by Daphne Backman | On-Ice Photos by Robin Ritoss
Estonia’s Solene Mazingue (20) & Marko Gaidajenko (21) had a whirlwind 2021-22 season. They relocated to Montreal within the off season and have been making ready for the 2022-23 season when an accident throughout apply resulted within the season turning out a lot totally different than deliberate and Mazingue needing emergency mind surgical procedure to avoid wasting her life. Learn extra about this younger workforce’s particular person journeys in addition to how they’re transferring ahead after an unpredictable season.
Both Mazingue and Gaidajenko began their skating journeys on the age of three, however their early experiences couldn’t be extra totally different.
Mazingue was born in Paris, France. Her mother introduced her to a rink native to her neighborhood to see if she would love it. She fell in love with skating and the ice. She by no means left. At six years previous, she began competing in small competitions in her metropolis, which she actually loved.
“Before 15, I was just skating because I liked it,” Mazingue stated. “I really love skating, and the thing I love the most is to compete. I like to feel the music and to give some emotion feeling to the public who watches me.”
When Gaidajenko’s mother and father put him on the ice for the primary time, there have been 20 or extra youngsters going from one aspect of the rink to the opposite in a single route. When coaches arrived, they pushed him, however his legs went right into a cut up.
“I started saying I don’t want to, I don’t want to,” Gaidajenko stated. “They took me again house. The subsequent time, I used to be seven, and then I caught to it.
It all began for enjoyable, however at one level whenever you begin to perceive that you just prefer it, you’re getting higher and preserve going. It simply turns into your way of life such as you’re an expert athlete. You skate, you’re employed out and also you compete, and that’s what drives you from competitors to competitors. This adrenaline and emotional increase is the factor what pushes you and likewise like drives you.”
Partnership
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the world of determine skating with the World Championships being the primary occasion casualty in March 2020. While the skaters discovered inventive methods to proceed coaching and showcasing their expertise, forming a brand new partnership throughout journey restrictions introduced its personal set of obstacles.
In 2020, Gaidajenko was coaching for the Junior Grand Prix with associate Darja Netjaga when the ISU introduced the occasions wouldn’t be held that fall. In reality, there have been no competitions being held in any respect.
“We decided to stop skating for a moment because there was no goal to go somewhere,” Gaidajenko stated. “It was like really hard to push to do still the run-throughs.”
When the partnership ended and though he had but to announce it, he began to obtain messages about tryouts from potential companions.
“The world of figure skating is so tiny,” Gaidajenko stated.
Mazingue cut up along with her associate on the finish of the 2019-2020 season. Because it was unattainable to journey, she spent loads of time searching for a brand new partnership by viewing video trailers of skaters from the U.S. and Russia. Then, she heard about Marko.
“I right away texted my coach, who texted him, and he said yes to a tryout,” Mazingue stated.
“All of a sudden, Solene texted me because she was without a partner as well,” Gaidajenko added.
It was December 2020, and journey was nonetheless restricted to and between sure international locations. The duo determined that having the tryout in France can be the most suitable choice.
“I said let’s try,” Gaidajenko stated. “Let’s go to France.”
“We tried out for two weeks,” Mazingue added.” “It [the tryout] was perfect for me and perfect for him too, right?”
“Yeah,” Gaidajenko stated. “I went for New Years back to Estonia. I came back to France, and we started to skate together and to think about maybe we should try for our future.”
Season One
Mazingue & Gaidajenko moved ahead with their partnership for the 2021-22 season. They have been nonetheless age-eligible for the junior stage and debuted on the second Junior Grand Prix occasion in France, the place they gained the bronze medal, adopted by a ninth place end on the Cup of Austria JGP.
A month later, they competed at their first senior occasion, Warsaw Cup Challenger Series occasion in Poland, the place they completed fifteenth. After successful their first Estonian senior nationwide title, they completed ninth at Golden Spin of Zagreb.
While competing at each ranges introduced its personal set of obstacles, the rhythm dance theme lended itself to a neater transition.
“It’s usually more challenging because it’s usually absolutely two different rhythm dances, but last season that was the same subject, like a hip hop and street culture,” Gaidajenko stated. “Also, it was both the blues. It’s Midnight Blues (senior) and Blues (junior), so it was easier.”
“We went there with the idea of quality technical qualification for the free dance,” Gaidajenko stated. “We’ve worked a lot before before this Worlds, and we also had the really good draw for us. We were in the fourth group.”
For a brand new workforce, they exceeded expectations and certified for the free dance in a well-known twentieth place.
“When we finish our rhythm dance, we can right away see if we qualified or not,” Gaidajenko stated. “We did one of the best rhythm dances for our whole season. Me and the coach are sitting in kiss ’n cry and already understood this because we saw the points. Solene didn’t get it yet. We saw the ‘Q’, and she said ‘what does it mean?’ We qualified for the free dance, and she’s so excited.”
