Kirsten Moore-Towers

Kirsten Moore-Towers (born July 1, 1992) is a Canadian pair skater.Since 2014, she has skated with Michael Marinaro. Together they are two-time Canadian national champions (2019–20). Competing internationally, they are two-time Four Continents medallists (silver in 2019, bronze in 2020), and have won medals on both the Grand Prix and Challenger series, including gold at the 2019 Nebelhorn Trophy and 2017 U.S. International Classic. The two represented Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

With former partner Dylan Moscovitch, Moore-Towers is the 2013 Four Continents silver medallist, 2014 Olympic team event silver medallist, and 2011 Canadian national champion.

Kirsten Moore-Towers was born on July 1, 1992 in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. She is the daughter of a steel company employee and a Sales Account Manager, and has a sister, Katie, who is eight years younger. Since 2015, she is in a relationship with former Canadian figure skater Liam Firus.

Moore-Towers was introduced to skating at age two and a half by her mother. She began pair skating around April 2008, teaming up with Andrew Evans. They appeared at one ISU Junior Grand Prix event and placed fourth on the junior level at the Canadian Championships. The pair split after ten months together.

2009–10 season

In February 2009, Moore-Towers teamed up with Dylan Moscovitch, who had trained at the same rink for several years. Kris Wirtz and Kristy Sargeant-Wirtz coached the pair at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club in Waterloo, Ontario.

Moore-Towers/Moscovitch debuted on the Grand Prix series at the 2009 Skate Canada International, placing sixth.They came fifth at the 2010 Canadian Championships, and thus did not qualify for the Canadian teams for the 2010 Winter Olympics and 2010 World Championships.They were instead sent to the 2010 Four Continents Championships in Jeonju, South Korea, where they placed ninth.

2010–11 season: National champions

The pair initially received one Grand Prix assignment, the 2010 Skate America, but received a second, the 2010 Skate Canada International, after Jessica Dube / Bryce Davison withdrew. They won silver at both events and qualified for the Grand Prix Final, where they finished sixth.

At the 2011 Canadian Championships, Moore-Towers/Moscovitch placed first in both programs to win the Canadian national title, 16.29 points ahead of silver medallists Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford.At the 2011 Four Continents Championships they placed fifth overall, after coming fifth in the short program and winning a small bronze medal for coming third in the free skate.In their debut at the 2011 World Championships, they placed eighth.

2011–12 season

Assigned to two Grand Prix events, Moore-Towers/Moscovitch won bronze at both the 2011 Skate America and the 2011 Cup of China.At the 2012 Canadian Championships they placed third in the short program and fourth in the free skate, finishing off the podium in fourth despite being the defending champions.Moore-Towers fell on their three-jump combination, and both fell while exiting a lift, resulting in three fall deductions accrued during the free skate.She commented afterward: "I still love figure skating."

2012–13 season: Silver at Four Continents

Moore-Towers/Moscovitch began the season at the 2012 U.S. Classic, where they won the gold medal.They came fourth at their first Grand Prix assignment, the 2012 Cup of China, but went on to win silver at the 2012 NHK Trophy.These results qualified them for the Grand Prix Final for the second time, where they finished fifth.

At the 2013 Canadian Championships, they placed second in both programs to win the silver medal, behind Duhamel/Radford.At the 2013 Four Continents Championships in Osaka, Japan, they placed second in the first program and first in the free skate, again winning the silver medal behind Duhamel/Radford.Moore-Towers' fall on a throw triple loop prevented them from winning the title outright, which she called "a bit unfortunate."This was the team's first (and only, as it would turn out) medal at a major international competition.

Moore-Towers/Moscovitch ended the season at the 2013 World Championships in London, Ontario, where they placed fourth after coming fifth in both segments.

2013–14 season: Sochi Olympics

Moore-Towers/Moscovitch repeated as gold medallists at the 2013 U.S. Classic, before turning to the Grand Prix series.They won a silver medal at the 2013 Skate America and bronze at the 2013 Rostelecom Cup, which qualified them for their third Grand Prix Final, where they again came sixth.

