On Oct. 29, 21-year-old Starr Andrews made history at Skate Canada [1] in Mississauga, Ontario, as the first Black US figure skater to win an ISU Grand Prix medal since the series began in 1995. "I can't even put into [words] how I feel right now!!" Andrews wrote on Instagram [2]. The skater has come a long way since her viral 2010 performance to Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair" gained tens of millions of views on YouTube [3]. "I couldn't be more proud of how I skated in Canada. Thank you to all the support I've gotten even on the skates that weren't my best. This is a dream come true," she said in her recent post. Andrews performed her second program of the tournament — a beautiful free skate to Belgian singer Lara Fabian's rendition of "Je Suis Malade" — on Saturday, moving up from fifth place to second overall with a score of 191.26, 10 points higher than her previous personal best at a Grand Prix in France in 2019. During the program, Andrews expertly executed six triple jumps, including a difficult double axel euler triple salchow. Japan's Rinka Watanabe took first with a total of 197.59 points, while Young You of South Korea earned the bronze medal with 190.15 points, according to Team USA [4].
"I think it's a huge deal, to be a woman of colour in figure skating."
"I think it's a huge deal, to be a woman of colour in figure skating," Andrews said of the defining moment [5] in figure-skating history and the need to diversify the sport [6]. "I'm so proud I could represent. [It makes] bringing home a medal even more special . . . I actually still feel like it's a dream."
Congratulating Andrews on her phenomenal performance, Team USA wrote in an Instagram post [7], "A 🌟 in every sense of the word." The figure skater's impressive win comes less than a year after Andrews underwent surgery to remove an extra nerve near her heart that was causing her anxiety and difficulty breathing.
"I've gone into this year with a different mindset, trying to not be so caught up in my head," she said. "It helps a lot when I don't think so much. It's definitely paid off, even though my season didn't start off so strong [at Nebelhorn Trophy in September]. I was still getting used to my programs."
Between her viral fame at 9 years old and historic Grand Prix win, Andrews has also wowed audiences with performances set to Mickey Guyton [8]'s "Black Like Me" and, more recently, her own cover of "At Last" by Etta James [9] at Skate America 2021. Watch Andrews's stunning performance here, and check out the moment she realised she'd made history.
