First Black US Figure Skater to Win Grand Prix Medal, Starr Andrews, makes history

First Black US Figure Skater to Win Grand Prix Medal, Starr Andrews, makes history, Starr Andrews, 21, became the first Black US figure skater to win an ISU Grand Prix medal since the series’ inception in 1995 on October 29 at Skate Canada in Mississauga, Ontario. “I can’t even express how I feel right now in [words]!” In a post on Instagram, Andrews.

Since her 2010 performance to Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair,” which went viral and had tens of millions of views on YouTube, the skater has come a long way. “I am quite proud of my performance in Canada.

Thank you for all of your encouragement, even when I wasn’t skating at my best. “This is a dream come true,” she wrote recently. On Saturday, Andrews skated her second program of the tournament, a magnificent free skate to Belgian singer Lara Fabian’s interpretation of “Je Suis Malade,” moving up from sixth to second overall with a score of 191.26, ten points higher than her previous personal best at a Grand Prix in France in 2019.

Andrews expertly executed six triple jumps during the performance, including a challenging double axel Euler triple salchow. According to Team USA, Japan’s Rinka Watanabe won first place with a total of 197.59 points, while South Korea’s Young You got bronze with 190.15 points.

Team USA congratulated Andrews on her outstanding performance, writing on Instagram, “An in every sense of the term.” Andrews’ victory comes less than a year after she underwent surgery to remove an additional nerve near her heart, which was causing her anxiety and problems breathing.

“I’ve approached this year with a different perspective, trying not to get too caught up in my thinking,” she explained. “It really helps when I’m not thinking too much. Even though my season didn’t start off so well [at the Nebelhorn Trophy in September], it definitely paid off. I was still adjusting to my new programs.”

Between her viral stardom at the age of nine and her historic Grand Prix success, Andrews has astonished audiences with performances set to Mickey Guyton’s “Black Like Me” and, more recently, her own interpretation of Etta James’ “At Last” at Skate America 2021. Watch Andrews’ incredible performance and the moment she learned she’d made history below.