Colonel William A. Phillips

Aimee Buchanan (born June 11, 1993)[1] is an American-Israeli former competitive figure skater who competed in ladies' singles for Israel.[2][3] She is a two-time Israeli national champion and competed in the team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Early life

Buchanan was born and grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, and subsequently lived in Lexington, Massachusetts, and Euless, Texas.[1][4][5][6] Buchanan's mother Wendy is Jewish and is from Israel, as are both of her maternal grandparents, and Buchanan is and also identifies as Jewish.[7][6] She attended synagogue on the High Holidays and Hebrew school for a few years, before sports became too demanding.[6] She attended Endicott College and the United States Sports Academy, studying for a B.S. in Strength and Conditioning.[8][9] In 2014, she became a dual American-Israeli citizen.[10][2]

Skating career

Buchanan began figure skating at age 4, but she did not start seriously training until age 19.[11] While she lived in Boston, she trained at the Colonial Figure Skating Club in Boxborough, Massachusetts, with coaches Julie Graham-Eavzan and Chad Brennan, while her programs were choreographed by former Olympian Sheryl Franks.[12][9] In November 2013, she came in second at the New England Regional Figure Skating Championships Newington, Connecticut.[9]

She relocated to Texas to train with figure skating coaches Peter and Darlene Cain.[7][13]

Buchanan has represented Israel three times at the European Figure Skating Championships, and was the Israeli national ladies champion in 2016.[14] In August 2017, she had foot surgery to remove a bursa sac.[14][10] She was not able to enter the Olympics single women's qualifier competition in Germany in 2017, because the qualifier was scheduled to take place on Yom Kippur.[15]

She competed for Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics in team figure skating in Pyeongchang, South Korea.[13] Buchanan placed 10th in the woman's short program of the team event with a score of 46.30, an improvement of 1.23 points as compared to her personal best before that program.[16][17] Israel finished in 8th place, ahead of South Korea and France, and did not qualify for the finals of the team event.[16][17]

Buchanan announced her retirement from competitive skating in June 2019 after having three ankle surgeries and two injections to help with injuries. Doctors subsequently advised her against further training at a competitive level.[18]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating
2017–2018
[1]
2016–2017
[19]
2015–2016
[20]
2014–2015
[21]
  • Phantasia
    by Andrew Lloyd Webber
  • Music of the Night
    by Andrew Lloyd Webber
    performed by Jackie Evancho
  • Think of Me
    by Andrew Lloyd Webber
    performed by Jackie Evancho

Results

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

For Israel

International[22]
Event 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18
Europeans 31st 31st 38th
CS Finlandia 16th
CS Golden Spin 13th
CS Ice Challenge 11th
CS U.S. Classic 13th 8th 10th
CS Volvo Open 19th 15th
Bavarian Open 18th
Hellmut Seibt 14th
Int. Challenge Cup 15th
Nebelhorn Trophy 16th
Philadelphia 10th 12th
Tallinn Trophy 11th
Toruń Cup 13th
Volvo Open Cup 15th
National[22]
Israeli Champ. 3rd 2nd 1st 1st
Team events
Olympics 8th T
10th P
T = Team result; P = Personal result.
Medals awarded for team result only.

For the United States

National
Event 2011–12
U.S. Championships 19th

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Aimee BUCHANAN: 2017/2018". isuresults.com. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 29, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Six Olympians that Texans should keep their eyes on in Pyeongchang". Dallas News. February 3, 2018.
  3. ^ "Texas Connects Us to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. January 29, 2018.
  4. ^ "Aimee Buchanan - Player Profile - Figure Skating". Eurosport.
  5. ^ Connolly, Caroline (February 2, 2018). "Lexington, Mass. Figure Skater to Represent Israeli Olympic Team". NBC10 Boston. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019.
  6. ^ a b c Epstein, Jori (February 9, 2018). "Olympian Aimee Buchanan is from Boston via Dallas, but she's skating for Israel". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019.
  7. ^ a b Dickerson, Kristin (January 31, 2018). "North Texas Ice Skater Heading To Olympics". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  8. ^ "Competitions". Colonial Figure Skating Club. Archived from the original on September 1, 2013.
  9. ^ a b c "Buchanan finishes second at New England regional". Lexington Minuteman. Lexington, MA. November 22, 2013. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Stern, Amelia (July 31, 2018). "Helping Olympian Aimee Buchanan get back on her skates". childrenshospital.org. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019.
  11. ^ Virskus, Jenn (January 31, 2018). "Figure skater still pinching herself that Olympic dream coming true". From the Grapevine. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  12. ^ Capellazzi, Gina (May 17, 2017). "Brooklee Han and Aimee Buchanan settle in Texas with the Cains as coaches". Figure Skaters Online.
  13. ^ a b "Athlete Profile: Aimee BUCHANAN". PyeongChang2018.com. PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018.
  14. ^ a b Connolly, Caroline (February 2, 2018). "Lexington Figure Skater to Represent Israeli Olympic Team". NECN. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019.
  15. ^ Mietkiewicz, Mark (February 1, 2018). "The Frozen Chosen: Israel at the Winter Olympics - Part 2". The Canadian Jewish News. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Associated Press (February 11, 2018). "Sunday's Olympic Figure Skating Results". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  17. ^ a b Bachner, Michael (February 11, 2018). "Israel fails to qualify for Olympic figure skating finals". The Times of Israel. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  18. ^ Buchanan, Aimee (June 16, 2019). "I've been contemplating writing this post for a long time now, and have been putting it off as I was not quite ready to let it go". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-25.
  19. ^ "Aimee BUCHANAN: 2016/2017". isuresults.com. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017.
  20. ^ "Aimee BUCHANAN: 2015/2016". isuresults.com. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016.
  21. ^ "Aimee BUCHANAN: 2014/2015". isuresults.com. International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015.
  22. ^ a b "Competition Results: Aimee BUCHANAN". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 17, 2019.

External links