Alissa Czisny: An Illustrious Career of the Hottest Figure Skater


Alissa Czisny: An Illustrious Career of the Hottest Figure SkaterAlissa Czisny was born on 25th June 1987. She is an American figure skater. She is the 2010–2011 Grand Prix Final champion, two-time (2009, 2011) U.S. national champion, 2012 U.S. silver medalist, 2007 U.S. bronze medalist, two-time (2005, 2010) Skate Canada champion and the 2011 Skate America champion.

Czisny began skating at age 1½ when she and her sister Amber accompanied their mother to the ice skating rink because they did not want to stay at home with the babysitter. In 1998, she began working with coach Julianne Berlin. Early in Czisny's career, Theresa McKendry was her main choreographer and her sister Amber Czisny assisted.

Czisny finished 4th in her Grand Prix debut at 2004 Skate America, to which she was invited after Michelle Kwan withdrew. She first gained international attention in 2005 when she won the gold medal at the 2005 Skate Canada International and silver at the 2005 Skate America. She qualified for the 2005–2006 Grand Prix Final and placed sixth. She went on to the 2006 U.S. Championships in St. Louis, where she finished seventh overall.

Czisny began the 2006–07 season at the 2006 Skate Canada International where she placed fourth. She also competed at the 2006 Cup of Russia in November. At the 2007 U.S. Championships she was in fifth after the short program, but went on to win the free skate to win the bronze medal and the final U.S. spot to the 2007 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. At the World Championships, she finished 15th.

Czisny finished third at the 2008 Skate Canada International in the 2008–09 Grand Prix series behind Joannie Rochette and Fumie Suguri. At the 2009 U.S. Championships, she won the short program by over five points. She finished third in the long program but won the gold medal due to her lead from the short. Czisny won her first national title, ahead of Rachael Flatt and Caroline Zhang. She earned her second trip to the Four Continents and the World Championships, in which she finished ninth and eleventh, respectively.

In the 2009–10 Grand Prix season, Czisny placed fourth at the 2009 Rostelecom Cup and won the silver medal at the 2009 Skate Canada International. Her short program score of 63.52 was the fourth highest of this ISU Grand Prix season, only surpassed by Yu-Na Kim (two scores) and Joannie Rochette. Czisny placed tenth at the 2010 U.S. Championships; as a result, she did not make the Olympic team and financial support to help cover her mid-five-figure training expenses was cut. She also found out her sister had cancer (in remission as of 2011). Czisny considered retiring but her mentors Brian Boitano and Linda Leaver encouraged her to continue.

In February 2010, she left coach Julianne Berlin, who had coached her for twelve years. In May, she said she would remain at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, with new coaches Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen. She reworked her jump technique with the help of her new coaches, who also helped her with her mental approach. She noted, "I finally realized that my results in skating didn't define who I am as a person."

Czisny began the 2010–11 season by winning the 2010 Skate Canada International, her first gold medal on the Grand Prix series since winning 2005 Skate Canada. She also won Midwestern Sectionals, qualifying her to compete at US Nationals in 2011. She won bronze at her second Grand Prix event, 2010 Trophée Eric Bompard, which combined with her Skate Canada result qualified her for the Grand Prix Final.

Alissa Czisny: An Illustrious Career of the Hottest Figure SkaterAt the 2010–2011 Grand Prix Final, Czisny won the short program with 63.76 points and placed third in the long program with a new personal best of 116.99 points. She won her first Grand Prix Final title with a new personal best combined total of 180.75 points. At the 2011 U.S. Championships, Czisny placed second in the short program with 62.50,and then placed first in the free skate with 128.74, giving her a combined total of 191.24 to win the gold. She thus won her second national gold medal, finishing 7.86 points ahead of the defending champion Rachael Flatt. It was the first time since Michelle Kwan's ninth win in 2005 that a ladies' single skater won more than one U.S. national title. She placed fifth at the 2011 World Championships, her best ever result at the event. During the off-season, she skated in a number of shows.

In the 2011–2012 season, Czisny was assigned to 2011 Skate America and 2011 Trophée Eric Bompard as her Grand Prix events. She won the gold medal at Skate America and bronze at Trophee Bompard. She was first in the free program at Bompard with 121.90 points, setting a new personal best international free skate score. Czisny qualified for the Grand Prix Final. She sustained a calf injury during a practice session on December 8, explaining "it was the way I picked on a flip jump." After team doctors determined that she would not make the injury worse, Czisny went on to compete and finished 5th at the event.

