The Athletes

Senior Women

Joannie Rochette
2006 Canadian champion

Joannie Rochette amazed fans in Victoria and across Canada when she won the 2006 HomeSense Skate Canada International ISU Grand Prix after being fifth after the short program. She also conquered fans with her free skate outfit by winning the HomeSense contest for best costume voted by spectators. Rochette obtained her best scores at international events in this season’s ISU Grand Prix, and is aiming to win her third consecutive national title in Halifax. The highlight of the Ile Dupas, Que. native’s 2005-2006 season came at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy, where she placed fifth, the highest Olympic placement for a Canadian woman since Elizabeth Manley’s silver medal in Calgary in 1988. Rochette, whose interests include jumping trampoline, ballet, yoga, rollerblading, reading, dancing and music, is busy studying natural and health sciences at the College Andre-Grasset in Montreal. She plans on studying a health-related program at university in the future.

Mira Leung
2006 Canadian silver medallist

Mira Leung competed in two events in this season’s ISU Grand Prix Series and placed in the top ten in both events. Leung says winning the silver medal at last year’s national championships is one of the highlights of her skating career. She also made her Olympic debut in Turin last February and was Canada's youngest 2006 Olympian. Leung started skating when she was three-years-old after getting her first taste of the sport at a public skating session. She was enrolled in Skate Canada’s CanSkate program and progressed quickly. At the age of five, Leung was taking private lessons. By the time she was seven, she was competing provincially at the juvenile level, the youngest B.C. skater ever to do so. Leung received her first international assignment at the age of 10. At 13, she competed in her first ISU Junior Grand Prix event.

Lesley Hawker
2006 Canadian bronze medallist

Lesley Hawker, the current Canadian bronze medallist, had two top-ten results on this season’s ISU Grand Prix Series circuit. Hawker has improved her result at every national championships she has competed in and is hoping to continue to move up onto the podium in Halifax. Hawker began skating at the age of six. She enrolled in CanSkate when she was eight, and began competing as a 15-year-old, after she landed her first double Axel. Hawker landed her first triple jump, a Salchow, at 18. The oldest member of a family with 10 children, Hawker worked as a waitress since she was 16-years-old for 30 to 40 hours a week to pay for her skating. In addition to her skating, Hawker was also a competitive soccer player. Hawker had a special day in June 2006, when she married long-time friend Jamie Doherty at a ceremony in Barrie, Ontario.

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