She had never been on the ice, but Diana Hong dreamed of being a figure skater.
Growing up in Korea, there was not an abundance of skating rinks so access to ice time was very limited.
But Hong was drawn to the sport, especially South Korean skater Yuna Kim, the 2010 Olympic gold medalist and 2014 silver medalist.
So instead of gliding along the ice, Hong sporting endeavours consisted of synchronized swimming and ballet — which she did competitively for eight years — and the only type of skating she did was on roller blades.
But when the family moved to Canada, one of the first things Hong did was persuade her mother to allow her to try figure skating.
“When I came here, there were rinks everywhere,” Hong recalled.
Hong enrolled in the Langley Figure Skating Club’s Learn to Skate program.
This was in 2011 and less than four years later, the 16-year-old is a rising star in the sport.
Hong is now in the competitive stream at the competition prenovice level and can land a double axel, a staple jump that every competitive skater needs in their repertoire.
What makes that even more impressive is the fact most skaters begin the sport at age five or six, whereas Hong was 11.
“That is pretty significant accomplishment in an early specialization sport,” explained Regan Taylor, the skating director for the Langley Figure Skating Club.
“She is an extremely hard worker with a very good work ethic,” Taylor said.
“Diana is willing to try new things and is very coachable.”
And that hard work translated into Hong being presented the StarSkater of the Year award for the B.C. region last month.
“My mom didn’t even think I would make it this far,” Hong said with a laugh.
“When I started skating, it wasn’t easy. But I really wanted to do this.”
Hong credited her love of figure skating in helping her adjust to life in Canada, especially in the early going with limited English skills.
“Whenever I stepped on the ice, everything else just (went) away,” she said.
“Skating makes me happy.”
And Hong has her sights set on going even further in the sport.
On Wednesday, she was one of three Langley girls selected to skate with Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in a special seminar hosted by Lindt Chocolate.
The former Canadian Olympic medalists were in the Lower Mainland for Stars on Ice.
Hong was joined by fellow club members Kate Boyes and Kayla Halliday at the exclusive event.
Hong, who recently became a permanent resident of Canada, hopes to skate one day at the Olympics.
She knows there is work to be done.
“When I was in ballet, I didn’t have trouble competing, I always got gold,” she said.
“But when I started skating, I would do well in practice but the thing I have to work on is mental strength and toughness in competitions.”
The Grade 10 student at R.E. Mountain Secondary is set to enter the IB program at the school next year.
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Hong and the rest of the Langley Figure Skating Club were competing over the long weekend at Surrey’s Fleetwood Arena.
Hong won bronze in the gold interpretative division and was 15th in the pre-novice ladies division.
Kate Boyes won bronze in the bronze interpretative division.
Leanne Van Dongen was seventh in the intro interpretative division.
Other results included:
Star 1: Cailtyn Nash (bronze); Rhianna Antoniuk-Davies (bronze).
Star 2: Lucy Zhou (gold); Kayden Stewart (silver); Susan Ping (bronze); Mikayla Holmquist (bronze); and Moriah Holmquist (bronze).
Star 3: Annika Cmolik (merit).
Star 4: Kayla Halliday (first); Kate Boyes (fifth); Amu Fukao (fifth); Sydney Thorarinson (fifth); Leanne Van Dongen (12th).
Star 5: Emi Gelineau (fifth); Katrina Schmig (sixth).
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In addition to Hong’s StarSkate award, coach Julie Kivinen — who has been with the Langley Figure Skating Club for 30 years — was presented the Elizabeth Swan Memorial Award for the entire B.C./Yukon
She received the award for her contributions to the sport.
And Taylor has been selected to attend the National Coaching Conference in Winnipeg. She has been accepted into a special program for coaches in the Learn to Skate program.