Two local ice dancers have been selected to represent South Africa at the Junior Grand Prix in Budapest this year – the first time in several years that the country will be participating in ice dance.
Mikhail Ajam and his partner Felicity Chase, who train at the GrandWest ice rink, are the only South Africans chosen by the SA Figure Skating Association to compete in both events, taking place in August and September.
According to Google, ice dance is a discipline of figure skating that draws from ballroom dancing, and no jumps or throws are allowed.
Mikhail, 20, began skating from the age of eight with hopes of playing ice hockey, but soon got bitten by the figure skating bug.
The sports science student has competed as a solo figure skater, as part of a synchronised skating team, and now as the other half of an ice dance couple.
“I am immensely honoured that we’ve been selected to represent our country at the Junior Grand Prix,” he said.
“We’ve trained for so long for this opportunity to compete against the best in the world and we’re working overtime with our coach to prepare.”
Their coach, Tiana Stanton, said that the pair were training extensively to make South Africa proud of them.
“They have increased their ice time and lessons to include additional edge and power workouts, over and above all the technical ice dance choreography that they have mastered,” she explained.
“These are two very dedicated and hard-working athletes who are very deserving of our support.”
Ice skating is a niche sport in SA and there is not much financial assistance.
The skaters have just returned from Thailand but now require raising funds to compete in Hungary.
If you are able to assist, head over to Mikhail’s BackaBuddy page.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za