Olympic figure skater Kévin Aymoz is celebrating his 26th birthday with a string of sensational performances in Japan.
Sounds like a pretty awesome way to ring in a new year!
Aymoz, who made his Olympic debut last winter, has been taking the ice over the last week with his sharp red gloves and jaw-dropping acrobatics. The French Olympian performed nine times, and shared some of the highlights on Instagram.
These shots are stunnnning.
The skating prodigy performed his routine to French composer Maurice Ravel’s Boléro composition, following in the footsteps of acclaimed English ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean, who became the highest-scoring figure skaters of all time for their effort in the 1984 Games.
Though the composition is over 17 minutes long, Torvill and Dean trimmed it down to fit Olympic standards. Olympic rules state that the free dance must be four minutes long (plus or minus 10 seconds), and though they could only condense Boléro to four minutes and 18 seconds, they came up with a deft workaround.
According to the Olympic rulebook, the actual timing of a skating routine begins only when the skaters start skating. Therefore, they didn’t place their blades on the ice for the first 18 seconds, ensuring they would have the maximum time of skating remaining.
Pretty brilliant!
The Ice 2023: Kevin Aymoz – Bolero (with red gloves 👀) – credit iliaslayy
by u/Hopelessssssssss in FigureSkating
Aymoz’s efforts were equally inspiring. The five-time French national champion moves with such grace and eloquence.
A video of his set, which was posted on Reddit, elicited wide-ranging compliments.
“I love Kevin and I love this program!!” said one commenter. “Kevin [can] lay down some choreo! His knockout worlds performance really seemed to unlock something in Kevin and I can’t wait to see where he takes things this season.”
Added another: “Kevin vibing out wearing one of my signature summer rink lewks of old comp mesh gloves and black sleevless top and bottoms. Iconic. He looks healthy and free. :)”
Indeed! Aymoz already brought us to tears earlier this year, when he placed fourth overall in the free skate competition at the European Championships.
At the end of his set, the Aymoz fell to the ice, and let out his elation.
Aymoz started skating when he was five years old, and instantly fell in love with the sport. “I felt so free when I was on the ice at 5 years old, so I kept going for 20 years,” he said in an interview.
But that doesn’t mean his Olympic journey came without adversity. Prior to the 2022 Beijing Games, he had his summer wiped out due to a groin injury, and then suffered a toe injury that set him back that fall.
“It was difficult to get past,” he said in an interview with Olympic.com. “At the start of my training camp, I had to learn a million things again in a short space of time.”
Nevertheless, Aymoz made it to Beijing, representing France with aplomb. He placed 10th in the figure skating short program.
More injures have piled up for Aymoz this year, almost leading him to call it a career.
We’re thankful he didn’t.
“It was not one of my best seasons, I got injured again this year, it was really difficult and I almost quit figure skating,” he said. “I was pretty done with it, but I came back out on the ice, just to enjoy and I did competition and in this world championship, I was like I have no fears, no goals, I just want to enjoy figure skating and do my best just being in the moment, and I did it and I’m so proud.”
Despite only being in his mid-20s, Aymoz’s impact carries far beyond the ice. He was one of at least 36 out competitors in Beijing, and one of six French athletes publicly came out in a special Pride Month documentary, We Need to Talk.
Aymoz said the experience liberated him both personally and on the ice.
“When I first came out, I had put a bandage on a wound,” he said. “But now with this documentary, talking about it publicly and freeing myself gave me the opportunity to remove the bandage and let the wound breathe. And there’s no wound anymore. It was over. It made me feel good.”
It must also feel good for Aymoz to experience so much birthday cheer. He received plenty of well-wishes Tuesday.
With a new season approaching, Aymoz has his eyes set on qualifying for the next Winter Games, which will be held in Milan.
“My goal in figure skating is to leave something for figure skating and have memory when I retire, that’s the goal,” he said.
Aymoz is well on his way to accomplishing that.
Scroll down for more reaction to his dazzling showing across the Pacific and beautiful shots of him being happy and free on the ice…
Diplomat
Since there isn’t a video you should pull this post.