They won another silver medal at the 2014 Canadian Championships, and were named to the Canadian team for the 2014 Winter Olympics.Moore-Towers/Moscovitch were part of the Canadian team for the team event in Sochi, performing the pairs free skate portion, where they came second.Canada won the silver medal pverall.In the pairs event, they came sixth in the short program and fifth in the free skate, to finish fifth overall.

In their final event together, the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, they finished fourth for the second straight year.They came third in the free skate, winning a bronze small medal.Moore-Towers and Moscovitch announced the end of their partnership on April 30, 2014, stating that they had different goals.

Moore-Towers tried out with Michael Marinaro and Mervin Tran. On June 3, 2014, Skate Canada announced that she and Marinaro had formed a partnership, coached by Kris Wirtz and Kristy Wirtz at the Kitchener Waterloo Skating Club in southern Ontario. Moore-Towers said that they were adjusting their technique on lifts, stating: "Mike's former partner is much taller than I am, so the technique is a bit different; he has to work in a different way."

2014–15 season

Having received two 2014–15 Grand Prix assignments, Moore-Towers/Marinaro placed sixth at the 2014 Skate Canada International and seventh at the 2014 Trophée Éric Bompard. They were fourth at the 2015 Canadian Championships and ninth at the 2015 Four Continents.

In March 2015, the pair relocated to Montreal, Quebec to train under coaches Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte.

2015–16 season

Moore-Towers/Marinaro began the 2015–16 season with a bronze medal at the 2015 U.S. International Classic – their first Challenger Series event. Competing in the Grand Prix series, they won bronze at the 2015 Skate Canada International and placed seventh at the 2015 Rostelecom Cup. During the short program at the Canadian Nationals, the two clipped blades as they began the twist lift, resulting in a hard fall. They finished fourth for the second year in a row. On March 11, Moore-Towers/Marinaro were added to Canada's team for the 2016 World Championships after Julianne Séguin / Charlie Bilodeau withdrew due to injury. They placed eighth at the event in Boston.

2016–17 season: National bronze medal

Moore-Towers sustained a concussion during training in Montreal on August 3, 2016; as the pair practiced a jump combination, she fell in Marinaro's path and he collided with her head. The pair withdrew from their Grand Prix assignments, the 2016 Rostelecom Cup and 2016 NHK Trophy. They returned to competition at the 2017 Canadian Championships, where they placed third.At the 2017 Four Continents Championships, they placed seventh.They finished the season at the 2017 World Team Trophy event, where both they and the Canadian team placed fourth.

2017–18 season: Pyeongchang Olympics

Moore-Towers and Marinaro began the season at the US International Classic, where they won the gold medal.On the Grand Prix circuit, they placed sixth at the 2017 Skate America event and won bronze at the 2017 Cup of China.They again placed third at the 2018 Canadian Championships, qualifying them for a spot on the Canadian team for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.They placed eleventh at the Winter Olympics pairs competition.

Their season ended in dramatic fashion at the 2018 World Championships, where a disastrous short program from Séguin and Bilodeau resulted in Moore-Towers and Marinaro being the only Canadian pairs team to qualify for the free skate, having placed tenth in the short program despite Moore-Towers having an ankle injury that had impeded training for the World Championships.It was necessary for them to place no lower than tenth in order to qualify Canada for two pairs spots at the next year's world championships, placing additional pressure.The pair skated a new personal best, resulting in a fourth-place finish in the free skate and a sixth-place overall finish that also represented a personal best combined score.Moore-Towers commented: "We had a tough couple of weeks leading into this competition with not much training to rely on. We didn't have that same confidence, so this is a testament to how hard we worked all season."

2018–19 season: National title and Four Continents silver

Following the retirements of Duhamel/Radford and Moscovitch and his new partner Liubov Ilyushechkina, and the breakup of the team of Séguin/Bilodeau, Moore-Towers and Marinaro became the most prominent remaining Canadian pairs team.Moore-Towers admitted in interviews that this additional pressure was a challenge during the summer months of preparation, and that in addition they could not train jumps or throws for much of that time due to her ankle recuperation. They competed in two Challenger events, winning silver at both the Autumn Classic and Finlandia Trophy.

