Gabriella Izzo looks at this season as an opportunity. Between the kickoff of a new four-year Olympic cycle, the domestic and international retirements, certain countries being barred from competition and her junior year at Harvard University as a pre-law student, she's looking to capitalize on what is right in front of her.
"It is a huge opportunity," the skater from Brighton, Massachusetts, said. "I think every time you go out to compete and you go out to train, it's always an opportunity to grow. Especially now, you have so many opportunities. It's about seizing those opportunities when they come your way."
Those opportunities have included Izzo's first-ever Grand Prix appearance in England this season, where she finished seventh. She's been to plenty of international competitions – including an eighth-place finish at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2022 – but the Grand Prix was unique due to the relatively small size of the field.
"I'm used to going to internationals and there's 20-something competitors and six groups for the short," she explained. "You get [to a Grand Prix] and you're like, there are only 12 of us. We all fought really hard to be here. We all deserve to be here … There are the pressures that come with that but at the end of the day, it's a really cool and really fun experience."
Izzo is the 2022 U.S. pewter medalist and also the 2019 U.S. junior champion. This year, Izzo sees the U.S. Championships as another occasion to show the audience her self-confidence.Â
"I want to go in and be like, I have done my part to be here, to prepare my absolute best, and I want to feel confident with that," she said, adding that she hopes to "show the audience and the judges my love for the sport and the amount of work I've put into it."
That aligns with Izzo's goals on the ice for this season. In the past, it was easy for her to say she wanted a certain placement in various competitions. Then, she realized a big part of that was outside her control. Instead, she's found something new to focus on this season.
"Goals become almost abstract to the point where it's like, 'I want to go out to competition feeling confident in the fact that I have done all my repetitions and all my training at home,'" Izzo explained. "Regardless of what the outcome is, I want to be able to say I did everything I possibly could … I did so many clean run throughs that when that music comes on, there's not a doubt in my mind that I can do this. I think that's ultimately the goal. Going into this season, I wanted to give it absolutely everything I have."
And everything she has, Izzo said, includes being "super-efficient" at balancing her life off the ice. One of her best tricks is listening to any available audiobook versions of her textbooks while traveling to and from the rink. The 20-mile commute between The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, and school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has helped rack up 70,000 miles on her Honda Fit – despite being only four years old.
Izzo also said that her classes and training times are in blocks, allowing her to maximize her efforts at each. She communicates openly and honestly with her coaching team about staying up late on the rare occasion she has a paper due and how it might impact her training. Tuesdays, for example, are a bit chaotic.
"I usually coach a little bit in the morning, then I'll go to class, then I'll go back to the rink to train, and then I'll go back to class," she explained. "Most of my classes tend to be in the afternoons with the occasional midmorning class – which is how I prefer it." Â
At the midway point of the Olympic cycle, Izzo will finish her undergraduate degree and have to make a choice. When will she begin law school? And would she train for the Olympics at the same time?
"People always tell me, 'You're stretching yourself so thin!'" said Izzo, who also manages her own tutoring and editing business for other students at the rink. "[Going to law school] would be the one that would probably end up breaking [me]. That would be it. I can't imagine doing both. People have horror stories about law school in general."
Her plan is to see what her trajectory in skating might be once she graduates from Harvard.
"It might be nice to be able to take a little bit of break from school and not have to worry about going to law school and trying to train," she said.
She explained that while some people enter law school right after college, others take time off to work or explore other passions before starting law school.
Without any concrete plans surrounding 2026, or beyond, she will spend this summer exploring her options regarding skating and school.
But for now, she'll capitalize on the opportunity she'll have at U.S. Championships and the rest of this season.
"The majority of this season so far has been, 'let's just see where this goes and where it takes me,'" Izzo said.
So far, so good.
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Keep up with Gabriella Izzo at she competes at the 2023 Toyota U.S. Championships Jan. 23-29 in San Jose, California. To follow the event, and to purchase tickets, visit the U.S. Championships Competition Central on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
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