Emilea Zingas

Last updated
Emilea Zingas
Skate Canada 2023 - Zingas & Kolesnik-RD 02 (cropped)-Zingas.jpg
Born (2002-04-22) April 22, 2002 (age 22)
Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan,
United States
Height1.55 m (5 ft 1 in)
Figure skating career
CountryFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
(since 2022)
Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus (2020–22)
Discipline Ice dance (since 2022)
Women's singles (2020–22)
Partner Vadym Kolesnik
Coach Igor Shpilband
Natalia Deller
Adrienne Lenda
Pasquale Camerlengo
Skating clubSt. Clair Shores Figure Skating Club
Began skating2022

Emilea Zingas (born April 22, 2002) is a Cypriot-American figure skater. Competing in ice dancing with her skating partner, Vadym Kolesnik, she is the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist and 2023 U.S. national pewter medalist.

Contents

Zingas previously represented Cyprus in women's singles, and was the 2020 Santa Claus Cup silver medalist and the 2021 Challenge Cup bronze medalist. She was the first Cypriot skater to qualify for the World Championships.

Personal life

Zingas was born on April 22, 2002, in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan to parents Chris, an orthopedic surgeon, and Marsha, a dermatopathologist. [1] She is the youngest of four children, including a sister, Elana, who currently plays ice hockey at Cornell University. [2] [3] Zingas' paternal grandparents, Nick and Xenia Zingas, were born in Cyprus. She holds both U.S. and Cypriot citizenship. [4]

Zingas graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School in 2020, and currently studies neuroscience at Wayne State University. [1]

Career

Early career

Zingas began skating as a preschooler and started training at age seven with Lindsay O'Donoghue and Brooke Castile O'Keefe in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. [5] Zingas won the 2018 U.S. national novice silver medal in her only trip to the U.S. Championships as a singles skater. [6]

Singles skating for Cyprus

2020–2021 season

During the 2020–21 season, Zingas took advantage of her gap semester and switched nationalities to compete for Cyprus. [4] She made her international competitive debut at the 2020 CS Budapest Trophy, where she finished seventh. Zingas later competed at 2020 Ice Star and 2020 Santa Claus Cup, where she finished fifth and second, respectively. She noted that she was grateful to have the opportunity to travel internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially as she was returning to her Michigan training base between events in Europe. [7]

At the 2021 Challenge Cup in February, Zingas won the bronze behind Belgian Loena Hendrickx and Emmy Ma of Chinese Taipei, as well as earned her technical minimums to qualify for the 2021 World Championships. She is the first Cypriot skater to ever qualify for the World Championships. [4] During the short program at the World Championships in March, Zingas popped a planned triple Lutz into a single, and fell on the triple flip in her planned triple flip-triple toe loop combination, both of which severely impacted her score. She finished thirty-sixth in the segment and did not advance to the free skate. [8]

2021–2022 season

After a tenth-place finish at the Skating Club of Boston's Cranberry Cup International event, Zingas was assigned to compete at the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to attempt to qualify a berth for Cyprus at the 2022 Winter Olympics. She placed ninth at the event, resulting in Cyprus being the second reserve for the Olympics. She appeared at two additional Challenger events in the fall, coming sixteenth at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria and fourteenth at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup. [9]

During her competitive season, Zingas was offered the opportunity to try out in ice dancing, a discipline she had no previous experience in, with reigning World Junior champion Vadym Kolesnik, whose partnership with Avonley Nguyen had ended after that gold medal win. [10] Kolesnik would later say that "the first time I skated with Emilea I felt something special. I felt like I can be myself. She opens up in the way that I want to skate and that's how it comes out — freedom." [11] On May 15, Zingas officially announced that the two would compete together representing the United States. [12]

Ice dance with Kolesnik for the United States

2022–2023 season: Debut of Zingas/Kolesnik

Zingas/Kolesnik made their international debut in December 2022 at the 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they won the bronze medal. [10]

After winning gold in November 2022 at the U.S. Ice Dance Final to qualify for the 2023 U.S. Championships, the team entered a dance field more open than normal due to presumptive national silver medalists Hawayek/Baker being absent due to health issues. Zingas/Kolesnik unexpectedly placed third in the rhythm dance, less than a point ahead of Zagreb gold medalists Carreira/Ponomarenko, who had erred on their twizzles. [11] After the free dance, Carreira/Ponomarenko had squeaked ahead overall by 0.32, but Zingas/Kolesnik stood on the podium as pewter medalists, a noteworthy achievement in a team's first season. Zingas called the whole week "surreal." [13]

2023–2024 season

Zingas/Kolesnik during their free dance at 2023 Skate Canada International Skate Canada 2023 - Zingas & Kolesnik-FD 04.jpg
Zingas/Kolesnik during their free dance at 2023 Skate Canada International

For their free dance, Zingas proposed skating to Alan Menken's Beauty and the Beast film score, which Kolesnik was persuaded of after a "watch party." [14]

Beginning the season on the Challenger circuit, Zingas/Kolesnik finished fourth at the 2023 CS Nepela Memorial. [15] They were invited to make their Grand Prix debut at 2023 Skate Canada International, where they placed fifth, despite a rhythm dance twizzle error. [16] [14] They were fifth as well at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo. [17] Zingas/Kolesnik finished out the fall season at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they won the silver medal. [15]

