Isabella Flores

Isabella "Bella" Hope Flores (born April 30, 2003) is an American ice dancer. With her former skating partner and current husband, Ivan Desyatov, she is the 2023 Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist.

With her former skating partner, Dimitry Tsarevski, she is the 2021 JGP France II silver medalist, the 2021 JGP Poland silver medalist, and the 2021 U.S. junior national pewter medalist.

Personal life

Flores was born on April 30, 2003, in Wiesbaden, Germany to parents Holly, a financial advisor, and Tony, a consultant, both of whom served in the U.S. Army. She has a younger sister, Olivia, who competes for the U.S. in pair skating. Flores is of Mexican and Italian descent.

Flores graduated with honors from Cheyenne Mountain High School in 2021, where she ran varsity cross-country in addition to her ice dance training. As of 2023, she is a student at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs majoring in mathematics.

She married her ice dance partner, Ivan Desyatov, on August 12, 2022, at age 19 and 21 in El Paso County, Colorado.

Career

Early years

Flores began learning how to skate in 2009 in Colorado Springs. She trained as a single skater in 2011, when she became inspired to take up ice dance after attending a seminar on the discipline hosted by her current coach, Elena Dostatni. Early in her ice dance career, Flores skated with a number of different partners, including Davis Ortonward from 2013 to 2014, Mikhail Gumba from 2017 to 2018, and British skater Adam Bouaziz from 2019 to 2020. Flores/Bouaziz finished 13th at the 2020 U.S. Junior Championships before splitting in the spring when Bouaziz returned home to the United Kingdom.

Following the end of her partnership with Bouaziz, Flores teamed up with Dimitry Tsarevski in May 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Flores/Tsarevski only competed domestically during the 2020–21 season, placing third in the junior ice dance category at a U.S. Figure Skating virtual invitational event and claiming the pewter medal at the 2021 U.S. Junior Championships. Following their podium finish at nationals, Flores stated, "Dima and I are ecstatic that we were able to make the breakthrough." The then-17-year-old also shared hopes for the season ahead, adding, "Ultimately this heir 4th place finishallows us to set loftier goals for this season such as qualifying for Junior Worlds."

2021–22 season: International junior debut

Flores/Tsarevski received two ISU Junior Grand Prix series assignments in their international debut season as team. They placed second at both of their events, the 2021 JGP France II and the 2021 JGP Poland, and were named as second alternates for the ultimately cancelled 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final. The duo competed once more ahead of the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, taking the junior ice dance title at another domestic invitational event in November.

Flores/Tsarevski were slated to competed at the U.S. national championships in early January 2022. However, Flores unexpectedly lost contact with Tsarevski in late December 2021, citing Christmas Day as the last time she'd been able to reach him. In a final update on the situation posted to her Instagram account on February 3, 2022, Flores stated that while she still had not heard from Tsarevski, she'd decided to accept the apparent end of their partnership and begin considering other options to continue her ice dance career. While further details regarding Tsarevski's circumstances during late 2021 and early 2022 have never been made public, the skater did return to competition in 2023 with a new partner, Katarina Wolfkostin.

2022–23 season: Debut of Flores/Desyatov

Flores traveled abroad for two months at the beginning of 2022 in search of a new partner, but ultimately, her efforts were unsuccessful. She returned to her home rink in Colorado where she met her now partner, Ivan Desyatov, who'd made the decision to relocate to the United States from Belarus in search of a partner of his own during the time she'd been away. The two skaters tried out and skated together for several months before officially committing to a partnership, having both recently gone through major periods of transition. Flores/Desyatov confirmed their partnership for the U.S. in June 2022.

Flores/Desyatov were initially unable to compete internationally for the U.S. as Desyatov was still awaiting release from the Skating Union of Belarus. They qualified to the 2023 U.S. Figure Skating Championships by placing second in the senior ice dance category at the 2023 Eastern Sectional Championships. Flores/Desyatov finished 10th at the U.S. Championships in late January 2023.

Negotiations for Desyatov's release from Belarus began at the end of the 2022–23 season. The process proved more complicated and financially burdensome than the team initially expected, as the Belarusian federation requested US$25,000 in restitution for Desyatov's training expenses incurred during the season prior. Flores and Desyatov were able to crowdfund the majority of the cost requested, and Flores announced their success in securing Desyatov's release on July 16, 2023.

2023–24 season

Flores/Desyatov opened their season late, debuting on the ISU Challenger Series at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb in early December. They placed third in the rhythm dance and climbed to second in the free dance, ultimately finishing third overall behind Lithuanian champions Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevičius and American compatriots Emilea Zingas / Vadym Kolesnik. The pair also competed in the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships where they finished seventh and received a standing ovation for their free dance.

2024–25 season: Suspension of Desyatov

Flores/Desyatov began their season by finishing fifth at the 2024 Lake Placid Ice Dance International and sixth at the 2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge.

The duo were assigned to debut on the 2024–25 Grand Prix circuit at the 2024 Skate America, however, two days before the event, their names were withdrawn and they were replaced by Annabelle Morozov/ Jeffrey Chen. On October 18, the U.S. Center for SafeSport announced that Desyatov had been sanctioned with a temporary suspension due to allegations of misconduct. In November, Flores made an Instagram post, confirming that she and Desyatov would miss the remainder of the season due to the ongoing investigation.

Programs

With Desyatov

With Tsarevski

Competitive highlights

Ice dance with Ivan Desyatov

With Tsarevski

With Bouaziz

Detailed results

Ice dance with Ivan Desyatov

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Flores, Isabella
2003 births
Living people
American female ice dancers
Figure skaters from Colorado Springs, Colorado
21st-century American sportswomen