 Aurora Cotop at the Junior Worlds in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (2002-07-13)July 13, 2002 (age 23) |
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft4+1⁄2 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country | Canada |
| Coach | Ravi Walia |
| Skating club | Ice Palace FSC |
| Began skating | 2005 |
| Retired | 2022 |
Aurora Cotop (born July 13, 2002) is a retired Canadianfigure skater. She is the 2019Bavarian Open bronze medalist and2019 Canadian national silver medalist. Earlier in her career, she won the junior ladies' title at the2017 Canadian Championships and competed in the final segment at the2018 World Junior Championships.
Cotop was born on July 13, 2002, inToronto,Ontario, Canada.[1] She is ofRomanian descent.[2]
Cotop began learning to skate in 2005.[1] She won the novice ladies' title at the2016 Canadian Championships and the junior ladies' title the following year, at the2017 Canadian Championships.
Cotop made herISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut in August, placing seventh inBrisbane, Australia. In October, she finished ninth at her second JGP assignment, inGdańsk, Poland. Competing in the senior ranks, she won gold at the Skate Canada Challenge in December. As a result, she qualified to compete on the same level at the2018 Canadian Championships, where she would place fifth.
She was then selected to represent Canada at the2018 World Junior Championships inSofia. In Bulgaria, she qualified to the free skate by placing twenty-first in the short program and went on to finish seventeenth overall. Following this, Cotop decided to move toEdmonton to train withRavi Walia, the coach of Olympic and World medalistKaetlyn Osmond.[3]
Cotop's move to Edmonton was complicated by a pelvic fracture andbone marrow edema which limited her jump content.[4] She placed eleventh at her lone JGP assignment, the2018 JGP Slovenia, and subsequently withdrew from what would have been her senior debut on theISU Challenger Series. In December 2018, Cotop finished fourth at the Skate Canada Challenge.
In January, she won silver at the2019 Canadian Championships after placing sixth in the short program and second in the free skate. Cotop praised her new coach Walia, and said her free skate that it was "one of my best programs, because my run-throughs weren’t as good, so I feel like I sort of rose to the occasion."[4] Despite finishing in second place, Cotop lacked the senior technical minimums required to compete at the remaining seniorISU Championships for the season.Skate Canada subsequently assigned her to theBavarian Open, in the hopes of obtaining them.[5] She won the bronze medal at the Bavarian Open, placing third in both segments, and obtaining the necessary technical minimum scores. Cotop called the result "pretty good", but said she still needed to work on integrated more triple jumps into her program, in particular theLutz.[6]
On February 22, Skate Canada formally assigned Cotop to the Canadian team for the2019 World Championships inSaitama,Japan.[7]
After placing first in her domestic summer competition, complications from a groin tendon injury forced Cotop to withdraw from her initial plannedChallenger assignment, theNebelhorn Trophy, as well as the2019 Skate Canada International.[8]
While recovering from her groin injury, Cotop began to experience serious back pain. She attempted to compete at the2020 Canadian Championships, but withdrew after placing twelfth in the short program.[9]
| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 [10] |
|
|
|
| 2018–2019 [1] |
|
| |
| 2017–2018 [11] |
|
|
GP:Grand Prix; CS:Challenger Series; JGP:Junior Grand Prix
| International | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 |
| Worlds | 35th | ||
| Bavarian Open | 3rd | ||
| International: Junior[12][13] | |||
| Junior Worlds | 17th | ||
| JGPAustralia | 7th | ||
| JGPPoland | 9th | ||
| JGPSlovenia | 11th | ||
| Autumn Classic | 1st | ||
| Bavarian Open | 4th | ||
| National[14] | |||
| Canadian Champ. | 1st J | 5th | 2nd |
| Levels: N = Novice; J = Junior TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew | |||
| 2019–20 season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| January 13–19, 2019 | 2020 Canadian Championships | 12 49.42 | WD — | WD — |
| 2018–19 season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total | |
| March 18–24, 2019 | 2019 World Championships | Senior | 35 48.83 | — | 35 48.83 | |
| January 16–22, 2019 | 2019 Bavarian Open | Senior | 3 55.52 | 3 107.04 | 3 162.56 | |
| January 13–20, 2019 | 2019 Canadian Championships | Senior | 6 58.98 | 2 110.37 | 2 169.35 | |
| October 3–6, 2018 | 2018 Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia | Junior | 11 46.30 | 12 87.95 | 11 134.25 | |
| 2017–18 season | ||||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total | |
| March 5–11, 2018 | 2018 World Junior Championships | Junior | 21 49.15 | 17 92.49 | 17 141.64 | |
| January 8–14, 2018 | 2018 Canadian Championships | Senior | 14 48.83 | 5 108.06 | 5 156.89 | |
| October 13–16, 2017 | 2017 Junior Grand Prix in Poland | Junior | 8 48.70 | 12 84.94 | 9 133.64 | |
| September 23–26, 2017 | 2017 Junior Grand Prix in Australia | Junior | 9 43.39 | 6 96.75 | 7 140.14 | |
| 2016–17 season | ||||||
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total | |
| February 14–19, 2017 | 2017 Bavarian Open | Junior | 3 54.15 | 4 91.85 | 4 146.00 | |
| January 16–22, 2017 | 2017 Canadian Junior Championships | Junior | 1 59.55 | 1 103.56 | 1 163.11 | |
| September 29 – October 1, 2016 | 2017 Bavarian Open | Junior | 3 47.06 | 1 92.50 | 1 139.56 | |