Stephen Gogolov looks like the next one to watch in Canadian figure skating following his amazing debut in Bratislava, Slovakia at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
In the first stop of the season, Gogolov landed three quadruple jumps last Friday, and became the first Canadian to land a quad Lutz in competition.
“To land those three quads really brings up my confidence”
At 13 years-old, and just 88 pounds, Gogolov collected 226.13 points, beating Japan’s Mitsuki Sumoto with 210.31 points, and Daniel Grassi of Italy in third place with 199.26 points in the men’s competition.
“To land those three quads really brings up my confidence,” Gogolev told reporters. “I still need to get some run thoughs done so I can improve the second half of my skate.”
Gogolov is coached by Brian Orser and Lee Barkell. at the Toronto Cricket and Skating Club.
Orser was the Men’s World Champion figure skater in 1987 and a Silver Medalist after competing in the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olypmics.
Gogolev is comfortable landing all five quads, the flip, loop, toe loop, Lutz, and Salchow. But his jumps are just part of the talent according to Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada’s high performance director.
“The thing with Stephen is he’s a very well-rounded skater, he’s not just a jumper,” Slipchuk told CP’s Lori Ewing in an interview.
“He can spin, his skating skills are strong, his base is very strong, and I think that’s the key thing is he has a lot of areas that will help him continue to grow that mark. If you’re just a jumper, you can only score so much.”
At five feet in height, there’s a growth spurt in Gogolov’s future.
“It’s a fact of life, and you just have to keep doing exercises like [the edge work session] we’re doing now, and listen to your body,” Brian Orser told Ewing.
“He’s been really good about that, he doesn’t pound and pound and pound too much. If he starts to get any pain, it’s just automatic that we back off. I don’t push anything through that, because I know as an athlete myself.” Orser said.
The next Junior Grand Prix takes place Sept. 12-15 in Richmond, British Columbia. A similar performance will guarantee him a place in the Grand Prix Final, December 6-9, in Vancouver.
(With files from CP and CBC)
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