South Jersey’s Levito named International Skating Union’s best newcomer
In between competitions, the 2022 World Junior champion managed to sneak in another win, when the International Skating Union named her the best newcomer of 2023.
Last week, South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito, 15, won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
This week, she is competing at another major competition, the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
But on Sunday, the 2022 World Junior champion managed to sneak in another win, when the International Skating Union named her the best newcomer of 2023.
Levito, who lives in Mount Holly and trains in Mount Laurel, won silver medals in both of her Grand Prix events this year, as well as in the Grand Prix Final, which is one of the most important international events in figure skating.
Isabeau Levito 🇺🇸 is our Best Newcomer Winner 🤩 🏆
— ISU Figure Skating (@ISU_Figure) February 5, 2023
In her senior debut, the 15-year-old claimed 🥈 in her two #GPFigure events and #GPFigure Final. She went on to take her first National title at the senior level as well. 👏#ISUSkatingAwards pic.twitter.com/Ksk2n9yLV8
Three singles skaters and two pairs teams were presented as candidates for best newcomer on Dec. 15. The public was able to vote for 16 days, and then three skaters were selected as nominees: Niina Petrokina, from Estonia; Rinka Watanabe, from Japan; and Levito.
An international panel made the final decision: Canadian Olympic and world pairs champion Eric Radford; Finnish world medalist Kiira Korpi; two-time world champion Miki Ando from Japan; French world medalist Surya Bonaly; British Olympic ice dance champion Christopher Dean; and world champion Todd Eldredge from the United States.
Former world medalist, Olympian, and commentator, Johnny Weir (who is from Coatesville), presented the awards from the Art on Ice show in Zurich.
» READ MORE: South Jersey’s Isabeau Levito is just 15 — and she’s already a U.S. figure skating champion. Next up, the world?
Levito sent in an acceptance video, after a bad internet connection prevented her from accepting it in real time.
Levito also was a candidate, although not a nominee, for best costume, an award won by U.S. ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
Other winners included Olympic champion Nathan Chen for most valuable skater. U.S. men’s champion Ilia Malinin won a special achievement award for being the first skater to land a quadruple axel in competition. Olympic champion Katarina Witt won the lifetime achievement award.