5 months ago
CANTON, MI-- Olympians and world champions person carved paths to greatness while training successful Michigan.
With nan 2026 Olympic Winter Games approaching this February successful Milano and Cortina, a brace of skaters dream to carve a caller way from Michigan to nan Olympic stage.
Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez train astatine Arctic Edge Ice Arena successful Canton and dream to go nan first Hispanic pairs squad to compete for nan United States astatine nan Olympic games.
After becoming nan first Hispanic pairs squad to compete successful a world title for Team USA successful 2024, nan thought of representing their state and practice astatine nan Olympics has go their main goal.
“Even though we’re representing our country, we still person our backgrounds and things that we represent,” Plazas said. ”I’m representing Team USA, but I’m Colombian. I’m an immigrant. I’m doing things my ain way, but nan measurement my family does it. So, it’s for illustration representing yourself too.”
Plazas and Fernandez each grew up pinch nan dream of representing Team USA arsenic athletes, to beryllium capable to deterioration a squad overgarment and compete nether nan American emblem astatine nan Olympics.
In pairs competition, Plazas and Fernandez are expected to skate together and enactment synchronized while besides performing throws and lifts complete nan head. Having been partners since 2020, they are coached by Jim Peterson and Amanda Evora-Will.
Since preparing for competitions, nan brace haven’t been capable to sojourn their families successful Miami, but they person their ain support strategy present successful Michigan.
“Jim and Amanda are our biggest fans,” Plazas said. “They’re doing everything they tin successful our champion interest.”
Though acold distant from family, nan brace transportation connected pinch nan traits and lessons gained from their parents.
Both Plazas and Fernandez grew up successful confederate Florida to difficult moving and diversion families who instilled perseverance and grit into their lives from a young age.
A first-generation immigrant, Fernandez’s family roots are successful Cuban and Peruvian heritage. His mother was a ballet dancer for nan Cuban ballet.
“My mom’s ever been very supportive successful a affirmative measurement of, ‘If you’re gonna do this, you gotta effort your best,’” Fernandez said.
Plazas moved to nan United States from Bogota, Colombia astatine six years old. Her parents sewage her progressive pinch soccer, gymnastics, softball and volleyball while applying for governmental asylum and diligently making a life for her and her family successful Florida. Thanks to her father, Plazas learned toughness acknowledgment to her father’s emotion of Rocky, nan celebrated boxer movie.
“My dada would push Rocky into me,” Plazas said. “I grew up pinch that. So that’s benignant of really I conscionable support going. Even connected reliable days. It’s conscionable nan Rocky mentality.”
Soon aft Plazas and Fernandez officially collaborated up successful February 2020, Peterson and Evora-Will decided to move to Michigan. Most of nan skaters they trained pinch successful Florida did not want to move pinch them, but Plazas and Fernandez decided to move pinch them.
“I saw this arsenic an opportunity,” Fernandez said. “I was like, okay, if we move, we’re going to person nan astir magnitude of clip pinch them.”
Peterson took aggregate pairs teams to nan Olympics, 1 of which is his existent coaching partner, Evora-Will. Fernandez had trained pinch them since 2017, but Plazas did not meet them until precocious 2019.
Despite nan little coach-athlete relationship, nan brace saw moving to Michigan arsenic their champion option.
“I was successful a bad business astatine my rink and I wanted to leave,” Plazas explained. “I knew that saying yes would travel pinch moving to Michigan. I’ve said to myself, I’d alternatively opportunity I tried than question, ‘What if I would person done it?’”
That consequence paid disconnected a fewer years later erstwhile they won bronze astatine nan 2021 inferior nationalist championships, and a bronze astatine nan 2024 U.S. nationalist championship.
Despite nan move to Michigan being a affirmative measurement successful their careers, nan travel was not without unexpected detours.
Plazas and Ferndandez were forced to walk clip isolated successful 2025 aft Ferndandez suffered an wounded to his near patella tendon. While he recovered and rehabbed successful Colorado, Plazas was successful Canton training by herself.
“When we moved here, Max and I lived together,” Plazas said. “We skate together. We eat, sleep, we do everything together, truthful erstwhile he near it was for illustration a acold turkey thing and that was really difficult.”
When they yet reunited adjacent nan extremity of nan 2025 season, it was clip to refocus connected nan Olympic goal.
A spot successful nan Olympics will beryllium wished astatine nan U.S. National Championships held from Jan. 4-11. The Plazas-Fernandez squad besides brought successful Olympic crystal dancer Tanith Belbin White to thief springiness a different position to their skating.
While crystal dancing and pairs fig skating are 2 different skating disciplines, Plazas and Fernandez admit nan caller perspective.
“Tanith added much intricacy to our programs,” Plazas said. “With pairs, Jim and Amanda cognize our patterns, they cognize nan speed.”
For their upcoming short programme – a two-minute and 40-second regular that highlights method aspects for illustration jumps and lifts – Plazas and Fernandez will execute to Paganini, which is simply a capacity they only started moving connected astir a period earlier nationals aft a alteration successful plans.
“We’re trying to benignant of fig it out,” Fernandez said. “Connecting to nan euphony feels easier and I consciousness for illustration our elements are amended to this music.”
For their free skate title – a four-minute regular that showcases their elements and emphasizes productivity – they will execute to a medley from Lion King.
Now that nan extremity is wrong reach, nan pair’s dream isn’t without distraction owed to nan commentary coming from nan nationalist authorities and its actions against immigrants, women and group of color.
Fernandez said it has been difficult to debar talking astir nan perceived negativity because it comes up successful interviews pinch nationalist property and media.
“It’s genuinely upsetting and frightening to spot what’s happening to our family and our civilization and that, particularly successful South Florida,” Fernandez said. “It’s a large measurement that we correspond immoderate families aliases group that travel here, nary matter what ethnicity you are.”
“If we do make it to nan Olympics and we get to spell to nan White House nether Donald Trump -- arsenic a female and an migrant and everything he hates -- I’ll beryllium there,” Plazas said.
No matter if nan travel takes them to nan Olympic shape aliases to nan White House, Plazas and Fernandez person ever been capable to count connected their heritage, coaches and each different to make nan travel worthy while.
“We’re each benignant of present successful a bubble, truthful we benignant of thin connected each other,” Plazas said.
