Manitoba skaters Ava Kemp, 14, and Yohnatan Elizarov, 18, earned a silver medal in Riga, Latvia September 7th and 8th 2022 at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating – 2022 Riga Cup. This is the first international assignment for the Junior Pairs team, who skate out of the Skate Winnipeg club in Winnipeg. The team is coached by Manitoban Kevin Dawe and Ontario coach Andrew Evans.
The Pairs Team skated their short program to “Anything You Can Do” by Bernadette Peters, Tom Wopat, and earned a score of 43.53 which placed them in second heading into the Free Skating program the following day. Taking to the ice fifth, for their free program to “Never Enough” (The Greatest Showman soundtrack) by Hugh Jackman, performed by Loren Allred, they earned a score of 81.20, a total combined score of 124.73 and the silver medal. ‘It was exciting to see the growth of this team since last season when they were just starting out in Novice pairs. Ava & Yoni and their coaches have worked so hard and it shows in the results’ stated Diane Brine, Chairperson of Skate Manitoba. Ms Brine was fortunate to be present at the Riga Cup and watch the performance.
Kemp/Elizarov were selected for the 2022-23 NextGen Team, a Skate Canada program designed to ensure athletes and coaches advance at their maximum potential through development and training opportunities, in order to be the best in the World and Olympic Games.
Ava and Yohnatan have been assigned a second international event and will be heading to Gdansk, Poland October 5th to 8th for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating – Baltic Cup.