FIGURE SKATING
Kevin Aymoz’ roller coaster ride
18 Nov 2025
To say that he has his ups and downs is, well, an understatement. If you follow Kevin Aymoz of France, you are in for a real roller coaster ride. Coming from 10th at the ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada International and battling a painful foot injury, Aymoz skated off with his very first ISU Grand Prix gold medal at Saatva Skate America. His reaction was priceless when he found out that he had won a medal first first and even more so when he realized that it was even gold.
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) and coaches Francoise Bonnard (left) and Silvia Fontana react to his score after the Free Skating © ISU
“I can’t tell you, how much I love Skate America right now,” he said. Winning this prestigious event was special and meant a lot. “Now I feel like one of the big medal winners. Nathan Chen, Ilia Malinin were also Skate America Champions.”
A few weeks before, everything was different. Aymoz was in good shape at the beginning of the season, when he suddenly started to have pain in his left foot two weeks before his first ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada and couldn’t really train.
“It is so unfair to have an injury in the Olympic season,” the 28-year-old said. “I’ve been training for three years to find a pattern that works for me – in training and in competition. What to eat, when to sleep, where and with whom I should train. I had three years to prepare for this Olympic season and I was ready. Practices were going well. Mentally it was going well. I was ready to fight. And then this happened.”
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) was well prepared before injury struck before Skate Canada © ISU
Aymoz did not yet exactly know what is wrong with his foot, but doctors told him that he cannot make it worse when he skates, but it is painful. “I can do the quad toe, quad Salchow, triple Axel but it really hurts a lot,” the skater explained. “It is not fun but if the injury was more serious, I would have stopped because the goal is to get to the Olympic Games in good health.” He planned to undergo further examinations after Skate America.
Aymoz knew that all chances to make the ISU Grand Prix Final were gone when he finished 10th at Skate Canada and it was a major setback.
“It's really challenging when you come from a Grand Prix, where you can qualify for a Final and you fail. It's really difficult in the Olympic season because I want to give my best in every competition until the Olympics,” he pointed out.
Aymoz adapted his training after Skate Canada, trained a little less but still worked hard and felt ready to skate well at Skate America. However, the nagging pain in his foot still affected him in Lake Placid and the French Champion had not done full run-throughs of his Free Skating in practice since competing at Skate Canada. But he came out to fight at Skate America. Following a good Short Program and standing in second place, Aymoz was on fire in his iconic “Bolero” Free Skating. Not all the jumps were perfect but Aymoz gave it his all in the footwork and choreo sequence and this made the difference. He struck gold.
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) gave it his all in the Free Skating at Saatva Skate America © ISU
“This victory gives me a lot of hope because two weeks ago I was at Skate Canada and I finished almost in last place,” the Frenchman noted. “I was like ‘no, not in the Olympic season, I cannot start the season with a tenth place in the Grand Prix’. I want to qualify to the Final and compete with the top six before the Olympics, but I finished tenth, zero points, no Final for me. So, when I came to Skate America I was going to take it as a big practice before the Olympics in front of judges and in front of an audience. I told myself, you try your best.
I'm so happy now. Work pays off and it's incredible right now in my heart,” he shared. “In the Short Program, I was getting really selfish, egoistic and skated just for myself and for my journey. In the Free Skating I thought, no, that's not me. I have to skate for the people I love. I skated for my family, my friends, my boyfriend, for all the people that support me. I hope this win is going to give hope to all those young skaters that are on their journey of figure skating. It's up and downs and they can see that one day work pays off.”
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) has been through many highs and lows in his career © ISU
Skate Canada was a tough experience but Aymoz has been through a lot already in his career. He was fourth at the ISU World Championships and ISU European Championships in 2023 but finished 31st at Europeans in 2024. He was 22nd at the ISU European Championships in 2025 and returned two months later to finish fifth in the World. He thought about retiring but came back stronger. Nevertheless, the road was rough.
Kevin Aymoz (FRA) had to overcome a burn-out © ISU
“Almost two years ago I burned out,” Aymoz recalled. “I was in a really dark place, and I had to fight to stay alive. I'm fighting every day mentally to not be dragged down by what I can hear (online), people making fun of me sometimes. I'm really scared every day. I've been through stuff like eating disorder that I've never had before. Every day when I wake up, I'm fighting to put clothes on and say, what are people going to think of what I'm going to wear today?
“Being an athlete is not easy. You go through highs and lows, through doubts. You are pushing the limits of your body very far and mentally you are pushing very, very far. You do that under pressure, in front of the media, the cameras. There is a lot of talk about us on social media. When you fail, it hurts. After Skate Canada, I tried to remember who is skating inside me. It is the little Kevin, who is looking for some fun on the ice. When I started to skate, I liked to skate, to turn, to jump, the music, the costumes. This is what I am trying to recall and it helps me to perform.”
Fueled by his success at Skate America, Aymoz is motivated to see what else this season has in store for him. “I’m ready to fight mentally and physically to compete with my friends at the Olympic Games and have fun,” he said.
