Kaetlyn Osmond | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Kaetlyn Osmond

Kaetlyn Osmond, figure skater (born 5 December 1995 in Marystown, NL). Figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond has competed at two Olympic Winter Games, winning bronze in women’s figure skating (2018) and gold (2018) and silver (2014) in the team event. In 2018, she won gold at the World Figure Skating Championships, becoming the first Canadian women’s world champion in 45 years. She has also been Canadian champion (2013, 2014, 2017), has won gold medals at several international events, including Skate Canada International and the Nebelhorn Trophy.
Kaetlyn Osmond, Sochi 2014
Kaetlyn Osmond. Women's figure skating, free skate. 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia (21 February 2014).

Early Career

Kaetlyn Osmond began skating when she was almost two years old with coach Jessica Gosse in Marystown, Newfoundland and Labrador. She gave her first skating performance at the age of three and was soon training in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, and in Montréal, Québec, with coach Josée Picard. In 2006, Osmond’s family moved to Sherwood Park, Alberta, where she began lessons with coach Ravi Walia (1995 national men’s bronze medallist) at the Ice Palace Figure Skating Club in Edmonton. That year, she became the national juvenile champion. She rose rapidly through the national ranks: In 2008, she placed third in pre-novice; the next year, she became novice champion; and she placed third in juniors at the 2010 Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

2011–12 Season

Osmond first competed as a senior at the age of 16 at the 2012 Canadian Figure Skating Championships. She won the short program (ahead of reigning champion Cynthia Phaneuf) with the only triple-toe loop-triple toe-loop jump combination of the event, and finished third overall. To gain international experience, Skate Canada assigned her to compete at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where she finished 10th.

2012–13 Season

Osmond began the 2012–13 season by winning her first senior international competition and became the first Canadian woman to take the Nebelhorn Trophy. She also won Skate Canada International, placing second in both the short and long programs to finish in first place overall. This was a huge leap from her 10th-place finish at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships only six months earlier.

Osmond continued her meteoric rise in January 2013, winning the Canadian ladies’ crown and defeating 2012 champion Amélie Lacoste. Osmond’s short program score (70.04) was the highest at the event. In both the short and long programs, her speed and choreography going into and out of jumps and the conviction with which she executed every move signalled that Osmond had become a mature skater of top international calibre.

The following month, she placed seventh at the international Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. In March, she competed in her first World Figure Skating Championships and was the only Canadian in the ladies’ event. Another clean short program with a triple-toe-loop combination and triple-flip jump put her in fourth place and in the sought after final group for the free skate. However, a fall in the free skate caused her to drop to eighth place. Her strong performance earned Canadian women two spots in the 2014 Winter Olympics.

2013–14 Season

Osmond withdrew from competition in the early part of the 2013–14 season due to a hamstring injury, but she returned in January 2014 to defend her national crown. There, she won both the short and long programs, finishing 12.85 points ahead of her closest competitor.

2014 Olympic Winter Games

At the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, Osmond skated in both the inaugural team event and women’s singles. In the team event, she placed fifth in both the short and long programs, which was enough to contribute to Canada’s team silver medal and made her the second Newfoundland woman (after rower Maria Maunder) to win an Olympic medal in any sport. Osmond placed 13th in the ladies’ event at the Olympic Games. The following month, at the World Figure Skating Championships, she was eighth after the short program, landing triple-flip, triple-toe-loop and triple-Lutz jumps, but finished 11th overall.

Following the competitive season, Osmond performed with the touring show Stars on Ice. Her hometown of Marystown, Newfoundland and Labrador, renamed its arena after her.

Figure Skating Team, Sochi 2014
Team figure skating medal ceremony. 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia (10 February 2014)
Kaetlyn Osmond, Sochi 2014
Kaetlyn Osmond. Women's figure skating, short program. 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia (19 February 2014).
Kaetlyn Osmond
Canadian figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
Kaetlyn Osmond, Sochi 2014
Kaetlyn Osmond. Women's figure skating, free skate. 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia (21 February 2014).

2014–15 Season

Osmond broke her right fibula during practice in September 2014 and missed the entire 2014–15 season. After two surgeries, she painstakingly relearned her skating technique.

2015–16 Season

Osmond began her comeback by winning the Nebelhorn Trophy again. However, she had not fully recovered her form and she finished a disappointing 11th place at Skate Canada International and sixth place at Japan’s NHK event. She also lost her national title in the hotly contested 2016 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, dropping from first place after the short program (which included a triple-Lutz jump and a double-toe loop) to third overall. Alaine Chartrand won gold, Gabrielle Daleman won silver and Osmond won bronze, only 0.12 points behind Daleman. She did not qualify for the World Figure Skating Championships, but represented Canada again at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, finishing in sixth place.

