Isabeau Levito Arrives on the International Scene

With the 2021-22 season in the books and a generation of Olympic dreams lived out in Beijing, the next chapter in the book of figure skating begins. As athletes aspire to go for the gold in Milano-Cortina at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, 15-year-old Isabeau Levito may be hearing the call to return to her mother's native Italy for a chance at Olympic glory.
 
"My mom is from Milano," Levito shared. "We plan to go there this summer for vacation to visit family and just have a good time."
 
Third at the U.S. Championships earlier this year, Levito was unable to throw her hat into the ring for an Olympic Team berth in Nashville because she did not meet minimum age requirements. Her performances, however, demonstrated that the Mount Holly, New Jersey native is definitely one to watch as the new Olympic cycle begins.
 
Last summer, Levito started to make a name for herself in the international skating community when, in her Junior Grand Prix debut in Courcheval, France, she ran away with the title. Though the 2021 U.S. junior champion was unsure about what to expect in France, Levito navigated the uncharted waters with ease and eclipsed the 200-point mark for the first time in her career.
 
"I knew that I could do it," Levito said confidently. "But I guess I didn't realize that I could do it until it happened."
 
Up next for Levito was the event in Linz, Austria, in early October, which proved to be a much more competitive field than what she experienced in Courcheval earlier in the season. When the chips fell, Levito played the role of runner up, capturing the silver medal and earning a new season's best by nearly six points.
 
"I didn't really think about how I won my first event," she shared. "I didn't feel any pressure to repeat what I had done in France. If anything, it was more of a calm experience because I kind of got the idea of how things were rolling at these competitions."
 
After the cancelation of the Junior Grand Prix Final was announced, Levito turned her attention to the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville. With nearly three months to prepare for her senior-level debut, Levito's primary focus was to continue building on the momentum that she had created on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, and to show that she was ready to compete with the top women in the United States.
 
When she arrived in Nashville, Levito was initially affected by the bright lights and television cameras in the Bridgestone Arena, but she quickly adapted. Too young to compete for a berth on the Olympic Team, Levito saw the opportunity to open her eyes and ears to soak in as much as she could in anticipation of future events at the national level.
 
"I almost didn't really think of it as a competition because nobody was really paying too much attention to me," she admitted. "I just decided that I was going to absorb the experience so that next year it won't be brand new, and I will have an idea of what to expect."
 
Fourth after captivating the crowd with her "The Swan" (Camille Saint-Saens) short program, Levito nearly pulled an upset in the free skate, finishing less than a point behind champion Mariah Bell. She finished with the bronze medal, earning a career-best 210.75 points. Though the teenager was fully connected to the audience in both of her performances, what happened after her free skate was, according to Levito, a bit of a blur.
 
"I remember being at center ice when they call your name and do your little bow for the medals ceremony," she said. "I do remember specifically thinking that there is no higher level. When I won the junior title, I was like 'Good, I won,' but I didn't think about being the best at that level because there was still another level to go. This year I was third and there's only two more places to go and then you're on top, so that's when I made the realization of what I had accomplished."
 
As a result of her medal-winning performance in Nashville, Levito was named to the World Junior Championships Team. Originally scheduled to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria, in early March, the event was postponed until mid-April when the Estonian Skating Union stepped up to host their third ISU Championship event of the season.
 
In Tallinn, Levito became the first American woman to capture the World Junior title since Rachael Flatt won in 2008. The event was the fourth in a row in which Levito surpassed the 200-point mark.
 
"At one point it was a little uncertain when the event would be held which was a little difficult for me," she said. "I really don't know what to say about winning the title. I am proud of what I did, but I also have so much more that I want to accomplish, so I am looking at this as the beginning."
 
Levito is already looking forward to the new season and has choreographed a new short program that was put together by her longtime coach Yulia Kuznetsova. She was very direct in a playful way about not revealing the music selection at this time other than to share how she found the piece.
 
"About three months ago I heard a piece of music, and I knew that I wanted to skate to it, and no, I am not going to tell you what it is yet," she said as she stifled a laugh.
 
As she looks forward to the new season, Levito is unsure of what international assignments may come her way, but she does plan to be ready to make a big splash no matter where or at what level.
 
"They will tell me soon enough which level I'm most likely going to skate internationally," Levito shared. "Whether it is senior or junior, I will be ready to skate my best."