# Valentina Plazas

Valentina Plazas (born April 18, 2000) is a Colombian–American figure skater who currently competes in pairs. With her skating partner, Maximiliano Fernandez, she is the 2024 U.S. national bronze medalist, 2022 CS U.S. Classic bronze medalist and the 2023 CS Golden Spin silver medalist.

## Personal life

Plazas was born on April 18, 2000, in Bogotá, Colombia, to parents Diego Plazas and Lina Medina. She has a younger sister, Natalia. Plazas immigrated to the United States from Colombia with her family when she was six years old.
Plazas is a graduate of Charles W. Flanagan High School, and Florida International University with a degree in criminal justice.

## Career
### Early years

Plazas began learning how to skate at age 12. Before transitioning to pair skating, she was a two-time national medalist on the U.S. collegiate level. For a time, she considered representing her native Colombia internationally as a single skater, but ultimately chose to partner with Fernandez for the United States in February 2020.

### 2020–21 season

Plazas/Fernandez debuted together at the 2021 U.S. Championship Series on the junior level, winning the bronze medal. They went on to win the bronze medal at the 2021 U.S. Junior Championships.

### 2021–22 season

Plazas/Fernandez began their season by winning the silver medal at both the 2021 USCS Nevada and USCS Massachusetts. Debuting as a senior pair team at the 2022 U.S. Championships, Plazas/Fernandez finished sixth.

### 2022–23 season

Plazas/Fernandez began the season at the 2022 John Nicks Pairs Challenge and the 2022 CS U.S. Classic, winning bronze at both events. They then went on to place fifth at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy.
Making their debut on the Grand Prix series, Plazas/Fernandez competed at 2022 Skate America, where they finished sixth. Additionally, following they were called up to compete at 2022 Skate Canada International following the withdrawal of U.S. pair team McBeath/Bartholomay. They placed fifth at the event.
At the 2023 U.S. Championships, Plazas/Fernandez placed fifth. Plazas/Fernandez were then selected to compete at the 2023 Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they finished fifth, scoring a personal best combined total score in the process.

### 2023–24 season

Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Plazas/Fernandez were seventh. On the Grand Prix, they were fourth at the 2023 Skate America. They finished fourth as well at the 2023 Grand Prix de France. At the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, Plazas/Fernandez placed second, earning their second ISU Challenger Series medal.
In advance of the 2024 U.S. Championships, Plazas/Fernandez were preemptively named to the American team for the 2024 Four Continents Championships, which were to be held in Shanghai the weekend after the national championships. At the national championships, they came fourth in both segments and won the bronze medal. Fernandez called it "surreal" and "a very humbling experience" to finally reach the national championship podium. They were ninth at the Four Continents Championships.
Plazas/Fernandez concluded the season by making their World Championship debut at the 2024 edition in Montreal. They finished thirteenth.

### 2024–25 season

Although the pair was scheduled to compete on the Grand Prix circuit at the 2024 NHK Trophy and the 2024 Cup of China, they announced via their shared Instagram account in early October that they had withdrawn from both events due to an ongoing injury.

## Programs
### With Fernandez

| Season | Short program | Free skating | Exhibition |
| 2024–2025 | Never Enough (from The Greatest Showman) performed by Kelly Clarkson choreo. by Jim Peterson | Dune Gob Jabbar Ripples in the Sand Leaving Caladan Seduction A Time of Quiet Between the Storms Kiss the Ring by Hans Zimmer choreo. by Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko | |
| 2023–2024 | Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Op. 43, Variations 11 & 8 by Sergei Rachmaninoff choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | Top Gun: Maverick The Man, the Legend / Touchdown by Hans Zimmer, Harold Faltermeyer, Michael Tucker, & Lady Gaga Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga & Michael Tucker choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | Dos Oruguitas (from Encanto) by Lin-Manuel Miranda performed by Lang Lang & Sebastián Yatra |
| 2022–2023 | Maria (from West Side Story) performed by Ansel Elgort choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | Captain America Suite (from Captain America: The First Avenger) Avengers Suite (from Avengers: Infinity War) by Alan Silvestri choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | |
| 2021–2022 | Wedding Pas de Deux (The Sleeping Beauty) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | Aladdin by Alan Menken choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | |
| 2020–2021 | Steppin' Out with My Baby by Tony Bennett choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | Aladdin by Alan Menken choreo. by Amanda Evora & Jim Peterson | |

## Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series

### Pairs with Fernandez

International :
| Event | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 | 24–25 |
| World Championships | | | | 13th | |
| Four Continents | | | 5th | 9th | |
| GP Cup of China | | | | | WD |
| GP France | | | | 4th | |
| GP NHK Trophy | | | | | WD |
| GP Skate America | | | 6th | 4th | |
| GP Skate Canada | | | 5th | | |
| CS Finlandia | | | 5th | | |
| CS Golden Spin | | | | 2nd | |
| CS Nebelhorn | | | | 7th | |
| CS U.S. Classic | | | 3rd | | |
| John Nicks Challenge | | | 3rd | 3rd | |
| National ||||||
| U.S. Championships | 3rd J | 6th | 5th | 3rd | |
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew Levels: J = Junior ||||||

### Singles career

National :
| Event | 18–19 |
| U.S. Collegiate Champ. | 2nd J |
| Levels: J = Junior ||

## Detailed results

Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.
ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System :
| Segment | Type | Score | Event |
| Total | TSS | 174.15 | 2024 World Championships |
| Short program | TSS | 61.64 | 2024 World Championships |
| Short program | TES | 34.45 | 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy |
| Short program | PCS | 29.22 | 2024 World Championships |
| Free skating | TSS | 114.44 | 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
| Free skating | TES | 58.77 | 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
| Free skating | PCS | 55.94 | 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb |

### Senior results

2023–24 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 18–24 March 2024 | 2024 World Championships | 13 61.64 | 14 112.51 | 13 174.15 |
| 30 Jan. – 4 Feb. 2024 | 2024 Four Continents Championships | 9 57.38 | 9 103.78 | 9 161.16 |
| 22–28 January 2024 | 2024 U. S. Championships | 4 63.18 | 4 117.85 | 3 181.03 |
| 6–9 December 2023 | 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb | 2 58.11 | 2 110.03 | 2 168.14 |
| 3–5 November 2023 | 2023 Grand Prix de France | 4 58.46 | 4 109.74 | 4 168.20 |
| 20–22 October 2023 | 2023 Skate America | 7 49.51 | 4 107.57 | 4 157.08 |
| September 20–23, 2023 | 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy | 7 54.93 | 7 114.44 | 7 169.37 |
| 2022–23 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 7–12 February 2023 | 2023 Four Continents Championships | 5 60.07 | 6 109.02 | 5 169.09 |
| 23–29 January 2023 | 2023 U. S. Championships | 4 63.45 | 6 112.89 | 5 176.34 |
| 4–9 October 2022 | 2022 Skate Canada International | 5 55.70 | 5 108.44 | 5 164.14 |
| 21–23 October 2022 | 2022 Skate America | 8 47.32 | 4 96.23 | 6 143.55 |
| 4–9 October 2022 | 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy | 4 60.40 | 6 101.58 | 5 161.98 |
| 12–16 September 2022 | 2022 CS U.S. Classic | 3 56.20 | 3 110.05 | 3 166.25 |
| 8–9 September 2022 | 2022 John Nicks Pairs Challenge | 4 57.20 | 3 108.48 | 3 165.68 |
| 2021–22 season |||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 3–9 January 2022 | 2022 U. S. Championships | 7 49.80 | 6 98.57 | 6 148.37 |

### Junior results

2020–21 season :
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 11–21 January 2021 | 2021 U. S. Championships | 4 47.07 | 3 90.22 | 3 137.29 |