Christina Carreira is a Canadian-born ice dancer who competes for the United States. With her skating partner, Anthony Ponomarenko, she is a two-time Four Continents bronze medalist, a 2018 Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist, an eight-time ISU Challenger Series medalist, and a three-time US national medalist.
WE CANNOT SAY GOOD ENOUGH ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE SKEETER AND PERSON THAT IS CHRISTINA CARREIRA. In an environment where competition can bring out the worst in people, she stayed true to herself and led with kindness and positivity.
Even more than being a technically and artistically gifted skater, Christina is a good person who cares about those around her – and that’s really what matters, right?
This month in Women Fitness Europe we have Christina talking about her journey, her favorite food and travel!
Namita Nayar:
You were born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and in 2013 you moved to Novi, Michigan, United States. You started skating at the age of three and competing at the age of six. With Simon-Pierre Malette-Paquette, you won division titles from the minor level. Representing Quebec, you both became the 2012 national champion at the pre-novice level. This later propelled your career to the height where you found yourself at the top of the ice dancing world. Tell us more about your professional journey of extraordinary hard work, perseverance and endurance?
Christina Carreira:
I started skating at the age of three and started ice dancing when I was 6 with my previous partner, we skated together for 7 years. When I was 13 I moved to Michigan on my own when the training became more serious. I teamed up with Anthony the following year and we started competing internationally on the Junior Grand Prix circuit. We did well in junior, and after 4 years together we had two junior world medals, the next season we moved up to senior and the competition was much tougher, we had a great first year at senior level, but after that it was hard to keep the momentum going . In the last two years we have managed to establish ourselves at the national and international level. I think what helped us was trusting the team around us and the plan they made for us. In ice dancing it can take a long time to achieve success, we are both very determined and driven to achieve our goals so we work hard every day and it pays off.
Namita Nayar:
You won the silver medal at the 2024 US Figure Skating Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Tell us more about this impressive achievement of yours.
Christina Carreira:
Winning the silver medal at our national championships was special for us, the USA is one of the strongest countries in the world in ice dancing, so it’s a real honor to be recognized as one of their top teams. We have been working very hard all year to achieve our goal of being in the top two nationals. I felt like our hard work had paid off and it was a great week overall, the people were incredible too.
Namita Nayar:
In April 2014, you teamed up with American ice dancer Anthony Ponomarenko, and it’s been no-holds-barred ever since. Both of you have won many ice dancing competitions. Tell us more about your Ice dance arenas, the perfect chemistry between the two and timing in perfect harmony when performing in a competition.
Christina Carreira:
I am so grateful to work with Anthony, this year was our tenth season skating together and it was our best yet. He is one of my best friends who makes working together every day and traveling the world together even more special. In recent seasons, we’ve focused on bonding before we compete, we have a little ritual that we do before taking the ice in a competition. we talk through our conditions about our program and embrace and synchronize our breath to feel more connected.
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