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Represented South Africa at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed 25th.

Marion “Penny” Sage(born 1943) is a South African figure skater representing South Africa at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed 23rd.

When Dino Quattrocecere started skating at the age of 10 in 1983, his dream was to represent his country at the most significant sporting event, the Winter Olympic Games. In just 11 short years, those childhood dreams would become a reality. He would become the first male to represent South Africa at a Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway, in February 1994.

Having just been re admitted into the world of international figure skating in 1992, nobody thought it would be possible for an athlete from a predominantly Olympic event. He secured automatic qualification for the games at the World Championships held in 1993 in Prague. He received an all-over World ranking of 18 at these Championships, providing him with a spot at the Games the following year as one of the top 30 in the world eligible to compete.  He would also be the first representative of an all-inclusive, multi-racial team representing South Africa at a Winter Olympics event.

They were made to feel like national heroes and departed on the 3^{rd of} February 1994 for their trip to the Olympics.  Carried by the National Carrier SAA, they were given a special Captains welcome on the flight, and their Olympic journey had officially begun.

Their arrival at the Olympic Village was a special event as each Nation had a set time upon arrival to raise their country’s flag in the village and play the National Anthem.  South Africa was very much during its transformation and still deciding on a new flag and anthem.  This would not be a stumbling block for the small team and would carry the white flag with the Olympic rings and the ode to joy as our Anthem.  It was a very proud and special moment as their flag was raised, indicating the official arrival of Team South Africa at the Olympic games of 1994.

Treated like superstars in the Olympic Village, they were made to feel extremely welcome.  They had their own South Africa house, and it was decked out with all the bells and whistles that Olympic athletes must come to expect from the Olympic village.  Team kit sponsored by Reebok was received; he felt like he was a part of history.  It would also be his 21^st birthday at these games on the 13^{th of} February, and Reebok provided a fantastic party for him to celebrate the occasion.  At this party, he would have the extreme honor bestowed upon him of being told that he would be carrying the flag at the opening ceremony and the parade of athletes.

The 12^th of February was this momentous occasion, and he was filled with absolute pride as he entered the complete white stadium holding the South African Olympic flag up high.  The opening ceremony felt like a dream, and it was possibly the highlight of his competitive skating career.

The rest of the Games were pretty much a blur.  Official practices took place twice daily.  He was in the best shape of his life and skating very well.  That was until two days before the short program where he managed to pick up an injury to his left front tendon on his foot.  He was advised not to compete because the swelling was so intense.  He was not going to be told by anyone that after working for 11 years of his life, he would not be taking this opportunity to represent his country.  He was granted special permission from the IOC to have a cortisone injection directly into that tendon before skating.  Boots were laced, and he managed to fulfil his lifelong dream.  Admittedly, it was not his best performance.  After the free programme, he walked into the mess hall and received a standing ovation from all the athletes participating in other disciplines.  Not understanding what was going on, he explained that they were standing because he never gave up.  He was having the worst skate of his career, but he kept trying to the very end.  It was at that point that he realized what the Olympics were all about.  Regardless of whether medals are won or lost, it is all about being there and competing.  He had qualified as one of the 30 best athletes in the world, he had represented his country with honor and pride at the biggest sporting event on the planet, and no one would ever be able to take that away from him.  Dino was placed 24^th in the Olympics.  He took a break from competitive skating and then came back to win the South African National title from 2001 through to 2003.

Dino skated for 16 years before becoming a coach.  He received the gold medal in 2001, 2002 and 2003 South African Figure Skating Championships.  He is undefeated in all local competitions through all divisions. He is the 7times SA Senior Men’s champion and represented South Africa at Junior Worlds Figure Skating Championships and three times at the Senior Worlds figure Skating Championships.

He has 21 years of coaching, and his achievements as a coach include coaching South African National Championships in the pre-novice girls, novice, and senior ladies.  He’s taken skater to represented South Africa at numerous ISU international events.  He is a qualified solo, pairs, and synchronized skating coach.  Dino is a Senior SA National Technical Specialist and a National Coach.

My love story with figure skating started at the young age of 4. My father, Tom Human (who played ice hockey), had purchased a pair of hockey skates for my brother as a birthday present. I went with to the ice rink and stood patiently at the side of the ice rink, just dying to get onto the rink to skate. After a substantial amount of nagging, my father buckled and went to find a small pair of rental skates. From the moment I set foot on the ice, I just knew that this was where I was meant to be; it was “my happy place”.

