Kaitlin Hawayek

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Born (1996-11-04) November 4, 1996 (age 29)
HometownEast Aurora, New York, U.S.
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Country United States
Kaitlin Hawayek
Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker at the 2018 Internationaux de France
Personal information
Born (1996-11-04) November 4, 1996 (age 29)
Home townEast Aurora, New York, U.S.
Height5 ft 3 in (160 cm)
Figure skating career
Country United States
DisciplineIce dance
PartnerJean-Luc Baker
Skating clubDetroit Skating Club
Began skating2000
Medal record
Four Continents Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Taipei Ice dance
U.S. Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Detroit Ice dance
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Greensboro Ice dance
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Las Vegas Ice dance
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Nashville Ice dance
World Team Trophy
Silver medal – second place 2021 Osaka Team
World Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2014 Sofia Ice dance
Junior Grand Prix Final
Silver medal – second place 2013–14 Fukuoka Ice dance

Kaitlin Hawayek (born November 4, 1996) is an American ice dancer. With her skating partner, Jean-Luc Baker, she is the 2018 Four Continents champion, the 2018 NHK Trophy champion, and a four-time U.S. national bronze medalist (2019–22).

Earlier in their career, she and Baker became the 2014 World Junior champions, the 2013 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists, and the 2014 U.S. national junior champions.[1]

Kaitlin Hawayek was born in Buffalo, New York.[2] She is the daughter of Jon and Kirstin Hawayek and has two brothers, Bradley and Nathan.[3] Before moving to Detroit, she attended Nardin Academy High School. She is interested in neuroscience.[4] Both of her brothers play ice hockey.[5] She has been based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, since moving for training purposes in 2018.

Career

Early years

Hawayek was introduced to ice skating by her mother in 1999.[2][5] She was initially a single skater and represented the Skating Club of Western New York in her early career, coached by Janice Smith and Jessica Lauria. After switching to ice dancing, she teamed up with Michael Bramante in June 2010.[6] They won the novice bronze medal at the 2011 U.S. Championships. The following season, Hawayek/Bramante competed at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events and finished sixth on the junior level at the 2012 U.S. Championships. They parted ways at the end of the season.

2012–13 season: First season with Baker

Hawayek teamed up with Jean-Luc Baker in June 2012.[7] They were sent to two JGP events and won the silver medal in Germany. Hawayek/Baker took the junior silver medal at the 2013 U.S. Championships and were assigned to the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan where they finished seventh.

2013–14 season: World Junior title

During the 2013–14 ISU Junior Grand Prix, Hawayek/Baker won the gold medal in their JGP events at the JGP Mexico and the JGP Poland. Their results qualified them to the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where they won the silver medal. They then won the gold medal at the 2014 World Junior Championships, setting a new Junior World record for the overall score with a total of 157.12 points.

2014–15 season: First Grand Prix medal

Hawayek/Baker began their season at an ISU Challenger Series event, the 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy. They finished fourth after placing fourth in the short and third in the free dance. Their Grand Prix assignments were the 2014 Rostelecom Cup and 2014 NHK Trophy, winning the bronze medal at the latter.[8]

2015–16 season

Baker sustained a concussion when Hawayek accidentally struck him with her arm in September 2015, just before the Labor Day weekend.[9][10] He returned to limited training after two weeks and full training a week later.[9]

Hawayek/Baker finished fourth at the 2015 Skate America. Due to food poisoning, Hawayek vomited eight times in four hours during the night before the short dance at the 2015 Cup of China.[10] After competing in the first segment, the duo decided to withdraw. They placed fifth at the 2016 U.S. Championships.

2016–17 season

Hawayek/Baker won the silver medal at the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International. Competing on the Grand Prix series, they finished sixth at the 2016 Skate Canada International and fourth at the 2016 NHK Trophy.

2017–18 season: Four Continents title

Beginning the season at the 2017 CS U.S. Classic, Hawayek/Baker won the silver medal. Their Grand Prix assignments were the 2018 Skate Canada International, where they placed fourth, and the 2018 Skate America, where they placed fifth. Following the Grand Prix, they competed in a second Challenger event, the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, winning the bronze medal.

