Fil-American Isabella Gamez is celebrating with Russian partner Alexander Korovin after they achieved a milestone for Philippine figure skating over the weekend. And so are their families and friends after the 23-year-old Gamez and Korovin bagged a silver medal in the Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d’Azur held in Nice, France.
Their silver-medal finish gave them qualification points to a higher level of competition—the Four Continents Championships in January 2023.
“Competition-wise, we know we could do better. And in each competition (we join), we want to keep working hard and improving,” said Gamez in a Zoom interview from her home in Fort Myers, Florida.
It was their first podium finish together after Gamez and Korovin first saw each other at the rinks of the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong and then teamed up in April last year.
They accomplished their Nice feat after Gamez and Korovin took the gold medal in the free skates and the silver in the short program. This earned them a total 143.54 points to end up second overall, behind Irma Caladara and Riccardo Maglio of Italy, who tallied 152.27 points.
Oxana Vouillamoz and Flaviena Ginniaux of France settled for third with 143.38 points.
Gamez said the rink that they used at the city next to the French Riviera in the southeastern coast France, provided good lighting, helped lift their spirits up and energized them in their performances.
Their good showing was a good conclusion to their return to competition since they have not been able to compete much over the last two years.
“We still have some nerves. That’s because we’ve been off competition over the last three years. So we are still understanding how we are when we skate together,” added Gamez.
The performance in Nice, according to Gamez, has inspired them to be better.
“It’s humbling to win a silver medal at an international competition and to be the first Philippine pairs team to do so. This is our second competition together,” said Gamez
Gamez and Korovin performed to the tune of the song, “I’ll Take Care of You” of Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa, which they started with a triple twist move in the short program.
“We missed like four points. It’s like from small mistakes. And it’s a small prize from winning big,” said Korovin.
The first time the 23-year-old Korovin and Gamez teamed up was when they made their debut at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy.
In their first partnership, they placed ninth after two years of inactivity due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
Korovin said he now looks forward to competing with Gamez in the Four Continents meet.
“We look forward to participating in several competitions in the coming months before heading to the Colorado Springs in February to skate at the Four Continents,” said Korovin.
Gamez is currently coached by Marina Zoueva, a Russian figure skating coach, choreographer, and former competitor in ice dancing. Zoueva represented the Soviet Union with Andrei Vitman and placed 5th at the 1977 World Championships, winning two medals at Skate Canada International.
Gamez skated with David-Alexandre Paradis when she competed in the final segment at the 2020 Four Continents Championships. She last teamed up with Paradis during the 2019-2020 season and they concluded their season with an 11th-place finish at the Challenge Cup. The two have since split due to travel restrictions and inability to train together during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paradis then retired to focus on his coaching career.
Next up for the Gamez and Korovin is the 2022 Warsaw Cup, which is the ninth in a series of 10 events of the 2022-23 Figure Skating Challenger Series.
Gamez and Korovin hope to tweak on improving their movements in the Warsaw Cup, scheduled to take place in Warsaw, Poland, at the COS Torwar arena, November 17 to 20.
“We’re very proud of this milestone, and we’re excited to see how their journey progresses for the rest of the season and the following years,” said Philippine Skating Union president Nikki Cheng in a message to the Manila Standard.
According to Isabella’s sister Justine, both of their parents, Gerardo Gamez and Marivic Ramirez Gamez, were born and raised in Manila. Although Isabella was born in the US, she continues to maintain deep roots with their family based in Quezon City, Philippines.
Isabella got her athleticism and aspiration from her mom, who is the grandniece of former Filipino Olympian basketball player Freddie Webb. She learned her focus and discipline from her father in a long line of doctors in the Philippines.