Rachel Parsons (figure skater)

Personal life

Rachel Parsons was born November 19, 1997, in Rockville, Maryland. She has two siblings – Michael and Katie. In 2016, she graduated from Magruder High School in Rockville, Maryland and attended Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. In August 2019, she came out publicly as bisexual.

Parsons participated in the June 1, 2020 protests in Lafayette Square, after concluding that "sitting at home and being angry wasn’t doing enough.” She was hit by a rubber bullet when federal security services opened fire. A photograph of Parsons was featured on the June 2, 2020, edition of The Washington Post.

Career

Early years

Rachel Parsons started skating at age six because she wanted to learn how to stand up on the ice. After joining the Wheaton Ice Skating Academy in June 2006, she started focusing solely on ice dance. With Kyle MacMillan, she won gold on the juvenile level at the 2009 U.S. Championships and then gold on the intermediate level at the 2010 U.S. Championships.

She teamed up with her older brother, Michael, in February 2010. They won gold on the novice level at the 2011 U.S. Championships and debuted on the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) series in September 2011, placing 9th in Gdańsk, Poland. After taking the junior pewter medal at the 2012 U.S. Championships, they represented the United States at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, placing 4th. They were also selected for the 2012 World Junior Championships in Minsk, Belarus, where they finished 15th.

Competing in the 2012–13 JGP series, the Parsons placed 6th in Linz, Austria, before taking bronze in Zagreb, Croatia.

2013–14 season

The Parsons obtained silver at both of their 2013–14 JGP assignments, which took place in Košice, Slovakia, and Ostrava, Czech Republic. They qualified for the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan, where they placed sixth. The duo won bronze at the junior level at the 2014 U.S. Championships and capped off their season with an 8th-place finish at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

2014–15 season

The Parsons medaled at both their 2014–15 JGP assignments, receiving bronze in Aichi, Japan, and silver in Zagreb, Croatia. They finished as the first alternates for the JGP Final and won silver on the junior level at the 2015 U.S. Championships. Concluding their season, they placed fourth at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

2015–16 season: World Junior silver and Junior Grand Prix Final bronze

During the 2015–16 JGP series, the Parsons were awarded gold in Bratislava, Slovakia, and Zagreb, Croatia. Competing in Barcelona, Spain, at their second JGP Final, the siblings took the bronze medal behind Lorraine McNamara / Quinn Carpenter and Alla Loboda / Pavel Drozd, having placed second in the short dance and fifth in the free. At the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, they placed first in the short and second in the free, winning the silver medal behind McNamara/Carpenter.

2016–17 season: World Junior champion and Junior Grand Prix Final gold

Competing in their sixth JGP season, the Parsons were awarded gold in Yokohama, Japan, and Dresden, Germany, both times ahead of Russia's Anastasia Shpilevaya / Grigory Smirnov. In December 2016, they competed at the JGP Final in Marseille, France; ranked second in the short and first in the free, they won the title by a margin of 0.63 over Loboda/Drozd.

The following month, the Parsons would win their first junior national title at the 2017 U.S. Championships, over 11 points clear of the field. The siblings would cap off their undefeated season by winning the 2017 World Junior Championships; similar to the 2016–17 JGP Final, the Parsons won the event overall after placing second in the short and first in the free, earning an even narrower victory of 0.56 ahead of Loboda/Drozd. The Parsons earned personal bests in their combined total and free dance scores at their fifth trip to the Junior Championships.

2017–18 season: International senior debut

Moving to the senior level, the Parsons debuted at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, winning the silver medal behind longtime rivals McNamara/Carpenter, who were also making their senior debut. They then took the silver medal at the 2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy, their debut on the ISU Challenger series. Assigned to two Grand Prix events, they finished ninth at Skate America and seventh at the Rostelecom Cup. They then competed at a second Challenger event, the Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they finished eighth.

Competing at the senior level at the 2018 U.S. Championships, they placed fifth, and thus did not qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. They were instead sent to the 2018 Four Continents Championships, where they finished sixth.

2018–19 season: Final season

After a second straight silver medal at Lake Placid's summer ice dance event, the siblings competed in three straight Challenger events, winning consecutive silver medals at the Asian Open, Nebelhorn Trophy and Nepela Trophy. At their first Grand Prix event in Japan, the 2018 NHK Trophy, they won their first and only Grand Prix medal, a bronze. At the 2018 Internationaux de France, their second Grand Prix, they finished fifth. At the 2019 U.S. Championships, the Parsons placed sixth.

On April 2, 2019, Rachel announced on Instagram that she was retiring from figure skating following a lengthy struggle with an eating disorder. Her brother Michael intended to continue skating, and subsequently formed a new partnership with Caroline Green.

Programs

Ice dance with Michael Parsons

Competitive highlights

• GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
• CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
• JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series

Ice dance with Michael Parsons

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Detailed results

Ice dance with Michael Parsons

Senior level

|Jul 28–29, 2017|USA 2017 Lake Placid IDI|3|61.25|2|95.57|2|156.82 |Sep 21–23, 2017|SVK 2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy|2|67.48|3|95.66|2|163.14 |Oct 20–22, 2017|RUS 2017 Rostelecom Cup|7|59.41|8|89.34|7|148.75 |Nov 24–26, 2017|USA 2017 Skate America|8|58.36|9|87.18|9|145.54 |Dec 6–9, 2017|CRO 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb|9|60.18|8|92.20|8|152.38 |Dec 29, 2017–Jan 8, 2018|USA 2018 U.S. Championships|5|72.69|6|103.38|5|176.07 |Jan 22–28, 2018|TAI 2018 Four Continents Championships|6|60.18|6|95.12|6|155.30 |Jul 24–27, 2018|USA 2018 Lake Placid IDI|2||2||2|164.74 |Aug 1–5, 2018|THA 2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy|1|64.47|3|92.66|2|157.13 |Sep 12–16, 2018|ITA 2018 CS Lombardia Trophy|2|68.20|3|102.48|2|170.68 |Sep 26–29, 2018|GER 2018 CS Nebelhorn Trophy|2|70.02|2|110.93|2|180.95 |Nov 9–11, 2018|JPN 2018 NHK Trophy|3|69.07|3|109.57|3|178.64 |Nov 23–25, 2018|FRA 2018 Internationaux de France|6|68.14|6|103.03|5|171.17 |Jan 19–27, 2019|USA 2019 U.S. Championships|6|72.52|7|97.74|6|170.26