Hawayek/Baker won the pewter medal at the 2018 U.S. Championships and were assigned to the 2018 Four Continents Championships as the top three teams were sent to the 2018 Winter Olympics. They won the gold medal at Four Continents, finishing 9.33 points ahead of silver medalists Carolane Soucisse / Shane Firus. Baker remarked, "it was really awesome; it was a new experience for us. We’ve medaled at junior events and sporadically at senior events in Grand Prixs or senior Bs. It was a really cool experience, and we hope to do it more often in the future."[11]

Following the withdrawal of Maia and Alex Shibutani, they were named to the US team for the 2018 World Championships in Milan, where they placed tenth. On April 20, 2018, they announced that in the summer, they would begin training under Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[12]

2018–19 season: Grand Prix gold, national bronze

Baker sustained a concussion during training in August 2018, and as a result, they withdrew from the 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy.[13] At their first Grand Prix assignment, the 2018 NHK Trophy, the withdrawal of Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron due to injury left several teams competing for the gold medal. Hawayek/Baker came second in the rhythm dance, behind Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro, but narrowly placed first in the free dance, winning the title overall. Hawayek called it "just such a pleasure and honor to be here performing" and was especially pleased with their results, given they "had just three weeks of training fully recovered" prior.[14] They placed only fourth at the 2018 Internationaux de France, but their results qualified them for the Grand Prix Final in Vancouver, where they placed sixth.

At the 2019 U.S. Championships, Hawayker/Baker won the bronze medal. Reflecting on their move to Montreal, Hawayek called it "a great training center that we’re happy to be a part of. It makes us feel able to skate more openly and freely, and I think we’ll continue that for the next few years."[15] They were assigned to the 2019 Four Continents Championships, where they finished fifth, and the 2019 World Championships, where they placed ninth.

2019–20 season

Beginning the season at the 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Hawayek/Baker placed fourth in the rhythm dance but took the silver medal overall after coming second in the free dance.

For their first Grand Prix assignment, they competed at 2019 Skate Canada International, where they were third after the rhythm dance.[16] In the free dance, they dropped behind the British team Fear/Gibson.[17] Competing at the 2019 Cup of China, Hawayek/Baker placed fifth in the rhythm dance after struggling on the Finnstep pattern dance.[18] Several errors in the free dance kept them in fifth in that segment as well, and overall.[19]

Hawayek/Baker placed third in the rhythm dance at the 2020 U.S. Championships and praised the crowd reception of their Saturday Night Fever program.[20] Third in the free dance, they also won their second national bronze medal.[21]

At the 2020 Four Continents Championships in Seoul, they placed seventh in the rhythm dance after a double fall out of their dance lift, which Hawayek described as "a fluke thing that happened."[22] Fifth in the free dance, they rose to sixth place overall.[23] They were assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[24]

2020–21 season

With the pandemic ongoing, Hawayek and Baker opted to return to live with Hawayek's parents in Buffalo, New York for the early months and were able to do some on-ice training when the rink in Buffalo was reopened as an essential workers' daycare, communicating with their coaches over Zoom. After quarantine, they returned to Montreal in June and rejoined their coaches at the Ice Academy of Montreal in July.[25] With the Grand Prix assigned based mainly on training location, Hawayek/Baker nevertheless were assigned to the 2020 Skate America in Las Vegas and crossed the border again to attend.[26] They won the silver medal.[27]

Returning to the United States again for the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, Hawayek/Baker placed third in the rhythm dance.[28] They were also third in the free dance, taking their third consecutive bronze medal.[29] They were assigned to the American team for the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm.[30] They placed eleventh in the rhythm dance and rose to ninth overall after the free dance.[31][32]

Hawayek/Baker were chosen as America's dance entry in the 2021 World Team Trophy and finished third in both segments, while Team USA won the silver medal.[33][34][35]

2021–22 season: Beijing Olympics

For the Olympic season, the duo opted for a free program to Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in E minor and Nocturne in E minor, music that Hawayek said she had long dreamed of skating to, saying that "there is a lot of maturity and depth in this music. There is nostalgia, hopefulness, and happiness. I envisioned something that was not too heavy but also not too youthful."[36]

Hawayek sustained a concussion and received stitches to her head after a fall while practicing a lift in early July 2021.[3] As a result, Hawayek/Baker withdrew from both the 2021 U.S. Classic and their first Grand Prix assignment, the 2021 NHK Trophy. They competed for the first time at the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, finishing in fifth place.[36] They also competed on the Challenger series at the 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, winning the gold medal.[1]

