27-03-2025
Gabbie Izzo has taken the long and winding road to get from Brighton to TD Garden for World Figure Skating Championships
And she's loving it.
'When I first went out for the tryout [last summer], I wasn't sure, really, what I wanted to do — it was obviously a big decision,' said Izzo, who had retired from pairs skating in November of 2023 after partnering with Canadian Thierry Ferland briefly. 'There are a lot of emotions that come with skating, and it can be hard to continue when sometimes you find yourself lacking motivation. But then when I just from the very first week that I started skating with Maierhofer last July, I was like, 'Oh, this is something I want to do again' – I felt that passion again.'
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'It's a work in progress, obviously the stronger results we show, the stronger our case is, so we'll just keep working for it,' said Izzo, who grew up in Brighton, graduated from Boston Latin School and is close to graduating with a pre-law major from Harvard. 'Wherever it takes us, it takes us.'
A former singles skater standout who trained and still skates at The Skating Club of Boston — she finished fourth at the 2022 US National Championships, and was the US junior champion in 2019 — Izzo's biggest role change came when she switched from singles to pairs in March 2023.
Gabbie Izzo of Brighton was the US junior champion in 2019.
She hasn't turned back since.
'At least towards the end of my singles career — obviously, it's not that I reached the pinnacle of, there was some more — but to just reach a point where for me, I was like, 'OK, I've kind of lost the compassion for just going around and jumping,' ' said Izzo. In pairs, 'for me, it was almost like learning a whole new sport, and how to deal with somebody and their mindset, their emotions, how they work, and trying to make it work.'
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She and Maierhofer finished second at this year's Austria's national championship, sixth at the Challenge Cup in The Netherlands, and third at the Merano Ice Trophy event in Italy.
She splits time between Salzburg and Boston, where she is roommates with skaters Spencer Howe, who she is dating, and Maxim Naumov, the son of January plane crash victims and The Skating Club of Boston coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova.
Before Izzo and Maierhofer skated, the tribute to the plane crash victims took place on the Garden ice.
'For me it was really special — Boston is my home and I was sitting in the locker room and hearing the remembrance, they were people I know and knew,' said Izzo. 'I looked out and saw Maxim who smiled right at me right before I went. It's a lot of emotions.'
As much as the circumstances of her career have been in almost constant motion, the roots she has in Boston and at The Skating Club of Boston remain, no matter the tragic circumstances from the beginning of the year.
'It's something we're all still dealing with and we still feel,' said Izzo. 'We go to the rink and we see their chairs, and we see stuff like that. It's difficult, of course, because life does go on, as hard as it is, but you hold them with you.
'I was out there and I was skating, and like I said, I saw Max right before I went, and I had seen other people earlier today. And it's hard to put into words the emotions.'
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In their program, Izzo and Maierhofer scored a total of 48.20 points, which placed them last among the 23 pairs. Only the top 20 qualified for Thursday night's free skate.
Michael Silverman can be reached at
