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Today was Phoebe’s last full practice before the Canadian National Skating Championships and she was in full panic mode because in 2 days she would be skating at the biggest competition of her life, and not only that, this was her ticket to the olympics meaning she could not afford to do anything less than her best. She knew the routine like the back of her hand and had performed it many times through both in practice and in competition, but there was a problem. Most days when Phoebe practiced it was just her and her Coach Meredith and on those days she could run through her program perfectly, however, as soon as there were people in the audience the problems came.
Two months ago was Skate Canada International, the last competition that Phoebe had competed in. If everything had gone as planned Phoebe would have done well enough in that competition to qualify for the Grand Prix Final which she would have competed in a month after giving her not just a better world standing compared to other skaters that may compete in the olympics, but also valuable judges critiques to help her fix any small details she needed to perform her best in the olympic trails. Things unfortunately did not go as planned, instead Phoebe had a seizure 3 minutes into her routine in front of a crowd of thousands of people. This was subsequently one of the worst days of her life because not only had she embarrassed herself in front of all these people, but she didn’t finish her routine which killed her chance at making it to the Grand Prix, and on top of all that she got diagnosed with epilepsy meaning more seizures, and meaning that whole thing could happen all over again. Except it couldn't, right? She took medicine and had only had one seizure since the day of the Skate Canada. Poor David and Yuna were scared half to death when she started seizing at the table during Sunday dinner, they weren’t quite as prepared as her dads were for this situation.
Phoebe knew the chances of her having another seizure during her routine was low but she still couldn’t get past the mental blockade it had caused her. Her inability to finish a routine with an audience of only 2 people was a massive problem considering she would be performing it in front of a crowd of thousands in just 2 days. Phoebe could perform the first 3 minutes of her routine in front of anyone but once she got to the spin in her routine when her seizure occurred she just stopped, it's like the audience was there hitting the pause button on her which was weird because it wasn’t even that hard of a spin, in fact she had much harder spins in her routine, but she just couldn’t do it.
“Ok kid I think you’ve warmed up plenty, let's do a run through of the routine and we’ll fix anything we need to from there.” Coach Meredith’s voice shook Phoebe out of her thoughts.
“Ok ya sounds good.” Phoebe replies then skates to her starting spot on the ice. She gets in her starting position and waits for the music to begin. Once the music starts she's off, she can feel her feet glide gently on the ice, one of her favorite feelings in the world. The first section of her routine goes perfectly, the sound of Night Shift fills the arena and as she hears the percussion and base build she begins the next part of the routine. She sped up on the ice feeling the air hit her face as she glided and spun once again hitting each skill right as she should. Then came the last minute of her routine, she knew she would hit it this time because she was alone but what did that matter if she couldn’t do it with an audience? The music gets louder and she speeds up even more in order to hit her next skills, the second spin came and she did it perfectly, no sweat, and went straight into her next skills followed by her last 30 seconds which was just choreo then a final high-speed jump combination. She then hit her final pose just as the music ended. She stayed in the pose for a minute breathing heavily before relaxing and skating over to where her coach was waiting.
“Phoebe, that was pretty much perfect!” Meredith has a massive smile on her face. “There are just one or two landings that could be a little cleaner but that won’t take long to fix.”
“Ya I know I was really proud of that one, now if only I could actually do it in front of people I’d be golden.”
“Well I actually have a plan that I’m really hoping will make that possible.” Meredith says happily. “So I asked your dad’s if they would come to be your audience, and so they could finally see your whole routine again.”
“You really think your plan is going to work?” Phoebe asks skeptically.
“I really do Pheebs. Now go get some water while I get the sound set up and tell your dads to come watch.” Meredith walks into one of the back rooms.
Phoebe grabs a sip of water thinking hard about what her coach could have planned. When she looks up from her water she sees Shane and Ilys taking their seats in the bleachers closest to the ice. She gets back out on the rink and skates over to where they are sitting.
