Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev Gel in First Season Together

Concentrating on just one discipline of figure skating plus schoolwork is all-consuming. Now, imagine taking on two disciplines of skating at an elite level. That is exactly what 13-year-old Sonia Baram has chosen to do in a groundbreaking career decision. She hopes to compete in both singles and pairs at the Olympic Winter Games.
 
Baram will be competing at the junior level in both singles and pairs with partner Daniel Tioumentsev at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville, Tennessee, this January. Tioumentsev also has a background in singles, but has chosen to solely pursue pairs competitively at this point in time.
 
"Singles has helped us a lot in skating skills and jumping. It has transferred over to the pairs side because I know at the higher level we'll need the triples such as Lutz, flip, loop and eventually a triple-triple [combination]," he said. "Pairs skating is just as hard as singles skating. Each discipline has its challenges. I would encourage people to try pairs to see what it's like. Who knows, maybe they'd actually turn out liking it."
 
Baram discovered her fascination with pairs three years ago at the age of 10 when she was watching skating videos on YouTube. She had no idea two people could skate together, so she went to her mom to inquire. Her mom said she was too young at the time to pursue it and she'd have to wait a few months or years. As fate would have it, only a couple of weeks later, Baram had her first partner. When that partnership ended, Baram said, "I had about two months where I got almost all my triples up to flip."
 
The newly minted team of Baram and Tioumentsev only joined forces at the beginning of March and made their competitive debut in July. Despite their fresh coupling, they participated in the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series presented by Toyota, including a competition at The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, where they topped the podium. Both skaters named it as their favorite competition of the season so far.
 
"We just kind of clicked the first time we tried out," Tioumentsev said. "I definitely learned that Sonia has a lot of energy all the time, which is really good for pairs skating. She always has a positive attitude. She always makes training interesting when we're struggling with something. We always find a way to work together and find a solution. She's also really adaptable. We're both easy going and committed to reaching our goals."
 
To help them reach their lofty goals, they have assembled quite the entourage in Irvine, California. Coaches Jenni Meno and Todd Sand are one of the most decorated American pairs teams of all-time with three U.S. titles, three World medals, and two Olympic appearances on their resume.
 
Although they retired in 1998 before he was even born, Tioumentsev has watched videos of his coach's routines online. "It's quite interesting how some of what they used to do is transpiring into our training a little bit," he said. "To take from Todd and Jenni is truly and honor. Honestly, I loved re-watching their programs."
 
Olympic bronze medalist and three-time U.S. champion Chris Knierim turned to coaching after retiring from competing with wife Alexa Knierim. He is a crucial part of Baram and Tioumentsev's success, lending his expertise on lifts, twists and throws.
 
"He actually helped me learn triple twist before Daniel got here, so when he got here we could do it," Baram said. "I learned very hard lifts with him. I learned how to do bigger throws. I learned how to get more rotations in a death spiral."
 
Baram now names the triple twist as her favorite pairs element because "I just have to split and that's it. He does all the work." However, Tioumentsev said that it was challenging for them to get the timing down. They are hoping to learn triple throws soon and want to work towards a quadruple twist.
 
Tioumentsev thinks that perhaps we will see more quads in pairs skating in the future. "The way skating is moving, anything is possible," he said. "Especially in ladies and men's, quads are starting to become a huge factor, so I think eventually it will come to a point where pairs skaters will start trying to do quads. There could be a team right now who is training quads. The future of pairs is going to be interesting. The Russians especially are pushing the boundaries of pairs skating and that's something we want to do as well."
 
The teenagers also work with two stroking coaches, a harness coach, choreographer and ballet teacher. Additionally, Baram's mom, Anna Baram, helps them with their side-by-side jumps in Artesia, California and Tioumentsev FaceTimes with his mom, a coach in Colorado, to get her input on his jumping technique.
 
In Irvine, the young team are in the company of some of the greats of today, sharing the same training ice as 2021 U.S. champions Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, as well as two-time U.S. silver medalists Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson.
 
Baram marvels at Calalang and Johnson's power and Knierim and Frazier's throw jumps. "Having some of the top teams train with us is very motivating," Tioumentsev said. "We do learn a lot from them. It's a great training environment for us."

Baram and Tioumentsev will take the ice at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville, Tennessee, Jan. 3-9. Tickets are available at 2022uschampionships.com and fans can watch the action live on NBC, USA Network and Peacock Premium.