enjoy the experience. I'm also really looking forward to going to Japan.”

Fellow Aussies Andrew Dodds and Mark Webster finished in 20th and 21st position respectively in the men’s event.
In the women’s competition, 2014 Olympian Brooklee Han wrapped up her campaign in 14th, two places ahead of Australian teammate Kailani Craine in 16th.

Mixed results for the Aussies saw Han record her best ever free program routine, while a bad day on the ice and two falls for Craine proved to be an important learning lesson for the 18-year-old.

“I expected everything to go as it has gone in practice, so when I made a mistake on the triple lutz I was in a state of shock, and just couldn't recover,” Craine said.

“I am told ‘all champions have had bad skates’, so now I have had mine.”

The Newcastle native is determined to put her bad skate behind her and is looking forward to bouncing back for the Asian Winter Games.

“Even though I know myself that I work way too hard to perform the way I did, the bad days at the office make the good days feel even more special.

“I'm so grateful to have the incredible support from my Australian team mates, and I'm the luckiest girl alive to have my two number one fans by my side; my mum and dad.”

Rounding out the green and gold skaters, the three sets of Australian Ice Dancers finished their ‘4CC’ campaigns with the free dance event on Friday afternoon.

Adele Morrison and Demid Rokachev finished in 14th overall, while AWG skaters Matilda Friend and William Badaoui secured 15th position ahead of Kimberley Hew-Low and Timothy Mckernan in 16th.

Craine, Kerry, Friend and Badaoui will now join pair skaters Paris Stephens and Matthew Dodds plus their AWG teammates in Japan and will look to record some more strong results for Australia.

The 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games’ were officially opened overnight and figure skaters are set to take to the ice on Thursday February 23, with Ice Dance the first event on the program.

Live streaming is available on the Sapporo17 website.
 
Ashleigh Knight
AOC

IMAGE: Brendan Kerry and coach Tammy Gambill wait for the scores after the free program at the ISU Four Continents Championship. Photo: ISA Facebook

The 2017 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships kicked off yesterday, with ten Australians taking to the ice across multiple disciplines at Gangneung Ice Arena in Korea.

Six Aussies competed in the mixed ice dancing, with pairs Adele Morrison and Demid Rokachev, Kimberley Hew-Low and Tim McKernan, and Matilda Friend and William Badaoui finishing 14th, 15th, and 16th.

After experiencing what will be the stage for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Friend and Badaoui expressed disappointment in their opening skate after a stumble on the twizzle by William and slip right at the end of the Short Dance by Matilda.

“It wasn’t the best skate – we had a few small mistakes,” said Friend.

“Tomorrow is a new day and we are going to go in with a fresh mentality and a good attitude.”

The pair impressed early in their routine, but a fall during a lift ultimately cost them.

“I just hit my toe pick when we were coming out of the lift.

“It cost us a lot of points so we are a bit disappointed with the outcome, but apart from the mistakes that we did have, we were really happy with the rest of the program.”

Taking out the event was Canadian pair and Vancouver 2010 gold medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and Badaoui said sharing the dressing room with the two-time World champions was an experience in itself.

“It was pretty amazing, just seeing everyone, them in particular in the change rooms and warming up next to us, doing the same thing as us. The atmosphere was very surreal," the Aussie dance team said.

In the pairs short program, Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya impressed in their first senior International Championship event, finishing 11th.

They started strongly, opening with a flawless split triple twist and moving into effortless side-by-side triple toe jumps.
A fall on an attempted throw in a triple lutz was the only sour note in an otherwise accomplished performance.

“I feel like we're becoming more of a mature senior team now,” said Windsor. “Overall I’m pretty happy with our skate, minus the throw.
“Being our first senior championship event and being in the first group it really wasn’t too bad.”

Their score of 56.10 shows that the young pair are ready to match it with the best in the world.

Watching from her home in Sydney, coach Galina Pachin believes that, with time on their side, the team will only continue to improve.

“I think Harley and Katia will do better in the very near future,” said Pachin. “They just need more experience.”

The ladies short program also saw two Aussies in action, with Kailani Craine and Sochi 2014 Olympian Brooklee Han battling it out against some of the world’s best.

Craine finished the best of the two after cleanly landing her triple flip/double toe combination and steps into tiple loop placing in 13th, but feels she has more to give.

“I made a few minor errors and it did not show my full potential as a skater and the things I am capable of doing,” said 18-year-old Craine.

The free skate is still to come, where the Newcastle native hopes to put on a show.

“I am looking forward to the free skate as it is usually my stronger program, jam packed with triple jumps.”

Gangneung Ice Arena will play host to the Pyeonchang Winter Games in 2018 and, on first inspection, the Olympic hopeful was full of praise.