“I can’t wait to finally see end of your routine” Ilya jokes to Phoebe.
“Hey be nice she’s got a lot of pressure on her Ilya” Shane says giving Ilya a small shove.
“It’s ok dad he’s allowed to joke this whole ‘not being able to finish my routine with an audience’ thing is pretty stupid” Phoebe tells Shane.
“No it’s not stupid Pheebs, you can’t help it, it's just one of those weird things our brain does sometimes.” Shane says comforting Phoebe.
“Yes he is right, not your fault, but something you can fix now go show us whole routine.” Ilya tells Phoebe.
Phoebe skates back over to her coach so she can finally hear the grand plan.
“So what's going to happen is you’re going to do your whole routine, except instead of doing it to the actual song, I have a 4 minute metronome that's at 87 bpm which is the same as your song. You are going to skate to that instead and hopefully since your brain doesn’t hear the same instruments or lyrics the mental block won’t happen.” She explains.
“Say this does work, what happens when I have to try skating to the music again?”
“Well I’m hoping that if you can do this routine a few times through just to the metronome in front of an audience, you’ll be used to doing it with people watching again and we’ll be able to reintroduce the music and keep the audience. Kinda like tricking your brain into letting you do it” Meredith says happily.
“Well it's worth a shot” Phoebe agrees, and just like before she skated to her starting position and waited for the metronome to begin. It was a little strange skating to a repeating sound instead of her music but it kinda made it easier for her to focus on her moves and foot work. Once again Phoebe flowed gracefully through the first 3 minutes of her routine letting muscle memory take over. She knew the spin was coming up but she took the routine one step at a time letting herself focus on what she was doing now instead of what she was about to do. Finally the spin came and before she had time to think about it, she had already finished the spin and was onto the next. For the rest of her routine Phoebe skated with the biggest smile on her face, and a massive weight off her shoulders. She had so much pent up excitement that she accidentally overshot her final jump combination causing her to fall on the ice, but she didn’t care because she was able to make it to that final jump, with an audience. Once she got up off the ice Phoebe looked over to the side of the rink where she heard clapping and she saw her dads running towards her. She skated full speed until she collided with them at the edge of the rink and they pulled her into a tight hug.
“You did it! Well besides the last jump, but other than that you did it!” Shane exclaimed to Phoebe once they let go of the hug.
“Yes we finally go to see almost whole routine again” Ilya agrees.
“I could genuinely cry tears of joy right now” Phoebe admits, and she’s not even being dramatic. Phoebe then sees Meredith walking over towards her. “You were right It worked!”
“Of course it worked, I'm always right. For how long I’ve been your coach I thought you would’ve known that by now.” Meredith says snarkily then hands her some water.
Phoebe takes it gratefully and drinks some before handing it back to her coach. “Let’s run it again, and this time I won’t fall at the end, I just got a little excited.”
“I know you’ve got this kid, I’ve seen you do it a million times” Meredith responds.
Phoebe skates back out to center rink and awaits the metronome to begin her routine again, but this time much more confident. When she finishes her routine this time, she's in her final pose because she did it again, this time she even hit the jumps at the end.
“Whoop whoop, that’s my girl” Shane shouts from the bleachers.
“We are so proud of you sweetie” Ilya shouts next.
Phoebe pumps her fists in the air while skating back to the edge of the rink to her coach who was waiting with a huge smile plastered on her face.
“So what do you say we try it with your actual music now? Meredith asks, still smiling.
“Ya lets go for it!” And once again Phoebe is skating back to her starting spot. She knew this would be the real test of whether or not she’s ready to compete. As she waits for the music to start she looks up towards her dads in the stands, they have these cheesy smiles plastered on their faces and are giving her a thumbs up, what would she do without them?
