Standing Atop the Podium, Baram and Tioumentsev See Pathway to the Stars

As the reigning U.S. junior champions, Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev stepped into international spotlight last summer, debuting on the Junior Grand Prix circuit in their sophomore season as a pairs team.
 
The duo quickly emerged as contenders not only for a berth to compete at the World Junior Championships for the first time, but perhaps even for a chance for a podium finish in the event. After qualifying for and then capturing the silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final in December, Baram and Tioumentsev solidified their status as medal contenders for the global junior event.
 
At the 2023 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California, Baram, 14, and Tioumentsev, 21, debuted on the senior level, hoping to make a run for the podium. A fifth-place finish in the short program gave the team the opportunity to make good on that goal, and after a strong free skate, Baram and Tioumentsev moved up to snag the pewter medal.
 
"It was very exciting that we podiumed at our first senior nationals," Tioumentsev said. "It definitely was not what I was expecting. I think it goes to show that all the hard work that we've put in and all the many hours that we spent on the ice paid off. It really showed what we're capable of and what we can accomplish."
 
Though Baram was equally satisfied with their placement, she had hoped that she and Tioumentsev would have been to give even more in their performances.
 
"I don't think we did everything we planned to because we didn't do our triple throws," she explained. "I feel like I want to do everything and when it doesn't happen, I can be hard on myself. I still think that we did well."
 
Despite Baram's obvious passion for immediate results, she and Tioumentsev have a maturity about training that ensures that they are advancing at their own pace.
 
"I want to make sure that everything is done safely so that she is comfortable," Tioumentsev shared. "Sonia is the one who is up in the air for the throws and twists and because I am the one throwing her, I want to make sure everything goes right so that she always comes down safely. There have been times when I have said, 'Nope. Stop.' But there are other times when her ambition pushes me forward and then I realize that we can totally do this."
 
That same ambition carried Baram and Tioumentsev to the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Calgary, Canada, at the end of February. With their eyes set on the top of the podium, the U.S. pewter medalists jumped into first place after the short program, connecting on the throw triple loop that they omitted in San Jose.
 
"It was a little nerve wracking," Tioumentsev said of the competition. "This was the final competition of the season, and you want to give it all. When we finished the short program, it was a big sigh of relief."
 
On the day of the free skate, Baram and Tioumentsev learned that their coach, Todd Sand, suffered a heart attack earlier that morning, and was hospitalized in the ICU in a Calgary hospital.
 
"My mom had already told me the news and I knew that Daniel already knew what was happening, but I didn't know how to bring it up to him," Baram shared. "I asked him if he was okay, and he said he was and sounded so chill about it, so I didn't really know if he understood."
 
Tioumentsev added, "I didn't know how severe it was and I didn't know if Sonia knew or not, so I was trying to be calm about it."
 
Once it was determined that Baram and Tioumentsev would compete in the free skate, Justin Dillon, U.S. Figure Skating's director of high performance development, suggested that Baram's mother, Anna, who is also a skating coach and was in Calgary for the event, would step in.
 
"Lorrie Parker was also with us at one of the practices cheering us on and trying to make us feel good," Baram said. "My mom was just videotaping everything for (coaches) Jenni (Meno) and Chris (Knierim) so that they could give us corrections. There was constant support for us which was great — you know it felt like a huge family there, and it was nice to know that we had people standing beside us that were ready to help us at any time."
 
When the time came for the free skate, Baram and Tioumentsev were ready to challenge for the title, and ultimately became the sixth American pairs team to win the World Junior Championships title.
 
"I don't think that it has really sunk in, even now," Tioumentsev said of the victory. "We accomplished something incredible but it's hard to put into words. I was just filled with excitement."
 
Despite the excitement of winning the title, Baram and Tioumentsev both admitted that it was bittersweet without Sand by their sides.
 
"At the end of our program I thought, 'I think that we are going to win' and Todd is not going to be there," Baram remembered. "I started to think of what I wanted to tell him, and it was a little hard for me."

Tioumentsev admitted that, in a way, Sand was with them on that day.
 
"I actually distinctly remember that before every element that we had in our long program, there was one thing that he would always point out and I could hear him say it in my mind," Tioumentsev said. "Like before the triple twist he would always tell me to stand my ground and before the triple twist I had like this instantaneous flashback of him telling me to stand my ground, and then I just flip back into reality. Then with the triple Salchow, he would say, 'Don't lean forward—stand tall,' and then snap back into reality. He kind of guided me through the program."
 
With the season over, Baram and Tioumentsev now have some time to take a break and focus on catching up with life outside of the rink. Baram, an eighth grader at Connections Academy has been working hard to catch up with her classwork while also preparing for the new season in singles.
 
"My jumps are getting more stable every day," she said. "I have actually been working on a triple Axel. After U.S. Championships I focused mostly on pairs, so I didn't have the confidence to pull in my flip or Lutz, but it is a little bit better now."
 
Tioumentsev, a sophomore at Irvine Valley College, is hoping to transfer to the University of California Irvine or UCLA to finish his engineering degree. He is currently working at SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, as a technician, and recently took a three-week hiatus away from the ice to catch up on his work with the company.
 
"I basically help build rocket engines and have had some opportunities to work with engineers to try to improve some stuff," he explained. "When we were in Calgary, SpaceX actually launched astronauts to the space station, and I remember when I first started working there, that was the first engine I ever got my hands on, and now it's up in space carrying astronauts to the space station."
 
Now that Tioumentsev is back in the rink, he and Baram are turning their attention to the new season, but they are still in the very early stages of planning. For now, they are working on getting back into form, will start working on some more difficult elements and then will determine what goals they hope to achieve in the 2023-24 season.