Hawayek/Baker entered the 2022 U.S. Championships seeking to make up ground on the previous year's pewter medalists, Green/Parsons, who had enjoyed a strong fall season while Hawayek/Baker were absent and recovering. Both teams made twizzle errors in the rhythm dance, with Hawayek/Baker in fourth place, 1.46 points behind Green/Parsons. Delivering a strong free dance, they were third in that segment and took their fourth consecutive bronze medal. She said afterward that "this means so much to us. It has not been a straight journey to this for us whatsoever over the last four years, especially over the last six months."[37] The following day, they were named to their first American Olympic team.[38]

Competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the dance event, Hawayek/Baker placed eleventh in the rhythm dance. For Hawayek, it was "an absolute joy to perform out there."[39] They were tenth in the free dance, remaining in eleventh overall.[40]

Hawayek and Baker concluded the season at the 2022 World Championships, held in Montpellier, France. Russian skaters were banned from the event by the International Skating Union due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.[41] The team placed ninth in the rhythm dance, eighth in the free dance, and eighth overall.[42]

2022–23 season

Hawayek and Baker enlisted Italian choreographer Massimo Scali to work on their rhythm dance for the new season, a program of Desi Arnaz's music inspired by Arnaz's dynamic with Lucille Ball. For the free dance, they chose music by Norwegian singer Askjell, citing his "very modern-day take on the essence of classical music."[43]

The team made their season debut at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy, where they finished second behind Canadian training partners Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen.[44] Hawayek/Baker then began the Grand Prix at the 2022 Skate America, winning the silver medal and notably finishing first in the free dance due to technical errors by American gold medalists Chock/Bates. They finished 0.73 points behind Chock/Bates overall.[45] Hawayek was body shamed by an audience member after the free dance and went public to protest this attitude toward female skaters.[46] At their second assignment, the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo, Hawayek and Baker finished second in the rhythm dance, clearing the 80-point threshold for the first time with a score of 80.93.[47] They finished second in the free dance as well, taking their second Grand Prix silver medal and qualifying to the Grand Prix Final.[48][49]

Appearing at the Final in Turin, they were sixth of the six teams in the rhythm dance but rose to fifth place after Fournier Beaudry/Sørensen dropped following a fall in the free dance. Baker said they were "thrilled" with their performance but disappointed with their marks, vowing to "continue to build for our next events."[50]

On January 17, Hawayek/Baker announced that they were withdrawing from the 2023 U.S. Championships, saying that they had been dealing with "significant physical injuries that have led to challenges in our mental health and we feel it is in our best interest to prioritize this currently." They said that they would petition to be included on the World Championship team on the strength of their results that season and in years prior.[51] Following the U.S. Championships, U.S. Figure Skating approved their petition, and they were announced as part of the World team on January 29.[52] However, on February 24 it was announced that they had withdrawn to further prioritize "their healing and mental health." They were replaced by Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko.[53]

2023–24 season

Hawayek and Baker were assigned to the 2023 Grand Prix de France and 2023 NHK Trophy. However, they withdrew from those events on October 23 and October 25 due to Baker suffering a concussion.[54]

On January 15, Hawayek announced that they had "made the tough decision to take a step back from competing for the remainder of the season and reevaluate our options for future seasons."[55]

Programs

Ice dance with Jean-Luc Baker

Season Short dance Free dance Exhibition
2023–24
[56]
2022–23
[57]
2021–22
[58]
2020–21
[59]
2019–20
[60]
2018–19
[61]

Austin Powers medley[62]

2017–18
[63][64]
2016–17
[2][64][65][66]

  • Disco Medley
2015–16
[67][68][69][70]
2014–15
[4][71]
2013–14
[5][72]
  • Happy Feet
  • It Had To Be You
    by Harry Connick
  • Sing, Sing, Sing
  • Amélie
    by Yann Tiersen
    • J'y suis jamais allé
    • Comptine d'un autre été : L'après-midi
    • La noyée
    • Sur le fil

2012–13
[7]

Ice dance with Michael Bramante

Season Short dance Free dance
2011–12
[73]
  • Sway
    performed by Pussycat Dolls
  • Tequila
    performed by Bogo Pogo Orchestra
  • Sinful Samba
    performed by David Hirschfelder
  • Alegria
  • Querer
  • Irna
    by Rene Dupere
2010–11
[6]
  • Strictly Violin
    by ND
  • The Red Violin
    by Ikuko Kawai

