The following article appeared in the October/November issue of SKATING magazine. To subscribe to SKATING magazine, visit https://www.usfigureskating.org/about/skating-magazine.
Mark Sadusky knows who he is. Though that wasn't always the case.
Sadusky, a 25-year-old Black pairs skater and coach at the International Ice Academy of Colorado in Monument, Colorado, was 4 years old when he was adopted by a single white father. They lived in West Oakland, California, which, Sadusky recalls, "was straight-up African American" at the time. Identity challenges thrived.
"Walking down the street with my white dad, we always got looks like, what's going on here? This picture doesn't look right. It's not culturally or socially normal," Sadusky said. "It really impacted me just on how I looked at myself in the mirror. It was hard to know who I was at the time."
Nica Digerness and Mark Sadusky are in their second season together and look to build upon their on-ice partnership.
Photo credit: George Rossano
That confusion impacted Sadusky at school as well, where he recalls never fitting in with the African American kids. Even though he participated in a wide range of youth sports, including gymnastics, baseball, flag football and basketball, he felt like an outcast.
Then, at age 11, he attended a Disney on Ice show and felt the pull. His father enrolled him in the local Learn to Skate program, and everything clicked.
"I loved being out on the ice," Sadusky said. "I wasn't afraid of falling. It was a cool way to express myself and do something that was really, really hard. It was what I was meant to do."
But it didn't come easy, particularly with respect to the comments he heard at school or on the playground.
"Guys don't skate."
"That's so feminine."
The negative comments made skating harder than it should have been, but he persevered. And after his first competition at Spring Jubilee in San Jose, California, in 2012, he never looked back.
"For me, skating is freedom," Sadusky said. "You get onto the ice and create a picture for everyone. I don't see that in any other sport."
Sadusky was drawn to pairs skating in large part from his experience watching Disney on Ice. But his coach, Phillip DiGuglielmo, who today is the chair of the U.S. Figure Skating Coaches Committee, first wanted Sadusky to make the U.S. Championships as a singles skater.
"I wanted Mark to qualify for nationals because I needed him to prove it to himself that he could," DiGuglielmo said. "Once you are a national competitor, you are always a national competitor, and that can transform the way you see yourself on and off the ice."
After Sadusky qualified for the 2016 U.S. Championships in novice men, the transition to pairs skating began.
"Pairs is really cool," Sadusky said. "The lifts you can do with someone, throwing her up and catching her, it's unreal stuff to do on the ice. There's also an emotional connection not only with the audience, but now I get to share that with someone who loves skating as much as I do, and that's really exciting."
Sadusky has been skating pairs for the last seven years. He says finding a partner is extremely hard because it's not just matching skill sets, there's an emotional component as well.
"You're in a relationship with that person," he explained. "It's basically a marriage. You see them five days a week, are with them six to seven hours a day working and have to be able to communicate while working and having fun."
Sadusky, who's currently partnered with Nica Digerness, added, "There's no perfect partner, but I've found my match, and a really good one."
Digerness and Sadusky experienced several setbacks over the past two years, ranging from rink closures due to COVID to minor injuries, but were able to secure a spot skating senior pairs at the 2023 U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in San Jose last January. Despite having only four weeks to prepare, the couple finished eighth, and Sadusky considers it a win.
"That was the first time I got to do senior pairs, and it was my hometown," he said. "The crowd was amazing, and everyone was so supportive. It was an incredible experience. And with more training and time under our belt, I know what we can bring to the table."
Sadusky also brings a lot to the table when coaching, something he has been doing at the International Ice Academy of Colorado for the past year.
"Mark understands technique very well, but also knows that an individual skater brings their own unique style to the rink," DiGuglielmo said. "When those two things come together it can be magic."
Sadusky loves being able to take the knowledge he has accumulated and share it with those who are eager to learn. And the benefits are mutual.
"When they're on the ice training with me, the lessons I give them from my everyday life help to push me as well," Sadusky said. "Now I'm putting even more effort into my own skating."
Most importantly, Sadusky says he knows who he is. And he credits advice from pairs skater Vanessa James, whom he met while training in Florida.
"She told me not to try being anyone else but myself," he said. "It's hard, because I was the only African American male competing in the senior category at nationals, and you want to fit in. But she told me not to do that. She said to have a different look. To skate differently. I've taken that to heart. And the biggest goal now is to be on Team USA."
