Molly Cesanek (born March 2, 2001) is an American

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

. With her skating partner,

Yehor Yehorov Yehor Yehorov (born August 17, 1999) is an ice dancer. Competing for the United States with his skating partner, Molly Cesanek, he is the 2021 Lake Placid Ice Dance International bronze medalist and has competed on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Ska ...

, she is the 2021

Lake Placid Ice Dance International The Lake Placid Ice Dance International is an annual international ice dance competition held in Lake Placid, New York. It was first held in 1932. In 2015 and 2016, the senior event was included on the International Skating Union's calendar. The e ...

bronze medalist and has competed on the

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

series.

Personal life

Cesanek was born in

Manassas, Virginia Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of ...

, and was raised in

Warrenton, Virginia Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 10,057 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, an increase from 9,611 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and 6,670 at ...

. She began taking ballet lessons at age three. After graduating in 2019 from Wakefield School, she began studying

health promotion Health promotion is, as stated in the 1986 World Health Organization (WHO) Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the "process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve their health." Scope The WHO's 1986 Ottawa Charter for ...

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Career

Early years

Cesanek began learning to skate as a five-year-old. At age 11 or 12, she took up solo

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...

and met her first partner. With Maxwell Gart, she won silver in the juvenile competition at the 2014 U.S. Championships and bronze in the intermediate category at the 2015 U.S. Championships. She then skated one season with Edward Jahoda, placing fifth in the novice event at the 2016 U.S. Championships. Later in 2016, Cesanek formed a partnership with Nikolay Usanov. The two would finish 7th in novice ice dancing at the 2017 U.S. Championships and 12th as juniors at the 2018 U.S. Championships.

Partnership with Yehorov

Cesanek teamed up with Ukraine's

in April 2018. During the first two seasons of their partnership, they trained at the Rockville Ice Arena in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. In their first season, they placed 5th in the junior event at the 2019 U.S. Championships. Ukraine then released him to compete internationally for the United States. Continuing in juniors the following season, Cesanek/Yehorov took bronze at the

and received two

ISU 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 figure skating competition, junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded ...

assignments, finishing 6th at both. They were awarded the pewter medal for fourth place at the 2020 U.S. Championships and won gold at the Egna Dance Trophy in February. Ahead of the 2020–21 season, their first in the senior ranks, Cesanek/Yehorov switched to the Ion International Training Center in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

but kept the same coaching team. The duo resumed on-ice training in June after three months away due to COVID-related closures. In October, they finished 5th at the

2020 Skate America The 2020 Guaranteed Rate Skate America was the first event in the 2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 23–24. Meda ...

, a Grand Prix event which, due to COVID, was limited to American and U.S.-based skaters. They were also 5th at the 2021 U.S. Championships. In August 2021, Cesanek/Yehorov won bronze at the

. After finishing 13th at the

2021 CS Lombardia Trophy The 2021 CS Lombardia Trophy Memorial Anna Grandolfi was held on September 10–12, 2021 in Bergamo, Italy. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, and ice danc ...

and 9th at the

2021 Skate America The 2021 Skate America was the first event of the 2021–22 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, from October 22–24. Medals were a ...

, they placed 6th at the

2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb The 2021 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb was held on December 7–11, 2021 in Sisak, Croatia. It was part of the 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. T ...

Programs

With Yehorov

With Usanov

Competitive highlights

''GP:

; 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 ...

With Yehorov

With Usanov

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cesanek, Molly 2001 births American female ice dancers Living people Sportspeople from Manassas, Virginia 21st-century American sportswomen