Avonley Nguyen

Avonley Nguyen
Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik at the 2019 World Junior Championships
Full name	Avonley Claren Nguyen
Born	(2002-11-22) November 22, 2002 (age 22) Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Hometown	Stone Ridge, Virginia
Height	1.53 m (5 ft 0 in)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Partner	Grigory Smirnov (2021–22) Vadym Kolesnik (2017–20)
Skating club	Skating Club of New York
Began skating	2009
Medal record
World Junior Championships 2020 Tallinn Ice dance Junior Grand Prix Final 2019–20 Turin Ice dance

Avonley Claren Nguyen (born November 22, 2002) is an American ice dancer. With her former partner, Vadym Kolesnik, she is the 2020 World Junior champion, the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist, and the 2020 U.S. junior national champion. She has also won four medals on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, including three golds, and qualified to the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final.

During the 2021-2022 season, she competed with Grigory Smirnov.

Personal life

Nguyen was born on November 22, 2002, in Cleveland, Ohio.^[1]

Career

Early years

Nguyen began learning to skate in 2009.^[1] She began solo ice dance at age 11 and switched from singles to ice dance at the age of 12.^[2][3] With her first partner, Maxwell Gart, she won silver in the intermediate category at the 2016 U.S. Championships.^[4]

2016–2017 season

In autumn 2016, Nguyen and Ukrainian ice dancer Vadym Kolesnik had a three-week tryout in Novi, Michigan, following which he returned to Ukraine for a few months.^[3] They began their partnership in February 2017.^[5]

2017–2018 season

Nguyen/Kolesnik received their first ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignments in the 2017–2018 season. They placed fifth at JGP Belarus and sixth at JGP Italy. After taking gold in junior ice dancing at Midwestern Sectionals, they qualified to the 2018 U.S. Championships, where they would finish fifth.

2018–2019 season

Nguyen/Kolesnik won the silver medal at 2018 JGP Lithuania, behind Russia's Arina Ushakova / Maxim Nekrasov, and the gold at 2018 JGP Slovenia to qualify for their first JGP Final. They placed fifth overall at the 2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final after placing fifth in the rhythm dance and fifth in the free dance.

At the 2019 U.S. Championships they won the silver medal behind Caroline Green / Gordon Green after placing second in the rhythm dance and winning the free dance.

At the 2019 World Junior Championships, Nguyen/Kolesnik placed fifth in the rhythm dance, but moved up to fourth overall after placing third in the free dance. They were awarded a small bronze medal for the free, where they had the highest technical base value of any of the competing teams, and the second-highest technical score overall.^[6]

2019–2020 season: World Junior champion and Junior Grand Prix Final silver

Nguyen/Kolesnik at the 2019–20 JGP Final

Nguyen/Kolesnik began their Junior Grand Prix season at the 2019 JGP United States, where they placed first in both segments with personal best scores and won the gold medal. At 2019 JGP Poland, they again set personal best scores in both segments to take the title and qualify for the 2019–20 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. Competing at the Final, Nguyen/Kolesnik narrowly lost the gold medal by only 0.16 points behind Maria Kazakova / Georgy Reviya of Georgia at the JGP Final.^[7] She commented "we're a little disappointed right now, but we’ll continue to keep on working. All our competitors were really strong. We were only a fourth of a point behind and we felt we could push and get to the next level, but it didn’t work out."^[8]

At the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Nguyen/Kolesnik scored 184.38 total points to take the gold medal by more than 22 points. Their free dance, set to Rachmaninoff's "Piano Concerto No. 2," featured all positive grades of execution and eight Level 4 elements, earning 109.89 points.^[9]

At the 2020 Bavarian Open, they placed first in both the rhythm dance and free dance to win the gold medal. They concluded the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, where they entered as one of the favorites for the title. Nguyen/Kolesnik placed third in the rhythm dance, behind Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy and Kazakova/Reviya, after Nguyen stepped out of her twizzle sequence. She remarked that they had "left a few points on the table, but now we'll focus on the free dance."^[10] They won the free dance, setting a new junior world record and taking the Junior World title over Kazakova/Reviya. Nguyen said afterward "I've dreamed about this moment for so long and to know that our work finally paid off, it just feels great!" Kolesnik indicated that they had not decided whether to move up to senior competition or remain at the junior level for another season.^[11]

At the end of June, Nguyen announced that the two had split. She said she had "many happy memories" of their partnership, and wished him the best as they "pursued different paths." She said she was going to look for a new partner who shared her "passion, dedication and commitment" to the sport.^[12] Within minutes, Kolesnik's announcement post followed. He thanked Nguyen "for all you have done for our partnership," expressed his admiration for her, and wished her all the best.^[13]

2020–2022 seasons

Nguyen did not compete during the 2020–2021 season. In September 2021, it was confirmed that she and Russian ice dancer Grigory Smirnov had teamed up for the United States after Smirnov's former partner, Anastasia Shpilevaya, was forced to retire.^[14] They were scheduled to make their U.S. Championship debut in January 2022, but withdrew after Smirnov suffered a hip injury.^[15]

Programs

Ice dance with Grigory Smirnov

Season	Rhythm dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2021–2022	I Want It That Way Everybody (Backstreet's Back) by Backstreet Boys	Dusk Till Dawn by Zayn, feat. Sia

