Audrey Shin Sets Goals to Skate Clean and Medal at Grand Prix Events in France and Japan

The skaters on the ice at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, look a bit different these days.
 
Athletes such as Karen Chen, Bradie Tennell, Camden Pulkinen and Vincent Zhou are no longer there. For one of the athletes who remains, Audrey Shin, that thought is a little bittersweet.
 
"It does feel a little empty without them here and I definitely miss the training environment that we had with when we were all skating together, but I feel like Colorado always has really great skaters here and I feel like it's a really good training environment no matter who's here," she said.
 
Still in great company, helping to create that great training environment is one familiar face, Tomoki Hiwatashi, as well as one new one, Amber Glenn, who recently relocated from Dallas. Having both there continue to push Shin to be better.
 
"I have so much respect for her trying triple Axels, especially in her 20s," Shin said of Glenn. "I really hope she can land it in competition soon. I believe she can. It's very motivating to see her practice and work really hard. It's better for me too because I feel like I train better when I have those kind of skaters around."
 
There are also several up-and-coming junior level skaters, who now look up to Shin, just as she looked up to the generation who came before her.
 
"I want the younger people to see and feel the training environment that I felt when I was skating with the senior skaters," she said. "I hope I set a good example for the younger skaters at my rink."
 
Shin is hoping to one day join Glenn in the triple Axel club. She was close to landing the triple Axel, as well as the quad toe, but suffered a few injuries the past couple of years that forced her to scale back on jumping to avoid reinjuring herself. She recently resumed working on these jumps about 10 minutes per day with harness coaches Eddie Shipstad and Erik Schulz.
 
"It was very upsetting because I was excited to start landing those jumps," she said. "At the same time, I needed to take care of my body and was kind of overworking, pushing myself too much. I have to be careful with how much I jump every day. I was getting close to off the harness. I hope I can start training them again when the season finishes."
 
Shin has learned to pace herself when it comes to jumping. She skates four sessions daily. The first session is primarily dedicated to choreography with some light jumping. She takes a lesson with head coach Tammy Gambill on her second session and does run-throughs of one program. She practices run-throughs of the opposite routine on the third session. The fourth, and final, session of the day is reserved for whatever needs more work on a given day, such as jumps, spins or choreography.
 
"I am 100% healthy now," she shared. "I got tendonitis in my right ankle earlier this season and I was off the ice for a little bit, but right now everything is good, and I hope it stays that way."
 
For her first Grand Prix of the 2022-23 season in France this week, she's planning to compete with a triple toe-triple toe combination in both of her routines. She and her coaching team are being cautious with Lutzes and flips to protect her ankle. However, they may elect to sub in a triple Lutz-triple toe at some point this season.
 
Off ice, Shin works with a trainer, takes Pilates, and has taken up boxing. As a freshman at University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, she is also taking a dance technique class as an elective, where she is learning ballet, jazz, contemporary and modern.
 
Shin started off season with a win at Cranberry Cup, where she debuted new short and free skate programs. Following that competition, she attended Champs Camp and the consensus from the judges' feedback was to change her free skate music, which was "Tosca," only one week before the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Lake Placid, New York. She decided to repurpose her short program music from the previous two seasons to "The Giving" by Michael W. Smith and mix it with other pieces of his to lengthen the routine and give it a fresh sound.
 
Her short program is now set to "Yo Soy Maria," her first time taking on a tango. She worked with choreographer Pasquale Camerlengo in Melvine, Michigan on her routines this season.
 
Since she is skating to a tango, she thinks it'd be advantageous to enroll in ballroom lessons to compliment her on-ice choreography and coaching.
 
"When I look at my program video, I still see some awkward moments with a hand position or where my legs are," she admitted. "I would say the beginning is very flirty and really catches the attention of the audience. The step sequence is also one of my favorite parts of the performance. I portray a character. It's really fun to do."
 
Shin is slated to compete at two Grand Prix events in Angers, France and Sapporo, Japan, where she hopes to land on the podium.
 
"My goal isn't just to medal, but to put out really strong performances. I am so, so excited to finally be able to get my two Grand Prix this season," she said. "I always say that every competition is an experience. I learn so much after each competition. I think it will help me gain more confidence competing on those big stages."
 
She thinks these Grand Prix assignments will serve as great steppingstones leading up to the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in January in San Jose, California and get her closer to reaching her goals of winning a U.S. title, making a World team and being named to Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
 
Off the ice, Shin opted not to take a gap year after graduating from Connections Academy, a virtual school, in the spring. She is enrolled full time at University of Colorado with a major in health science. She plans to graduate in four years and go on to medical school to specialize in oriental medicine, such as acupuncture.
 
"As an athlete myself, I know that these treatments help. I've done them myself," she shared. "I think it's so fascinating."
 
Just like several of her former training mates, Shin had considered going away to school and had her sights set on California and Boston, but decided sticking with Gambill as her coach in Colorado was best for her skating career.
 
Shin completed middle and high school virtually, so it has taken some adjusting to be back in a physical classroom, but she is enjoying socializing with peers outside of skating. After seeing Paige Rydberg and Audrey Lu compete at the U.S. Collegiate Figure Skating Championships, keep your eye out. It's possible she may be inspired to join them and register next year.