HAMILTON – Martha Pietrasik left Banff as a young adult to chase her dreams and within five years she’s become a world champion.
Les Suprêmes, a synchronized skating team from St-Léonard, Que., won gold at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2022 from April 7-9 in Hamilton, Ont., becoming the first Canadian team to win worlds in seven years.
Already on an emotional high, Pietrasik and her newly crowned teammates’ accomplishment became even more memorable with a historic result.
“It was pretty amazing to win, but to make a world record – we made history, really, with a world record ... It was big, it was a big moment,” said Pietrasik.
With a total of 236.31 points, Les Suprêmes recorded the highest score ever at worlds under its current scoring system, edging out Paradise of Russia’s 2019 score of 234.38.
“Honestly, going into it we weren’t focused on the results at all,” said Pietrasik. “It felt like an out of body experience and it didn’t feel real, so everyone was really happy. It was amazing.”
On the ice, 19 countries were represented at worlds featuring teams of 16 skaters.
Each team performed a short and long program and the combined points of each determined the winner.
In the short program, Les Suprêmes skated to a remixed version of Aretha Franklin’s Respect, with the Canadian crowd at the FirstOntario Centre excitedly behind the home country skaters.
When the day was over, Les Suprêmes, which is also the 2022 Canadian champions, was in second place with 81.51 points.
Pietrasik said the team went into worlds relaxed and focused on having fun rather than perfection.
“It worked with my team’s dynamic," said Pietrasik. "We really wanted to perform so the program was very fun and a lot of dancing, so we really enjoyed performing that one."
Team captain Laurie Désilet added: “We have a quote that we always remind ourselves, that it’s not about being perfect, it’s about being awesome.”
In the long program, Les Suprêmes skated to the music of the film The White Crow.
“It’s not a very familiar film, but it’s based on a Russian ballet dancer and so we wanted to recreate the movie and what it’s about,” said Pietrasik. “It’s him striving for perfection through his ballet and by the end of the movie he releases it’s more than that. It’s about the whole journey so that’s kind of the story we wanted to create through the long program.”
In the programs, each skater has their own role to play to make the intricate moving parts flow magnificently.
During The White Crow skate, Les Suprêmes has an element where four skaters are lifted at once, adding an element of danger to the program if it’s not performed correctly.
“It took us the whole season to get it, but we did,” said Pietrasik.
In her fifth and final year with Les Suprêmes, Pietrasik started her journey in skating at the Banff Skating Club when she was six years old and instantly fell in love with the sport.
She competed in singles through elementary and high school and started team skating as a teenager, joining the Solstice synchro team in Calgary.
She said her heart was skating with a team and not skating solo.
After graduating in 2017 from Banff Community High School, her No. 1 goal was to join Les Suprêmes in Quebec.
“I tried out and I made it and ended up going to Concordia University in Montreal,” said Pietrasik, who is taking kinesiology and applied physiology.
With one year left in university, Pietrasik is stopping her career on a high note to focus on school, and applying to med school, among others.
“I had it planned [to retire] at the start of the season, so regardless of winning the championships or not, I knew this was going to be my last season,” said Pietrasik.
“And it kind of ended on a really good note.”
