American ice dancer (born 2004)
Noah Elias Lafornara (born 2 December 2004) is an American ice dancer who currently competes for Italy. With his current skating partner, Noemi Tali, he is the 2024 JGP Latvia champion, the 2024 JGP Thailand champion, and the 2024 Italian junior national champion.
Personal life
Lafornara was born on 2 December 2004 in Buffalo, New York to parents Jeannie and Tony. He has two brothers, Anthony and Nicholas.[1]
Career
Early years
Lafornara began learning how to skate in 2008. He was introduced to the sport by his mother, a figure skating coach, and initially began as a freestyle skater.[2] He began testing pattern dances at first as a way to improve his skills as a singles skater, but eventually chose to transition to ice dance full time. He had a short-lived early dance partnership with Gabriela Hernandez, with whom he placed 10th in the novice category at the 2019 U.S. Ice Dance Final.
Lafornara teamed up with Canadian skater Romy Malcolm in February 2020 after their respective coaches met at the 2020 Bavarian Open and suggested the two try out together.[2] However, their training was quickly put on hold due to COVID-19-related lockdown policies, and the pair trained separately from March to September of that year. Due to insufficient practice time, the team and their coaches made the decision to sit out the 2020–21 competitive season.
Malcolm/Lafornara made their competitive debut in 2021 in the U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series, the qualifying events to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They earned a slot in the junior ice dance category at the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, where they finished 6th. The team received a Junior Grand Prix assignment early the following season, the 2022 JGP Poland where they placed 9th. The event would be their last competition together as Malcolm and Lafornara chose to dissolve their partnership not long after.
2023–24 season: Debut of Tali/Lafornara
After several months without a skating partner, Lafornara was offered a tryout with Italian skater Noemi Tali, who'd ended her partnership with Stefano Frasca not long after the 2023 Junior World Championships. The two agreed to team up for Italy in March 2023 after just two days of skating together, and made the decision to split their training between Tali's coaches, Valter Rizzo and Brunhilde Bianchi in Milan during the competitive season, and Lafornara's coaches, Denis Petukhov and Melissa Gregory in Connecticut during the off-season.[3]
Tali/Lafornara made their international junior debut in October 2023 at the 2023 JGP Armenia. There they won the bronze medal, finishing behind Israeli skaters Elizabeth Tkachenko / Alexei Kiliakov and U.S. sibling team Elliana Peal / Ethan Peal. While the team did not receive a second JGP assignment, their success continued with podium placements at three international junior B events over the course of October and November. At the 2024 Italian Figure Skating Championships in December, Tali/Lafornara took the junior dance title handily over Beatrice Ventura / Stefano Frasca and Vittoria Petracchi / Daniel Basile.
Due to their success at the national championships, Tali/Lafornara were assigned to compete at the 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in February 2024. At Junior Worlds, the team placed fourth in the rhythm dance, but fell to ninth in the free dance to finish seventh overall.
2024–25 season
Tali and Lafornara began their second season together with a win at the 2024 JGP Latvia. At their second JGP assignment, the 2024 JGP Thailand, Taliand Lafornara again took the title. With their two wins in hand, Tali and Lafornara became the first ice dance team to qualify to the 2024–25 Junior Grand Prix Final.
Programs
Ice dance with Noemi Tali (for Italy)
Ice dance with Romy Malcolm (for the United States)
Competitive highlights
Ice dance with Noemi Tali (for Italy)
Ice dance with Romy Malcolm (for the United States)
Detailed results
References
External links
