Mission accomplished in Austria for Winnipeg pair

It wasn’t just that their first senior competitive performance had gone very well that had pair skaters Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov smiling and joking with their coach as they awaited their short program scores in Austria earlier this month.

Their jubilation also signalled relief that they had been able to compete at all after Elizarov’s luggage — and his skates packed within — failed to land with him in Graz.

Ever since 9/11, figure skaters have been required to pack their skates in their checked luggage. When that bag goes missing, so do the custom-fit tools of their trade.

Elite-level figure skaters travel the globe for competition. Inevitably, many have suffered the “missing skates” fate, but it was the first time Kemp and Elizarov had been thrown that curveball.

So, she took the practice ice alone. He could only watch and hope.

After two disconcerting days, Elizarov’s skates finally turned up in Graz on the eve of their event. A late night, half-hour practice together and a morning spin around the ice before their competition began helped to temper the couple’s anxiety.

“It was a stressful time. It was a lot, but it was okay. It was a new experience,” Kemp said.

Nevertheless, Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 21, accomplished exactly what they intended at Icechallenge, delivering two technically solid programs to surpass the ISU’s required minimum technical score and earn their first senior competition medal — a bronze.

Having met the ISU standard, the pair is now eligible to be named to Team Canada for the season’s premier events including the ISU Four Continents championships, the world championships and even the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, although the latter is likely a longshot.

Assessing their debut senior outing in, Elizarov said, “We were more technically focused. We knew we wanted to get the scores, so we probably gave up some of our PCs (program component scores) just to focus on the technical side.

“The feedback we got from judges was ‘go faster, push harder, present more.’”

Kemp noted that it was important for them to get the feeling of competing against senior-level teams.

“Just even on practice ice and stuff, it was just a different sort of energy than it is in junior. It was a good experience. We really learned a lot from that,” she said.

After winning gold twice in Junior Grand Prix competition at the season’s start to establish themselves as the best junior pair in the world, Kemp and Elizarov began their transition to senior status. They had two months to adjust program choreography and get comfortable performing the one-hand lifts that the senior category demands.

Elizarov explained that supporting his partner with one arm requires that the centre of gravity be perfect so he is able to keep turning across the ice while holding Kemp aloft.

“A little too far to the right, a little too far to the left, the lift becomes really hard to hold,” he said.

“All three lifts (in Austria) were one hand so it was definitely more of a push through to the end of the program because we wanted to have plus GOEs (grades of execution) on the lifts… It was hard, but it wasn’t impossible. It was a good first outing.”

Kemp added, “We weren’t really trying to peak for this competition. To be honest, we weren’t really expecting to skate lights out like we did at the JGPs (Junior Grand Prixes).

“For the JGP we knew we were really well trained. For this competition, we knew we weren’t going to be that as much, but we still pulled off some pretty good programs. So I think we’re pretty happy.”

Upon their return, Kemp and Elizarov had almost three weeks to train up their junior competition programs again and prepare for the prestigious Junior Grand Prix Final exclusive to the top six pairs in the world. They’ll head to Japan this Sunday intent on upgrading the silver medal they won at the 2023 Final to gold.

Back-up pairs of skates for both Kemp and Elizarov will be packed in coach Kevin Dawe’s luggage before the trio takes-off for Nagoya — just in case.

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