MILAN, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Spain's presence in Wednesday's Olympic ice dancing competition offered a snapshot of two contrasting pathways converging on the same stage, as the country fielded two couples in the event for the first time.
British-born Olivia Smart, who has represented Spain for the past decade, and Germany-born Tim Dieck were among the 13 couples competing in Milano Cortina who train at the Ice Academy of Montreal, one of the discipline's dominant hubs in recent years.
Alongside them were Madrid-based Sofia Val and Asaf Kazimov, who are a product of Spain's emerging domestic ice dance push, led by former Olympians Sara Hurtado and Kirill Khaliavin at the SK International Ice Dance School.
Smart and Dieck finished ninth overall with a total of 201.49 points, while Val and Kazimov - the younger couple, competing at their first Olympics - placed 19th with 165.23.
Even though figure skating remains a minority sport with limited elite infrastructure in Spain, Smart said the sight of a larger skating contingent from the nation showed how far things have come since the Beijing 2022 Games.
"To walk out with another dance team, more skaters, a bigger team than what we were four years ago, and to see the growth that Spanish sport has had is incredible," the 28-year-old told Reuters. "We're proud to be part of pushing the sport and making history for Spain."
The pair, who have competed together since 2023, train under Canadian coaches Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon, alongside French coach Romain Haguenauer, sharing ice with many of the world's top teams, including newly crowned champions Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron.
DOMESTIC PUSH
Despite their elite training abroad, Dieck said he hopes their Olympic visibility can help shift investment back onto Spanish soil.
"We made history with having two couples in the final," he said. "Hopefully we will have the opportunity to put more money in new facilities, maybe in Barcelona, and build a new ice rink.
"The Grand Prix Final was a couple of years ago there, and hopefully we will get a facility there, and who knows what can happen then."
With different flair but the same ambition, Val and Kazimov want to prove that an Olympic pathway can be built at home.
"For the kids who can watch this on TV and see that it's possible to train in Spain and reach the Olympic Games from Spain, it's absolutely incredible," Kazimov said. "In our rink in Majadahonda, they can see that you don't have to go abroad."
Val said the Olympic experience, competing without the weight of expectations, will serve them well over the long run.
"I think now we know what to expect," she said. "There's something magical about feeling this for the first time, especially without so many expectations about the result."
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Milan, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
