Isadora Williams

Isadora Marie Williams (born 8 February 1996) is a Brazilian-American figure skater who represents Brazil in ladies' singles. She is the 2017 Sofia Trophy champion, the 2019 Toruń Cup silver medalist, the 2018 Volvo Open Cup silver medalist, the 2016 Santa Claus Cup silver medalist, and the 2016 Sportland Trophy silver medalist.

Isadora Williams
Williams in 2019
Full nameIsadora Marie Williams
Born (1996-02-08) 8 February 1996 (age 28)
Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
HometownAshburn, Virginia, U.S.
Height1.62 m (5 ft 4 in)
Figure skating career
Country Brazil (2009–2021)
 United States (until 2009)
CoachIgor Lukanin, Kristin Fraser
Skating clubBrazilian Ice Sports Federation
Began skating2000
RetiredOctober 23, 2021

She placed 30th at the 2014 Winter Olympics and 24th at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Williams is the first figure skater from Brazil to compete at the Olympics[1] and the first South American skater to ever reach the free skating segment at the games.[2] She retired from competition in October 2021, after failing to qualify to the 2022 Winter Olympics due to a foot injury.[2]

Personal life

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Williams was born in Marietta, Georgia.[3] Isadora was raised in the suburbs of Washington, DC. She has Brazilian citizenship through her mother, who is from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and also lived in Brazil for two years as a child.[1] Isadora Williams also has a very large family that lives in Brazil, which she visits frequently.[4] She attends Montclair State University in New Jersey.[1]

Career

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Isadora Williams began skating at the age of 5 falling in love with the sport[4] while skating in a public session at the Cooler Ice Rink in Alpharetta, Georgia. She competed domestically for the United States as a child at the juvenile through the intermediate levels until 2009.[5]

Williams trains four hours a day with coach Andrei Kriukov. She has all five triple jumps (Salchow, toe loop, loop, flip, and Lutz) since Worlds 2010. She won the bronze medal at the 2012 Golden Spin of Zagreb.

At the 2010 World Junior Championships, Williams became the third skater in any discipline to represent Brazil at the event. Her highest Junior Worlds placement was 16th in 2012.[6]

In September 2013, Williams competed at the Nebelhorn Trophy, the final qualifying competition for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. She placed 8th in the short program and 14th in the free skate, finishing 12th overall. As a result of her placement, Brazil received one of the six remaining spots for countries which had not previously qualified for a ladies' entry. This was the first ever ladies' figure skating Olympics entry for Brazil.[7] Williams finished in last place (30th) at the Olympic contest.

In the 2016-2017 season, Williams earned the first gold medal for a Brazilian skater in an international competition at the 2017 Sofia Trophy.

In 2017, she placed 5th overall at Nebelhorn to once again qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics.[8] Also in 2017 she placed 2nd at Volvo Open Cup, competition held in Riga, Latvia.[9]

During the Olympic tournament, Williams made history by finishing 17th in the short program, enough to become the first Brazilian and South American to ever take part in the skating final.[2] She placed 24th in the Free Skate and placed 24th overall. [10]

She also became the first Brazilian and South American female skater to ever advance to the final segment of a senior World Championship at 2019 Worlds in Japan. She placed 24th in the short and in the free, finishing 24th overall.

In 2021, Williams failed to qualify to the Olympic Games for a third time after withdrawing from the free skating at Nebelhorn, where she placed 32nd after the short program. Later, she claimed her foot had become injured during the off season and it was taking a long time to heal. This was her last international competition, as she announced her retirement plans shortly after.[2] She stated her wish was that the last competition of her career would be the 2021 Brazilian Nationals,[2] but she didn't manage to recover in time and withdrew her entry.[11]

Programs

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SeasonShort programFree skatingExhibition
2021–2022
[12]
2019–2021
2018–2019
[13]
2017–2018
[14]
2016–2017
[15]
  • Nyah
    (from Mission: Impossible II)
    by Hans Zimmer
2015–2016
[16]
2014–2015
[17]
  • Brazilian medley
    by Jorge Ben Jor
2013–2014
[18]
  • Brazilian medley
    by Jorge Ben Jor
2012–2013
[19]
  • Maria and the Violin's String
    by Ashram
  • Memoirs of a Geisha
    by John Williams
2011–2012
[20]
2009–2011
[21][22]
  • Sheherazade
    by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Results

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CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[23]
Event09–1010–1111–1212–1313–1414–1515–1616–1717–1818–1919–2020–2121–22
Olympics30th24th
Worlds25th30th35th24thC
Four Continents18th17th
CS Golden SpinWD
CS NebelhornWD5thWD
CS U.S. Classic14th12th
CS Volvo Cup8th
Asian Open5th
Autumn Classic7th
Bavarian Open5th
Cranberry CupWD
Golden Spin3rd6th
Ice Star4th5th
Nebelhorn Trophy11th12th
Philadelphia2nd8th6th
Santa Claus Cup4th2nd5th
Sofia Trophy1st
Sportland Trophy2nd
Toruń Cup2nd6th
U.S. Classic5th
Volvo Open2nd10th
International: Junior[23]
Junior Worlds41st16th26th
JGP Germany27th
JGP Italy18th
National
Brazilian Champs.1st1st
WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled

References

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