French Figure Skating has a long tradition of successful Men. Brian Joubert dominated the scene for a decade, collecting ten consecutive medals at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2002 to 2011 as well as a World title and World medals. 2011 European Champion and two-time European medalist Florent Amodio is another popular French skater. Now Kevin Aymoz hopes to follow into their footsteps. The 21-year-old looks back at a successful season highlighted by a fourth-place finish at the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in January. At the recent ISU World Figure Skating Championships he shone especially in the Short Program and eventually came a respectable 11th , setting a personal best score in the Short Program and overall score in what was his debut at the event.
%20WFSC%202019%C2%A9International%20Skating%20Union%20(ISU)-1137743284.webp)
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
The Short Program in Saitama was certainly a highlight, because Kevin ranked seventh and made it into the penultimate warm up group, which was his goal. In the Free Skating, he missed his quad toe, but overall was solid. “It has been a long week and I was more prepared for the short program than for the long program. So, the long was a bit harder mentally and physically,” Aymoz explained. Nevertheless, the Frenchman is pleased with his season overall.
%20WFSC%202019%C2%A9International%20Skating%20Union%20(ISU)-1090275570.webp)
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
With coaches and choreographers Silvia Fontana and John Zimmerman the skater had mounted the programs last spring and summer. Kevin picked the music “Horns” by Bryce Fox for the Short Program and “In This Shirt” by The Irrepressibles for the Free Skating himself. “My best friend has helped me. She suggested me a lot of music for the Short Program. I put on this music on the ice just to listen to it and John said, 'this is great, what is that?' So we picked it,” Aymoz recalled. “As for the long program, John had suggested a music by the same singer. I've known the music of my Free Skating for five, six years, but I never had the opportunity to skate to it. It was still too strong and my skating too weak in order to skate to it. The lyrics of the song really suited my state of mind.”
%20GPFS%20FRA%202018%C2%A9International%20Skating%20Union%20(ISU)-1064735032.webp)
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
The French Champion started his season with small summer competitions near his training base in Florida and then went to Autumn Classic in Canada in September. “I was very stressed out, because it was my first competition after a year without competing, because I didn't go to Europeans and I was injured during the Grand Prix and I did only one. I was very nervous and the Short Program didn't go well at all. The long program was very good and that really encouraged me,” Kevin said. He then went on to finish seventh and fifth in his two Grand Prix events Skate Canada and Internationaux de France in Grenoble – his hometown. “At the Grand Prix in France I achieved a personal goal to make the top five in a Grand Prix, so that was very good,” he noted. It was a special feeling for him to do well in the rink where he once started skating as a child.
“I had a friend, when I was in preschool, we were four or five years old. She was skating, but she never told me that she was doing figure skating. My parents went often to watch hockey games so I went with them to the rink to watch hockey. I only knew this word - 'hockey', so I said I wanted to do hockey.” Kevin’s parents signed him up for ice hockey, but in fact he didn’t like it. This wasn’t what he wanted to do, but he didn’t know the word “figure skating”. However, one day at the rink he came across a figure skating lesson. “I told my parents 'this is what I want to do, the hockey for girls'. This is how it started.”
%20GPFS%20FRA%202018%C2%A9International%20Skating%20Union%20(ISU)-1064735040.webp)
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
He fell in love with figure skating instantly. “When I am on the ice, I feel good. I can’t say why, but it couldn't be something else (another sport) than figure skating. I can do something on the side, but I don't feel the same as when I'm on the ice,” Aymoz shared. He in fact likes many things about skating: “The feeling of gliding, the feeling of the ice under my blade, the feeling of movement. It is really essential for skating to feel all that. Then to listen to the music, to move to the music, to get in shape, do the jumps, when you jump, you are in the air and you land successfully, this is nice. When you are at rinks like here [in Saitama], when you see all these people around you, you feel very small, and when they all start to applaud, then I really like being in the middle of the ice surrounded by all these people,” Kevin said.
%20WFSC%202019%C2%A9International%20Skating%20Union%20(ISU)-1137334488.webp)
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Although the skater says that he is a bit shy, he did not feel intimidated at all by the 19,000 spectators at the Saitama Super Arena. “When I skate in front of 19,000 people I feel less stressed than skating in front of ten people, because you feel more how ten people watch you than 19,000. You cannot feel the glance of 19,000 people at the same time. But if there are ten ... I am very nervous to skate in front of ten people,” Kevin admitted.
When he was 18 years old, Aymoz’ long-time coach Veronique Cartau in Grenoble broke her arm in an accident on the ice and eventually stopped coaching. He went to Annecy, which is about an hour drive away to train for about a year, but he didn’t progress the way he had hoped and started working with Katia Krier in Paris. At the World Team Trophy in 2017, Kevin met John Zimmerman, who was already coaching pair skaters Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres together with his wife Silvia Fontana. “I didn't have a coach anymore in France. I was with the Federation and they said it would be good if I go to Florida to mount my new programs with John and Silvia. I went for two weeks and at the end of these two weeks I felt right away that this was going very well and there was a connection between John, Silvia and myself. At this moment I asked the Federation if I can stay.” The first year Aymoz spend half of his time in France and half of his time in Florida before relocating fully last summer. He stays with a foster family together with teammate Maé-Bérénice Meité who has also moved to Florida for training.
Adapting to the life in another country is still a process for the Frenchman. “It is still a bit complicated, because I am used to the life in European cities where you walk around or use public transport. In the USA you always need a car to get anywhere. I miss the charm of the European cities,” he said. At least there are no problems with food in the foster family: “They are Americans, but they cook very well,” Kevin acknowledged. Obviously, he misses his family and friends who stayed back in Grenoble. “But I feel closer to my family and friends now when I am in the USA than when I was in Annecy, although it is only one hour drive away. I feel that the distance has brought us closer together,” he noted.
Right now, Aymoz is focused on skating, but would like to study later on. “I would like to do something outside skating, because if I have only skating and it doesn't go well, I have nothing else. I am missing going to school, seeing friends, other people.” He has not decided yet what he wants to study. In his spare time, Kevin enjoys drawing, reading, watching TV series and movies. Following the World Team Trophy he is looking forward to spend some time at home in France with his family and friends.
However, the new season will come soon and Aymoz already has started to think about it. “I haven't discussed yet my goals with my coaches and the Federation, but I know that I personally want to be on the podium in one of my Grand Prix events and top five in both, so move up a bit and to be on the podium at Europeans,” he shared. “I will try to get into the last warm up group for the free skating at the World Championships. This was my goal for this season - make it to the penultimate group this time and now get into the last one is the new goal,” he added. Technically, he hopes to add the quad Salchow to his arsenal. “The Salchow I've landed in training, but I was not ready yet mentally to do it in competition. Salchow and toe are planned next year, maybe we'll do two in the short, if I'm really ready for it, but for sure two in the long,” the skater said.
%20WFSC%202019%C2%A9International%20Skating%20Union%20(ISU)-1054023374.webp)
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Kevin sees his strength in his creativity. “My strength is that I really like to create things, create new and different things, listen to the music, the artistry. The second mark is for sure my strength, but I still have to improve a lot on my body lines, the legs, I can listen better to the music, can be more precise with the music. There are still a lot of things to work on and I'm eager to do so, because I like that a lot. Technically, I need to improve, because in order to be in the second (top) group, you need two quads now,” he explained. He also admits to his weakness. “In fact, my strength and my weakness at the same time is that I am emotional. I'm thinking with my heart. On some days this really pushes me, on other days I'm too much inside myself and it is hard to work and to concentrate. This is my quality and my deficit at the same time.”
