Alice Sue Claeys (born February 24, 1975) is a former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, with its introduction occurring at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic d ...

. Representing Belgium, she won silver at the 1992 Skate Canada International and finished in the top ten at three ISU Championships — the 1992 World Junior Championships (4th), the 1992 World Championships (7th), and the 1993 European Championships (8th).

Personal life

Claeys was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. At age 11, she moved with her family to

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and became a student at Burnsville High School. She began studying at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

at age 14.

Skating career

Claeys trained in Atlanta and

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 65,615, making it the List of cities in Wisconsin, tenth-most populous city in Wis ...

until she was 11 and then trained in Minnesota. She won the junior ladies' title at the 1990 U.S. Championships. Claeys began representing Belgium in the 1991–92 season. After placing fourth behind Chen Lu at the World Junior Championships in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of Canada's ...

, she was named in the Belgian team to the 1992 European Championships. Making her senior ISU Championship debut, she finished 11th at the event in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland. She then placed seventh, between

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater and boxer, and reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised by her mother, who enrolled her in ice skating lessons w ...

and

Yuka Sato is a Japanese former competitive figure skater and choreographer. She is the 1994 World champion, the 1990 World Junior champion and the 1993 & 1994 Japanese national champion. She placed 7th at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 19 ...

, at the 1992 World Championships in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. In the 1992–93 season, Claeys won silver at the 1992 Skate Canada International, placed sixth at the 1992 NHK Trophy and fifth at the 1992 Grand Prix International de Paris. She ranked eighth at the 1993 European Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. At the 1993 World Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, she placed 21st in the short program and withdrew from the competition. The 1993–94 season was less successful for Claeys. She finished 16th at the 1994 European Championships and 19th at the 1994 World Championships. Claeys represented the United States at the

1997 Winter Universiade The 1997 Winter Universiade, the XVIII Winter Universiade, took place in Muju County, Muju and Jeonju, Chonju (Jeonju), Jeonbuk province, South Korea. The snow sport events were held in Muju Resort in Muju. The ice events were held in Chonju, the ...

, where she finished sixth.

Competitive highlights

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claeys, Alice Sue 1975 births American female single skaters Belgian female single skaters Living people American people of Belgian descent Sportspeople from Atlanta Competitors at the 1997 Winter Universiade 21st-century American women