Isabeau Levito | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Isabeau Levito performs aKerrigan spiral at the2024 World Championships. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | (2007-03-03)March 3, 2007 (age 18) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hometown | Mount Holly, New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Figure skating career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | ![]() | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Women's singles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coach | Julia Kuznetsova Otar Japaridze Slava Kuznetsov Zhanna Palagina Evgeni Platov Angelina Japaridze | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Skating club | Skating Club of Southern New Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Began skating | 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Isabeau Levito (born March 3, 2007) is an Americanfigure skater. She is the2024 World silver medalist,2022–23 Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the2023 Grand Prix de France champion, a three-timeISU Grand Prix silver medalist (2022 and2023 Skate America;2022 MK John Wilson Trophy), the2024 Skate America bronze medalist, a four-timeISU Challenger Series medalist (two gold, one silver, one bronze), the2023 U.S. national champion, and a two-time U.S. National bronze medalist (2022,2024). At the junior level, Levito is the2022 World Junior champion, the2021 JGP France II champion, the2021 JGP Austria silver medalist, and the2021 U.S. junior national champion.
Levito was born on March 3, 2007, inPhiladelphia, and currently resides inMount Holly, New Jersey.[1] Her mother, Chiara Garberi Levito, is a clinical embryologist who immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1997. Levito is named afterMichelle Pfeiffer's character, Isabeau d'Anjou, in the filmLadyhawke. She speaks English, Italian, and some Russian. As of 2022, Levito has been schooling through the International Virtual Learning Academy since fourth grade.[2]
Levito cites skatersAlena Kostornaia,Evgenia Medvedeva,Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, andKaori Sakamoto as being her skating inspirations and role models.[3][4]
In her spare time, Isabeau loves to read books.[5]
Levito began learning how to skate in 2010 at the age of three inMount Laurel, New Jersey. Her mother, a figure skating fan, initially put her in learn-to-skate classes to improve her balance.[6] Levito began taking private lessons with her current coach Yulia Kuznetsova (née Myskina), a former pair skater, at age three. She competed at her firstU.S. Figure Skating Championships at the juvenile level in 2018 taking the title; she later won the silver medal in the intermediate category in2019, the junior silver medal in2020, and the junior national title in2021.
Levito made her junior international debut at the2021 JGP France II, the second of twoJunior Grand Prix events held inCourchevel, in August. She won both segments of the competition to take the title ahead of South Korean skaterKim Chae-yeon and Canadian competitorKaiya Ruiter.[7] At her second event in October which was the2021 JGP Austria, Levito took the silver medal; Russian skatersSofia Muravieva placed first andAnastasia Zinina was third.[8] With her win in France, Levito qualified as the fifth-seeded skater to the junior women's event at the2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final inOsaka, Japan under the qualification rules established for the2021–22 season, however she withdrew from the event in November due to injury.[9] The Final was later canceled due to concerns related to theOmicron variant.[10]
After recovering from an unspecified lower-body injury, Levito competed at her first senior levelU.S. Championships in January. She placed fourth in the short program and narrowly advanced to second in the free skate to take the bronze medal overall, behindMariah Bell andKaren Chen. Due to her age, she was ineligible to be named to theAmerican Olympic team.[11]
Levito was supposed to finish her season at the2022 World Junior Championships, theInternational Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at theISU championships.[12] The Russian women had dominated the women's discipline in recent years; their absence made Levito a medal favorite at Junior Worlds.[13] However, due to both the invasion and concerns related to theOmicron variant, the World Junior Championships was not held inSofia in early March; they were moved toTallinn, Estonia in mid-April.[14] At Junior Worlds, Levito won the short program, introducing a Lutz-loop combination into competition, with a score of 72.50, 3.12 points ahead ofShin Ji-a of South Korea.[15] She finished second in the free skate, behind Shin, but remained in first overall by 0.54 points and took the gold medal. She was the first American woman to win the World Junior Championships sinceRachael Flatt in2008.[16]
