Amanda Stan - The Athlete
Inspired and constantly encouraged by her mother Luciana, Toronto-based Amanda Stan is one rising star on the world figure skating scene. Growing up in Romania, Luciana’s personal dream had been to become a figure skater, but the hardship of those times stayed in the way of fulfilling her dream. After moving to Canada and giving birth to Amy, she started dreaming again, and so when Amy was only four, she bought the child's first pair of skates and encouraged her to give the sport a try. Despite the natural fear and disbelief any child would have at first, the little girl had all the support she needed, and never looked back, with her Mother by her side, always!
The CoachesIt is said, “When the student is ready, the teacher will come.” Leisa Rau, Amy’s first figure skating coach, was able to bond fast with the initially reluctant four-year-young skater, getting the child to trust Liesa, to trust herself, and to love dancing on ice. Leisa saw Amy's great potential early on and brilliantly coached her for seven years, bringing out the best in Amy, strengthening her technical skills and unleashing her artistry and true passion for the sport. The girl found in her first coach the strong motivation she needed to see herself as a true athlete with a bright future ahead, to dedicate herself and work hard for it. With age, the rhythm of Amy's personal and professional evolution also had to be raised, in order to establish herself as a serious, competitive figure skater. Therefore, since the age of 12, Amy has teamed up with none other than than Canada’s top figure skating coaches, champion-makers Inga Zusev and Andrei Berezintsev (who also train Canada’s own Ladies' Senior Champion Gabrielle Daleman, and have trained France’s skating champion Brian Joubert), as well as with ballet instructor Alexander Shapovalov (who has worked with Yuna Kim, Dylan Moskovitch and Eric Radford) who assists Amy with her artistry and stretching. For over 6 years now, this dream team has been able to perfect Amy's technical abilities and to enhance her artistic talent to world-class performance levels. The Training The hard work and dedication to figure skating is a year-round commitment for Amy. She attends a school with a high-performance athletic program, ensuring equal importance is given to her academics and training alike. Amanda's daily (6 days per week) training schedule at the Richmond Training Center includes 3 hours on the ice and 1 hour off the ice. Her summer time schedule is even more intense, including 4 hours on the ice, 1 hour off the ice plus 1 more hour of ballet lessons. Also, for 2 summer weeks, Amy trains at Brian Orser’s Summer Camp with Canadian Olympic Coach Brian Orser himself, and of course Andrei Berezintsev and Inga Zusev, Amy's coaches. |
Influences
Athletes who have inspired Amy Stan along the years.