“I didn’t understand if we qualified or not,” Mazingue added. “When we passed, I was super happy because we worked for one season. And that was so much emotion because actually one year working every day, five hours, even more.”
Their first season, the place they straddled junior and senior occasions, ended with the duo ending nineteenth at their first World Championships,
“It’s kind of tricky, and it’s playing with your mind a bit because we started the season as a juniors, and then we slowly moved to the seniors,” Gaidajenko stated. “It was a pleasant expertise. and likewise fairly profitable for us as seniors and likewise juniors. Also, we watched all of the obstacles we went by. It’s an important expertise, in fact competing in a single class it’s a lot simpler.
The Move to Montreal
In preparation for the upcoming 2022-2023 season, Mazingue & Gaidajenko made the choice to coach on the famend Ice Academy of Montreal underneath the steerage of coaches Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, and Romain Haguenauer.
“Then the situation with Ukraine started, so there was no chance to stay there at all. We had a good relationship with the coaches from Montreal before, and we had ideas already to move there. At this point already, we don’t have any other solutions, and plus we really want to go there. We just after Worlds had two to three weeks break, and then we went to the Montreal. Everything started here.”
According to the workforce, one coaching location shouldn’t be actually akin to the opposite.
“It’s really two different methods,” Mazingue stated. “For example, in Russia, it’s more by yourself, and there is a coach, and she comes to help you, but here it’s more like a private session. We like both. It’s really how the skater likes it.”
“Here they have their own methods, which works absolutely brilliant and perfect,” Gaidajenko stated. “They’re different than others and the so much effort, they put in the school and in the skaters. You feel here as a family. You feel support from from the skaters and from the coaches. We have mental coaches. We have so many so many people around us, and the greatest part is that you every day you learn something new. It’s knowledge. It’s a lot of lifestyle changing because here you’re living the life of an actual athlete. You do your own choice. if you don’t want to skate today, you can not skate, but then it’s how it will affect you in the future.”
The Accident
The transition from Moscow to Montreal was a clean one for Mazingue & Gaidajenko, till September twenty ninth when every part modified for the couple. Falls occur in determine skating for various causes and even on parts which might be practiced time and again.
The workforce’s first competitors of the season can be the 2022 Finlandia Trophy occasion, which is a part of the ISU Challenger Series. The workforce was skating run-throughs of their packages and have been engaged on their free dance.
“He was helping me to do the assisted jump,” Mazingue stated. “There was a hole, so his blade gets stuck in the hole. He fell back, and at this one he was lifting me, so my head was down, and my foot was up. When he fell back, I fell on my head, and at this moment I lose consciousness for 10 seconds.”
“It was a simple lift that we’ve done like gazillion times before that and was entering to the twizzles,” Gaidajenko added. “I was stuck on the ice, and she hit her head. Sometimes we hit our heads on the ice. Sometimes there’s nothing, and sometimes there is a concussion. Skaters really struggle with the concussions for like a year or so after because we just don’t stop our season. In this case, she hit her head really hard. We went to the hospital because the swelling on her head was a lot, and she was she was in major pain. We called the ambulance right away with the coaches after the fall.”
Gaidajenko continued, “When we arrived to the hospital, I went right to the waiting area and during this time it was two and a half hours. They did this head scan, and it showed that that her skull was broken, that there’s a fracture, and then there was a bleeding, but they didn’t really see how exactly it’s affecting the brain yet. They saw that there is bleeding outside and inside.”
“I had a fracture and was bleeding a lot and fast, and this was pushing my brain in the left parts and middle,” Mazingue added. “This was really bad because that is how people can lose how to walk and how to speak. My doctor’s nurse who was doing my head scan called right away to the surgeon. At this moment, my body stopped to react. My pupils stopped responding, and I fell into the coma. My body dropped to 32 degrees. I went to surgery. It was about three hours.”
“They started to do operation and during this time the nurse came to see me and say that she’s in critical conditions, and he’s not sure she’s going make it through operation,” Gaidajenko stated. “The nurse told me if she’s going to make it we don’t know if she’s going to talk again or walk again. Three hours ago I saw her. I talked to her. Practice was great and at this point, somebody was telling me that it might be the last time you see her.”
Gaidajenko continued, “I was in a fog. It was really hard to take it because I was alone there for like these three hours. I was on the phone with my dad. He’s also in medicine, but back in Estonia. God bless Tim [Dieck] and Olivia [Smart] who came to see me right away. Patrice [Lauzon] came after practice and at this time she was in the operating room.”
At 10pm on the identical day as her accident, Mazingue had an emergency craniotomy. They opened the cranium, drained the blood and checked her mind exercise. They put in titanium plates with six anchors. The nurses informed Gaidajenko they’d attempt to wake her the subsequent morning at midday. They warned him that she might have amnesia or be panicked and never bear in mind the place she is, or why she is there.