Entering the new quadrennial, Levito said that she was looking ahead to the2026 Winter Olympics noting, "my mom is fromMilano." Though she initially said that she was unsure whether she would compete as a junior or senior, she eventually moved up to the senior level.[17] Levito opened her debut senior season at thePhiladelphia Summer International. She placed first in both segments of the competition to win the competition with a score of 207.67, four points ahead of second-place finisherLindsay Thorngren.[18] In her first appearance on theChallenger circuit, she won the gold medal at the2022 CS Nepela Memorial.[19]
Levito was invited to make hersenior Grand Prix debut at the2022 Skate America. She finished second, behind reigningworld championKaori Sakamoto. Levito afterwards said she was glad to perform in her first Grand Prix "in front of a home crowd in America."[20] At her next competition which was the2022 MK John Wilson Trophy, Levito placed second in both segments of the competition, including a personal best free skate, to take the silver medal behind Japan'sMai Mihara. These results qualified her for the2022–23 Grand Prix Final.[21][22] She was the youngest American to qualify for the Final sinceCaroline Zhang in2007.[23]
Competing in the final inTurin, Levito finished fifth in the short program after an edge call on her tripleLutz and the tripletoe loop in her jump combination being deemed a quarter underrotated.[24][25] The free skate segment of the competition was deemed "turbulent", with several higher-ranked skaters struggling.[26] Levito stepped out of her opening jump combination and fell on her tripleflip; she was visibly unhappy with her performance at the conclusion, but it proved sufficient to place second in the segment elevating her to second overall. Her silver medal in the final was the first medal for an American woman in the event sinceAshley Wagner in2014.[27] She said afterwards that "when I was done with my program I didn't expect to be in the placement I am now, and I am still not realizing it yet. It's so amazing, and I'm so proud."[26]
Levito entered the2023 U.S. Championships as the heavy favourite for the gold medal, and won the short program by a 0.02-point margin over former championBradie Tennell, who was making a gradual return from injury.[28] She won the free skate by a wider margin of 10.19 points over Tennell, winning her first national title.[29]
Heading into aFour Continents Championships held on home soil inColorado Springs, Levito was considered one of the favourites for the gold medal.[30] She finished second in the short program, 1.34 points behind South KoreanKim Ye-lim, winning a silver small medal. She said that "for the most part, I am satisfied" with the performance.[31] Levito withdrew just before the warmup for the free skate on the following day, citing illness.[32]
A month later, Levito was ready to compete at the2023 World Championships, and received a new personal best score in the short program, despite the second part of her jump combination being judged a quarter underrotated. She placed fourth in the segment, 0.43 points back of Mihara in third place. In the free skate, Levito fell on her opening triple Lutz, otherwise skating cleanly. She was fifth in that segment, but remained in fourth place overall, and finished less than three points behind Belgian bronze medalistLoena Hendrickx.[33] Levito said she was "severely disappointed" by her mistake, but said that overall she felt she had "a great experience in the senior level" during the season.[34]
Levito had initially planned for her season to be over following the World Championships, being described as "really exhausted after the year." However, she was persuaded to join Team USA for the2023 World Team Trophy by team captainJason Brown.[35] She placed third in the short program after underrotating the second part of her jump combination.[36] She underrotated one triple jump in the free skate, but placed fourth in the segment. Assessing her own performance, Levito opined "I think I could have done slightly better here and there, but I have done worse, so I am pretty happy."[37] Team USA won the gold medal.[35]
Beginning the season at the2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Levito won the gold medal.[38] She was invited to participate in theJapan Open as part of Team North America, and finished third in the women's competition, while the team finished second overall.[39]
