Faith Greene
Winter 2023 - 2024
Gold Medalist in Skating Skills
Home Rink: Ice Den Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ
Q: What age did you start skating and how old are you now?
A: I started skating right after I turned ten, and I am now 19.
Q: Why did you start skating? What made you interested in skating?
A: I started skating after I went to a friend’s birthday party at my local ice rink, but had initially become interested in figure skating after reading a book about Sarah Hughes- she is still one of my favorite skaters!
Q: What do you like most about skating?
A: I love practicing edges more than anything else in skating. The technicality required to create each step in skating with precision is unmatched, and I love striving to perfect them.
Q: How does skating help you in your daily life?
A: Skating has taught me unbelievable discipline. The years of early morning practices before school, proper stretching every night, and routine ballet classes forced me to be accountable and present, and those are things that I keep with me to this day!
Q: How has figure skating contributed to your overall physical and mental health?
A: Figure skating for me was, and still, is an outlet to perform the deepest emotions without words. It has also allowed me to give my body a form of beautiful exercise. Figure skating has taken and given me so much, and for that reason I would say the effects of it have been both negative and positive. The world of figure skating can be so critical, that all too often the individual is left behind in the pursuit of crafting the “perfect” athlete. Figure skating can also be such a safe place, where outside problems can be forgotten for the entirety of a practice session. Just like any sport, it has its highs and lows, but I also couldn’t have imagined doing anything else!
Q: What is/are your favorite element(s) in skating?
A: I have always loved spirals. I met Nancy Kerrigan in Boston when I was 17, and seeing her do the infamous “Kerrigan Spiral” inspired me to practice it every day! I also love any variation of a sit spin, especially the cannonball.
Q: Any figure skating career highlights?
A: For me, my skating highlights are simply my best memories. These would include skating a clean program at my last regional championships, getting my senior status for Moves In the Field (skating skills), receiving the third highest Excel score in the nation in 2021, and finishing my competitive career with a bronze medal at Silver Skate in Las Vegas! :)