“I came back home and next morning I received a call at 7am,” Gaidajenko stated. “It was Solene’s voice asking are you coming to see me. She was doing great. She was smiling, and we explained to her what happened. The next day, her mom arrived and was visiting her every day in the hospital. The progression went really fast.”
Early on in her rehabilitation course of, Mazingue determined she needed to share her progress with others to be an inspiration to others.
“I was looking for someone like me to talk to me about what my future will be and actually, there was no one. It’s really hard to find someone because people who had surgery don’t talk again. They don’t work, or they are still in hospital. I was feeling really alone. I was like, what will be my future? What will be happen with me? To get on social media, I want to give hope to to everyone and inspire everyone, and I want to be this person who is here for help. In this case, whatever problem this is, it’s not just only for surgery, it can be for any injury or any problem. I want to be this person who can give hope and tell you that it’s not impossible.”
The Journey to 2023 Worlds
While Mazingue had an extended street to restoration forward of her, she determined two days after her surgical procedure that she needed to skate once more.
“In hospital, I was already thinking about Worlds,” Mazingue stated. “When I started my rehabilitation with my doctor, the first thing that he asked me was ‘what is what is your goal?’ He told me that for every patient, for every athlete he always sets the goal. My goal with my partner was to go to Japan five months after the surgery.”
“I also grew a lot from this accident,” Gaidajenko added. “Like everything changed. My mindset changed a lot and like my habits and everything. I had the idea that what are we going to do if we don’t go Worlds and also what we’re going to do if we go to Worlds. I was ready for it each scenario. She was doing all this hard job. Since the first day after she woke up from surgery, her mentality started to work in a way to prepare herself for Worlds already. It felt amazing seeing her being so happy doing this.”
Both Mazingue and Gaidajenko knew that they have been heading to Saitama not at full energy, however for them it was extra vital that they have been capable of compete versus any outcome achieved. The Estonian workforce completed twenty eighth within the rhythm dance and didn’t qualify for the free dance, but it surely was simply being there that made the entire effort value it.
“This competition wasn’t a competition to show our best skating performance,” Gaidajenko stated. “We did show our best. We were there to show that if you don’t quit, you can make it. After we finished our rhythm dance before in front of 20,000 Japanese fans, I was clapping and that felt right. We are in the right place where we should be at this time. It felt amazing.”
“I was really I did it,” Mazingue added. “Just to be on the ice at the World Championship in Japan with plenty people around me. This was just an experience, an incredible experience.”
Looking Ahead
The workforce continues to be reminiscing about their accomplishments and beginning to assume forward to subsequent 12 months and past.
“The main goal for me since I’m six or even seven years old is to go to the Olympics,” Mazingue stated. “Just to go to Worlds in Japan was the first step after the accident on the way to the Olympics. My next goal is Olympics Milano 2026. Three years.”
For the speedy future, Mazingue & Gaidajenio are trying ahead to the rhythm dance for subsequent season, set to music from the Nineteen Eighties.
“Right now, we are preparing for the next season and we’re listening the 80s music,” Mazingue stated.
“Everyone is looking forward to next season,” Gaidajenko added. “After competitions, in almost every playlist, there is music from the 1980s. We’re listening to this stuff and absolutely like when the ISU gives us an opportunity to do something interesting to show cool stuff, some dancing moves. For 80s music, we’re absolutely in!”
Mazingue continued, “I really like the 80s music when I warm up before practice. It’s 80s music, but I’m listening because it (creates a) really good mood for me.”
“We already heard some songs teams here are choosing,” Gaidajenko stated. “There will be interesting programs. Not everyone is coming back yet to build them, but when everyone is here, we will have an 80s vibe on the ice for sure.”
Off the Ice
While most of their time is concentrated on coaching, the duo finds time for rest and hobbies after they can.
Gaidajenko is a giant gamer and performs Call of Duty, Hogwarts Legacy and God of War: Ragnarok on Playstation. Both have a Nintendo Switch, however Mazingue doesn’t at the moment play as a result of she’s nonetheless engaged on her mind restoration. They hope to start out a Youtube or Twitch Channel sooner or later to stream a few of their gaming actions.
Mazingue does coloration books as a part of her remedy. She is studying to jot down once more and retains a journal of her every day actions. Her mom helps her with math and calculations. She additionally likes to play board video games, together with Seven Wonders.
Both like to construct with Legos, together with a bonsai tree that’s underneath reconstruction. During a latest journey to New York City, Gaidajenko made a Solene lego character for her.
The workforce additionally makes a degree to purchase a pop determine at each competitors vacation spot.
How You Can Help
As you possibly can think about the price of Mazingue’s ongoing remedy is dear by itself, however coupled with coaching bills the workforce wants assist to proceed combating for his or her dream. You can help the workforce by way of their GoFundMe web page.