Levito began theGrand Prix at the2023 Skate America, where she finished narrowly third in the segment, 1.38 points behind second-placeAmber Glenn.[40] In the free skate she was second, and rose to second place overall, winning her second consecutive silver medal at Skate America. She professed to be "a little disappointed" with some aspects of the performance, saying "my programs have a lot more potential this season."[41] She won the short program at the2023 Grand Prix de France, her second event, by a margin of 5.10 points over second-placeAnastasiia Gubanova. She faltered in the free skate, with two difficult jump landings and a fall out of her closing spin, as a result placing third in that segment, but her short program lead was enough to keep her in first place over Belgium'sNina Pinzarrone. She won her first Grand Prix gold medal, and said that she was "proud I was able to improve result-wise from the last Grand Prix season."[42] This was the first Grand Prix victory for an American woman sinceAshley Wagner in2016, and Levito was the youngest American woman to win a Grand Prix sinceSarah Hughes in2001.[43][44] As the2023–24 Grand Prix Final approached, Levito described herself as "a little bit sick," though claiming after a last-place short program with errors on all of her jumping passes that "in general nothing is really wrong." She rallied in the free skate, coming third in that segment, and rising to fifth overall.[45]
Following the disappointment at the Grand Prix Final, Levito and her coaches opted to create a new short program, set to "Nella Fantasia", later explaining that she had been disappointed with how her first snake-themed program had developed. Entering the2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships as a title favorite, she won the short program with a mostly successful skate, but for a loss of balance in her final spin that cost her a level on the element.[46] The free skate proved difficult, with Levito falling three times. She came fourth in that segment, and dropped to the bronze medal position overall, behindAmber Glenn andJosephine Lee.[47] She described the evening as feeling "like a fever dream."[46] She had previously not been assigned to theFour Continents Championships.[48]
Two months later, at the2024 World Championships in Montreal, Levito finished second in the short program with a personal best score of 73.73 points. She said that she was "satisfied" with the performance.[49] With a strong performance in the free skate, she came second in that segment as well, and won the silver medal. This was her first World medal, and the first World silver for an American woman sinceAshley Wagner in2016. Levito described herself as "content with this way to end the season," saying "I feel like I had a very rough season, and I was so disappointed in myself for a lot of the season. I was so confused with how I was skating, but I'm proud of myself and my team of coaches, with all the consistent training and hard training we've been doing."[50]
Levito started the season by competing on the2024–25 ISU Challenger Series. She won the bronze medal at the2024 CS Cranberry Cup International behind fellow Americans,Sarah Everhardt andElyce Lin-Gracey. Following that competition, Levito decided to scrap her "Swan Lake" short program and had a new short program created to the music of "Moon River." At the2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, she placed fifth in the short program but second in the free skate, moving up to second-place overall behindElyce Lin-Gracey.[51][52][53][54]
Going on to compete on the2024–25 Grand Prix series, Levito competed at2024 Skate America. While she won the event's short program, she placed fifth in the free skate after under rotating two jumps which included a fall. Despite this, Levito finished on the podium, winning the bronze medal. Following the competition, Levito expressed satisfaction, saying, "I think I could have done better today, but I am glad for the elements that worked out and I am happy I am on the podium."[55] Although Levito was also assigned to compete at the2024 Finlandia Trophy, she withdrew two weeks before the event was set to take place.[56]
Levito withdrew from the2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships a week before the event, citing a foot injury, though she still hoped to be named to the2025 World Championships team.[57] On January 25, it was announced she had been named to the2025 World team, pending Return to Play Protocol.[58]
