Andrew Torgashev spent much of Feb. 14 working with Evgeni Platov at a rink in Southern Florida, finishing up a new short program. Then just 16, Torgashev was choreographing a competitive program himself for the first time. Platov, the two-time Olympic ice dance champion, was lending a hand.
As Torgashev headed home, the news flashed: an assailant armed with a semi-automatic rifle had stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in nearby Parkland, killing 14 students, two coaches and a teacher.
"This was a big tragedy that happened two minutes from my house," said Torgashev, who attended North Broward Middle School with many of the Parkland students. "A lot of my friends were involved and traumatized by it."
Compelled to acknowledge the loss, Torgashev dedicated his short program – set to Journey's "Open Arms" – to Parkland victims and survivors.
"You never think it's going to happen in your community," he said. "I wanted to make a tribute."
Less than six weeks later, the skater took more direct action. By then, he had relocated to Colorado Springs to train under Christy Krall at the World Arena Ice Hall. On March 24, hundreds of demonstrations were held demanding U.S. lawmakers take action to stamp out school gun violence. Torgashev spoke at a rally and then joined more than 2,000 people in the Colorado Springs' March for Our Lives, organized by the local chapter of Mothers Against School Shootings.
"I'm never really into politics, I try to stay away from it because there's so much controversy in it," Torgashev, now 17, said. "But with something like this right close to home, I can't just sit there and do nothing. So I spoke at the March for Our Lives, I led it with some of my other friends. A lot of my (Florida) friends went to the school and I felt very connected with it."
Moving to Colorado Springs has forced Torgashev to grow up in other ways. The son of two Soviet-era international competitors, Ilona Melnichenko and Artem Torgashev, he had been coached by his parents since taking to the ice at age five. Under their tutelage, he won the 2015 U.S. junior title and placed 10
th at the 2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. But, with the ever-increasing technical demands of the sport, it was time to spread his wings.
"It's been a big challenge for me to do the (triple) Axel and quad (toe), put them together in the same program," he said. "So I moved to Colorado, started working full-time with Christy, training full-time at the OTC (Olympic Training Center), using all of the facilities, and that's helped me a lot. It's kind of everything working together and non-stop pushing and persistence."
Krall is pleased with his progress in his new stomping grounds with all the resources available.
"We're very fortunate because (Andrew) has great off- ice trainers and we've really been working on his strength and conditioning," she said. "I use Dartfish (video analysis) constantly, so he's got visual feedback on his jumps all the time. And we work with Erik Schultz with the jump harnesses, so he stays very safe and accurate."
Mom Ilona, along with younger sister Deana – also a competitive figure skater – joined Andrew in Colorado Springs this summer. Ilona, who won the World Junior ice dance title in 1987, now works at the World Arena.
"She fits very well into the environment with her dance talent," Krall said. "She is training just about everybody in the rink on their stroking skills."
At World Arena, Torgashev has the added advantage of training with reigning U.S. junior champion
Camden Pulkinen and 2016 U.S. junior champion
Tomoki Hiwatashi. It is also the training home of 2018 Olympians
Vincent Zhou and
Karen Chen.
"It's really motivating," Torgashev said. "There's no such thing as a day when you're not feeling it. If you're not feeling it, there's definitely someone else who is, and you want to keep going and push yourself to be on the same level. The competitive atmosphere is helping me reach new levels of training."
"It's a fun place to be, lots of good vibes, with all these men training there right now," Krall said.
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Fueled by his new training environment, Torgashev, who also works with Erik Schulz and Joshua Farris, finished in
fourth and
first at his two Junior Grand Prix assignments this year. He was forced to withdraw from the Junior Grand Prix Final due to injury after qualifying for the second consecutive year and will return to competitive ice at theÂ
2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, Jan. 18-27.
Buy the
NBC Sports Gold Figure Skating Pass now to watch junior and senior competition from Detroit live, on-demand and commercial-free.
