Youth Olympians and 2020 U.S. junior silver medalists Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen are coming off a successful first season together. The promising duo leads the pack after the first competitive opportunity of U.S. Figure Skating's International Selection Pool (ISP) Points Challenge, a virtual competition for elite junior and senior competitors, and they hope to continue that success despite the challenges and limitations brought by COVID-19.
Watching them, it is difficult to believe that last season was their first. Well-matched with a similar skating style, they skate with great speed while remaining polished and controlled in their movements. Their debut season increased in momentum throughout – in addition to the silver medal in the junior competition at U.S. Championships, they won bronze at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland, and placed in the top 10 at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2020.
"Granted most of our skates weren't exactly clean overall, (but) we were happy with our trajectory," said Chen.
"We improved a lot and we worked well together for being a new team" added Wolfkostin.
One of the highlights of their season was the Youth Olympics, where they were able to skate alongside other international athletes. They were excited to meet and interact with athletes from other Olympic sports and enjoyed the unique atmosphere.Â
"It was an amazing, completely different experience…it mimicked the experience we might get if we do go to the Olympics in the future," Wolfkostin noted. "That was a cool thing to take part in."
At the U.S. Championships, after an effervescent rhythm dance to "Everything Old is New Again" by Peter Allen and a passionate, lyrical free dance to "How Will I Know" and "Fire on Fire" by Sam Smith, they earned the silver medal.
"It was one of our goals to medal," Chen said. "After our first competitions, we kind of had an idea of where we were. Obviously we needed to keep improving to try and medal and be competitive at the junior level, but we were kind of hoping to medal (in Greensboro)."
The enthusiastic team held themselves to high standards for good reason; between the two of them, they have three U.S. titles at lower levels with previous partners, and a few other medals from national-level competition. At the World Junior Championships, they placed a respectable seventh, a good start for a new pair.
After their World Junior performance, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the closing of rinks nation-wide, including in Novi, Michigan, where the team trains with Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Camerlengo.
"Since the rinks were closed for three to four months, we had to start working off ice," said Chen.
Wolfkostin added, "We worked on basic skills, presentation, off-ice lifts, partnering skills, everything. Once we did get ice eventually, I think it was a little more smooth because we had already gone over our choreography and were focusing more on the components. It was different, but we made the best we could of the situation so we could focus on different things, even when we didn't have ice."
When the rink finally reopened in mid-summer, they had to adjust.
"We had to get used to the ice for a few weeks, after that I think everything went pretty smoothly," she continued. "We were working on the program on ice and fitting it to the rink, and edges, and the technical elements, including all the lifts, on the ice."
Now, with about two months of training on ice, Wolfkostin and Chen are finally back to competing with the virtual ISP Points Challenge. After the first competitive opportunity, they lead the field with 153.78 total points. Additionally, they notched 66.82 points for their rhythm dance, marking a new personal best.
Although they admit it is a novel experience, they look forward to sharing their skating.
"The camera can only shoot from one point of view, so we try and perform just for the camera rather than for a whole arena and show the camera as much emotion as possible," said Chen.
"Being able to skate in our own rink and having no audience is just a different feeling," added Wolfkostin. "It's fun to be able to perform for someone and to show your skating towards a crowd and to have people enjoy what you do…but it is what it is."
Of course, COVID-19 restrictions apply at their rink also; masks must be worn off ice in public spaces, and smaller training sessions are being utilized. Perhaps more than most, the team is aware of their responsibility towards others. Chen is part of a timely social media campaign called "We Wear Masks" with his sister and 2018 Olympian Karen Chen. Using their Facebook page, website, and Instagram account, they hope to encourage people to wear masks in public.
"We are simply trying to encourage and educate people, and give them an opportunity to express themselves through the use of masks," Chen explained.
Wolfkostin also supports the movement, saying, "It's basically showing support for people who chose to wear a mask and respect others... make something fun out of it, show the positive effects."
And despite the uncertainties imposed by COVID-19, they are hopeful that they can continue to improve and accomplish more this season.Â
"Our main goal is to get more experience," said Chen. "We also want to show we can be more mature, because in junior, judges want to see more maturity on ice and we want to approach that level of skating. This season, we are hoping to be even more competitive and just keep improving."
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