Mexico's Miguel Angel Moyron was an unlikely hero at the 2004 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Hamilton, Ontario.
Mexico’s Miguel Angel Moyron was an unlikely hero at the 2004 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Although he finished 18th, he won over the crowd with his charm and love for skating. By the end of the event, he had a large fan club that gave him a standing ovation and showered him with gifts at the end of his free skate. “That was a great experience for me,” Moyron said. “It was my best competition ever. The Canadian people were so amazing that it made me a better skater. It gave me a special feeling I’ll never forget. I took all of my presents home and have them in my house. I even had to buy another suitcase and pay extra for having too much luggage on the plane.”
Moyron began skating when he was eight. “I started because I saw a show on television,” he said. “I went to a public session and liked it so I started lessons.” He landed a triple salchow when he was 14, but is still working on getting most of his jumps consistent. “My triple toe loop is the best,” he noted. “A triple toe-triple toe is my only triple-triple combination. Next season I want to do a triple lutz-triple toe and have a consistent triple flip. I tried the triple Axel but not very much.”
“I tried to make my skating more mature this summer,” he continued. “I will be competing at the junior level this year, but perhaps the senior level next year. Senior competition is hard because everybody has a triple Axel and maybe a quad. When you don’t have a triple Axel, you have to have a complete package and you have to skate more than good. I work a lot on the artistic mark because it’s figure skating, not just jumping.”
Moyron has always trained with Alesandro Chavez. He skates for three hours five days a week in Guadalajara, Mexico, then does an hour of Pilates and an hour of kickboxing each three times a week. He trained in Lake Arrowhead one summer, but returned home because he was homesick. “I may go to the USA to train, but I’m too young to move now,” he said.
Chavez also choreographs Moyron’s programs. Last season, he skated to Prince of Egypt for the short and Rondo Capriccioso for the long. “My coach and I pick the music,” he said. “I picked the Prince of Egypt because I’m interested in Egyptian culture. For the long program, I had heard the music somewhere and I liked it. I will be using these programs again for the upcoming season so that I can improve them. I also like to skate to classical music, tangos and Arabian music.” Off ice, he listens to rock, pop, rap and Latin music. He likes Shakira, Brittney Spears, Justin Timberlake, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rodrigo Arizpe.
For fun, Moyron enjoys shopping, dancing, reading and traveling. He used to take hip hop and dance classes and enjoys going to the disco. “I like reading stories with a special theme and books on Mexican history and Japanese culture,” he said. “I like Japanese culture a lot and I have many friends in Japan. I liked going to Tokyo. The technology is so advanced there. And I liked going to New York City for shopping.” He collects anything with cows and has a volunteer’s jacket from the Four Continents Championships where he keeps all of his skating pins. He also uses the computer a lot to play computer games like Sim City, download music, and chat with friends.
Moyron will begin his senior year in high school this fall. “I like history and biology, but not math and chemistry,” he said. “I’m good in English and Spanish and I’m trying to learn some other languages, especially Japanese. Later I plan to go to university and be a criminal lawyer. I’ve seen many television programs on law and I like the process of figuring out the crime.”
Moyron, who will turn 17 in September, first won the Mexican championship in 2002, finished 41st at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships this year and 40th at Worlds. “It was hard to skate without many people cheering,” he said. Moyron hopes to compete at the 2006 Olympics, but plans to remain in the sport for several years. “I plan to skate until my body can’t,” he said. “I would really like to be in shows like Stars on Ice.” Later this season, Moyron hopes to compete at two upcoming Junior Grand prix events in China and Romania.
