The first Black American figure skater to win an ISU Grand Prix medal since the start of the competition is a 21-year-old skater from California.
Black people are capable of achieving anything they set their minds to, even winter sports!
Winter sports like figure skating require great expertise, whether we’re playing the game or working behind the scenes, and the desire for them is frequently instilled throughout youth.
We are grateful for initiatives like Dream Detroit Skating Academy, the city of Detroit’s first figure skating club run by a Black woman.
We’ll soon be hearing more tales like Starr Andrews’ thanks to Angela Blocker-Loyd and Candice Tamakloe, who founded the club to offer inexpensive instruction and introduce kids to the world of figure skating.
Starr Andrews was three years old when she first watched her mother figure skate.
Once she grew up and got the green light to hit the ice, she went viral on YouTube for her figure skating routine to Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair.”
That video gained 45 million hits on YouTube, gaining eyes from many publications, celebrities and new fans all over the world. She’s been recognized as the 2014 U.S.
Juvenile Pewter Medalist, 2015-2016 Novice National Competitor, 2016 Skate Challenge Junior winner, and 2017 U.S. Junior Silver Medalist.
Starr is a member of Team USA and was a part of the 2017 World Junior Team as well as a 2016 Athlete Alumni Ambassador Award recipient.
Now at 21 years old, she’s making history! Last Saturday at Skate Canada in Mississauga, Ontario, she performed a beautiful program to Lara Fabian’s remake of “Je Suis Malade.” She executed six triple jumps and a challenging double axel euler triple salchow.
Her final score was 191.26, 10 points above her previous personal best, which put her second to Japan’s Rinka Watanabe.
Her performance moved her from fifth place to second and made her the first U.S. Black figure skater to win an ISU Grand Prix medal since the series inception in 1995.
This is significant for Andrews because it was challenging for her to accomplish the achievement due to doubts and health concerns she had in the years before.
This year, she added, “I’ve approached it with a different perspective, trying to not get so caught up in my thinking.” “When I don’t think as much, it really helps.
Even though my season didn’t get off to a great start and I was still getting adjusted to my routines, it has undoubtedly paid off.
She had a range of emotions when she saw her name listed as the silver medallist on Saturday.
“That’s me, that’s me,” the person said. Andrews said, “I actually still feel like it’s a dream,” during the women’s press conference.