In advance of the 2024 U.S. Championships, Zingas/Kolesnik were named as first alternates for the American team for the 2024 Four Continents Championships in Shanghai. [18]

Zingas/Kolesnik performing their rhythm dance at 2024 Skate Canada International 2024 Skate Canada - Zingas & Kolesnik - rhythm dance 01 (cropped).jpg
Zingas/Kolesnik performing their rhythm dance at 2024 Skate Canada International

They finished only sixth at the national championships, but were notified while driving home that national champions Chock/Bates had withdrawn from the Four Continents Championships due to illness, and they were to fly to Shanghai the following morning. [19] [20] They were fourth in both segments of the competition, coming fourth overall, 1.07 points back of bronze medalists Carreira/Ponomarenko. Zingas called the event "a great bonus." [20]

2024–2025 season

Zingas/Kolesnik started the season by winning bronze at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. [15] Beginning the 2024–25 Grand Prix series at 2024 Skate Canada International, they came fourth in the rhythm dance, 1.13 points behind third-place French team Lopareva/Brissaud. Both partners received low levels on their twizzles in the free dance, and they dropped to fifth overall, which Kolesnik called "very disappointing." [21] They followed this up by finishing fifth at the 2024 Finlandia Trophy. [15]

Programs

Ice dance with Vadym Kolesnik (for the United States)

Season Rhythm dance Free dance Exhibition
2022–2023
[22]
2023–2024
[23]
2024–2025
[24]

Single skating (for Cyprus)

Season Short program Free skating
2021–2022
[25]
2020–2021
[26]

Competitive highlights

Ice dance with Vadym Kolesnik (for the United States)

Competition placements at senior level [27]
Season 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Four Continents Championships 4th
U.S. Championships 4th6th
GP Finland 5th5th
GP Skate Canada 5th5th
CS Golden Spin 3rd2nd
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 3rd
CS Nepela Memorial 4th
CS Warsaw Cup 2nd

Single skating (for Cyprus)

Competition placements at senior level [28] [9]
Season 2020–21 2021–22
World Championships 36th
CS Budapest Trophy 7th
CS Cup of Austria 16th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 9th
CS Warsaw Cup 14th
Challenge Cup 3rd
Cranberry Cup 10th
Ice Star 5th
Santa Claus Cup 2nd

Detailed results

Ice dance with Vadym Kolesnik (for the United States)

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System [27]
SegmentTypeScoreEvent
TotalTSS196.07 2024 CS Warsaw Cup
Rhythm dance TSS78.23 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
TES45.042023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
PCS33.84 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
Free dance TSS118.872024 CS Warsaw Cup
TES67.072024 CS Warsaw Cup
PCS51.802024 CS Warsaw Cup
Results in the 2022–23 season [27]
DateEvent RD FD Total
PScorePScorePScore
Dec 7–10, 2022 Flag of Croatia.svg 2022 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 373.143110.963184.10
Jan 23–29, 2023 Flag of the United States.svg 2023 U.S. Championships 378.184119.954198.13
Results in the 2023–24 season [27]
DateEvent RD FD Total
PScorePScorePScore
Sep 28–30, 2023 Flag of Slovakia.svg 2023 CS Nepela Memorial 375.613111.674187.28
Oct 27–29, 2023 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg 2023 Skate Canada International 572.255112.715184.96
Nov 17–19, 2023 Flag of Finland.svg 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo 572.135111.655183.78
Dec 6–9, 2023 Flag of Croatia.svg 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 278.233105.093183.32
Jan 22–28, 2024 Flag of the United States.svg 2024 U.S. Championships 577.598104.116181.70
Jan 30 – Feb 4, 2024 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg 2024 Four Continents Championships 475.764117.314193.07
Results in the 2024–25 season [27]
DateEvent RD FD Total
PScorePScorePScore
Sep 18–21, 2024 Flag of Germany.svg 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 377.473116.873194.34
Oct 25–27, 2024 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg 2024 Skate Canada International 475.635113.785189.41
Nov 15–17, 2024 Flag of Finland.svg 2024 Finlandia Trophy 672.723116.765189.48
Nov 20–24, 2024 Flag of Poland.svg 2024 CS Warsaw Cup 277.202118.872196.07

Single skating (for Cyprus)

2021–22 season
DateEvent SP FS Total
November 17–20, 2021 2021 CS Warsaw Cup 17
50.30
13
101.87
14
152.17
November 11–14, 2021 2021 CS Cup of Austria 13
50.02
16
94.65
16
144.67
September 22–25, 2021 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 11
52.90
9
105.26
9
158.16
2020–21 season
DateEvent SP FS Total
March 22–28, 2021 2021 World Championships 36
43.20
36
43.20
February 26–28, 2021 2021 Challenge Cup 5
55.05
2
116.25
3
171.30
November 26–29, 2020 2020 Santa Claus Cup 4
51.07
1
107.60
2
158.67
Oct. 29 – Nov. 1, 2020 2020 Ice Star 10
42.64
5
97.31
5
139.95
October 14–17, 2020 2020 CS Budapest Trophy 7
46.86
8
97.75
7
144.61

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References

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