2016–17 Season

Osmond began the 2016–17 season by winning the Finlandia Trophy, where she topped world champion Mao Asada. Silver medals at Skate Canada International and the Cup of China made her eligible for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in December 2016. She was the first Canadian lady to compete in that event since 2009 and finished fourth.

In January 2017, she recaptured the national title, defeating rivals Alaine Chartrand and Gabrielle Daleman. There, she skated another clean short program, landing a triple-flip triple-toe-loop combination and a triple-Lutz. Despite two falls in her free skate, her overall winning score (219.66) was a national record. Her winning streak continued in March at the World Figure Skating Championships, where she placed second in the short program with a personal best score of 75.98. In the free skate, despite the pressure of skating last, she was outstanding, landing six triple jumps to win the silver medal with an overall score of 218.13 — another personal best. Russia’s Evgenia Medvedeva won gold, while Daleman took bronze. Osmond and Daleman became the first Canadian women to medal at the World Figure Skating Championships since Joannie Rochette (2009) and Elizabeth Manley (1988). It was also the first time that two Canadian ladies medalled at the same World Championships.

2017–18 Season

Osmond once again started her season with a victory, winning the Autumn Classic International, and landing seven triple jumps in international competition for the first time. In October 2017, she took gold at Skate Canada International, winning both short and long programs. Despite two falls in the free skate, her total (212.91) points earned her the title. The following month, she won bronze at the Internationaux de France. In December, Osmond took bronze at the Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan.

Osmond practises at the West Edmonton Mall rink and continues to be coached by Ravi Walia, with choreographers Lance Vipond and world champion Jeffrey Buttle.

2018 Olympic Winter Games

Osmond won gold in the team event and bronze in the women’s single event at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang. She skated the women’s short program in the team competition, finishing third and contributing to a dominant performance by the Canadian team, which also included Gabrielle Daleman, Patrick Chan, ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and pairs skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford.

Canadian Figure Skating Team, PyeongChang 2018
The Canadian figure skating team celebrates its gold medal in the team event at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang.

Osmond delivered a strong performance in the women’s singles competition, finishing third behind Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva from Russia. She was third in the short program, and again in the free skate, scoring 152.15 points for her Black Swan routine, in which she landed seven triples jumps. The score was a personal best for Osmond, as was her combined total of 231.02 points. Her bronze medal was the first podium for a Canadian woman in the individual competition since Joannie Rochette’s bronze at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

2018 World Figure Skating Champion

In March 2018, Osmond won gold at the World Figure Skating Championships in Milan, Italy. She scored 150.50 points in the free skate for her Black Swan routine and finished with 223.23 points overall. Osmond became the first Canadian women’s world champion in 45 years, and only the fourth in total. Barbara Ann Scott took the title in 1947 and 1948, followed by Petra Burka in 1965 and Karen Magnussen in 1973.

Osmond decided to not compete in the 2018–19 figure skating season.


Significance

Only the second female Olympic medallist from Newfoundland and Labrador (after rower Maria Maunder), Osmond is the first Newfoundland-born woman to medal at the Olympic Winter Games. In 2018, she became the first Canadian women’s world champion since Karen Magnussen in 1973.

Kaetlyn Osmond, 2018 World Champion
Kaetlyn Osmond of Canada wins the women’s title at the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships in Milan, Italy.

Career Highlights

Olympic Winter Games
Women’s Singles: Bronze (2018)
Team Event: Gold (2018), Silver (2014)
World Figure Skating Championships Gold (2018), Silver (2017)
Canadian Figure Skating Championships Gold (2013, 2014, 2017)
Silver (2018)
Bronze (2012, 2016)
Grand Prix Final Bronze (2017)
Grand Prix Events:
Skate Canada International
Internationaux de France
Cup of China

Gold (2012, 2017), Silver (2016)
Bronze (2017)
Silver (2016)
Challenger Series:
Nebelhorn Trophy
Autumn Classic International
Finlandia Trophy

Gold (2012, 2015)
Gold (2017)
Gold (2016)

Honours and Awards

  • Competitive Skate Athlete Award, Skate Canada (2006)
  • Junior Female Athlete of the Year, Alberta Sport Connection (2013)
  • Winnie Silverthorne Award, Alberta Figure Skating Foundation (2016)