Junior level

|Sep 14–17, 2011|POL 2011 JGP Poland|10|43.03|9|64.94|9|107.97 |Jan 15–17, 2012|AUT 2012 Winter Youth Olympics|4|44.69|4|69.53|4|114.22 |Jan 22–29, 2012|USA 2012 U.S. Championships (Junior)|3|50.80|4|72.46|4|123.26 |Feb 27–Mar 4, 2012|BLR 2012 World Junior Championships|16|45.37|14|63.79|15|109.16 |Sep 12–15, 2012|AUT 2012 JGP Austria|4|51.07|8|62.98|6|114.05 |Oct 3–6, 2012|CRO 2012 JGP Croatia|2|56.35|3|77.74|3|134.09 |Sep 12–15, 2013|SVK 2013 JGP Slovakia|2|52.09|2|79.01|2|131.10 |Oct 2–5, 2013|CZE 2013 JGP Czech Republic|1|59.54|6|75.19|2|134.73 |Dec 5–8, 2013|JPN 2013–14 Junior Grand Prix Final|6|46.11|6|70.49|6|116.60 |Jan 5–12, 2014|USA 2014 U.S. Championships (Junior)|3|59.32|2|86.46|3|145.78 |Mar 10–16, 2014|BUL 2014 World Junior Championships|3|58.65|5|79.88|4|138.53 |Sep 11–14, 2014|JPN 2014 JGP Japan|1|55.71|3|75.71|3|131.42 |Oct 8–11, 2014|CRO 2014 JGP Croatia|2|56.28|2|84.05|2|140.33 |Jan 7–10, 2015|POL Mentor Toruń Cup (Junior)|2|58.58|2|84.60|2|143.18 |Jan 18–25, 2015|USA 2015 U.S. Championships (Junior)|2|60.61|2|84.37|2|144.98 |Mar 2–8, 2015|EST 2015 World Junior Championships|4|58.39|5|82.55|4|140.94 |Jul 27–30, 2015|USA 2015 Lake Placid IDI (Junior)|1||1||1|141.41 |Aug 19–22, 2015|SVK 2015 JGP Slovakia|2|59.02|1|90.40|1|149.42 |Oct 7–10, 2015|CRO 2015 JGP Croatia|1|66.49|1|94.30|1|160.79 |Dec 9–13, 2015|ESP 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final|2|64.91|5|79.50|3|144.41 |Jan 15–24, 2016|USA 2016 U.S. Championships (Junior)|2|70.29|2|95.17|2|165.46 |Mar 14–20, 2016|HUN 2016 World Junior Championships|1|67.88|2|94.86|2|162.74 |Jul 27–30, 2016|USA 2016 Lake Placid IDI (Junior)|1|66.15|1|90.02|1|156.17 |Sep 8–11, 2016|JPN 2016 JGP Japan|1|66.76|1|93.66|1|160.42 |Oct 5–8, 2016|GER 2016 JGP Germany|1|65.93|1|91.70|1|157.63 |Dec 7–11, 2016|FRA 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final|2|66.91|1|95.59|1|162.50 |Jan 14–22, 2017|USA 2017 U.S. Championships (Junior)|1|72.42|1|103.91|1|176.33 |Mar 15–19, 2017|TAI 2017 World Junior Championships|2|67.29|1|97.54|1|164.83

References

References

1. "Competition Results: Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS". International Skating Union.
2. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2011/2012". International Skating Union.
3. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2012/2013". International Skating Union.
4. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2013/2014". International Skating Union.
5. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2014/2015". International Skating Union.
6. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2015/2016". International Skating Union.
7. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2016/2017". International Skating Union.
8. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2017/2018". International Skating Union.
9. "Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS: 2018/2019". International Skating Union.
10. "Rachel Parsons". Wheaton Ice Skating Academy.
11. Slater, Paula. (July 21, 2015). "Parsons and Parsons look to raise the bar". Golden Skate.
12. Flade, Tatjana. (20 March 2016). "McNamara and Carpenter take World Junior title". Golden Skate.
13. Kondakova, Anna. (9 December 2016). "Parsons and Parsons capture gold in Marseille". Golden Skate.
14. Shaffer, Jonas. (March 26, 2016). "Two local ice-dancing pairs back from Hungary and closer than ever". [[The Baltimore Sun]].
15. Xiong, Wei. (September 30, 2016). "Parsons and Parsons: "We are always trying to improve"". Golden Skate.
16. Flade, Tatjana. (18 March 2017). "USA's Rachel and Michael Parsons clinch Junior World title". Golden Skate.
17. Parson, Rachel. (April 2, 2019). "I've written and rewritten this post so many times I've lost count...".
18. Parsons, Rachel. (August 18, 2019). "Ladies and Gents, for those that aren't aware, I like girls too.".
19. Hull, Steve. (3 June 2020). "For Derwood woman, a harrowing experience at Lafayette Park protest". Bethesda Magazine.