Christina Carreira
Christina Carreira (born April 3, 2000) is a Canadian-born ice dancer who competes for the United States. With her skating partner, Anthony Ponomarenko, she is the 2022 Four Continents bronze medalist, the 2018 Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist, a six-time medalist on the ISU Challenger Series, and the 2020 U.S. national pewter medalist. They are also two-time World Junior medalists (silver in 2018, bronze in 2017), the 2017 JGP Final silver medalists, and the 2018 U.S. national junior champions. Personal life. Carreira was born on April 3, 2000, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. French is her first  language. In spring 2013, she moved to Novi, Michigan, United States. In May 2018, Carreira filed a petition to be deemed an "alien with extraordinary ability", which would allow her to apply for permanent residency. The petition was denied in August, the decision asserting that her awards "were not directly awarded to you. They were awarded for your performance as part of a sports team…[W]e do not consider such honors to be a nationally or internationally recognized prize or award for excellence in the field of endeavor, because it is limited to members of that association and participants of  those competitions." She filed a lawsuit in October, describing the conclusions as "entirely irrational". Carreira dropped the lawsuit in early 2019. Carreira received her American green card in August 2020. Career. Early years. Carreira began learning to skate in 2003. Her first coach was Yvan Desjardins. She competed with Simon-Pierre Malette-Paquette from 2006 until 2013. The duo won sectional titles from the juvenile level through novice. Representing Quebec, they became the 2012 national champions at the pre-novice level. They placed fifth in the novice ranks at the 2013 Canadian Championships. 2014–2015 season. In April 2014, Carreira teamed  up with American ice dancer Anthony Ponomarenko. The two decided to represent the United States. It was Ponomarenko's mother, Marina Klimova, who thought the team would eventually be a good match after seeing Carreira in Lake Placid, NY. Their Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut came in September 2014; they placed 5th in Ostrava, Czech Republic, and then 4th in Tallinn, Estonia. They finished 5th in the junior event at the 2015 U.S. Championships. 2015–2016 season. Competing in the 2015 JGP series, Carreira/Ponomarenko placed fourth in Riga, Latvia, and then won the silver medal in Toruń, Poland. They received  the pewter medal for fourth place at the 2016 U.S. Championships. 2016–2017 season: First Junior World medal. Carreira/Ponomarenko won silver medals at both of their JGP events and finished fourth at the JGP Final, held in December in Marseille, France. In January, they took the silver medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships, having placed third in the short and second in the free. Ranked 6th in the short and third in the free, they won the bronze medal at the 2017 World Junior Championships, which took place in March in Taipei, Taiwan. 2017–2018 season: Junior World Silver. Winning gold  at both of their JGP assignments, in addition to the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, Carreira/Ponomarenko capped off 2017 with a second-place finish at the JGP Final, held in December in Nagoya, Japan. The following month they became the new US junior champions at the 2018 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They went on to win silver at the 2018 World Junior Championships in March. 2018–2019 season: First Grand Prix medal. Pasquale Camerlengo joined their coaching team ahead of the 2018–2019 season. Making their senior international debut, Carreira/Ponomarenko achieved silver at the 2018 CS U.S. Classic in Salt  Lake City, having finished second to Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue. They next won the bronze medal at the 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. For their Grand Prix debut, Carreira/Ponomarenko finished fifth at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki. At their second assignment, they won the bronze medal at the 2018 Rostelecom Cup. Following the conclusion of the Grand Prix, they won the gold medal at the 2018 CS Tallinn Trophy. Carreira/Ponomarenko concluded their season at the 2019 U.S. Championships, where they placed fifth. 2019–2020 season. Beginning on the Challenger series, Carreira/Ponomarenko won silver for the second consecutive U.S.  Classic and a second bronze medal at Nebelhorn Trophy. They won gold at their final Challenger event in November, the Asian Open Trophy, having finished first in both segments. At their first Grand Prix, the 2019 Skate America, they placed sixth in the rhythm dance after errors on their twizzles. Carreira remarked it was "probably the worst time we have ever performed" the program. They remained in sixth place after the free dance, which Ponomarenko called "redeeming." At their second GP event, the 2019 NHK Trophy, they finished fifth in the rhythm dance but a lift error in the free  dance placed them in seventh in the free and sixth overall. Carreira/Ponomarenko placed fourth in the rhythm dance at the 2020 U.S. Championships. Fourth in the free dance as well, they would have placed third in that segment but for the invalidation of their choreographic character step sequence due to a violation of the distance requirement. Taking the pewter medal, they stood on the senior national podium for the first time in their careers. 2020–2021 season. Carreira broke her foot during the spring quarantine period in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, though she had recovered by the time the  rink reopened in the summer. With the pandemic affecting international travel, Carreira/Ponomarenko were assigned to compete at the 2020 Skate America, attended mainly by dance teams training in the United States. They won the bronze medal. On January 10, it was announced that they had withdrawn from the 2021 U.S. Championships. Carreira confirmed it was a positive COVID test of a rinkmate that caused their withdrawal. On January 27, Carreira announced on Instagram that she and Ponomarenko would be departing their longtime coach Igor Shpilband. Two weeks later, U.S. Figure Skating announced that Carreira and Ponomarenko would be moving  to train at the Ice Academy of Montreal's new Ontario campus in London, Ontario, coached by former Olympic champion Scott Moir. 2021–2022 season: Four Continents bronze. Carreira/Ponomarenko began their season at the 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy, where they placed fourth. They were eighth at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy. On the Grand Prix, Carreira/Ponomarenko placed eighth at the 2021 Skate Canada International. They were fourth after the rhythm dance at the 2021 Internationaux de France, but dropped to fifth overall with a seventh-place free dance after an extended lift deduction. At the 2022 U.S. Championships, Carreira /Ponomarenko were fifth in the rhythm dance, but fell to seventh place after the free dance. They were named to the team for the Four Continents Championships in Tallinn later in January. Third in both segments, they won the bronze medal in their first appearance at a senior championship event. Carreira said that they were "happy we're able to end our season with our best free dance, I think. So yes, we're overall really happy and we want to continue growing into the next quad." Competitive highlights. "GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix" Detailed  results. Seniors. "Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. Current ISU personal bests highlighted in bold".