Gliding across the ice, figure skaters Alexa Gasparotto and Nathan Chapple look like ribbons that have been released into a windstorm. Each movement is akin to the effortlessness with which a small band of fabric dances on the back of a breeze, painting a picture as it twists and turns through the air.
But Gasparotto and Chapple aren’t objects at the mercy of something as temperamental as the wind. They command their direction, motion and rotation in flight, making each second they paint the ice with their artistry all the more breathtaking.
Their movement is the result of body, mind and soul connecting in harmony to a song that speaks to their individuality and over a decade of commitment to a sport that is all-consuming. Later this month, both skaters will headline two of the sport’s premier competitions in singles events, making history in the process.
“The short answer is [we’ve given up] a regular life in general for this sport,” Gasparotto said.
Gasparotto was 4 when she put on her first pair of ice skates. Chapple was 7. Both were introduced to the sport by their mothers.
Inspired by speedskater Apolo Ohno, Chapple participated in a learn-to-skate program 20 minutes from his home in Cleveland. He was quickly ushered through the levels of the program before progressing to private lessons.
About 160 miles northwest of Cleveland, Gasparotto’s young career was unfolding. The first time she walked into a rink was with her soccer team for an open skate. While her teammates struggled to overcome nerves and fear as they attempted to find their footing, Gasparotto remembers shouts of “slow down” coming from her mother.
By the time open skate ended, Gasparotto’s entire team had retired rinkside, leaving her to be the last skater on the ice.
Neither Gasparotto’s or Chapple’s career in figure skating began with the intention of making history or changing the trajectory of the sport’s future, but that’s exactly what they’re accomplishing.
Chapple will become the first Black figure skater to compete for the U.S. at the World University Games on Jan. 14 and 15 in Lake Placid, New York. At the end of the month, Gasparotto will compete for the first time at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, California. Starr Andrews will be among her competitors, marking the first time in over 20 years two Black women have participated in the senior women’s event. The last time the competition included two Black women was in 2000 with Cohen Duncan and Andrea Gardiner.
“It’s a big deal for me,” Chapple said. “There aren’t that many of us out there. It’s 2023, and I’m the first Black figure skater at that competition. It should be a really good thing for me and people like me.”
U.S. Figure Skating’s history of excluding Black athletes is long and deeply rooted.
Mabel Fairbanks, the first Black person inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, had her career decimated by racist exclusion in the 1930s when she was banned from rinks and clubs. She went on to coach some of the sport’s best, including Tai Babilonia and Debi Thomas.
Thomas was the first Black American to medal for the U.S. at the Winter Olympics when she won bronze in 1988 at the Calgary Games. The U.S. had no Black figure skaters competing at the Olympics in 2022. In fact, Aaron Parchem, who competed in 2006, is the only Black American figure skater to go to the Olympics since Thomas.
It wasn’t until the summer of 2020 that U.S. Figure Skating formed its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion task force. A fact sheet produced by U.S. Figure Skating last year proved the sport’s lack of diversity is being mirrored in its fan base. The report found just 3% of the sport’s fans are Hispanic, 2% are Black and 1% are Native American.
“Seeing Nathan at competitions opened my eyes up to the fact that we were the only two Black athletes at most competitions we would go to,” Gasparotto said. “Also, seeing [Starr] Andrews, I thought, ‘OK, now there’s three of us getting in view of everyone.’ We really need to do this for ourselves and let everybody know that nobody can stop us.”
Last January, Gasparotto and Chapple relocated to the Chicago suburbs to work with renowned choreographer and coach Rohene Ward and his team, which includes figure skating coach Amber Gil.
The first time Gasparotto became aware of Ward was after watching a program he skated to Prince’s ‘‘Purple Rain.’’ His emotion and skill captivated the young skater. From the moment she watched Ward on YouTube, Gasparotto wanted to work with him. About 1½ years later, the moment presented itself at a competition in which Ward found himself captivated by Gasparotto.
Ward and Gil first saw Chapple at a competition in Fort Wayne, Indiana. By the end of it, Ward thought Chapple’s performance was not scored accurately and he let him know.
“I walked over to him and told him, ‘You’re so good they don’t even know what to do with that.’ ”
Ward, like Gasparotto and Chapple, has an origin story on the ice that includes shocking observers with the ease he possessed his first time in ice skates. He didn’t walk through the rink and onto the ice — he ran.
He transitioned into coaching full-time in 2008 after a successful career competing, which included four trips to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008). Where Ward truly found a sense of freedom on the ice as a professional was in performing.
In competitions, the bright lights exposing all the faces that made up the crowd created a noise in his mind that he couldn’t always silence. But performing, with nothing but a dark house, a spotlight following his movement and a song, spoke to his soul. Ward was able to focus on himself.
Now, the three-time choreographer of the year (2015, 2017 and 2021) and the first Black member to earn the honor from the Professional Skaters Association is providing his skaters with an environment that supports their complete athletic development.
“For me, it’s about giving the kids a support system, letting them know we’re here for them,” Ward said. “It’s a process, and this is how we’re going to work through the process.”
Ward’s process for Gasparotto and Chapple includes ballet, yoga, Pilates, strength training and mental coaching with a clinical therapist. But his support for them goes beyond any exercise or training method he implements.
“I talk to both of them about being Black in figure skating,” Ward said. “I’m not going to keep the obvious from them. We have to talk about the things that are real in order for them to understand why I’m pushing the way I’m pushing. I’ve gone through it, and I want them to have their own experience, but I also need them to understand this is what it is.”
Ward and Gil believe that U.S. Figure Skating is taking steps to address the lack of inclusivity in the sport. But other organizations began the work long before U.S. Figure Skating did.
Gasparotto and Chapple are ambassadors for Diversify Ice Foundation, which was created in 2017 by Joel Savary, figure skating coach and author of ‘‘Why Black and Brown Kids Don’t Ice Skate.’’
Diversify Ice works with businesses across the country to expand opportunities and provide resources in the sport. Savary has created a Diversify Ice network that connects skaters with coaches and other families in skating. The network also connects interested parties to rinks, clubs and equipment vendors.
In February, Gasparotto and Chapple will be performing at Diversify Ice’s Skate-Raiser event in Lakewood, California. The event also includes a seminar class led by Babilonia, Ward and Nathan Truesdell, a panel discussion and a class focused on the history of the sport.
“I felt obligated to join Diversify Ice because of where I was in my life,” Chapple said. “Skating at a higher level, around the coaches I am, having a Black coach, I felt it was time to join a great organization that was doing good for the sport.”
Gasparotto and Chapple live minutes from the Glenview Community Ice Center, where they practice every day with Ward and Gil from about 9 a.m. until at least 5 p.m. Part of what makes it so enjoyable, Gasparotto said, is despite them competing in singles events, they’ve grown into a family in the last year.
Part of Ward’s unique coaching style is an emphasis on the performance aspect over the elements. Over the course of the last year, Gasparotto and Chapple have steadily added the tricks and elements to their programs as they’ve perfected the quality of performing.
Chapple is a week away from competition and Gasparotto is three, and Ward has made his final changes to their programs. Both are opportunities to give the skating world a glimpse of the truest versions of themselves. It’s a version that comes forward when there’s nothing but them navigating the smooth surface of the ice as the melody that speaks directly to them plays.
If Ward has taught Gasparotto and Chapple anything, it’s that being intentional about their individualism matters.
“When they leave the ice, I always tell them, ‘Give everyone something to talk about,’ ” Ward said. “What’s going to make them talk about you? If you leave them with a feeling.”
