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Isabella Gamez
Isabella Marie Gamez (born February 1, 1999) is a Filipina pair skater who competes for the Philippines with her partner Aleksandr Korovin. Gamez and Korovin are the first pair from Southeast Asia and the Philippines to qualify and compete in the final segment of the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships.[1] They are the first international medalists for the Philippines in pairs skating,[2] first pair to compete at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating for Southeast Asia and the Philippines, as well as two-time Philippine National Champions for pairs skating bringing attention to the sport in the tropical country. With her former skating partner, David-Alexandre Paradis, Isabella competed in the final segment at the 2020 Four Continents Championships. They were the first figure skating pairs team to represent the Philippines at International Skating Union competitions starting in 2019. Competing for Spain in junior pairs with her former skating partner, Tòn Cónsul, she is the 2018 Spanish Junior National champion and finished 13th at the 2018 World Junior Championships. Personal lifeGamez was born on February 1, 1999, to Filipino parents, Gerardo Alisangco Gamez and Maria Victoria Webb Ramirez. Both parents were born and raised in Quezon City.[3] Gamez is the grandniece of former Philippines Olympics basketball player, Senator Freddie Webb on her mother's side.[4] Her paternal grandfather is Dr. Gilberto Gamez, former Dean of University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. She grew up regularly spending time in Manila, maintaining a close tie to her Philippine roots and both sides of her family living there.[5] In addition to figure skating, Gamez is a scuba diver, who spends time in Anilao, Mabini, Batangas. She also enjoys painting and baking.[6] On March 20, 2024, Isabella Gamez was among the major Filipina athlete awardees at the inaugural Women in Sports Awards, hosted by the Philippine Sports Commission at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.[7] CareerEarly career Gamez started as a singles skater before switching to pairs starting as a novice.[8] Gamez teamed up with Griffin Schwab in pairs from the 2015–16 season. They earned the novice silver medal in their first season at the 2016 U.S. Championships. In 2017, Gamez teamed up with Spanish skater Tòn Cónsul to represent Spain for juniors pairs. They competed at two Junior Grand Prix events, finishing 11th in Zagreb and 13th in Gdańsk. Gamez/Cónsul then won the 2018 Spanish junior national title and the 2018 Mentor Toruń Cup. They ended the season with a thirteenth-place finish at the 2018 World Junior Championships.[9] Partnership with Paradis2019–2020 seasonGamez began representing the Philippines in a new senior pair with Canadian skater David-Alexandre Paradis. Gamez/Paradis competed at three Challenger Series events, becoming the first Filipino and Southeast Asian pair to compete in an International Skating Union competition.[10] They then finished seventh at Volvo Open Cup. Gamez/Paradis also earned the technical minimums for the 2020 Four Continents Championships to become the first Filipino and Southeast Asian pair to compete at an ISU Championship. They finished ninth at Four Continents. Gamez/Paradis concluded their season with an eleventh-place finish at the Challenge Cup.[11] Gamez and Paradis split due to travel restrictions and inability to train together during the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] Paradis retired from pairs skating to focus on his coaching career.[13] Partnership with Korovin2020–2021 and 2021–2022 seasonsIn August 2021, the Philippine Skating Union announced that Gamez had teamed up with Russian skater Aleksandr Korovin to represent the Philippines.[14] Korovin and Gamez were paired by 2014 Winter Olympics pairs champion Maxim Trankov and Olympic, World Championship coach Marina Zoueva. They met and began training together in early 2021. For the 2021–2022 season, Gamez and Korovin focused on their training at Hertz Arena with coach, Marina Zoueva, and her team in Estero, Florida. 2022–2023 seasonThe Gamez/Korovin pair made their debut at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy, where they placed ninth after two years of inactivity.[12][15] The pair shared before their international debut, Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida affecting their training venue and practice schedule a week before Finland.[5] In their second competition together, Gamez and Korovin achieved a historical milestone for the Philippines. They won the first-ever medal for Philippine pairs skating in an international competition, a silver medal at the Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur in Nice, France.[16] They competed at the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup placing 11th, and withdrew from the Golden Spin of Zagreb due to injury. Gamez/Korovin continued the season to become the first senior pairs team to win the Philippine Figure Skating Championships, bringing awareness to the pairs discipline in the tropical country as the only competitors in December 2022. They qualified and competed at the 2023 Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs placing ninth. They competed at the Challenge Cup in Tilburg, Netherlands, where they placed 6th and earned the technical minimums to become the first Southeast Asian and Philippine pairs team to qualify and compete at the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan.[1] They competed in the final segment at the 2023 World Figure Skating Championships ending a five-year drought for the Philippines at the World Figure Skating Championships, wherein the last Philippine skater to compete was Michael Christian Martinez in 2017. 2023–2024 season Prior to the season, it was announced that Gamez/Korovin had relocated to Montclair, New Jersey, where they were now being coached by Dmitri Savin, Alexei Bychenko, Evgeni Krasnopolski, and Galit Chait.[17] They would start their second season together by competing at John Nicks Pairs Challenge in New York, NY and 2023 CS Autumn Classic International in Montreal, Canada in September 2023. They withdrew from October 2023 competitions due to a COVID-diagnosis and returned to compete at Philippine Figure Skating Championships in November 2023, where they won their second National Championship title at SM Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines. In January 2024, they competed at the 2024 Four Continents Championships in Shanghai, China, where they placed eleventh and competed at the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, Canada as the only competitors representing the Philippines at the annual event. They would finish the event in twenty-first place. 2024–2025 seasonPrior to the season, Fedor Klimov joined Gamez and Korovin's coaching team.[18] They began the season by finishing ninth at the 2024 John Nicks International Pairs Competition.[19] They went on to compete at the 2024 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur; however, after completing the short program segment, the pairs free skate event was cancelled due to poor weather conditions.[20] Gamez and Korovin were awarded the silver medal based on their short program result.[21] Not initially assigned to compete on the Grand Prix series, Gamez and Korovin were later entered to compete at the 2024 NHK Trophy.[22] However, they were unable to accept the assignment due to the short notice invitation.[23] They were later assigned to the 2024 Cup of China following another team's withdrawal.[24] They finished the event in seventh place.[21] ProgramsWith Korovin
With Paradis
With Cónsul
With Schwab
Competitive highlightsPair skating with Aleksandr Korovin (for the Philippines)
Pair skating with David-Alexandre Paradis (for the Philippines)
Pair skating with Tòn Cònsul Vivar (for Spain)
Pair skating with Griffin Schwab (for the United States)
Detailed resultsPair skating with Aleksandr Korovin (for the Philippines)
Note: The senior pairs free skate at the 2024 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur was cancelled on account of inclement weather. It was later announced that the short program results would be considered as the final results for the competition.[20]
With Paradis
References
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