The music starts and so does Phoebe, normally she would be pretty tired after running her routine this many times in a row but the adrenaline of getting it right kept her going. She will admit having her music to listen to while she was skating was a lot more enjoyable than listening to the metronome for 4 minutes straight. Once the final guitar rang out Phoebe froze in her final position, standing tall with her chin up and arms by her sides.
“I did it!” Phoebe screamed and in response she heard cheers ring out from her coach and dads. It was at this moment when Phoebe realized she was still in this, if she could do that at the competition she would be going to the olympics. Phoebe was riding that high for the remainder of practice even when she was practicing her short skate program which she would be competing first. Today was definitely one of the hardest practices she's had in a while but it was also the most important, and most rewarding.
The day before the competition Phoebe did have practice but it was a lot shorter. This practice was mostly focused on her short skate routine since that is the one she would be competing first. The short skate was all about technicality and counted as 1/3 of her final score for the entire competition, along with this her performance in it decided what time she would compete her free skate routine on the third day of the competition. After this practice she made sure to stretch a lot because she was going to do everything in her power to make sure the next 3 days went smoothly.
Finally the first day of the competition came and Phoebe had a million thoughts running through her head. The family took competition days very seriously and this was her biggest competition yet. Shane had planned out a strict schedule which included where they need to be, when they need to be and what they need to do during that time. Along with this Shane cooked the same breakfast that he cooks before every competition.
When it came to hair and makeup Shane and Ilya had made a deal when Phoebe first started competitions that Shane would learn to do her hair and Ilya would learn to do her makeup. Now that Phoebe’s 17 she’s able to do both herself but it makes her dads happy when they get to do it. Also it's quicker and a lot less work for her so she continues to let them do her hair and makeup. She took a quick shower to fully wake herself up then dried her hair so Shane could come do it.
Shane walked into her room with a handful of gels, hairsprays, bobby pins and hair ties of different sizes. “So how are we feeling?” Shane asks while setting everything down on the vanity.
“I would say I’m nervous, which I am kinda, but mostly I’m just so excited. I can’t wait to be back on the ice with the adrenaline of the competition, I’ve missed it.” Phoebe knows some skaters who don’t care to compete and really just skate because they find it fun, but she can’t relate. She absolutely loves skating by itself, but nothing beats the adrenaline high of stepping out on the ice during a competition, it's the closest Phoebe will ever come to drugs.
“I definitely get that,” Shane agrees while slicking back her hair into a tight braided bun. “That first game back from an injury was always on a different level for me.”
“Oh I’ve heard” Phoebe responds smiling at the thought of all the stories she's heard about her dad’s various hockey injuries.
“I talked to your Coach after practice, she says you have a solid shot at gold” Shane shares.
“Ya that would be amazing.” Phoebe agrees knowing they are right, but feeling a little more pressure weigh down her shoulders.
Shane finishes doing Phoebe's hair then gives her a squeeze on the shoulder. “I’m gonna go grab Ilya to do your makeup while I finish steaming your dress.” Shane tells Phoebe.
“Ok thanks Dad, you did a great job as per usual.” And Phoebe waits a few minutes for her other Dad to come.
*In Russian
“Ok it is my turn to work my magic” Ilya says as he walks into her room.
“Oh so that’s what we're calling it now?” Phoebe replies snarkily.
“Oh yes, you haven’t heard?” Ilya asks, sitting down in a seat in front of Phoebe.
“It seems I haven’t” Phoebe replies then flinches at the color primer Ilya is now putting on her face.
“Oh that's a shame, and you know what else is a shame, no get ready music. Your dad’s boringness seems to be rubbing off on you”
“Well I can fix that” Phoebe says, opening her phone and turning on her and Ilya’s shared playlist.
“Seriously though Phoebe, I want you to know I am so proud of you. No matter how this competition goes, I will continue to be proud of you. My father he was very tough on me, he was only happy when I succeeded. It’s important to me that you realize that as long as you are trying your best, you will always be successful to me.” Ilya says gently.
