Emmy Ma (born January 19, 2001) is a

Taiwanese-American Taiwanese Americans ( Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人; pinyin: ''Táiwān yì měiguó rén''; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ''Tâi-Bí-jîn'') are Americans of Taiwanese ancestry, including American-born descendants of migrants from the Republic of China (Taiwan) ...

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

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One China principle stipulated by the ...

, she is the 2021

International Challenge Cup The International Challenge Cup (formerly known as the Ennia Challenge Cup and the Aegon Cup) is an annual figure skating competition generally held in the Netherlands during the last week in February. Although the competition had been held for ...

silver medalist and 2019 Taiwanese national champion. Earlier in her career, representing the United States, she won bronze at 2017 JGP Latvia and placed 19th at the 2018 World Junior Championships.

Personal life

Emmy Ma was born on January 19, 2001, in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is an affluent Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. It is co ...

. She has an older brother, Edward, and older sister, Emily. She plays violin for New England Conservatory's Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. As of 2019, Ma is a student at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

. She has spoken about dealing with an

eating disorder An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...

, citing fellow skaters

Gabrielle Daleman Gabrielle Daleman (born January 13, 1998) is a Canadian Figure skating, figure skater. She is a Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships, ...

and

Gracie Gold Grace Elizabeth Gold (born August 17, 1995), known as Gracie Gold, is an American figure skater. She is a 2014 Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, a six-time Grand Prix medalist (2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze), and a two-time U.S. nationa ...

's openness about their own struggles as a reason to come forward.

Career

Ma began learning to skate in 2007. She won a pewter medal in the junior ladies' event at the 2017 U.S. Championships.

For the United States

Ma won bronze at the

ISU Junior Grand Prix in Latvia The ISU Junior Grand Prix in Latvia – officially known as the Riga Cup – is an international figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Latvian Skating Association (). It is ...

in September 2017. Making her senior international debut, she placed fifth at the

2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was the 50th edition of the annual senior-level international figure skating competition held in Zagreb, Croatia. It was held at the Dom sportova in December 2017 as part of the 2017–18 ISU Challenger Series. M ...

in December. In March, she competed at the 2018 World Junior Championships in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria. She qualified to the final segment and finished 19th overall. Competing in the senior ranks, Ma placed 16th at the 2018 U.S. Championships and 9th at the 2019 U.S. Championships. She switched to represent

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

from the 2019–20 season.

For Taiwan

Ma won the 2019–20 Taiwanese national title, but did not compete internationally for Chinese Taipei. During the 2020–21 season, she did not travel to Taiwan for the 2020–21 Taiwanese Championships due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Ma was set to make her international debut for Taiwan at the

2020 CS Cup of Tyrol The Cup of Tyrol is an international figure skating competition held in March in Innsbruck, Austria. The inaugural edition was organized in 2016. Medals may be awarded in men's singles, women's singles, and pair skating at the senior, junior, and ...

, but the event was cancelled due to the pandemic. She made her debut at the 2021

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

where she won a silver medal. She placed second in the short and third in the free skate. This earned her her minimums for the 2021 World Championships, where she placed twenty-ninth.

Programs

Competitive highlights

''CS: Challenger Series; JGP:

Junior Grand Prix The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...

For Chinese Taipei

For the United States

Detailed results

For Chinese Taipei

For the United States

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma, Emmy 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Manhasset, New York Figure skaters from Newton, Massachusetts American female single skaters Taiwanese female single skaters American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent 21st-century American sportswomen