19
Sports
November 12, 2021 •The Week Junior
O
n October 29 and October 30, some of the
world’s best fi gure skaters competed at Skate
Canada International in Vancouver, Canada. It is
one of seven events in the International Skating
Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.
In men’s singles, Nathan Chen from the
US captured the gold. He has been defeated
only once since the 2018 Olympics. During the
free skate, Chen completed four quadruple
jumps, which are his specialty. He fi nished
nearly 50 points ahead of the silver medalist,
fellow American Jason Brown. Russia’s Evgeni
Semenenko earned the bronze.
Three Russians swept the medals in women’s
singles. Kamila Valieva, the 2020 World Junior
Champion, earned gold and her highest scores
ever. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva took silver, andAlena Kostornaia won bronze. American Alysa
Liu, age 16, competed in the ISU Grand Prix for
the fi rst time at the senior level. She placed fi fth.
China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han dominated
in the pairs competition and won gold. They
fi nished more than 30 points ahead of the
silver medalists, Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis
Khodykin of Russia. Americans Ashley Cain-
Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, who had been in
sixth place after the short competition, bounced
back in the free skate to win the bronze.
In ice dancing, Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul
Poirier won Skate Canada for the second time
in their career. Charlene Guignard and Marco
Fabbri of Italy earned silver. Spain’s Olivia Smart
and Adrian Diaz won bronze, their fi rst ISU
Grand Prix medal.Top skaters compete in Canada
ON THIS PAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK; ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES; ON LEFT PAGE: GETTY IMAGES; NWHL; AP (2)
Russian skater
Kamila ValievaSPOTLIGHT ON...
COACH OF THE WEEK
To nominate a Coach of the Week, send your coach’s name, photo, sport, and team to hello@
theweekjunior.com. Include your name, age, state, and a few reasons why your coach is great.Coach’s Name: Carlton Taylor
Team: Easton Gators (swimming)
“Coach Carlton is so much fun and funny! He really helps
me with my butt erfl y and breaststroke. He gives us older
kids a lot of advice on our form and teaches the litt le ones
how to swim properly. I love Fun Fridays when Coach lets us
play sharks and minnows and we get to go down the water slides. He is
so kind and inclusive to everyone and super passionate about swimming. He
helps us cheer and be supportive to our team.” Ava, 12, PennsylvaniaFUN FACT
In 2019, Alysa Liu
became the youngest US
fi gure skating champion.
She was 13.Conner Mantz
AGE: 24 SPORT: CROSS COUNTRY
TEAM: BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITYMany miles To practice, I run about 90 to
110 miles per week. I do a few faster workouts
on Tuesdays and Thursdays, then a long run of
between 18 and 20 miles on Saturday.
My favorite thing is easy runs in the
mountains. It’s a very peaceful feeling.
Mix it up I typically compete
in 67 meets per season. In cross
country, a race varies between four
miles and 10 kilometers (10K), which is just over six
miles. I really like the variety so it doesn’t get boring.
Bouncing back If we have a bad or
disappointing race, our coach tells us we have 24
hours to be disappointed and mad. But after that,
time’s up and it’s back to training and regular life.
Team time My team often travels for races, and
we’ll go exploring to find unique things about the
city we’re in. Last year, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, we
went to see giant statues built up like Transformers.
Reality check About two years ago, I was
training for the Olympic trials and had a chance of
making the team. But I got injured and couldn’t
race. It taught me I’m not special. If I could go back
in time, I’d tell myself to be a little more humble.
Big win In March, I won the 10K at the NCAA
(National Collegiate Athletic Association) Cross
Country Championships. It was one of my greatest
moments in my collegiate career. I kept expecting
to wake up from a dream. I’m going to try to defend
my title later this month.
His advice Play sports because they help you
stretch and grow. They help us learn how to get the
best out of ourselves and how to work really hard in
physically demanding situations.