Skate Ontario is so proud to share this SkateOntaReporter story. SkateOntaReporters are a team of writers who serve as the on-the-ground eyes and ears of local figure skating in every corner of Ontario, working to uncover stories and to provide insights and information to fans across the province. We hope you enjoy this article!

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By: Dylan Nazareth

Katherine Medland-Spence has re-discovered her joy in figure skating—and her recent results certainly show it.

After a number of strong sectional performances to start the season, the 24-year-old finally earned her first international assignment from Skate Canada, competing in the Warsaw Cup. 

Photo Credit: Katherine Medland-Spence on Instagram

In Poland, she shocked the figure skating world, winning gold with a personal best score of 181.89—the first gold for a Canadian woman at an international competition in 6 years.

“When the national anthem was playing, that was definitely when it clicked in,” said Medland-Spence, speaking in a recent interview. “I think back to the 2018 Olympics when [Canada] won gold for figure skating … to actually experience that yourself is something different and definitely pretty special.”

Her atypical path to success is a testament to her love of the sport and the strong team behind her, but the same couldn’t be said just one year ago.

Last season, she dealt with ankle, knee, hip, and back injuries. This quadruple whammy impeded her ability to practice consistently and, in turn, her ability to perform at competitions.

“I honestly didn’t know if I was going to make it to the end of the season, like just physically or mentally,” she said. “And at that point, that’s when I reached out for help.”

Photo Credit: Katherine Medland-Spence on Instagram

Enter Ken and Danielle Rose, her current coaches who she connected with through Skate Ontario. When things got tough for Katherine, they became her support system and were able to guide her through the darkest time with her skating.

“They were just absolutely amazing,” said Medland-Spence. “They were there just to give me the kind of support I needed while I built myself back up and pieced myself back together physically and mentally.”

When Medland-Spence came their way, Danielle Rose said it was an “easy fit” because they had admired her for some time—and they knew what they could offer her moving forward.

“I think for us it was just providing her with a little bit more structure,” said Ken Rose. “Just trying to rebuild her confidence in herself a little bit, because she has struggled so much with injuries, and not being able to train the way she wanted to.”

To give Katherine that structure, they decided to plan out the whole season from day one.

“I think the biggest thing that has helped her is Ken and Katherine sat down at the beginning of the season and laid out the entire year,” said Danielle Rose. “She’s a planner, and so is Ken. So I think it’s just such a great match.”

Photo Credit: Katherine Medland-Spence on Instagram

Their planning paid off when Medland-Spence put up a series of strong results in Ontario sectionals, including in Barrie, where she hit the Skate Canada benchmarks to be considered for international assignments. And just like that, she was being sent to Warsaw.

“Ken and Danielle FaceTimed me a couple days after the Barrie competition, and they were just like, do you want to go to Poland?” recounted Medland-Spence. “And I was like, what? Yeah, I just had no words, I was speechless. I was just like, oh my goodness.”

Faced with this new challenge, Medland-Spence approached it the same as any competition she had all season.

“The biggest thing this year has just been focusing on the process, not the results, and we just continued that when we went there,” said Danielle Rose. “[Katherine] said to me before we went, this is just a really dramatic way to do a run through. This is just another competition … we just have to go on a really long flight to get there.”

Through all the success she’s had this year, her biggest win has been achieving the main goal she set entering this season: finding her joy in figure skating once again.

“I can 100% say I’ve got back my joy, I enjoy skating and I enjoy training,“ said Medland-Spence. “I just know every day I can go out there and skating is my happy place again.”

Photo Credit: Katherine Medland-Spence on Instagram

As Canadian nationals approaches, along with the possibility of other international assignments, Medland-Spence is sticking to the plan. Where the rest of the season takes her remains to be seen, but as far as she and her team are concerned, she’s already far exceeded her goals for the season.