My skating career began in the skating school. One of the coaches who trained me in basic skating skills was Patricia “Pat” Eastwood, who competed for South Africa in the 1960 Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, placing 25^th in ladies solo figure skating.  I started with private lessons just after my 5^th birthday in January 1985 with Sue Winger every Tuesday. I participated in my first competition in November 1985, winning the Under 6 Novice Section at the Skyrink competition.

In May 1986, I changed coaches to Marion Scher and had four lessons a week. I changed coaches again in August 1987 to Karen Huth as my main coach and Marion “Penny” Sage as my choreographer. Marion Sage had also competed at the 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley and came 23^rd in ladies Solo figure skating.

In 1988 I competed at my first National Championships held in Cape Town, where I placed 3^rd. In 1989 I competed in the Under ten category and won the Most Artistic in the Age Groups trophy but placed 2^nd in the Under ten age category. My first major win came at 11 when I won my first National title in the Under 12 age category.

My parents allowed me to travel to London in December 1991, and Claire Auret and Chris Van Rensburg to do a month of training at Queen’s ice rink.

I moved up in 1992 to the Junior National section and became the National champion at 12. I later went on to win a total of 13 National titles (Under 12, 3 Junior and 9 Senior). I was undefeated for 12 consecutive years and held the record for the most Senior national titles ever won for Senior ladies.

During my entire figure skating career, I always believed that one day I would have the opportunity to represent my country at international competitions, Junior Worlds, Senior Worlds, and the highlight of any athletes’ dreams, the Olympics. South Africa had one big problem: as a country, we were excluded from competing at all three of these events. I never let this phase me and always trained hard, believing more than anything in the world that I would one day achieve my dreams. South Africa had been excluded from these competitions due to apartheid. However, in 1990 South Africa was able to re-join the Olympic movement after the negotiations to end apartheid commenced.

I finally had the honour of competing for my country at my first Junior World Championships in December 1992 in solo ladies, in Seoul, Korea. My teammate was Paul Slabbert, who was going to compete in the men’s division.

I went on to compete in 4 Junior World Championships, six Senior World championships and seven Four continent championships, along with many other Junior and Senior international competitions for my country.

Over the years, I have had many challenges to overcome, between changing coaches, moving provinces, moving countries, and dealing with injuries, all in the effort to become the best figure skater I could be.

I trained over the years in many different countries, including Toronto, Canada 3 months on and three months off, of the year when I was 13, a month with Carlo Fassi in Milan, Italy, moved to Lake Arrowhead, California, at the age of 15 to train with Frank Carroll (who then coached Junior and Senior World Champion Michelle Kwan) as well as my final international training ground of Cleveland Ohio.

In Cleveland, I trained with Carol Heiss Jenkins, the 1956 Olympic silver medallist and the 1960 Olympic gold medal winner, and a five-time World Champion in ladies figure skating. In 1953 Carol Heiss became the first female figure skater to land a double axel. One of her trademarks was that she would perform a series of alternating clockwise and counter clockwise single Axels. Some of her former students include Timothy Goebel (I trained with him), Tonia Kwiatkowski (I trained with her), and Miki Ando.

In his own right, her Husband Hayes Jenkins won the Olympic title for men’s figure skating in 1956, four-time world champion and four-time U.S. national champion. His brother David Jenkins was the 1956 Olympic bronze medallist and the 1960 Olympic gold medallist, three-time World champion and four-time U.S. National Champion.

The two and a half years that I spent with Carol and Glynn Watts (my choreographer) formed a large part of my career as a figure skater from South Africa.

I went to senior worlds with Carol in 1997 and ended up not making the cut to qualify for the Olympics and was so disappointed; I did, however not let this get me down and later went on to do a second qualifying competition. This too ended up with a second disappointment for me as I missed qualifying by two places.

On Christmas eve 1997, I received the best Christmas gift I could ever have hoped for. I would be competing in the 1998 Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan.  This became my most significant achievement and everything I could have ever dreamed of. I not only got to compete at Olympics, but I also got the opportunity to carry the flag in the opening ceremony.

It took me a long time to get over the fact that I had finally reached all my dreams, and it was really difficult to reset my goals after Olympics.

