It’s all icing on the cake for this skater

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This article was published 09/05/2017 (3449 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RIGHT from the get-go this past figure skating season, Kaetlyn Osmond created a buzz.

Her sublime competition programs, jaw-dropping jumps and performance panache turned some influential heads as she built toward her world championship crescendo.

In winning the world silver medal last month in Helsinki (behind the seemingly invincible Russian Evgenia Medvedeva), Osmond put herself firmly in the conversation as a medal contender at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea next February.

Figure skating icon turned television commentator Kurt Browning famously described Osmond’s skating as “scrumptious,” while his American counterpart Johnny Weir raved on Twitter, “She skates like Edith (Piaf) sings” — a reference to Osmond’s acclaimed short program set to signature songs of the French chanteuse.

On Wednesday at the MTS Centre, Winnipeg fans can see for themselves why the sport’s aficionados hopped on the Osmond bandwagon when the pride of Marystown, N.L., performs in Stars on Ice. (Coincidentally, Browning is back on Stars’ coast-to-coast tour after a one-year hiatus.)

“I still haven’t put words to last season. It still feels so incredible. I still feel so proud of myself,” said Osmond, 21, who had to rebuild her competitive form after a broken leg sidelined her for the 2014-15 season.

“My goal for the year was to enjoy performing again, to be competing again and to gain consistency. Each of those things I got to accomplish, plus gaining the confidence. I didn’t realize how much of it I had lost.

“To be able to get so many (four) medals this year — and a world medal — puts everything together and makes it feel so much better,” the now three-time Canadian champion added.

With a dream season to savour and the Olympics on the horizon, it’s fitting that this Stars tour — Osmond’s third — has been titled In Dreams by show choreographer and cast member Jeff Buttle.

“A dream can be what wakes you up in the morning and keeps you going every day, whether things are going great or not. You have that dream; you have that passion inside you that you keep pushing forward,” Osmond said.

“When I was younger, I had a dream of being in (ice) shows. I wanted to be a performer. Being in Stars, I get to fulfil that dream. Being able to compete at that (highest) level is a dream that came out of nowhere, but now it’s always there.”

Osmond performs two contrasting solo routines in the show — one set to Tori Kelly’s rendition of Hallelujah and the other to I Love It by Icona Pop.

“Hallelujah is just soft and really heartfelt. What I love about it is the long (body) lines, which was hard for me to learn how to do. That’s something I want to build in my skating and I’m excited to be able to do that.

“I Love It is high-energy, high-cardio and something not many people have seen from me.”

When talking Olympic dreams, Osmond’s ambition for 2018 is different from the dream she took into the Sochi Games.

In 2014, she was all about experiencing the Olympics for the first time. In Korea, her goal is “to skate as close to perfect as I possibly can to hopefully make the podium at the Olympics by myself.” (Osmond won an Olympic silver medal in the team event in Sochi.)

The Edmonton-based skater has already created her Olympic season programs, working with her longtime choreographer, Lance Vipond, as well as Buttle.

“I think they’ll be two of the best programs I’ve ever had. I already love them. Both are to music I’ve wanted to skate to for years,” Osmond said, declining to reveal those selections just yet.

The 2017 Stars tour features four other Canadians considered contenders for the 2018 Olympic podium — Patrick Chan, pairs skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford and Gabby Daleman, who earned the world bronze medal behind Osmond in Helsinki.