Alice Sue Claeys (born February 24, 1975) is a former competitive

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. Representing Belgium, she won silver at the

1992 Skate Canada International The 1992 Skate Canada International was held in Victoria, British Columbia on November 5–8. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dan ...

and finished in the top ten at three ISU Championships — the 1992 World Junior Championships (4th), the 1992 World Championships (7th), and the 1993 European Championships (8th).

Personal life

Claeys was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. At age 11, she moved with her family to

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

and became a student at Burnsville High School. She began studying at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

at age 14.

Skating career

Claeys trained in Atlanta and

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jane ...

until she was 11 and then trained in Minnesota. She won the junior ladies' title at the 1990 U.S. Championships. Claeys began representing Belgium in the 1991–92 season. After placing fourth behind Chen Lu at the World Junior Championships in

Hull, Quebec Hull is the central business district and oldest neighbourhood of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadia ...

, she was named in the Belgian team to the 1992 European Championships. Making her senior ISU Championship debut, she finished 11th at the event in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

, Switzerland. She then placed seventh, between

Tonya Harding Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice ska ...

and

Yuka Sato is a Japanese former competitive figure skater and choreographer. She is the 1994 World champion, the 1990 World Junior champion and the 1993 & 1994 Japanese national champion. She placed 7th at the 1992 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 1994 W ...

, at the 1992 World Championships in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. In the 1992–93 season, Claeys won silver at the

, placed sixth at the

1992 NHK Trophy The 1992 NHK Trophy was held at the Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of ...

and fifth at the

1992 Grand Prix International de Paris The 1992 Grand Prix International de Paris was held at the Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Results Men Ladies Pairs Ice da ...

. She ranked eighth at the 1993 European Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. At the 1993 World Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, she placed 21st in the short program and withdrew from the competition. The 1993–94 season was less successful for Claeys. She finished 16th at the 1994 European Championships and 19th at the 1994 World Championships. Claeys represented the United States at the

1997 Winter Universiade The 1997 Winter Universiade, the XVIII Winter Universiade, took place in Muju and Chonju (Jeonju), South Korea. The snow sport events were held in Muju Resort in Muju, while the ice events were held in Chonju. On 6 July 1993 during the 1993 Su ...

, where she finished sixth.

Competitive highlights

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claeys, Alice Sue 1975 births American female single skaters Belgian female single skaters Living people American people of Belgian descent Sportspeople from Atlanta Competitors at the 1997 Winter Universiade 21st-century American women