Lee Seeks Clean Programs, Personal Bests at First U.S. Championships

It has been a year of firsts for Soho Lee.
 
The 13-year-old from Irvine, California competed in her first junior international events, including her first international medal at her first international event; won her first sectional title at the Pacific Coast Sectional Singles Final in the junior event; and will be heading to the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships, her first after missing last year's competition due to COVID-19.
 
Although it will be her first U.S. Championships, Lee hopes to improve upon her Sectionals performance in San Jose, California, and skate without mistakes.
 
"I definitely want to do two clean programs because I was not able to do that at Sectionals, and of course, earn personal bests," she said.
 
She makes her debut after earning a silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix event in Latvia. The second-place finish might have surprised others, but no one was surprised as much as Lee.
 
"I was not expecting it at all because in my mindset, this is such a huge competition. There are so many good skaters. And my goal was to just do my personal best. In the short, I did way better than I expected to because I was really nervous," Lee said.
 
Placing second after the short program, she focused on her performance, not on the potential of winning a medal.
 
"In the long, I tried to not tell myself that I was in second. I was like, I just need to do my best and do what I trained for, and the results just came after. I was just really happy."
 
With elements including a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and two Level 4 spins, she held onto second place in the long program and clinched the silver for Team USA.
 
After her silver triumph, Lee went to JGP Italy, and placed seventh.
 
She enjoyed the experience of competing in the Junior Grand Prix events, both on and off the ice, especially the team dinners.
 
"It was really fun to bond with other people from the U.S.," she said of the experience, adding that she also was able to explore Riga and Egna-Neumarkt when she wasn't competing.
 
From there, she went on to her Pacific Coast Sectional event, where she won gold, another unexpected placement in her eyes.
 
"This was my first Sectionals, so I was pretty excited. After Italy, my condition was a little bit down. I was sick for a little bit, so my stamina and my skating weren't the best at that point, and I didn't do that well in Italy," she explained. "So my goal for Sectionals was to just do better than my last competition and that happened. So I was happy with that."

To prepare for her U.S. Championships debut, Lee is training much the same way as she usually would. As she said, "I'm trying to keep it the same as always because I feel like I would be too overwhelmed and stressed and more nervous in the competitions."
 
The bubbly teen enjoys the team environment of her training rink, Anaheim ICE, where she skates three hours per day, alongside teammates that include Sherry Zhang, who placed second behind Lee at the Sectional Singles Final, and Annika Chao, who won the novice women's title at the event.
 
They will join her at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships this January.
 
"It's really fun training programs together instead of just doing it alone and I think we help each other improve and motivate each other," Lee said.
 
Throughout it all, Lee stays balanced by baking, (usually cookies, "because they are easiest to make" Lee explained laughingly), shopping with friends and playing with her puppy, Moose. The Shiba Inu appears frequently on her Instagram account; in one post, the puppy frolicked around Lee while she was stretching.
 
"We got her during COVID; before we didn't have a lot of time to get a puppy, but during COVID we had nothing to do, and we've always wanted a dog, so we got Moose,"  Lee said of the three-year-old puppy. "She's really cute and she makes me happy."
 
In such a whirlwind year, Lee was excited to travel overseas to compete in her Junior Grand Prix events, but staying on home soil and competing at the U.S. Championships, hosted in the SAP Center in San Jose, California, offers other thrills.
 
"I think Nationals is really exciting because it's in a big stadium and I've never skated in a stadium before, so that's a new experience too," she enthused.
 
Although she's focusing on doing her best at the U.S. Championships, Lee is still looking forward to next season. She will remain a junior but hopes to level up in other ways.
 
"I would like to add a triple Axel or a quad in my program. I've started working on them but not focusing on them a lot yet since it's still the season and I'm focusing on my current programs," Lee said. "And I would like to improve my skating skills and spins a lot more."

Soho Lee will take the ice in the junior women's event at the 2023 Toyota U.S. Championships in San Jose, California, January 23-29. To watch Lee in person, purchase your tickets on the event page's competition central.