Kemp and Elizarov set sights on 2030 Olympic Games

Winnipeg duo Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov have enjoyed remarkable success since they burst onto the international figure skating scene four years ago with only a year of pair skating experience on their resumé.

In short order, the rookies became known as podium threats at home and abroad, even as their ambitions were repeatedly stalled for months at a time — first by her ankle injury, then his collapsed lung and subsequent surgery and, finally, the injury to her back that kept them out of competition much of last season.

Through it all, Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 22, refused to give up, each time coming up with a plan to methodically hurdle every roadblock.

On Thursday in Tallinn, Estonia, in their fourth appearance at the ISU World Junior Championships, that determination, their hard work and innate talent lifted them to the top of the podium.

The two were all smiles as they skated a victory lap around the Tondiraba Ice Hall, gold medals draped around their necks and the Canadian flag they held billowing behind them.

Their pairs medal, which comes with US$15,000 in prize money, is Canada’s first since Barbara Underhill and Paul Martini’s win almost a half-century ago at the 1978 world juniors.

“That means everything to us. Barb and Paul, we met them this year. They used to skate where we train (in Toronto), like the same club and everything,” Kemp said.

“They came to our ice show and watched us, and we talked to them a bit. Our choreographer Sandra (Bezic) worked with them, too, and we have a (sliding) move in our long program that’s from them, so it means a lot.”

The fourth time proved to be the charm for Kemp and Elizarov after they finished sixth twice and then 10th last year at the junior championships.

“That’s what my mom said, ‘Not the third time, but the fourth time,’” Elizarov chuckled.

Elena Elizarov and Kemp’s parents — Lori and Ryan — watched from the stands in the Ice Hall as their kids became global champions. The skaters were tickled when they looked up at the jumbotron and saw their moms on the screen dabbing the tears of joy in their eyes.

There were hugs all around, even if it wasn’t exactly the dream finale that Kemp and Elizarov had envisioned.

They came into the final round sitting in second place — a fraction of a point off the lead, but their less-than-perfect free skate, including a fall, had Kemp concerned.

As they headed to the kiss-and-cry bench with coaches Kevin Dawe and Lee Barkell to await their scores, she was unsure what their fate would be.

“(I was) slightly disappointed in our skate. It was okay, it wasn’t bad, but yeah, definitely not what we planned for,” Kemp said.

“I had no idea what the others had done. I heard the Chinese (pair’s) score obviously, but before that I don’t follow what’s happening. I was just hoping we were still on the podium and in contention after our skate. I did not know what our technical (score) was going to look like,” she said, considering their slips on two elements.

Because podium contenders from China and the U.S. had struggled mightily in their final performances, Kemp and Elizarov easily took the lead with the overnight leaders — fellow Canadians Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher — left to skate.

In the final accounting, their teammates dropped into the silver medal position. Major and minor miscues in their program took their toll.

“I think it’s mixed emotions, honestly,” Kemp said an hour or so after learning the gold was theirs. “We know we could have skated better. There was definitely more room in that (long) program for improvement, so we’re just looking forward to getting back to work, but obviously we’re happy that our work paid off.”

“We know we could have skated better and we kinda wanted to end the competition on a really big high from a clean skate because we got 167 (points) and our highest is 179. We know we could have skated super clean, but you don’t always get that,” Elizarov added.

Kemp and Elizarov conceded that nerves impacted their final performance, but saw positives in how their week unfolded overall.

“We were definitely more nervous for the free program than the short program. We were both calm, but we kind of knew what was on the line,” Elizarov said.

“We’ve really been focusing on staying on one element at a time in the program and, if there’s a mistake, being able to reset. And, I think, even though we didn’t skate a clean program we were able to keep that mentality. We’re happy about that.”

During the live, in-arena interview, the newly minted gold medallists shared their thoughts with the Tallinn audience.

Asked by the announcer what they liked most about pair skating, Elizarov said, “Our partnership, I think. We’ve been together for five years. This journey has been a long one, but there’s so much more to go and I’m just excited for the ride.”

Kemp and Elizarov arrived in Estonia feeling confident. They were motivated and inspired after watching the senior pairs compete at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games.

“Hopefully, in 2030 that’ll be us (at the Games), so we’re excited,” Elizarov said.

But first things first.

The Winnipeggers are Canadian team alternates for the senior world championships in Prague the last week of March, so they have to keep training in case either of the two pairs currently slated to compete are unable to do so.

Kemp and Elizarov tested the senior competition waters earlier this season.

“We’re pretty happy with how (our three senior events) went and we want to be up there with those other senior teams,” Elizarov said.

“We’re happy to move on to senior.”

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