By claiming a silver medal at 2022 Skate Canada International, Starr Andrews captured her first medal on the Grand Prix circuit and possibly altered the course of her season. With a medal at this weekend's NHK Trophy, she could give herself a chance to compete at the exclusive Grand Prix Final for the first time.
"My goals this year were to medal and to place more in international competitions," Andrews said. "I'm definitely still going for that goal. It's definitely my No. 1 goal – to medal in my competitions and to get good scores."
Andrews' silver also represented something much bigger, as she became the first U.S. Black figure skater to win a Grand Prix medal.
"To be able to represent Team USA as a colored woman is such an incredible accomplishment and then to be able to go to a Grand Prix and bring back a medal is even more of an accomplishment," she said. "I feel so honored that I could be the first one to win it. I hope that I set a really good example that you can do anything you put your mind to."
Andrews has the chance to double down on the achievement this weekend at NHK Trophy, where, if she lands on the podium, she could earn a spot at the prestigious Grand Prix Final in December. The last American woman to compete at the Grand Prix Final was Bradie Tennell in 2019, placing fifth, and the last American woman to earn a medal at the Grand Prix Final was Ashley Wagner, who won a bronze in 2014.
At NHK Trophy, Andrews plans to slightly upgrade her free skate by adding in a second flip. An early-season ankle tweak – which has since healed – was hampering her consistency during run-throughs.
Another way Andrews is taking steps towards earning medals at more of her competitions is by resetting her outlook for this next Olympic quadrennial and sticking to a regular routine outside the rink.
In previous years, she explained, her focus would wander and she focused mostly on her jumps. She would wonder about other competitors' scores and what she would have to execute in order to beat them. She believed that she had to land every jump, lest her score suffer. Now, she says, she's competing against herself.
"My whole mindset and approach to things has changed as well because it's an overall thing," she said. "Figure skating is about the emotions in the program and how you're skating out the program. Yes, the jumps come along with that but it's not the whole sport. Jumping isn't the whole sport. You have your spins, you have your footwork, all of that comes together into one program."
Andrews has also added in consistency off the ice, including regular meetings with a trainer to maintain and strengthen muscles that aren't used as frequently. She irregularly attended Pilates classes in the past, but this year has committed to regular sessions.
"It's a nice consistent schedule and I think that's also very important when it comes to training," Andrews said.
After the hype of the Olympic year, Andrews admitted she struggled with picking music for this season.
"If I can't really relate to it, or if I don't feel anything when I listen to it, then it's really hard to skate to it for me," said Andrews, who in the past has skated to her own covers of songs such as Whitney Houston's "One Moment in Time" and Etta James' "At Last."
The only thing Andrews knew for certain for this season was that she wanted to skate to something "sassy" in the short program; the rest was a mystery.
"We had gone through a couple of songs but when [coach Derrick Delmore] played 'Dancing with the Devil,' I was like, 'I like this,'" Andrews said. "The short was more about being sassy, because I love being sassy. I wanted to put out a little more of my sassy side."
Andrews' fingerprints are on "Je Suis Malade," her free skate music, as she cut the music herself and called the process very satisfying. She began experimenting with cutting her own music around the time she was a novice skater, and kept up the practice at Delmore's encouragement.
She had heard the piece before, but admitted she forgot about it. Later, she stumbled on a live version of Lara Fabian singing "Je Suis Malade" on YouTube, and was impressed. She and her coach knew that four minutes of that level of intensity could be viewed as a bit much, so she found an instrumental version of the song to mix in with GarageBand.
"This program is more about being emotional and feeling what she was saying," she explained. "You can hear the pain in her voice when she's singing it."
This season, Andrews has a renewed, more streamlined focus on herself and her skating. Her goal to earn high scores and earn more medals at competitions has served her well to this point. Â
"I'm going to continue to work hard and try to put out my best work," she said. "I've been practicing really hard, putting a lot of work in."