“Thanks Dad, that means a lot” Phoebe knows Ilya didn’t have the best childhood, but it’s nice to see him breaking the pattern.
“That being said, I have full confidence that you will do amazing today, but regardless of the outcome, your Dad and I will be so proud.”
“I love you dad”
“I love you too Phoebe”
Phoebe enjoys this time she has with her dads because it always gives them an excuse to talk and enjoy just hanging out. As Phoebe waits for Ilya to finish her makeup they sing along to the music and laugh at each other’s horrible singing voices until they are interrupted by Shane shouting from the kitchen.
*In English
“Five more minutes guys, we have to leave soon”
“Only need three” Ilya shouts back.
Ilya puts the finishing touches on Phoebe’s makeup and then she curls her eye lashes and does her own mascara, it’s easier. She’s wearing her club jacket along with some joggers and sneakers, she’ll put her costume on once she gets to the rink. Her and Ilya walk into the kitchen to find Shane finishing up packing up everything they will need: costume, skates, things for hair and makeup fixes, snacks, drinks, medicine, etc.
“Well it looks to me we’re about ready to go.” Shane says.
“Yes, let's go!” Ilya said excitedly.
The group piled everything into Shane's car before leaving for the competition. Luckily the competition was a little less than thirty minutes away which meant they didn’t have to get a hotel or anything, which was always nice. During the trip Shane and Ilya happily chatted in the front seat but Phoebe chose to listen to music to help calm her nerves before she competed.
Once they got to the rink Phoebe and her Dads met up with her coach so she could get checked in and change in order to be ready for warm-ups. The closer she got to competing the more nervous Phoebe grew. Once they were able to check in and Phoebe got changed into her costume she started her stretches before going out on the rink.
Phoebe’s costume for the short skate was made of a matte black fabric that had a leather type look to it. The bodice had a high halter neck and had stars made of blue and yellow crystals on the front and the back had a large star shaped cut-out. Along with that she had a short skirt made with a black base covered with layers of silver foil fabric along with blue and yellow tulle. She had on bold black graphic liner, a red lip, and small silver star earrings to match. She felt this ensemble perfectly matched the 80’s feel of the song.
Once it was time to warm up Phoebe put her jacket back on and received a few last words of encouragement before her Dads went to the stands to watch. Earlier in the week when the drawing was done for the order at which she skated, Phoebe was put in the last group which contained the 6 highest ranked skaters out of the 18 total. Each of the top skaters drew a random number for which order they would compete in, Phoebe drew 3. When she went to the waiting area by the rink she met up with her coach who gave her a few tips on what she needed to warm up most while they waited for the ice to be re-surfaced.
Once the ice was ready she put on her skates and joined the other 5 skaters to warm up. She recognized them all, she and her coach had done extensive research. She knew she was the youngest skater in the group, the next youngest being 19 and the rest in their early 20s. After 6 minutes of warmup the skaters are called on the ice and shortly after the first skater goes on. Phoebe stands in the waiting area with her coach and takes off her jacket while observing the two skaters before her. She also manages to find her dads in the crowd.
The second skater leaves the rink and at last it's Phoebe’s turn to skate. As she skates towards the center rink she can hear herself being introduced before hearing the previous skaters scores, and they were really good which she expected after watching her.
She makes eye contact with her dads then gets in her starting position, one hand on her hip looking over her shoulder. As the starting synth of ‘Miss You’ by Conan Gray starts Phoebe does a series of sharp rhythmic head snaps and unlike her free skate, this routine starts out fast. She uses power from her edges to build speed before launching into a triple axle as the first verse begins. After landing, she goes immediately into a fast spread eagle, making eye contact with the judges. During the chorus of the song she hits her triple lutz followed immediately by a triple toe loop, the rhythm of her jumps matching up with the song's vocals. She follows that with her flying camel spin snapping her arms in and out to mimic the lyrics.
