Pic of the Week

I'm always curious about those skaters that aren't at the top of the rankings. I was looking at the results for the Nebelhorn Trophy and I noticed in 19th place a skater representing PUR.

I was very curious to find out where PUR was and it turns out to be Puerto Rico, and the skater is Victoria Muniz.

Of course Puerto Rico is officially part of the United States (51st state anyone?) but they have in fact organized their own skating federation. Turns out that Victoria was the first to represent Puerto Rico internationally at the 2006 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

She's the reigning Puerto Rican champ and she has her eyes set on greater success in senior competition. Another purpose some of these smaller competitions like Nebelhorn or Karl Schaefer serve is to qualify skaters for larger ISU Championships like Grand Prix events, Europeans, Four Continents Cup, and Worlds. Victoria's participation in this event might earn Puerto Rico a spot to send a competitor to the Four Continent Cups and if the competitor can do well there, perhaps a spot at Worlds. Victoria, in fact, was able to compete at Worlds in Goteborg finishing 29th.

I did a little more digging and even found a YouTube video of Victoria performing...and she's good! Victoria, good luck and I wish you all the future success.