Foreign-born stars spearhead Spain’s figure skating hopes for Milano-Cortina Olympics

It is no secret that many countries achieve good results in sporting competitions with the help of foreign athletes who have obtained their citizenship. Spain also uses international partnerships to strengthen its presence at the Winter Olympics, especially in figure skating. The country still has a limited ice infrastructure and a poor tradition of figure skating.

To date, the most significant contribution to the development of this type of competition and its traditions has been made by Javier Fernández, a native of the country who, it should be noted, trained mainly abroad — in Russia, Latvia, the United States and Canada. He made history by becoming a two-time world champion and seven-time European champion. However, Javier is best remembered for his historic bronze medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Incidentally, at the same Winter Olympics in South Korea, figure skaters Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin also had the honour of representing Spain. Russian-born skater Khaliavin began skating with Spain's Sara Hurtado in 2015 and was granted permission to compete for Spain the following year. The pair trained in Moscow until 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.

At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, two pairs represented Spain in figure skating: Olivia Smart and Adrian Diaz in ice dancing, and Laura Barquero and Marco Zadron in pairs skating. Marco, a native of Italy, became a Spanish citizen in 2021 in order to compete alongside the Spanish skater. Today, he represents Uzbekistan. As for Olivia Smart, the flag bearer for the Spanish team at the opening of the Olympics in Italy, she was born on 1 April 1997 in Sheffield. In 2017, Olivia obtained Spanish citizenship and represented Spain alongside Adrian Diaz. (Prior to that, Olivia competed with Joseph Buckland for Great Britain for five years.) The pair performed successfully in Beijing, finishing 8th in the team event and 11th in ice dancing, becoming a key figure in Spain's international success.

Olivia Smart and the German Tim Dieck teamed up in April 2023. Tim was born in Dortmund in 1996 and competed for Germany alongside Katharina Müller until 2022. Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck considered representing either Spain or Germany, but the Spanish federation offered more financial support. So, in 2023, Tim took Spanish citizenship.

At the Winter Games in Milano-Cortina, the pair reached the final alongside Sofia Val and Asaf Kazimov. Born in Russia in 2000, Asaf began learning to skate in his native St Petersburg. In 2012, his family emigrated from Russia to Germany, where he began competing for Germany with his first partner, Diana Scheidt. In 2023, Asaf Kazimov partnered with Sofia Val from Madrid. He is considered part of a new wave of foreign-born figure skaters. It is also worth noting that figure skater Guarino Sabaté (who also represents Spain in men’s figure skating in Milan-Cortina) was born in Barcelona but competed for Switzerland before representing Spain.

Incidentally, the history of Spain's figure skaters born abroad began in the 1980s. Yvonne Gómez, was born in San Francisco, and first represented the United States. Later, the American switched to the Spanish national team and competed in women's singles at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.