She returned to competition in February at the Road to 26 Trophy inMilan, which served as a test event for the2026 Winter Olympics. In the short program, she finished in second place and landed a triple-double jump combination. Afterward, Levito said that while her right foot had fully healed, it still felt weaker as she had not been able to train with it while healing. She also said that while she had hoped she could attempt a more difficult triple-triple combination in her program, she was not quite ready to do so yet as she had only resumed training jumps three weeks previously.[59] In the free program, she received edge calls and underrotation calls on several of her jumps but remained in second place overall.[60] Following the event, Levito's spot on the2025 World team was made official.[51]
On March 2, 2025, Levito took part inLegacy on Ice, an ice show organized byU.S. Figure Skating that paid tribute to lives lost aboardAmerican Eagle Flight 5342.[61]
Season | Short program | Free skate program | Exhibition program |
---|---|---|---|
2019–20 [64] |
|
| — |
2020–21 [64] |
|
| — |
2021–22 [65] | "The Swan"
| "Russian Dance"
| — |
2022–23 [66] | "Una noche más"
|
| "The Swan" |
2023–24 [67][68] | "Yearning"
| "Nureyev"
| "Salvatore"
|
"Love"
| |||
| |||
| — | — | |
2024–25 [53][54] |
|
|
|
"Moon River" | |||
| — | — |
Season | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 | 2024–25 |
---|---|---|---|---|
World Championships | 4th | 2nd | TBD | |
Four Continents Championships | WD | |||
Grand Prix Final | 2nd | 5th | ||
U.S. Championships | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | |
World Team Trophy | 1st (3rd) | |||
GPFrance | 1st | |||
GPSkate America | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | |
GPWilson Trophy | 2nd | |||
CSCranberry Cup | 3rd | |||
CSNebelhorn Trophy | 1st | 2nd | ||
CSNepela Memorial | 1st | |||
Japan Open | 2nd (3rd) | |||
Philadelphia Summer | 1st | |||
Road to 26 Trophy | 2nd |
Season | 2019–20 | 2020–21 | 2021–22 |
---|---|---|---|
World Junior Championships | 1st | ||
U.S. Championships | 2nd | 1st | |
JGPAustria | 2nd | ||
JGPFrance | 1st |
Segment | Type | Score | Event |
---|---|---|---|
Total | TSS | 215.74 | 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy |
Short program | TSS | 73.73 | 2024 World Championships |
TES | 41.33 | 2022 World Junior Championships | |
PCS | 34.87 | 2024 World Championships | |
Free skating | TSS | 143.68 | 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy |
TES | 74.18 | 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy | |
PCS | 70.39 | 2024 World Championships |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Jan 2–9, 2022 | ![]() | 4 | 71.00 | 2 | 139.75 | 3 | 210.75 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Aug 4–7, 2022 | ![]() | 1 | 70.72 | 1 | 136.95 | 1 | 207.67 |
Sep 29 – Oct 1, 2022 | ![]() | 1 | 65.37 | 1 | 133.62 | 1 | 198.99 |
Oct 21–23, 2022 | ![]() | 2 | 71.30 | 2 | 135.36 | 2 | 206.66 |
Nov 3–5, 2022 | ![]() | 2 | 72.06 | 2 | 143.68 | 2 | 215.74 |
Dec 8–11, 2022 | ![]() | 5 | 69.26 | 2 | 127.97 | 2 | 197.23 |
Jan 26–28, 2023 | ![]() | 1 | 73.78 | 1 | 149.55 | 1 | 223.33 |
Feb 7–12, 2023 | ![]() | 2 | 71.50 | – | – | – | WD |
Mar 20–26, 2023 | ![]() | 4 | 73.03 | 5 | 134.62 | 4 | 207.65 |
Apr 13–16, 2023 | ![]() | 3 | 71.22 | 4 | 142.65 | 1 (3) | 213.87 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Sep 20–23, 2023 | ![]() | 1 | 69.30 | 2 | 129.49 | 1 | 198.79 |
Oct 7, 2023 | ![]() | — | — | 3 | 135.63 | 2 | — |
Oct 20–22, 2023 | ![]() | 3 | 70.07 | 2 | 138.08 | 2 | 208.15 |
Nov 3–5, 2023 | ![]() | 1 | 71.83 | 3 | 131.39 | 1 | 203.22 |
Dec 7–10, 2023 | ![]() | 6 | 56.53 | 3 | 135.33 | 5 | 191.86 |
Jan 22–28, 2024 | ![]() | 1 | 75.38 | 4 | 125.30 | 3 | 200.68 |
Mar 18–24, 2024 | ![]() | 2 | 73.73 | 2 | 138.43 | 2 | 212.16 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Aug 8–11, 2024 | ![]() | 2 | 65.08 | 2 | 128.73 | 3 | 193.81 |
Sep 18–21, 2024 | ![]() | 5 | 61.30 | 2 | 136.83 | 2 | 198.13 |
Oct 18–20, 2024 | ![]() | 1 | 68.43 | 5 | 126.40 | 3 | 194.83 |
Feb 19–20, 2025 | ![]() | 2 | 66.85 | 3 | 121.79 | 2 | 188.64 |
Mar 25–30, 2025 | ![]() |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Jan 20–26, 2020 | ![]() | 3 | 59.18 | 2 | 120.29 | 2 | 179.47 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Jan 9–20, 2021 | ![]() | 1 | 65.66 | 1 | 121.82 | 1 | 187.48 |
Date | Event | SP | FS | Total | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | Score | P | Score | P | Score | ||
Aug 25–28, 2021 | ![]() | 1 | 71.25 | 1 | 131.10 | 1 | 202.35 |
Oct 7–9, 2021 | ![]() | 2 | 71.32 | 2 | 136.99 | 2 | 208.31 |
Apr 13–17, 2022 | ![]() | 1 | 72.50 | 2 | 134.05 | 1 | 206.55 |