Yolandi Han couldn’t have been more than seven years old when she won first place at the alpha skating competition in San Diego, California.
This tiny figure skater has travelled all the way from Brinks, Anaheim to compete. She is wearing a sparkly blue dress, and her outfit features a matching scrunchy in her hair. It’s too cute!
She looks excited to perform in front of such a big crowd of strangers, and is a little unsteady getting onto the ice! Her coach helps her by giving her a steady arm as she moves from solid ground to frozen rink.
She skates over with good form to take her position, and holds her pose until her cue. She looks very focused and determined.
An instrumental cover of My Favourite Things from the Sound of Music begins and Yolandi starts her routine.
She seems to have relaxed and is now twirling and skating confidently around the rink, her blue dress sparkling in the light. She’s a natural!
By the time we see athletes who are competing at the Olympics or skating professionally, they make gliding on ice look easier than walking. But it takes a lot of practice and a different set of muscles to become that confident on the ice.
If you’ve ever been to a skating rink you’ll remember the challenge!
But even at her young age, Yolandi is moving around the rink with ease, skating forwards and backwards, nailing her crossovers like we see the professionals do.
The most impressive moves are when she balances one-legged and continues to glide around while holding one leg in the air! Incredible.
Who could have predicted such precision and talent from this young skater? It seems she is really in her element.
She stays so solid and balanced as she holds her positions. This surely must be what impressed the judges to give her such a high score!
Once she’s finished her routine, she gives a curtsey to the crowd and skates off the ice. You can tell she’s pleased with her performance, because she smiles all the way back!
It will later be announced that she’s won the first place prize in her division.
Some other skaters left comments on the video expressing how impressive her progress has been for her age. It seems those pesky crossovers are hard to perfect!
The competition was held by ISI (The Ice Sports Industry), and Association across the United States.
They help aspiring skaters learn how to perfect their skills and provide resources to help them succeed.
The association holds numerous events annually where students and club members are invited to compete.
They were founded in 1959 and have since worked with more than 10 million ice skaters in America!
ISI’s mission is to make ice skating accessible to everyone regardless of their demographics, whether it be race, age, sexual orientation, or otherwise. It allows people like Yolandi to start their passion and/or career in skating early and perfect their skills!
After such an impressive win, we can expect to see more performances by this talented little girl in the future.
Congratulations Yolandi! A first prize well-deserved.
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