“The stadium arena is fantastic. The crowd was very supportive and the atmosphere was electric. I'm looking forward to getting back out there after a day off tomorrow between events.”

Craine is aiming to be the first Australian skater to perform a ‘triple triple’ at an international event.

“I am very confident as I have been training extremely hard since Nationals. I’ve had a little bit of a rough time with it at these practices but other than that at home it’s been going really great,” said Craine who hopes to debut the move at the Sapporo Winter Games next week.

“I just needed to do what I had to do for this competition and feel good for myself and my skating.

“For the Asian Winter Games I really want to try it out.”

Craine will be joined in Sapporo by Friend, Badaoui and pairs team Matthew Doods and Paris Stephens along with Olympian Brnedan Kerry, as Australia makes their Asian Winter Games figure skating debut.

All competitors will be looking to improve in their remaining events, as they sharpen their routines ahead of next week’s games.

Action continues today in Gangneung, where Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry will compete in the men’s short program, while the remainder of the team look forward to the free dance section. 

Nathan Lange
Olympics.com.au

From Sydney to Moscow, to Poland and back to Sydney and Melbourne, then Marseille France for the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final has been Harley Windsor's travel travel schedule in just four weeks and his 16-year-old partner, Katia has done almost the same.

Last night wrapped up the first competitive year for the indigenous figure skater and his Russian-born partner when they secured 5th of the top six pairs in the world in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final.

The relentless schedule and pressure showed in the free program last night for the young pair who have defied all expectations in making it  this far in less than one year together.

The reliable opening Split Triple Twist failed to take off, upsetting the pair's natural rythym, yet they fought throughout the program despite Katia falling on both throw jumps (lutz and salchow).

Their lifts and side by side triple toe jump racked up enough points to kee them ahead of Russian pair Atakhanova and Spirdonov in an event dominated by the winners - also from Russia - Anastasia Mishina and Vladislav Mirzoev who scored 180.63, almost 13 points clear of the Czech silver medallists.

Despite the throw triple lutz not going to plan, Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor find themselves in 5th place after the short program in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France overnight and with a best-ever score of 57.08.

The amazing journey of the young man from Rooty Hill and the girl from Moscow has taken them to France to compete with the best of the best – not a position either of them could have predicted a year ago.

With coach Andrei Pachin at the barrier, Harley and Katia began their short program strongly with an easy split triple twist followed by well-matched double axels and a high level, complex lift.

The planned throw triple lutz, which they successfully completed  at the national championships last week, was called by the technical panel as a flip and not well in Marseille resulting in a fall by Katia and a one-point penalty.  

The overall performance was more assured, with both smiling and looking comfortable in a big-time event.

“It was not too bad,” Harley said immediately after the program. “I feel much more relaxed at bigger comps now and it hasn’t really hit me yet that it’s a final event. So far, it feels like every other comp.”

Olympic Gold Medal coach Nina Mozer, who suggested the pairing late last year, was also rink-side for the Aussie pair.

“It was good having Nina there,” Katia and Harley said. “She was my coach and has helped us when we train in Moscow,” Katia explained.

Unison trouble on the side by side spin impacted their score but the overall power and improvement in the Sydney-based pair during their first season together garnered a PB and leaves them sitting in a tight race with four Russian and one Czech pair for a possible podium finish in the free program early Sunday morning, AEDT time.

Leading the event are Russians Anastasia Mishina and Vladislav Mirzoev  on 64.73, followed by Anna Duksova Martin Bidar (CZE) 61.38 and in third after the short are Alina Ustmkina and Nikita Volodin (RUS) on 59.05.
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Western Sydney’s indigenous figure skater Harley Windsor and his 16-year-old partner Ekaterina (Katia) Alexandrovskaya have been invited into the prestigious International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Final to be held in Marseille, France from December 8 – 11.​

The young Moscow-born Katia, who has a penchant for Vegemite, has been skating for Australia since July 1st and is seeking to be a permanent resident along with her mother.

The invitation to the Australian pair comes at the cost of Russian skaters Ekaterina Borisova and Dmitry Sopot who unfortunately had to withdraw from the Junior Grand Prix Final due to injury. Only the world’s six highest ranked skaters in Pairs, Dance, Ladies and Men in Seniors and Juniors are invited to the Grand Prix Final.

Australia’s fairy-tale couple have risen to 7th place in the junior world rankings in their first season after winning a Junior Grand Prix Gold medal at the Tallinn Cup in Estonia ahead of three Russian pairs.

The International Skating Union (ISU) contacted Ice Skating Australia overnight to advise that, “as first substitute, your Pair Alexandrovskaya/Windsor are now invited to attend the Junior Final.”