As the music is reaching its peak, so is Phoebe. She does intricate footwork performing multiple sets of twizzles, and deep clusters followed by a cantilever during the instrumental break. Finally at the peak of the song Phoebe hits her triple flip then transitions directly from the jump into her change foot combination spin. She finishes off with a layback spin then pulls into the Biellmann. The music finishes and Phoebe stops instantly on the center of the ice, crosses her arms and stares down the judges.
As she stands there chest huffing, she can hear a roar of applause come from the audience, but the only audience members she cares about are the two grown men she sees jumping up and down shouting her name. She skates off the ice towards her coach, who she has never seen this excited. Then the announcer starts reading her score.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have the results for the previous skater.” The crowd goes quiet then the announcer repeats it in french. "Technical element score: forty-seven point eight zero, note pour les éléments techniques : quarante-sept virgule huit zéro. Program component score: thirty-eight point two two, note pour les composantes du programme : trente-huit virgule deux deux. Total segment score: eighty-six point zero two, note totale pour ce segment : quatre-vingt-six virgule zéro deux.”
The crowd erupts again making it difficult to hear the announcer when he informs the crowd that this score places Phoebe in first place. Phoebe doesn’t even realise when the music for the next skater starts because she is in disbelief. This is a new personal best score, and if she continues this way, she may actually have a solid shot at medaling in the Olympics. She hugs her coach tight and tears of joy are escaping her tightly closed eyes.
“That’s a personal best!” Coach Meredith shouts to Phoebe.
“I know!” Phoebe says, tears still in her eyes. Her coach hands her club jacket along with her skate guards to put on. She then galances up to see her dads left their spot in the stands which means they are probably coming to find her. She and her coach leave the waiting area at the edge of the rink and go through the tunnels until they run into Shane and Ilya. As soon as they spot Phoebe, Shane and Ilya come at her full sprint wrapping her in a tight hug, then presenting her with a bouquet of roses and a lamb plushie, her favorite animal.
“That was actually incredible!” Shane says brightly.
“I am so proud of you!” Ilya continues.
“Honestly I’m shocked I was able to pull that off” Phoebe admitted.
“I’m not,” Meredith says, walking up behind Phoebe. “I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as you, and now your hard work is paying off.”
“Thank you” Phoebe responds then hugs her coach.
“Are you up to doing some press? There’s a lot of people who are dying to talk to you.” Meredith asks.
“Ya I don’t mind” Phoebe says then changes into some sneakers before following her coach to a room that's been set up with lights, cameras, and chairs for press. Press isn’t exactly Phoebe's favorite part of competitions but she knows it comes with the territory, and so she puts up with it. She gets miced up and sits in one of the seats in front of the camera.
“Phoebe, Congratulations on your phenomenal short skate. A score of 86.02, that's a personal record for you” The reporter states excitedly.
Phoebe smiles, “Yes it is! I came into this competition knowing I had a lot to prove, and a lot riding on this so I think that pushed me to a different level once I stepped out onto that ice.”
“Yes well I sure think you proved a lot with that first place finish. How did it feel having a competition of this high stakes, being your first competition back after what happened two months ago at Skate Canada International?”
Phoebe knew this was going to be a big question today. “It was definitely a little intimidating getting back out on the Ice, there were some mental blocks I had to work past, but this competition would decide the thing that I have been working towards my entire life and I knew that if I gave up now I would regret it for the rest of my life.”
“Well I know the fans were happy to have you back out there competing, we sure missed you at the Grand Prix Final.”
“Yes I was disappointed that I was unable to compete, that being said It was nice being able to watch and enjoy the GPF from a spectators standpoint again, there were so many incredibly talented skaters that competed and it was a real spectacle to watch.” Phoebe replies.
“The skater in second place today had a score of 77.57, do you think your free skate will be able to keep you on top?”
