Natasha McKay
McKay in 2018
Born (1995-01-14) 14 January 1995
Dundee, Scotland
Height1.54 m (5 ft 1⁄2 in)
Figure skating career
Country Great Britain
CoachDebi Briggs
Simon Briggs
Skating clubDundee ISC
Began skating2002
Retired12 May 2023

Natasha McKay (born 14 January 1995) is a former competitive Scottish figure skater who competes in ladies' singles for Great Britain. She is the 2018 Golden Bear of Zagreb champion, the 2017 Skate Helena champion, the 2017 Open d'Andorra champion, and a six-time British national champion (2017–2020, 2022–23). Her retirement was announced on May 12 2023.

Personal life

McKay was born on 14 January 1995 in Dundee, Scotland.[1] She attended St John's School in Dundee before moving, around 2008, to Coventry, England.[2] She returned to Dundee by 2012.[3]

Career

McKay began learning to skate in 2002.[1] In a 2018 interview, she recalled, "I begged my mum for skates for a whole year [...] until she gave in."[4]

McKay won the junior bronze medal at the British Championships in the 2009–10 season. In February 2011, she placed 22nd at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Liberec, Czech Republic. She was coached by Yuri Bureiko in Coventry.[2]

In the 2012–13 season, McKay made her only appearance on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series, placing 24th in Bled, Slovenia, and won her second junior national bronze medal. She was coached by Debi and Simon Briggs in Dundee, Scotland.[3]

She won the senior bronze medal at the British Championships in the 2014–15 season and finished 5th the following year.

McKay won gold at the Open d'Andorra in November 2016 and became the British national champion the following month.[5] In January 2017, she took gold at Skate Helena. She was named in the British team to the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava.[6] In the Czech Republic, she ranked 24th in the short program, giving her the final qualifying spot, and then rose to 18th overall by placing 16th in the free skate.

In December 2018, McKay won her third consecutive national title.

At the 2019 World Championships, McKay qualified for the free skate for the first time and placed twenty-first overall.[7]

British champion for a fourth time in 2020, McKay was assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[8]

With the lockdowns in Britain greatly affecting the availability of ice time, McKay temporarily relocated to Bradford in West Yorkshire during the summer of 2020 until the Scottish government revised its guidelines.[9] McKay was named to the British team for the 2021 European Championships, but they were cancelled as a result of the ongoing pandemic.[10] Additional lockdown measures introduced by the Scottish government after Christmas resulted in her only being able to train four days a week, an hour and a half a day. Competing at the 2021 World Championships in Stockholm, McKay placed twenty-third.[11] This result qualified a place for Great Britain at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.[12]

McKay was fifteenth at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy to begin the Beijing Olympic season.[13] After winning another British national title, she was named to the British Olympic team. She said it "means everything to me to get to the Olympics – I've been dreaming of this since I was a little girl watching it on television."[14] Before the Games, she finished seventeenth at the 2022 European Championships.[13] McKay was twenty-eighth in the short program of the Olympic women's event, and did not advance to the free skate.[15] She then finished twenty-third at the 2022 World Championships.[13]

Originally intending to retire after the Olympics, McKay opted to continue for at least one more season, citing the time lost due to the pandemic.[16] She was sixteenth at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy to begin the season.[13] Following the cancellation of the Cup of China as a result of Chinese pandemic measures, McKay had the unique opportunity to participate in a Grand Prix on home soil when British Ice Skating hosted the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield. She called the event "the last thing on my skating bucket list," noting it was "the biggest competition I've ever done on home ice."[16]

McKay announced her retirement on 12 May 2023.

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2022-2023
[17]
2021–2022
[18]
2019–2021
[19]
  • 5 Years
    by Daniel Pemberton
  • Best Friend
    by Soffi Tucker
  • Moog Necklace
    by Daniel Pemberton
  • Game On
2018–2019
[1]
2017–2018
[20]
2016–2017
[21]
2012–2013
[3]

Competitive highlights

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

2016-17 to Present

International[13]
Event 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21 21–22 22–23
Olympics28th
Worlds32nd32nd21stC23rd23rd
Europeans18th27th20th23rdC17th19th
GP Wilson Trophy11th
CS Alpen Trophy9th
CS Cup of Austria14th
CS Finlandia Trophy18th20th15th16th
CS Lombardia Trophy12th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy18th
CS Warsaw Cup11th
Cup of Nice6th
Cup of Tyrol5th10th
Denkova-Staviski3rd2nd
Golden Bear1st3rd
Int. Challenge Cup6th4th
Merano Cup2nd
Open d'Andorra1st
Skate Helena1st
Tayside Trophy1st1st3rd
Volvo Open Cup6th
National[13]
British Champ.1st1st1st1stC1st1st
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled

Earlier career

International: Junior [13]
Event 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15 15–16
JGP Slovenia24th
Cup of Nice14th15th
EYOF22nd
NRW Trophy18th
National[13]
British Champ.8th N10th N7th N3rd J4th J4th J3rd J4th J3rd5th
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled
Levels: N = Novice; J = Junior

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Natasha MCKAY: 2018/2019". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Figure skating: Natasha McKay heads to European Youth Olympic Winter Festival". Coventry Telegraph. 12 February 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Natasha MCKAY: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013.
  4. ↑ MacBeath, Amy (29 November 2018). "Natasha McKay: Dundee skater says sacrifices worth it for Olympic dream". BBC News.
  5. ↑ "British Figure Skating Championships 2016: Senior Ladies Result". 4 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "ISU European Figure Skating Championships Selection 2017". NISA. December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  7. ↑ Woodger, Calum (20 March 2019). "Dundee ice skating star Natasha McKay dazzles to qualify for World final in Japan". Evening Telegraph.
  8. ↑ Ewing, Lori (11 March 2020). "World figure skating championships cancelled in Montreal". CBC Sports.
  9. ↑ Bradley, Jane (21 March 2021). "World Figure Skating Championships: 'The whole experience is going to be strange'". The Scotsman.
  10. ↑ "Update on ISU Event Calendar season 2020/21". ISU. 10 December 2020.
  11. ↑ Bradley, Jane (26 March 2021). "World Figure Skating Championships: McKay hopes for Olympic spot after free skate final". The Scotsman.
  12. ↑ "Communication No. 2388". International Skating Union. 1 April 2021.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Competition Results: Natasha MCKAY". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018.
  14. ↑ Egelstaff, Susan (12 January 2022). "Figure skating's Natasha McKay wary of Covid with Winter Olympics looming". The Herald.
  15. ↑ Penny, Brandon (15 February 2022). "As it happened: ROC, U.S. skaters star in women's short program". NBC Sports.
  16. 1 2 Bradley, Jane (12 November 2022). "Dundee skater Natasha McKay: 'I've never had so much fun on the ice'". The Scotsman.
  17. ↑ "Natasha MCKAY: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022.
  18. ↑ "Natasha MCKAY: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021.
  19. ↑ "Natasha MCKAY: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 26 March 2021.
  20. ↑ "Natasha MCKAY: 2017/2018". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Natasha MCKAY: 2016/2017". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017.
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