She won the silver medal at the 2012 U.S. Championships. Czisny won the bronze medal at the 2012 Challenge Cup. After the event, she decided not to include the double axel-triple toe combination in her program at Worlds. Czisny fell twice in the short program at the 2012 Worlds and five times in the free skate. She placed 22nd overall. Czisny was invited to the World Team Trophy but her coach Jason Dungjen declined and Gracie Gold was selected instead. In May 2012, an MRI revealed that Czisny had a torn labrum in her left hip. Czisny said she would not have competed at Worlds if she had known she was injured. After undergoing surgery on June 6, 2012 in Nashville, she began physical therapy the next day and after a month no longer needed crutches.

In the 2012–2013 season, Czisny received an assignment to the NHK Trophy but withdrew in order to continue her recovery from surgery. She hoped to compete at the 2013 U.S. Championships. On January 12, 2013 at the 2013 Fox Cities Invitational in Appleton, Wisconsin, Czisny dislocated her left hip when she fell on a triple flip. She was taken to hospital where her hip was moved back into alignment. Her withdrawal from the U.S. Championships was confirmed.

In April 2013, Czisny resumed her regular training schedule at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In preparation for the 2013–2014 season she skated two sessions per day, gradually increasing the difficulty of her jumps and spins. She planned to add a triple-triple jump combination to her long program. In addition she worked regularly with an off-ice trainer and underwent physical therapy daily. Her goal was to earn one of the three spots on the 2014 U.S. Olympic team. Czisny successfully made her comeback at the 2014 Eastern Great Lakes Regional Championships. She placed first in both the short and the long with a score of 145.12 for the gold medal, winning the competition by almost 20 points. This qualified her for the Midwestern Sectionals in November. She withdrew from Sectionals and ended her season.

Unlike most skaters, Czisny spins and jumps clockwise. She is known for her excellent spins. She said, "When I was younger, my sister and I always practiced our spins together. We would spin for hours, seeing who could hold their spin longer and/or who could spin faster. We also tried to come up with as many variations as possible." Of the jumps, Czisny is least confident on the triple salchow.

Alissa Czisny: An Illustrious Career of the Hottest Figure SkaterCzisny has taken ballet lessons from a young age to improve her flexibility and strength. Her fraternal twin sister, Amber, was also a figure skater who retired due to injuries and became a coach and choreographer. Czisny is a summa cum laude graduate of Bowling Green State University where she was on a full academic scholarship and majored in international studies, French and Russian. She took online classes due to her skating. She also wants to learn Japanese. She was one of four up-and-coming figure skaters featured on the 2006 TLC series, Ice Diaries. Czisny is a vegetarian and a Christian. In 2011, she made a brief appearance in a Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler and Detroit, and then starred in Chrysler's Perseverance video

Interesting facts about Alissa

  • Alissa’s twin sister, Amber, is a former national and international competitor.

  • In February 2010, Alissa ended her professional relationship with Julianne Berlin, her coach of 12 years.

  • When Alissa and Amber were younger, Alissa’s mom, Debbie, drove them 980 miles per week for training at St. Claire Shores Figure Skating Club and then the Detroit Skating Club after they changed training locations.

  • Alissa was a student at Bowling Green State University majoring in international studies, Russian and French and graduated summa cum laude in May 2009.

  • Alissa has skated in various charity skating events for organizations including Hurricane Katrina relief fund, the Jimmy Fund/Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute (“An Evening With Champions” at Harvard University), breast cancer research foundation (“Skate for Hope”) and the Mary Louise Wright Foundation (Skating Club of Boston).

  • Alissa is the first U.S. lady since Sasha Cohen (2002) to win the Grand Prix Final.

  • Alissa was one of four up-and-coming figure skaters featured on the 2006 TLC series, Ice Diaries. Ice Diaries followed four skaters who were attempting to make the 2006 Olympic team.

  • In 2011, Alissa made a brief appearance in a Super Bowl commercial for Chrysler and Detroit that featured music by Eminem.

  • Alissa’s favorite places she has travelled to for skating are Oberstdorf, Germany and Tokyo, Japan.

  • Alissa’s favorite skater is Scott Hamilton (who is also from Bowling Green).

  • Alissa’s hobbies include bike riding, rock climbing, traveling, dancing, learning new languages, walking on the beach and reading.

  • Alissa’s favorite quote is “Life is not about learning to survive the storm, but rather learning how to dance in the rain” by Robert Schimmel.

 

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Dated 25 November 2013

 

 

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