Competitive highlights

Ice dance with Jean-Luc Baker

Competition placements at senior level[74]
Season 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
Winter Olympics 11th
World Championships 10th 9th C 9th 8th
Four Continents Championships 5th 1st 5th 6th
Grand Prix Final 6th 5th
U.S. Championships 4th 5th 5th 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd
World Team Trophy 2nd
(3rd)
GP Cup of China WD 5th
GP Finland 2nd
GP France 4th
GP NHK Trophy 3rd 4th 1st
GP Rostelecom Cup 6th 5th
GP Skate America 4th 5th 2nd 2nd
GP Skate Canada 6th 4th 4th
CS Autumn Classic 2nd
CS Finlandia Trophy 4th 2nd
CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 2nd 2nd 3rd 1st
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 4th 2nd
CS U.S. Classic 2nd
Competition placements at junior level[74]
Season 2012–13 2013–14
World Junior Championships 7th 1st
Junior Grand Prix Final 2nd
U.S. Championships 2nd 1st
JGP Germany 2nd
JGP Mexico 1st
JGP Poland 1st
JGP Turkey 5th

Ice dance with Michael Bramante

Competition placements at junior level[6][75]
Season 2011–12
U.S. Championships 6th
JGP Estonia 8th
JGP Romania 4th

Detailed results

Ice dance with Jean-Luc Baker

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System[74]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS202.462022 Grand Prix of Espoo
Rhythm dance TSS80.932022 Grand Prix of Espoo
TES45.682022 Grand Prix of Espoo
PCS35.252022 Grand Prix of Espoo
Free dance TSS122.952022 Skate America
TES69.392022 Skate America
PCS54.022022 Grand Prix of Espoo
ISU personal bests in the +3/-3 GOE System (from 2010–11)[74]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS177.362016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
Short dance TSS70.122016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
TES37.162016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
PCS32.962016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
Free dance TSS107.242016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
TES54.742016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
PCS52.502016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
  • Small medals for the short program and free skating are only awarded at ISU Championships.
  • Medals at team events are awarded for the team result only. The individual placements at team events are listed in parentheses.