“The competition this year has been extremely impressive, Canada has so many incredible skaters to offer and I really don’t know how the free skate will go. I have put a lot of work into perfecting my free skate, and am hoping it pays off, but I also know my competitors have also been working extremely hard so I really think we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.”
“Right, and are you scared that you could potentially have another seizure on the ice?”
Phoebe doesn’t want people to know that's the fear she's been working through the past 2 months so she makes a point to avoid showing any concern on her face. “There is always a possibility, however that chance is extremely slim. If I spent the rest of my life scared to skate, I would be wasting the years of work I’ve done to get myself in the position I'm in today. I know my body and I refuse to let fear keep me from competing and doing the sport I love. I also know that there are a lot of younger skaters that look up to me, and what kind of role model would I be if I let fear dictate my performance?” Saying all this out loud actually helped cement it into Phoebe’s brain, all she needed to do was listen to her own advice.
“Wow, very well said. We are extremely happy to have you back out on the Ice and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for the free skate. Once again congratulations Phoebe thank you for sharing.” The Reporter says before shaking Phoebe's hand and getting up to let the next interviewer come.
She does a few more interviews answering the same questions with the same generic answers, some in french, some in english, till finally she's done and able to go home. Once home she showers, changes and finally gets to eat a very rewarding meal. After dinner she goes to her room to start her stretches, she has her headphones on and is listening to music so it takes her a moment to notice when Shane walks into her room.
Phoebe takes off her headphones and looks up, “Hey Dad.”
“Hey Pheebs, how are you feeling?” He asks sitting on the ground so he’s at her level.
“I’m tired I think the adrenaline has finally worn off”
“I feel you, I could never sleep after a hockey game.” Shane says.
“Well I don’t think hockey adrenaline was the only thing keeping you awake.” She says in a playful tone.
“Oh well aren’t you funny” Shane says, his face a little red.
“She’s not wrong” Ilya says standing in the doorway.
“I’m never wrong,” Phoebe corrects. She was grateful to have such a close relationship with her parents.
“Right. You sounded very professional in those interviews today.” Shane continues.
“Yes, I agree, even if I didn’t understand the French ones, I’m sure they were just as good as ones in English.” Ilya then joins the other two on the floor, leaning into Shane a little bit.
“I know it was probably annoying having to answer a bunch of questions about your epilepsy, I hope it didn’t sike you out at all thinking about it.” Shane says softly.
“Ya it was kinda annoying, but I think it just made me eager to prove myself to everyone, and it made me realize how important it was to continue skating.”
“When did you become all wise?” Ilya asks sarcastically.
“One of us has to be.” She responds and they all laugh. They continue to talk while Phoebe finishes stretching, then Phoebe informs them she must go to bed early so she's not tired for practice the next day.
This practice was also short, it was mostly just to perfect her routine before she did it tomorrow, and make sure she could still do it in front of her loyal audience consisting of her coach and dads. After practice came even more stretching and Phoebe and her dads finally were able to relax on the couch and watch the pairs skating that was happening today. However, this relaxation didn’t last long because Phoebe got an aura meaning she had maybe a few minutes before she was going to have a seizure.
She stands up and looks over to her dads who are both lounging next to each other. “I’m going to have a seizure.” She tells them and starts walking to her bedroom.
“Ok we’re coming” Shane says back and both of them jump up off the couch and follow her to her bedroom.
Once Phoebe gets to her room she lays down on her bed and has no choice but to wait it out. When she wakes up and finally comes to her dads are still next to her.
“How are you? Do you know where you are?” Shane asks.
“I’m good, we're in my bedroom.” She responds sitting up.
“Ok good,” Shane says, relieved.
“I’m not really sure what triggered it but hopefully I got it over with now so it doesn’t happen tomorrow.” Phoebe says.
“Yes exactly” Ilya agrees.
Phoebe decides to take an epsom salt bath to make sure she wasn’t sore the next day considering how important tomorrow was. Then she eats dinner and goes to sleep a little earlier than normal since she was tired from practice and the seizure.
