Local Olds High School student Kobi Chant recently competed at a national ice dancing competition in Edmonton and earned a bronze medal.
Chant, 16, has been skating for 13 years and during the Dec. 1 weekend, competed at the 2019 Skate Canada Challenge in the pre novice ice dance category with his partner Savanna Martel, 13, from Airdrie. They competed against the top 25 teams from across Canada.
In preparation for the event, Chant’s training schedule increased from four days a week to five. He wakes up at 4:30 a.m. for his 6:15 a.m. start time on the ice at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary and trains for two to three hours at a time.
“I’ve been training five days a week because of nationals,” Chant said. “On the side, we do ballroom training to help with framing and posture, then that carries over on the ice.”
His mother, Kathi Chant, drives him to his training sessions and then back to Olds afterwards for class.
“My great mother will drive, then watch and then she’ll rush me back here for school,” he said.
Going into the event, Chant felt confident about the competition, saying, “we could podium or at least be top five, so there’s that pressure to do well. It’s always a fun experience.”
However, Chant admits that there is still a sense of butterflies before competing.
“You’re in the change room putting on your costume and skates, trying to think about other stuff but still have those nerves.
“Once you step onto the ice it’s sort of gone, then you just have the ice, you just think about the task on hand,” Chant said.
After Chant and Martel’s time on the ice was done they found out that they were in first place with 75.67 points and only had two pairs performing after them.
“When we heard that we were in first place after we had skated knowing that there were only two more skaters, we knew the worst we could do was third, so that excitement built up,” said Chant.
The score they received was surprising to Chant, as national competitions such as this one score harder than local competitions.
Other highlights for Chant from this season include finishing second in the national summer series, winning a gold medal during Oktoberfest in Ontario and obtaining a silver medal during the Skate Canada Alberta NWT/NUN sectional championships.
When looking to the future Chant has his eyes set on a big ambitious goal.
“Long term I hope to go to the 2026 Olympic Games,” said Chant.
