Listen, Romania has a dance team on the senior level – the first time in history when that happens: Emilia Monika Ziobrowska and Shiloh Douglas Judd are set to compete at the end of this week at 2024 EduSportTrophy.
Emilia (20) and Shiloh (29) have been skating together since October 2023.
They train in Leesburg, Virginia, at ION Dance Academy by WISA – this season, they finished on the 4th place at 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships and won gold at 2024 US Challenge Cup; see them with their medals and the Romanian flag in the photo above.
This week, Emilia and Shiloh travel to Romania to compete at 2024 EduSport Trophy, where they’ll meet teams like Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus, Paulina Ramanauskaite and Deividas Kizala, Mariia Pinchuk and Mykyta Pogorielov.
by Florentina Tone / Bucharest
All sorts of firsts surround this year’s edition of EduSport Trophy in Otopeni.
First of all, there’s ice dancing in the competition’s schedule, with 22 teams travelling to Romania for the 7th edition of EduSport Trophy: 5 teams in advanced novice, 8 teams in juniors, 9 teams in the seniors’ event. Among those, Romania’s Emilia Monika Ziobrowska and Shiloh Douglas Judd.
Historically, Romanian skaters have only competed in individual events – both women and men. Former skaters and experienced coaches remember there have been attempts to establish pairs’ discipline in the past, but none whatsoever when it comes to ice dancing.
“I don’t remember any dancers in the history of Romanian skating, we didn’t have any tradition in that regard, or a school, or coaches who could teach this discipline”, a Romanian coach shared.
True, a junior ice dance team entered 2010 Junior Worlds representing Romania, Ioana Harmony Risca and Chase Brogan, but the partnership was very short-lived.
On the senior level, on the other hand, no ice dance team to enter competition under Romanian flag – until this season.
We look forward to Emilia Monika Ziobrowska and Shiloh Douglas’ debut on Romanian soil this weekend, at EduSport Trophy in Otopeni.
The other senior teams competing are:
Maxine Weatherby and Oleksand Kolosovskyi – Azerbaidjan
Angelina Kudryavtseva and Ilia Karankevich – Cyprus
Sophia Bushell and Antonio Pena – Great Britain
Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus – Ireland
Paulina Ramanauskaite and Deividas Kizala – Lithuania
Harlow Lynella Stanley and Seiji Urano – Mexico
Chelsea Verhaegh and Sherim Van Geffen – Netherlands
Mariia Pinchuk and Mykyta Pogorielov – Ukraine
Undoubtedly, the most well-established ice dance team travelling to Romania is Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus, two-time Irish national champions, having represented Ireland at European and World Championships.
At 2024 Europeans, Carolane and Shane finished on the 13th place. But their best result is the silver medal at 2018 Four Continents in Taipei, when they were still competing under the Canadian flag.
At 2024 World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, they finished on the 20th place.
Carolane and Shane in Montreal, at 2024 Worlds
Find more info on this year’s edition of EduSport Trophy on the competition’s page.
…and we’ll come back with the stories of the event, so don’t go too far.