The next morning went about the same as the morning of the short skate, Phoebe had the same breakfast then Shane did her hair and Ilya did her makeup. They all got into the car to go to the competition and Phoebe was starting to get really nervous. Once she got checked in she changed into her costume and stretched before she warmed up. She called this dress her oil dress because the way the teal and violet crystals swirled along the charcoal-black fabric looked just like oil on pavement. With this dress she wore her hair up in a bun and had a dark maroon lip with purple and teal eyeshadow paired with lots of iridescent highlighter.
Finally it was time for the last 6 skaters to warm up and that included her. She loved warmups because it was a chance for her to clear her mind before she competed. After warmups finished she returned to the waiting area and got a small snack and some water while she waited for her turn, since she was currently ranked first, this meant she would be the last skater to compete. She watched her competitor skate beautifully and kept moving around in an effort to stay as warm as possible before it was her turn.
“You got this, Phoebe, you’ve done this routine a million times, just let muscle memory guide you.” Her coach reminds her one last time before she takes off her jacket and steps out onto the ice. As she’s being announced the crowd is booming and she skates around a few times to get a feel for the ice before going to center rink and getting in her starting position, a deep, kneeling Charlotte Spiral that she holds until the first note of ‘Night Shift’ by Lucy Dacus plays.
The music starts slow and so does Phoebe, with minimal skating she glides into a Quad Salchow preceded by a spread eagle then she enters the Triple Axel with a counter turn. During the axel she uses a rippon to show the judges the amount of power contained in her jump. Phoebe lands them softly making them look like natural extensions of the melody. The drums kick in and she does a long, beautiful Ina Bauer that transitions directly into her Triple Lutz-Triple Toeloop combination. She does a flying camel spin, but instead of just stepping into her Flying Camel spin, she uses a Death Drop then lands on her toe pick going right into a spin which gets a great reaction from the crowd.
She follows this with a hydroblade during the bridge of the song leaning so low her body is nearly parallel to the ice, supported only by a deep edge and one hand grazing the surface. For the climax of the song she does a choreo sequence consisting of a cantilever, then a series of Power Pulls making it so she covers the entire length of the rink in seconds. Her skating then intensifies and she goes from a sit spin into a I-spin pulling her leg straight up against her head.
For her final combination, Phoebe does a Triple Flip followed by a Half Loop, then a Triple Salchow and lands exactly on the final crashing drum. The music stops and the crowd explodes, Phoebe stands at center rink, her hands over her heart and her lungs working overtime, she's out of breath and she feels tears fall from her eyes. She did it, she hit every trick, she made it through her entire routine. She skates to the waiting area where her coach is bursting with excitement. Phoebe puts on her bland guards then sits down next to her coach to await her final score.
The announcer starts,“Ladies and gentlemen, we have our results for Phoebe Hollander-Rozanova, mesdames et messieurs, voici les résultats pour Phoebe Hollander-Rozanova. Technical element score: ninety-five point four two, note pour les éléments techniques : quatre-vingt-quinze virgule quatre deux. Program component score: seventy-eight point one eight, note pour les composantes du programme: soixante-dix-huit virgule un huit. Total segment score: one hundred seventy-three point six zero, note totale pour ce segment : cent soixante-treize virgule six zéro. With a total score of two hundred fifty-nine point six two, she moves into first place, avec un pointage total de deux cent cinquante-neuf virgule six deux, elle prend le premier rang!”
Phoebe jumps out of her seat, her jaw dropped. All cameras are on her and the crowd is louder than ever.
The announcer continues, “Please welcome your new Canadian Senior Women’s Champion: Phoebe Hollander-Rozanova, Veuillez accueillir votre nouvelle championne canadienne chez les femmes seniors : Phoebe Hollander-Rozanova!”
Phoebe and her coach hug tightly.