Ice dance with Vadym Kolesnik

Season	Short dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2017–2018 [16]	Cha Cha: Eres Todo en Mí by Ana Gabriel Mambo: Mambo Jambo by Pérez Prado	West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein
	Rhythm dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2018–2019 [1]	Argentine Tango: Vuelvo al Sur by Astor Piazzolla performed by Amelita Baltar Argentine Tango: Building the Bullet by Luis Bacalov	Demons by Imagine Dragons performed by Jennifer Thompson, Boyce Ave Experience by Ludovico Einaudi	Demons by Imagine Dragons performed by Jennifer Thompson, Boyce Ave
2019–2020 [17]	Swing: Aladdin by Alan Menken Foxtrot: Aladdin by Alan Menken Swing: Aladdin by Alan Menken	Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff

Competitive highlights

• JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series

Ice dance with Vadym Kolesnik

Nguyen & Kolesnik (left) with Kazakova & Reviya (center) and Shanaeva & Naryzhnyy (right) on the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final podium

Competition placements at junior level ^[18]

Season	2017–18	2018–19	2019–20
World Junior Championships		4th	1st
Junior Grand Prix Final		5th	2nd
U.S. Championships	5th	2nd	1st
JGP Belarus	5th
JGP Italy	6th
JGP Lithuania		2nd
JGP Poland			1st
JGP Slovenia		1st
JGP United States			1st
Bavarian Open			1st

Detailed results

Ice dance with Vadym Kolesnik

Nguyen and Kolesnik at the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final

Results in the 2017–18 season ^[18]

Date	Event	SD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 20–23, 2017	2017 JGP Belarus	5	50.37	6	64.52	5	114.89
Oct 11–14, 2017	2017 JGP Italy	6	52.84	6	72.46	6	125.30
Dec 28, 2017 – Jan 7, 2018	2018 U.S. Championships (Junior)	7	54.02	4	80.29	5	134.31

Results in the 2018–19 season ^[18]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Sep 5–9, 2018	2018 JGP Lithuania	2	63.40	2	98.44	2	161.84
Oct 3–6, 2018	2018 JGP Slovenia	1	65.41	1	100.22	1	165.63
Dec 7–12, 2018	2018–19 Junior Grand Prix Final	5	63.73	5	94.74	5	158.47
Jan 18–27, 2019	2019 U.S. Championships (Junior)	2	65.92	1	105.14	2	171.06
Mar 4–10, 2019	2019 World Junior Championships	5	65.18	3	102.72	4	167.90

Results in the 2019–20 season ^[18]

Date	Event	RD		FD		Total
		P	Score	P	Score	P	Score
Aug 28–31, 2019	2019 JGP United States	1	66.17	1	104.63	1	170.80
Sep 18–21, 2019	2019 JGP Poland	1	69.20	1	105.48	1	174.68
Dec 5–8, 2019	2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final	2	68.72	2	106.02	2	174.74
Jan 20–26, 2020	2020 U.S. Championships (junior)	1	74.49	1	109.89	1	184.38
Feb 3–9, 2020	2020 Bavarian Open	1	64.13	1	101.33	1	165.46
Mar 2–8, 2020	2020 World Junior Championships	3	68.27	1	108.91	1	177.18

References

1. "Avonley NGUYEN / Vadym KOLESNIK: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018.
2. "Focus on Solo Dance: Athlete Perspective (Part I)". ice-dance.com. July 28, 2020.
3. "Getting to Know Avonley Nguyen & Vadym Kolesnik". ice-dance.com. July 25, 2017.
4. "2016 U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Intermediate Dance". U.S. Figure Skating. January 17, 2016.
5. "Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik". U.S. Figure Skating. Archived from the original on October 14, 2018.
6. Slater, Paula (March 9, 2019). "Canada's Lajoie and Lagha take ice dance title at Junior Worlds". Golden Skate.
7. Slater, Paula (December 6, 2019). "Georgia's Kazakova and Reviya take lead in Junior Ice Dance in Torino". Golden Skate.
8. Slater, Paula (December 8, 2019). "Kazakova and Reviya capture first Junior Grand Prix gold for Georgia". Golden Skate.
9. "First Junior Champions Crowned at U.S. Championships". U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone. January 22, 2020.
10. Slater, Paula (March 5, 2020). "Shanaeva and Naryzhnyy take narrow lead at Junior Worlds". Golden Skate.
11. Slater, Paula (March 7, 2020). "Nguyen and Kolesnik dance to Junior World title". Golden Skate.
12. Nguyen, Avonley (2020-06-29). ""It is with many mixed emotions that I announce the end of my partnership with Vadym."" (Instagram). Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
13. Kolesnik, Vadym (2020-06-29). "Avonley and I have an announcement to make. We have achieved quite a lot in just three years but we have decided it's time to go in different direction. …". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
14. "Challenge Cup 2021". Philadelphia Skating Club. September 17, 2021. Archived from the original on September 22, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
15. Anything GOEs [@AnythingGOE] (January 7, 2022). "🇺🇸 Avonley Nguyen / Grigory Smirnov have withdrawn from U.S. Nationals due to Smirnov suffering with a hip injury" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
16. "Avonley NGUYEN / Vadym KOLESNIK: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 29, 2018.
17. "Avonley NGUYEN / Vadym KOLESNIK: 2019/2020". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019.
18. "USA–Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik". SkatingScores.

External links

• Avonley Nguyen / Vadym Kolesnik at the International Skating Union