Senior level

Results in the 2014–15 season[74]
Date Event SD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 24–27, 2014 Germany 2014 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 4 53.11 3 89.20 4 142.31
Nov 14–16, 2014 Russia 2014 Rostelecom Cup 7 52.86 6 83.47 6 136.33
Nov 28–30, 2014 Japan 2014 NHK Trophy 4 58.50 3 87.91 3 146.41
Jan 18–25, 2015 United States 2015 U.S. Championships 4 63.95 4 98.50 4 162.45
Feb 9–15, 2015 South Korea 2015 Four Continents Championships 6 58.31 5 91.67 5 149.98
Results in the 2015–16 season[74]
Date Event SD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Oct 9–11, 2015 Finland 2015 CS Finlandia Trophy 4 55.60 7 77.26 4 132.86
Oct 23–25, 2015 United States 2015 Skate America 4 56.54 4 94.15 4 150.69
Nov 6–8, 2015 China 2015 Cup of China 4 58.35 WD
Dec 2–5, 2015 Croatia 2015 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 2 58.76 2 94.30 2 153.06
Jan 15–24, 2016 United States 2016 U.S. Championships 5 63.02 5 95.84 5 158.86
Results in the 2016–17 season[74]
Date Event SD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 29 – Oct 1, 2016 Canada 2016 CS Autumn Classic International 3 62.70 2 97.80 2 160.50
Oct 28–30, 2016 Canada 2016 Skate Canada International 6 65.01 6 97.18 6 162.19
Nov 28–30, 2016 Japan 2016 NHK Trophy 5 65.41 4 104.34 4 169.75
Dec 7–10, 2016 Croatia 2016 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 2 70.12 2 107.24 2 177.36
Jan 14–22, 2017 United States 2017 U.S. Championships 4 72.60 8 87.46 5 160.06
Results in the 2017–18 season[74]
Date Event SD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 13–17, 2017 United States 2017 CS U.S. International Classic 3 56.65 2 96.90 2 153.55
Oct 27–29, 2017 Canada 2017 Skate Canada International 5 63.10 4 102.10 4 165.20
Nov 24–26, 2017 United States 2017 Skate America 7 62.15 5 101.38 5 163.53
Dec 6–9, 2017 Croatia 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 4 63.58 3 100.30 3 163.88
Jan 5–7, 2018 United States 2018 U.S. Championships 4 73.18 4 114.43 4 187.61
Jan 22–27, 2018 Taiwan 2018 Four Continents Championships 1 69.08 1 105.21 1 174.29
Mar 21–24, 2018 Italy 2018 World Championships 15 63.48 10 101.80 10 165.28
Results in the 2018–19 season[74]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Nov 9–11, 2018 Japan 2018 NHK Trophy 2 70.71 1 113.92 1 184.63
Nov 23–25, 2018 France 2018 Internationaux de France 4 69.85 4 111.62 4 181.47
Dec 6–9, 2018 Canada 2018–19 Grand Prix Final 6 71.33 5 112.71 6 184.04
Jan 19–27, 2019 United States 2019 U.S. Championships 3 76.77 3 120.18 3 196.95
Feb 7–10, 2019 United States 2019 Four Continents Championships 5 74.42 5 115.45 5 189.87
Mar 18–24, 2019 Japan 2019 World Championships 9 75.90 10 113.16 9 189.06
Results in the 2019–20 season[74]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 25–28, 2019 Germany 2019 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 4 75.77 2 116.70 2 192.47
Oct 25–27, 2019 Canada 2019 Skate Canada International 3 79.52 4 115.25 4 194.77
Nov 8–10, 2019 China 2019 Cup of China 5 74.70 5 105.26 5 179.96
Jan 21–26, 2020 United States 2020 U.S. Championships 3 82.59 3 118.57 3 201.16
Feb 4–9, 2020 South Korea 2020 Four Continents Championships 7 71.93 5 116.56 6 188.49
Results in the 2020–21 season[74]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Oct 23–24, 2020 United States 2020 Skate America 2 81.15 2 121.32 2 202.47
Jan 11–21, 2021 United States 2021 U.S. Championships 3 85.28 3 127.27 3 212.55
Mar 22–28, 2021 Sweden 2021 World Championships 11 75.08 9 113.43 9 188.51
Apr 15–18, 2021 Japan 2021 World Team Trophy 3 76.79 3 110.16 2 (3) 186.95
Results in the 2021–22 season[74]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Nov 25–28, 2021 Russia 2021 Rostelecom Cup 5 73.72 5 113.90 5 187.62
Dec 9–11, 2021 Croatia 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 2 74.60 1 116.72 1 191.32
Jan 3–9, 2022 United States 2022 U.S. Championships 4 79.39 3 126.29 3 205.68
Feb 12–14, 2022 China 2022 Winter Olympics 11 74.58 10 115.16 11 189.74
Mar 21–27, 2022 France 2022 World Championships 9 76.56 8 115.05 8 191.61
Results in the 2022–23 season[74]
Date Event RD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Oct 4–9, 2022 Finland 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy 2 78.90 2 118.55 2 197.45
Oct 21–23, 2022 United States 2022 Skate America 2 79.12 1 122.95 2 202.07
Nov 25–27, 2022 Finland 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo 2 80.93 2 121.53 2 202.46
Dec 8–11, 2022 Italy 2022–23 Grand Prix Final 6 79.50 5 118.56 5 198.06

Junior level

Results in the 2012–13 season[74]
Date Event SD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 19–22, 2012 Turkey 2012 JGP Turkey 3 54.56 6 73.43 5 127.99
Oct 10–13, 2012 Germany 2012 JGP Germany 2 58.66 2 79.95 2 138.61
Jan 20–27, 2013 United States 2015 U.S. Championships (Junior) 3 60.72 2 89.02 2 149.74
Feb 25 – Mar 3, 2013 Italy 2013 World Junior Championships 11 49.63 6 74.72 7 124.35
Results in the 2013–14 season[74]
Date Event SD FD Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 4–7, 2013 Mexico 2013 JGP Mexico 1 56.11 2 80.34 1 136.45
Sep 18–21, 2013 Poland 2013 JGP Poland 1 62.58 1 82.26 1 144.84
Dec 5–8, 2013 Japan 2013–14 Junior Grand Prix Final 2 58.05 2 81.37 2 139.42
Jan 5–12, 2014 United States 2014 U.S. Championships (Junior) 1 65.30 1 86.96 1 152.26
Mar 10–16, 2014 Bulgaria 2014 World Junior Championships 1 66.73 2 90.39 1 157.12

See also

References

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