Kemp and Elizarov intend to keep the party going

On a 10-point scale, just how excited are ascending pairs skaters Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov as they contemplate what lies ahead this Olympic season?

“Ten,” Elizarov said without hesitation. “I’m very excited. I think it’s going to be a good season.”

Kemp concurred.

“Yeah, I would say 10. Last season showed us when we sat and watched others compete, we were eager to compete and wanted to, but couldn’t,” she said, referring to her back injury that sidelined the pair for several months last fall before they rebounded to claim their second Canadian junior title.

“So, we just came out that much more fiery this season.”

Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 21, started intense, off-season training at the end of May according to the plan that coaches Kevin Dawe and Lee Barkell devised to ensure consistent progress.

The Winnipeg duo capitalized on that strategy with a strong showing at Skate Canada’s NextGen camp in mid-July followed by back-to-back gold medals in ISU Junior Grand Prix competition in Europe this past month.

Back home at their training base in Toronto enjoying a prescribed rest from international travel and training, the pair took time to reflect on the superb start to their season and shared determination to keep the party going.

This week, Kemp and Elizarov began preparations for their graduation to senior-level competition. Their first senior test at a domestic event in Barrie, Ont., is just a month off.

If that goes well, it’s possible that Skate Canada would assign them to senior international where they would attempt to score the technical points minimum that would make them eligible to compete in the 2026 ISU senior championships, as well as the Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina in February.

The scores the duo earned for their winning performances at the junior Grands Prix in Latvia and Turkey handily surpassed the minimum. However, ISU rules stipulate that those scores must be attained in senior international competition to qualify.

“That gives us a pretty good confidence boost because if we can get (the minimum) in junior, it’s easier to get it in senior, right?” Elizarov suggested.

At four minutes, the senior free skate runs a half-minute longer than a junior program. That allows for one additional overhead lift to be performed and their chosen Axel lift, Elizarov noted, “is worth big points.”

Kemp and Elizarov, now in their fifth season together, recognize that making Canada’s Olympic team in their first year competing senior is a longshot, although not an impossibility.

Canada has just two entries for pairs and two experienced couples with Olympic team-worthy credentials. The 2024 world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps and top ten-ranked Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud are expected to earn those coveted Olympic spots.

“I think it’d be tough to squeeze into that (mix),” Kemp acknowledged.

“It’s not our focus, but we’ve been working hard, and will continue to work hard and know where we can get to. Just for ourselves, we want to push ourselves and do the best we can, obviously. That’s our main focus — just improve and see where that gets us.”

Elizarov agreed, saying, “I don’t want to say we’re shooting for it or not shooting for it. I think we’ve made a good outing in these junior Grands Prix. If we keep doing our thing and keep getting big points, who knows what might happen.”

In the meantime, Kemp and Elizarov, who began their pairs career with Dawe at Skate Winnipeg, will turn their attention to their senior debut. They will train senior programs for the next two months until it’s time to revert to the junior versions in preparation for the exclusive Grand Prix Final in Japan in early December.

It’s the third time in four seasons that the young team has qualified for the final as one of the six top-ranked junior pairs in the world. They withdrew from the 2022 event due to injury, then won silver in 2023 in Beijing.

Their expanded long program will be set up so it’s easy to flip flop between senior and junior competition. Kemp and Elizarov will compete in their first senior Canadian championship in January.

“We don’t really have any huge competition result goals this year. I think the work we’re putting in will translate to competition, but we just want to keep improving. That’s our main focus. Our goals for the Grand Prix were not just to medal or qualify for the final, we wanted to start setting ourselves apart,” Kemp said unabashedly.

“Our big goal this year is to skate like a senior team in junior events. Hopefully, by doing that, it will result in gold medals or medalling at important events.”