Pair of figure skaters dreaming to compete in Winter Olympic games in 2026

Published: Feb. 12, 2022 at 6:40 PM EST
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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - Winning Olympic gold in 2026 is one of the goals for two Fort Wayne figure skaters.

Cayla Smith and Andy Deng have been a team for about two years now. It started at a young age for both of them and they say they love the sport so much.

They both told Fort Wayne’s NBC News if they make the Olympics, that would be a surreal moment

“That would be pretty insane. I mean that’s been my dream since I first started and working up to that would just be really cool to make it,” Smith said.

“Honestly, it would be a really great experience just to kind of say hey, ‘I went to the Olympics.” That’s pretty cool,: Smith said.

In these next four years, they say it’s going to be hard work.

“Getting consistent with triple twists, triple throws, triple jumps, all that stuff so we can actually be competitive,” Smith said.

“I’d say twists where I throw her above my head and have to catch her again and then it’s a lot of strength and coordination involved with that so it’s difficult to get that right a lot of the time,” Deng said.

Time on the ice is key and their head coach Alena Lunin says she’s blessed to coach these two

“They both have chemistry in the pair team. You could be such a great talent but you have to mesh together and you have to have chemistry. That’s something that this team has and I’m very lucky and fortunate and lucky enough to work with them.”

Smith says in just two years she’s been skating in Fort Wayne, she’s grown a lot. With the help of her coaches and Deng, and that growth to continue until the day they bring home the gold.

“Making all of these friends through the sport and then of course all of the accomplishments through the sport we’ve made nationally and all of that, it’s pretty rewarding,” Smith said.

Deng and Smith say they placed in the pairs final in Allen, Texas in 2020 and they also took first place in 2021 during a virtual event worldwide.They say there are quite a few steps to reach the Olympics but that’s not going to stop them from hopefully winning gold in 2026.

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