In August 1998, I moved back to Johannesburg and divided my time between provinces (Cape Town, Western Province) and Johannesburg. This was because I was training myself in Johannesburg and training with Barbara-Anne Hawkes in Cape Town while studying. I eventually moved to Cape Town in January 2001 and started training with Fanis Shakirzianu and Maria Shakirzianava (my choreographer). I trained in Cape Town until the end of 2004 when I moved back to Johannesburg and moved to Susan Marais. She would be my final coach during my skating career. I retired in 2005 after the Senior World Championships in Moscow.

Even though I have been out of the sport since 2005, I keep in touch with many of the coaches and stay up to date with the changes in figure skating. I am always interested in the up-and-coming talent in the country.

National titles:

Under 12 – 1991

3 Junior – 1992, 1993, 1994

9 Senior – 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2001, 2003

2002 – I came second against Jenna Buys

Junior Worlds:

Seoul Korea

Colorado Springs

Budapest

Canada

Senior Worlds:

Edmonton, Canada – 1996

Lausanne, Switzerland – 1997

Minneapolis, USA – 1998

Helsinki, Finland – 1999

Nice, France – 2000 (placing 24^th)

Vancouver, Canada – 2001

Nagano, Japan – 2002

Washington D.C. USA – 2003

Moscow, Russia – 2005

Olympics:

Nagano, Japan – 1998 (I was also the flag bearer in the opening ceremony)

Gian-Quen Isaacs is a 16-year-old South African Figure skater who is hoping to make her country proud.

At age 7, many girls dream of being a princess and tea parties, Gian-Quen Isaacs dreamed of being the next Gretzky (after watching my first ice hockey match) or Baryshnikov, never imagining she would fall in love with the ice.

She never skated before watching her first ice hockey match. To reach the Gretzky goal, it was advised that she joined a club to learn how to skate.  Within two weeks of joining a club, the Head Coach, Dantin Broodryk, told her mom she has the potential to be a figure skater and linked her with her coach, Megan Allely-Painczyk. Her first lesson day arrived & she arrived in time to watch the seniors train, and she was awestruck.  She wanted to do what they did.  She attended her first figure skating competition, and she was dazzled with the costumes, makeup, whole competition fee, and silence before a skater skated their program.  She wanted to be there, performing, telling a story on ice, executing elements with such precision to show she’s earned her spot on that ice.  The moment she fell in love with everything figure skating, she promised herself she will reach her dreams & hockey became a blip of the past.  Then the training began. Before school, rush to school utilizing public transport, then back to make it in time for afternoon lessons. She was determined to compete, and a year later, due to sheer determination, she was competing.

Gian-Quen said her journey was not easy or a fairytale. There were no princes to save the damsel in distress or knights in shining armour.  There was her, fighting to prove that she earned the right to be here. There were good days and bad days and “I cannot days”. There were good practices and competitions, and there were soul-destroying moments, too many adversities to count, but her need to succeed far outweighed her fear of failure. It took blood, sweat, tears and prayers to be who she is today.  Recently, Central Gauteng Coach, Dino Quatro, told her: “Don’t ignore the bad days, be it practice or competitions.  They had a significant role to play in the athlete you are today “, and that hit home.

She was afforded opportunities to train amongst the best in the World at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club in Canada during her career so far.  She is aiming to make our country proud by being the next athlete to qualify for the Olympics. Although COVID has made this a tad tricky training and meeting specific goals at a particular time, she is still training hard and fighting to meet all goals set out. She has the following message to the Olympic Athletes “Never let the fear of failure keep you from doing your best; if you’ve done your best, you’ve won”.

In December 2019, Gian-Quen was awarded the Olympic Solidarity Scholarships from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).   Gian-Quen hopes to Qualify for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Matthew Samuels, age 23, born in Atlantis, South Africa, has been pursuing his passion for figure skating from the age of 6 and has been climbing the ranks in figure skating with quiet determination. Matthew was nurtured into the skater he is today by his previous coach Oula Jaaskelainen who also coached his current coach, Megan Allely Painczyk, when she was still skating. When Oula moved to Canada, he passed the reigns over to Megan to continue developing Matthew. Even though Oula lives in Canada he is still very actively involved with Matthew’s training.

Matthew is the Current Senior Men National Champion and has been undefeated at Nationals for the past 4 years (2017 – 2021). He was also the Junior Men National Champion for 2015 and 2016 and has won several Provincial and Inter-Provincial championships. Matthew won a gold medal at the World Development Trophy in Manila in 2013 and has won several other medals Internationally. He is also the first South African male skater to skate in the Junior World Championships under the new scoring system.