Competing on the Grand Prix, Moore-Towers/Marinaro won the bronze medal at the 2018 Skate Canada International, only 0.15 points behind silver medallists Peng Cheng / Jin Yang of China.Moore Towers remarked "it's hard to lose the silver medal on a fraction of a point."At their second event, the 2018 NHK Trophy, they placed third after the short program, but a rougher free skate dropped them to fourth place, 0.83 points behind bronze medallists Alexa Scimeca Knierim / Chris Knierim of the United States.Marinaro said they were "disappointed with how this turned out."

The two were heavy favourites going into the 2019 Canadian Championships, and prevailed, winning both the short and free programs decisively.Moore-Towers' eight-year gap between title victories was the widest in the history of the Canadian championships.

Moore-Towers/Marinaro won the short program at Four Continents, earning a gold small medal, by skating a clean program while rival teams, China's Peng/Jin and Sui Wenjing / Han Cong, both fell.They placed second in the free skate, and won the silver overall, only 0.06 points behind gold medallists Sui/Han.They received a negative Grade of Execution on their second lift that accounted for the points difference.Moore-Towers described it as "a little bit bittersweet", but that they were happy at the progress they had made.

Competing at the 2019 World Championships, Moore-Towers/Marinaro placed fifth in the short program, despite Marinaro putting a hand down on their side-by-side jump.They placed eighth in the free skate, and dropped to seventh place overall, in consequence of errors on both side-by-side jumps by Marinaro and Moore-Towers putting a hand down on a throw jump.She remarked: "Unfortunately, today was not our day."The two concluded the season as part of Team Canada at the 2019 World Team Trophy, where they placed fourth among the six pairs teams, and Team Canada finished fifth overall.

2019–20 season

Following the decision by coach Bruno Marcotte to relocate to Oakville, Moore-Towers and Marinaro opted to follow Marcotte, partly because it allowed them to be closer to their hometowns in Ontario.They dedicated much of the summer training period to reworking their technique on the triple twist, hoping to achieve greater amplitude.In their first event of the season, the Nebelhorn Trophy, they won the gold medal with first-place finishes in both segments.

For their first Grand Prix, Moore-Towers/Marinaro were assigned to the 2019 Skate Canada International, placing second in the short program with a new personal best.In the free skate, Marinaro made errors on both side-by-side jumps, but the team remained in second place, winning their first Grand Prix silver.At the 2019 NHK Trophy, Moore-Towers/Marinaro placed second in the short program despite a side-by-side spin error from Marinaro.They were second in the free skate as well, taking their second silver medal of the season and qualifying to the Grand Prix Final for the first time in their partnership.Competing at the Grand Prix Final in Torino, they were sixth of the six teams in the short program after Moore-Towers fell on their throw and Marinaro stepped out of his side-by-side jump.They skated cleanly in the free skate other than Marinaro having an unusual fall after performing their throw Salchow, placing fourth in that segment and rising to fifth place overall.

Entering the 2020 Canadian Championships as the favourites to defend their title, they placed first in the short program despite Moore-Towers stepping out of her triple toe loop jump.She singled the beginning of her planned three-jump combination in the free skate as well, but the two skated cleanly otherwise, and won the free skate and their second national title.

Skating a clean program, Moore-Towers/Marinaro won the short program at the Four Continents Championships for the second consecutive year, placing aheadof a similarly clean Peng/Jin and reigning World champions Sui/Han, who erred by performing only a double throw.They struggled in the free skate, with Moore-Towers singling their intended triple Salchow for the second straight competition, and Marinaro falling in a transition.Fourth in the free skate behind Sui/Han, Peng/Jin and Calalang/Johnson, they won the bronze medal overall. Moore-Towers said afterward "we've been practicing really well and it’s become apparent that we need to translate what we do in training into how we perform at competitions."

With Marinaro

With Moscovitch

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

With Marinaro

With Moscovitch

With Evans

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only.Current ISU personal bests highlighted in bold.Historical ISU personal bests highlighted in italics.

With Marinaro