Final curtain calls
Razzano to focus on coaching, choreography After watching the 1998 Olympic Winter Games, Douglas
Razzano decided to become a figure skater. Seventeen years lat- er, after winning five international medals and making eight trips to the U.S. Championships at the senior level, Razzano has decid- ed to leave the competitive ranks. Razzano, who will perform in a handful of shows this summer,
including the Fourth of July show in Lake Placid, New York, and a star-studded “An Evening on Ice” in Los Angeles, will now focus on coaching and choreography for other skaters. He continues to work at the Ice Den in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he trained with Doug and Lara Ladret and Grant Rorvick. Razzano, 26, placed a career-best fifth at the 2012 U.S. Championships, and his
most memorable moment came during the 2014 free skate in Boston, where his riveting rendition of Turandot earned him a standing ovation. When announcing his retirement in a piece he wrote for icenetwork in May, Razza-
no offered this advice to younger skaters: “Don’t skate to get things; skate because you love to skate and strive to be the absolute best you can be, in and out of the rink.” — Amy Rosewater
Carriere to finish college, stay involved at SCOB “After 11 years of competing for U.S. Figure Skating, I have de-
cided to retire from competitive skating,” Stephen Carriere, the 2008 U.S. bronze medalist, announced in June. “While this decision is not an entirely shocking one, it is the result of careful consideration, and was made in the best interests of everyone it directly impacts.” Carriere, who trained at The Skating Club of Boston, won both the Junior Grand Prix Final and U.S. junior titles in 2006. He went on to win World Junior gold the following year and U.S. bronze in 2008. Most recently, Carriere returned to the ISU Grand Prix Series for the first time since 2010, placing fourth at 2014 Skate Canada and ninth at the Rostelecom Cup before withdrawing from the 2015 U.S. Championships due to injury. “A Pilates instructor of mine told me something once: A career is not something
you pick apart in real time; it is something you look back at and admire how much you have accomplished,” Carriere said. “I am pleased to say that I can do that.” Carriere, a marketing major, will now focus on his final semester at Boston College and pursue a career upon leaving campus in December. He will continue to be involved at The Skating Club of Boston, where he’ll work with young athletes.
— Mimi McKinnis
Gao retires to concentrate on academic work Christina Gao, the 2012 Skate America silver medalist, has
announced that she is retiring from competition. Gao is an eco- nomics major at Harvard University, where she will be a junior next year. “I want to focus on academics,” Gao said. “Skating has given
me so much.” Earlier in her career, Gao trained with Brian Orser and Tracy
Wilson in Toronto. She was the 2009 U.S. junior bronze medalist and 2009 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist. When she moved to Boston to enter Harvard, she joined The Skating Club of Boston, training with Mark Mitchell and Peter Johansson. Gao considered retiring after the 2014 U.S. Championships. “I went back to school right after that and kept skating,” she said. “I helped out with
the program components camp, and thought, ‘I can’t be done.’ I knew it was most likely going to be my last season.” Gao said her free skate at the 2015 U.S. Championships was one of the highlights of
her career. “My long program at nationals was really special to me,” she said. “I finally felt like
myself again. It’s really hard to find [online] and that even makes it more special. This past season, I was like, ‘I’m going to do it for me.’”
6 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 — Sarah Brannen
Galler Rabinowitz graduates from medical school
Loren Galler Rabinowitz found an
old interview in which she and former skating partner David Mitchell discussed a mutual commitment to education. It’s why their ice dance partnership — during which they won U.S. novice and junior ti- tles and two senior medals — endured. Mitchell is now an attorney, and on May 20, Galler Rabinowitz graduated from medical school AOA, a national medical honors society, and was awarded the Mi- chael H. Aranow Memorial Prize. “I have a background in skating, po-
etry and music, but I really didn’t feel like I was comfortable as a scientist,” said Gal- ler Rabinowitz. “What I learned over the four years [of medical school] was to rely on the skills I had developed as a skater, which really allowed me to succeed.” Galler Rabinowitz selected Colum-
bia University College of Physicians and Surgeons because the medical students came from diverse backgrounds and her love of writing was encouraged. Partner- ship is crucial in ice dancing, and she car- ries that team mentality into medicine. “There are so many different disci-
plines that are encompassed in taking care of a very complicated sick patient,” said Galler Rabinowitz, who began her residency in internal medicine in mid- June.
— Lois Elfman
Galler Rabinowitz (center) with her parents (outside) and sisters
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