“You did it!” Meredith screams.
“I did it!” Phoebe screams back, she's buzzing with excitement. She goes back into the tunnels to find her dads and runs towards them.
“I won!” She screams at them, cameras still following her.
“You won!” They scream back pulling her into a hug.
“Pheebs, that was actually the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.” Shane says excitedly.
“Our daughter is making history!” Ilya says next.
“I know, I can’t believe I just did that!” Phoebe says beaming.
Phoebe celebrates a little more with her coach and parents and then fixes her makeup before she goes back out onto the ice to receive her medal. This was her second year in a row winning the Canadian National Skating Championships and standing at the top of the podium with the gold metal around her neck still felt unreal. She stepped off the podium and was able to properly congratulate her competitors and together they took pictures with their new metals on the ice. The whole time this was happening, Skate Canada’s High-Performance Committee was meeting. They compared the national results with international scores from the past two seasons in order to decide which skater would be chosen for the Olympics for each event.
When Phoebe got off the ice she was taken into a back room along with many of the other top skaters that competed, this was when she officially got the news that she was the skater chosen to represent Canada at the Olympics in the women’s singles. She was given her team Canada jacket and her coach helped her put it on. The feeling was unreal, this was the moment she worked her entire life towards, a dream come true.
She walked out of the room proudly wearing her jacket and went up to her patiently waiting dads. “I’m going to the Olympics!” She shouts then spins in a circle showing off her jacket.
“Woooo!” Shane yells.
“Just like your fathers, we are so proud of you Phoebe!” Ilya says.
“Thank you I wouldn’t be here without you!” She says to her dads then turns to her coach, “And thank you for everything!” She hugs Meredith.
“You’re welcome Phoebe” She returns.
Once everyone has received their jackets it's time to announce the Olympic team to the public. All the skaters line up in the order they are to be announced, and Phoebe waits for her turn.
She heard her name over the noise of the crowd, and as she skated out onto the rink in her jacket she could hear the announcer sharing her national record with the world. She joined the rest of the Olympic team and smiled proudly for pictures before being whisked away to do more press. She’s standing in front of a backdrop, this time in her team Canada jacket waiting for the first question to be asked.
"Phoebe, we’ve been covering Nationals for decades, and we have never seen the air leave a room like that. 259.62. A National record, and arguably the greatest free skate ever performed on Canadian soil. How are you processing that number right now?" The interviewer starts off.
“Honestly this all doesn't even feel real. I don’t think it will be until I'm on that plane to Sweden for the games. I really didn’t believe what I was hearing at first, it wasn’t till I looked up at the screen that the score finally sunk in.” Phoebe says, a million thoughts running through her brain.
"The choice of Lucy Dacus for a program was bold. It’s not your typical 'skating music.' Why was that the song you chose?"
“That was definitely something I discussed a lot with my coach for a long time. We wanted something that felt real. Figure skating can be so 'sparkly' and 'perfect,' but life isn't like that. 'Night Shift' is raw. It starts in the dark and ends in this massive, distorted explosion. I wanted to show the judges that you can be vulnerable and a powerhouse at the exact same time." Phoebe looked over at her coach who was standing with her dads just off camera and smiled.
"You’ve just been officially named to the Olympic Team. You are Canada’s only female solo skater going to Stockholm. That is a massive weight on your shoulders. Are you ready?"
Phoebe looks over towards her dads who give her a small sweet nod. "I am. I’ve spent my whole life training for this, but more importantly, I have the best support system in the world. I’m not going there alone. I’m bringing my dads, my coach, and I’m bringing a song that I truly believe in. Canada has a long history of great skaters, and I just want to make sure I leave everything I have on that ice."
"One last thing, what’s the first thing you're going to do when you get home?" The interviewer says finally.
Phoebe thinks for a second than smiles, "Sleep for twelve hours. And then? Right back to the rink. We have four weeks to make that 259 a 260."