Ukrainian sisters will fight for the championship in synchronized figure skating in the US

American athletes of Ukrainian origin received the right to take part in the United States Synchronized Figure Skating Championship.

Photo: Facebook / Eva Pavliv-Borsuk

Eva Barsuk, who grew up in Kiev, together with her team won the gold medal in the championship of the eastern United States in the junior category, and her sister Ustina won a bronze medal in the junior team, writes “Ukrainian Truth".

According to the American Figure Skating Association (USFSA), Eva became the first athlete of Ukrainian origin to receive the gold on the US East Coast in this sport.

The competitions in which 146 teams took part and about 2,5 thousands of figure skaters, were held in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, from January 30 to February 2.

Eva is 17 years old, she graduates from school this year and intends to go to university to get a medical education. Ustina is 12 years old and studies in the 7th grade.

In Kiev, girls studied at the Lesia Ukrainka Grammar School.

The sisters perform as part of the Image team, which represents the Figure Skating Club of Yonkers, New York, and both girls live in New York City. They are representatives of the Kyiv and Kharkov figure skating schools.

Eva and Ustina won medals in ice skating, blades for which were installed in Kiev by the Honored Trainer of Ukraine Dmitry Shkidchenko.

“He is a master. Every time I change my skates, I fly to him across the ocean, because correctly installed blades are half the victory,” said Eva.

“We do not lose touch with Ukraine and are very proud to represent the Ukrainian figure skating school,” added Ustina.

“I really want our sport to become more popular in Ukraine. Our skaters are incredibly gifted and hardworking, but so far in Ukraine there is only one team - Kharkov Interstellar, which has achieved tremendous results, but it rests on the shoulders of coach Yulia Biletskaya, on the enthusiasm of the athletes and their parents,” said Eva.

Eva collaborates with Interstellar and participated in the team’s training and building programs in Kharkov in the summer of 2017.

Attempts to create teams in Kyiv and Odessa over the past few years have failed, both due to a lack of funding and due to disagreements in the schedule of team and individual training for athletes.

Internationally, according to the USFSA, synchronized skating is developing at the fastest pace compared to other types of figure skating. Despite the fact that this discipline is not yet an Olympic sport, the leading universities of the world, including Cornell and Princeton, have had their own teams for many years.

This discipline combines both the filigree technique of mastering the edge of a skate, a characteristic traditionally inherent in ice dancing, and elements of pairs figure skating, such as lifts and jumps.

Most elements are performed not just on one leg, but on one edge of one skate. The team consists of 14 to 20 skaters who comply with sports standards according to the USFSA system and undergo individual selection in clubs.

The US National Championships will be held in Plymef, Michigan, from February 28 to March 2.

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