Harley and Ekaterina’s Gold medal in Estonia was an historic first for Australia at a Junior Grand Prix event and they are the first Australians to ever compete in a Grand Prix Final.

The impact their rise to the top has had on the Australian skating community is profound.

"This great pair skating duo are a perfect example of the talent that is here in Australia. With careful guidance and nurturing this talent can blossom. Ice Skating Australia is extremely proud of Ekaterina and Harley," Ice Skating Australia President Peter Lynch said from Melbourne where the Australian Figure Skating Championships are still underway.

Harley and Katia continue to create history at almost every event in which they compete, winning their first national title in Melbourne on Wednesday night landing the very difficult Throw Triple Lutz in both the short and free programs.

No-one would have believed this outcome 12 months ago.

“It’s been an amazing time,” said Harley. “This time last year we hadn’t met – let alone skated together.”

Windsor is a laid back kind of guy, who laughed when asked if he could believe the success their hard work was delivering.

“I wouldn’t have believed it a year ago. No way. I think I would have quit skating if it wasn’t for pairs.”

“But I can believe it now. It’s very exciting. Makes it more exciting when you see it in official writing.”

Whilst the pair began with a language barrier – almost 11 months together makes a big difference.

“I think it will be OK,” said Katia with a maturity that belies her years but a determination as fierce as her 20-year-old partner. 

​Sydney-based coaches Andrei and Galina Pachin shake their heads in wonder.

“Sometimes we can’t believe it, but we knew as soon as they took their first steps together that it was right,” the Pachins said.

“We’re excited, nervous – all of that - but they had great training yesterday and will train again today in Melbourne before heading home to Sydney on the weekend.”

Australia’s latest sport sensations head to the Junior Grand Prix Final next Tuesday and will compete in the ISU Four Continents Championships next February in the Olympic venue in PyeongChang, Korea before heading to the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

A mesmerised audience witnessed a stunning performance by pair skaters Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya that is likely to be the start of a dominating national run in the short program at the Australian Figure Skating Championships tonight.

Landing a soaring throw triple lutz, they scored an incredible 60.11 points for a Short Program that will be remembered by a large crowd who stayed to watch Australia’s new super pair.

If the lyrics to Adele’s Skyfall are anything to go by, Harley and Katia have indeed started ‘a thousand miles and poles apart’ and in the coming years will ‘face it all together’.

Coming together from Western Sydney and Moscow, 20-year-old Harley and his Russian 16-year-old partner’s Skyfall is a brilliant musical choice.

Their power-packed short program, which included a split triple twist, side by side triple toes and their first attempt at a throw triple lutz, puts the rest of the world on notice ahead of the 2017 Four Continents Championships in the Olympic venue in PyeongChang next February and the World Championships in Finland the following month.

Defending Champions Matthew Dodds and Paris Stephens were gracious to Katia and Harley, congratulating them on an outstanding performance.  

The final free program will be skated tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 9.10pm. If you are in Melbourne, make a date for the O’Brien Group Arena and watch history unfold.

For Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskya, embracing first time moments has never been much of an issue.

The talented and rising figure skating pair began their debut national campaign at the 2016 Australian Figure Skating Championships today, just two months after winning Australia’s first ever Junior Grand Prix Gold Medal at the Tallin Cup in Estonia.

Their story, one that has spread around the world, is tremendous. Sydney born Windsor, 20, is of indigenous heritage and was paired up with 16-year-old Alexandrovskya, a young talent from Moscow, after he was unable to find a local partner.

Windsor’s coaches, Sydney-based Russians Andrei and Galina Pachin, were the matchmakers behind the pair and have helped build a strong partnership despite the language barrier.

Galina said she couldn’t be prouder of the way both athletes have developed in under a year.

“There’s been a few tough moments, especially with their communication, but as coaches we’ve been able to help and Andrei has been great with that,” she said.

“They get to train with many of the Russian competitors so we just take each competition one-at-a-time and hope they take it right up to the best.”

While the speed of Harley and Katia’s success has surprised many fans and officials, it hasn’t shocked the coaches.
“The conversations started last summer at an international camp in Sochi, Russia, but we knew how perfect they were when they first took each other’s hands,” she said.

“They have the package to be very good and just need the experience.”

Their short program at the O’Brien Group Arena in Melbourne’s Docklands begins tonight.

“It’s the first time we’re trying the difficult throw triple lutz,” Coach Andrei Pachin said.

Winning the national pairs title would be another gong on the Windsor and Alexandrovskya’s list of fantastic achievements, as Windsor aims to become Australia’s first Indigenous Winter Olympian.

You can catch Harley and Katia on our livestream below at 9.10pm tonight with the short section of their program, with the free section scheduled for Wednesday at 9.10pm.
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https://livestream.com/iceskatingvictoria