Maikki Uotila-Kraatz (born 25 February 1977) is a Finnish former
ice dancer
Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...
. With
Toni Mattila
Toni, Toñi or Tóni is a unisex given name.
In Spanish, Italian, Croatian and Finnish, it is a masculine given name used as a short form of the names derived from Antonius like Antonio, Ante or Anttoni.
In Danish, English, Finnish, Norwegi ...
, she is the 1997 Finnish national champion and competed in the final segment at the
1996 European Championships.
Personal life
Uotila was born on 25 February 1977 in
Espoo
Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...
, Finland.
[ She received a ]Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in dance from Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...
in New York.[ In 2004, she settled in ]Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada.[ She married ]Victor Kraatz
Victor Kraatz, (born April 7, 1971) is a Canadian former ice dancer. In 2003, he and his partner, Shae-Lynn Bourne, became the first North American ice dancers to win a World Championship.
Personal life
Born on April 7, 1971 in West Berlin, V ...
on June 19, 2004. They have two sons – Oliver (born September 14, 2006) and Henry (born July 10, 2010).[
]
Career
Competitive
Uotila competed as a single skater until 1994, winning the junior silver medal at the 1992 Nordic Championships. In 1994, she switched to ice dancing, teaming up Toni Mattila. They competed in the free dance at the 1996 European Championships in Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
, Bulgaria, finishing 23rd. They also appeared at the 1996 World Championships in Edmonton
Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada, but were eliminated after the compulsory dances.
After two silver medals, Uotila/Mattila won the Finnish national title in the 1996–1997 season. They placed 26th at the 1997 European Championships in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France. They were coached by Arja Wuorivirta and Martin Skotnicky Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austra ...
.[ They ended their partnership in 1997 after three seasons together.
Uotila competed with Michel Bigras in the 1997–1998 season.
]
Post-competitive
Uotila coaches ice dancing at the BC Centre of Excellence
The "Champs International Skating Centre of British Columbia" (formerly known as the 'BC Centre of Excellence') is one of two major figure skating training centers in Canada. Located in Burnaby, British Columbia, it is home to many great national a ...
.[ She has also worked as a dance instructor at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in ]Burnaby
Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...
.[
]
Programs
(with Mattila)
Competitive highlights
Ice dancing with Bigras
Ice dancing with Mattila
Ladies' singles
References
External links
The Figure Skating Corner: Uotila & Mattila
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uotila, Maikki
Finnish female ice dancers
1977 births
Finnish emigrants to Canada
Living people
Sportspeople from Espoo