Matthew’s goal is to qualify for the ISU Four Continent Championships, ISU Senior Worlds Championships, and qualify for the Olympics. His dream is close to becoming a reality as Matthew ranked first this past season which allows him to be selected to participate at the Nebelhorn Olympic Qualifying Competition that will be held in Obersdorf, Germany, from the 22 to 25 September 2021, where he can attempt to qualify for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

This has been a long and trying road for Matthew, but he has proven that he can still hold his own even when faced with extreme physical and mental difficulties. Matthew has managed to rise above these challenges with a very strong inner circle who believes in his abilities. He has improved significantly even with the Covid-19 restrictions limiting training and funding available to him.

He lives and breathes figure skating, but he loves spending his free time on the basketball court when he has a spare moment. Matthew has a passion for coaching and enjoys sharing his knowledge and experiences with the younger skaters. He is currently a TAP in Western Province, where he works under the guidance of his mentor coaches.

He has several role models in figure skating and looks up to Nathan Chen, Yuzuru Hanyu and Javier Fernandez. When it comes to coaching, he is a big fan of Olympic coach Brian Orser who trains Yuzuru Hanyu, a two-time World and Olympic champion and Javier Fernandez, a two-time World champion and Olympic bronze medallist.

Evan Wrensch was born in 2000 in Cape Town and skates in the singles men discipline.

Recent Sporting Achievements

• 2020 WP Senior Men’s Champion
• 2019 WP Junior Men’s Champion
• 2019 National Junior Men’s Champion
• 2019 Western Province Sportsman of the Year

International participation

• 2019 Bavarian Open, Germany
• 2019 Junior Grand Prix, Latvia
• 2019 Denis Ten Memorial Trophy, Kazakhstan

Sporting Achievements National and International

• 7 Time National Champion
• 2018 Bosporus Cup Turkey: 4^th Place
• 2018 Grand Prix Bratislava: 2^nd Place
• 2013 Challenge Cup Hague: 1^st Place
• 2012 World Development Trophy Manila: 1^st Place

During 2014, he fractured his leg in an accident and was out of action for most of the season. He came back strong and has gone from strength to strength and has mastered all his triples and triple combination jumps.  He is currently working on his quad Salchow, Flip and Lutz.

On Saturday mornings, he gives freely of his time to work with the young up and coming skaters in the Forest Hill Academy and the skaters here in Central Gauteng as part of his Community Service and continue to inspire those around him. He is also a Mentor coach for the younger skaters and coach during the week and on Saturdays. He is a role model for many of the skaters in his area province and his country.  During the recent Michael Webster seminar, he was the demonstrator for the course and helped the skaters and assisted at the camp.

In his free time, his hobbies include mountain bike racing and swimming. Evan is an adrenalin junkie and he gets a real rush from anything that has a danger factor. He also loves trying backflips and twisting moves at the trampoline parks. His interests include vintage cars and computers.

His coach, Dantin Broodryk, and the following to say about Evan:  Evan is a very talented

skater and has had a meteoric rise through the ranks.  He is an extremely hard working and dedicated young man and skates approximately 20hrs per week at Northgate and Forest Hill ice rinks, honing his talent. Evan does daily off ice training and plyometrics and on ice fitness and conditioning in addition to his rigorous training schedule. He also does cross training by entering mountain bike races. He has mastered all the triple jumps and triple jump combinations and has started working on quad jumps for the upcoming season.  Over the past 12 years I have seen Evan develop from a little boy who was at times wild, to say the least into a very dedicated and focused young man. We have overcome many challenges and failures as well as savouring the successes of his hard work.

The past season has been no exception, with some really trying periods, as he had to work/train remotely, via zoom during the hard Lockdown, doing lots of off ice strength training and conditioning as well as off ice jumping to keep up his skill level. It was sometimes very challenging to keep the motivation going as it seemed like the return to skating was so far off.  Fortunately we are now back to a more regular on ice schedule and the anxiety of the lack of ice to train on is a distant memory.

Evan’s goals include qualify for the Four Continents, Senior Worlds and ultimately the Olympic Games.

In December 2019 Evan was awarded the Olympic Solidarity Scholarships form the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Evan hopes to Qualify for the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Please find the UPDATED (02 June 2021) official schedules for the 2021 SA National Figure Skating Championships below:

• Saturday Unofficial Practice
• Full OFFICIAL PRACTICE Schedule
• Full COMPETITION Schedule

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