Conrad Orzel

Conrad Orzel (born July 11, 2000) is a Canadian figure skater, and model. He is the 2019 Bavarian Open silver medalist, a two-time medalist on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, and the 2017 Canadian national junior silver medalist. He placed 13th at the 2017 and 2018 World Junior Championships.

Orzel was born on July 11, 2000, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He speaks English, French, and Polish. He has a sister named Amelia, who is also a figure skater.

Orzel began learning to skate in 2003. Eva Najarro became his coach when he was five years old. He trained at the York Region Skating Academy in Richmond Hill, Ontario until 2018, and also worked with Joanne McLeod in Vancouver, British Columbia.

2014–2015 season

Orzel sustained a torn ligament in his left leg and an avulsion fracture before the Skate Canada Challenge in December 2014. The following month, he won bronze in the novice men's event at the 2015 Canadian Championships.

2015–2016 season

Competing on the junior level, Orzel ranked fourth in the short program, sixth in the free skate, and fifth overall at the 2016 Canadian Championships. During the free skate, he hit his head on the ice after attempting a triple Axel jump. He continued with his program and was examined afterward by a medical team, which found no concussion. Making his international debut, he won the junior bronze medal at the Coupe du Printemps in March 2016.

2016–2017 season

In August 2016, Orzel placed tenth at his first Junior Grand Prix (JGP) assignment, in Saint Gervais-les-Bains, France, before winning silver at a JGP event in Dresden, Germany, in October. He received the junior silver medal at the 2017 Canadian Championships, having finished second to Stephen Gogolev, and was named in Canada's team to the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei. Competing in Taiwan, he placed eighteenth in the short program, twelfth in the free skate, and thirteenth overall.

2017–2018 season

Orzel placed seventh at his first Junior Grand Prix assignment in Linz, Austria.In his second even in Poland, he won the bronze medal.Orzel moved to the senior level domestically, placing eleventh at the 2018 national championships.He ended the season at the 2018 World Junior Championships, where he placed thirteenth again.

2018–2019 season

Orzel decided to leave his longtime coach Eva Najarro, transferring to the Toronto Cricket, Skating & Curling Club under the tutelage of Lee Barkell.Concerning the coaching change, he said that Najarro "taught me all the basics and all my triple jumps and everything. But, I felt that if I wanted to go to the next level with my skating, I really needed to make a change and I knew that moving to the Cricket would help me progress to that next level."In particular, Orzel cited a desire to improve his artistry, and achieve consistency with his technical content.He was again named to Skate Canada's NextGen team.Orzel placed fourth at both of his JGP assignments, coming only 0.01 points away from a bronze medal at 2018 JGP Slovenia after setting new personal bests in both the free skate and in total score.

At the 2019 Canadian Championships, Orzel placed fourth in the short program, skating completely cleanly.He had a difficult free skate, dropping to fifth place overall.Disappointed in particular to have fallen on a normally reliable quadruple Salchow attempt, he said "I just gave it away for no good reason."Because Orzel finished behind both Stephen Gogolev and Joseph Phan, he was not named to Canada's team for the World Junior Championships.He was instead assigned to the 2019 Bavarian Open, making his senior international debut, where he won the silver medal.

2019–2020 season

Orzel moved to compete fully at the senior level, beginning the season at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International, where he placed sixth.Making his Grand Prix debut at the 2019 Cup of China, he placed eleventh.Orzel was twelfth at the 2019 NHK Trophy, and concluded his season with a sixth-place finish at the 2020 Canadian Championships.

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix