Starr Andrews

Starr Andrews (born June 23, 2001) is an American figure skater. She is the 2022 Skate Canada International silver medalist, 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb bronze medalist, and 2023 U.S. Nationals pewter medalist. She has finished in the top ten at three ISU Championships and is the first Black American woman to win a Grand Prix medal in the singles discipline. Earlier in her career, Andrews is the 2017 U.S. national junior silver medalist.

Personal life

Starr Andrews was born on June 23, 2001, in Los Angeles, California. She was home-schooled. She has a brother and two sisters, including Skylar, a gymnast, and Ashton, a baseball player. Their mother, Toshawa Andrews, has cardiac microvascular disease, which has led to a dozen heart attacks.

Career

Early years

Andrews became interested in figure skating after her mother brought her to the ice rink when she was three. She recalled in 2018: "I wanted to get on the ice really, really bad, but I was too small, so I had to wait." She began learning to skate in 2005. A video of nine-year-old Andrews skating to Whip My Hair went viral after appearing on YouTube in December 2010. By March 2018, it had reached 53 million views.

Derrick Delmore became her coach around 2013. Andrews placed 6th on the novice level at the 2016 U.S. Championships.

2016–17 season: Junior international debut

Andrews decided to move up to the junior level, coached by Delmore and Peter Kongkasem in Lakewood, California and Riverside, California. Making her international debut, she won the junior ladies title at the Golden Bear of Zagreb in October 2016.

In January, she received the junior silver medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships. After Amber Glenn withdrew, Andrews was added to the U.S. team to the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan. At the event, held in March, she qualified to the final segment by placing ninth in the short program and went on to finish twelfth overall.

2017–18 season: Senior international debut

Andrews began her season on the junior level, placing fifth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Austria. In December, making her senior international debut, she placed sixth at the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where she also obtained the minimum technical scores for both senior-level ISU Championships.

In January, Andrews finished sixth in the senior ladies' category at the 2018 U.S. Championships, having placed eighth in the short program and fifth in the free skate. She was assigned to the 2018 Four Continents, where she placed seventh, and the 2018 World Junior Championships, from which she withdrew. She was replaced by Emmy Ma.

2018–19 season: Grand Prix debut

In early August, Andrews competed at the 2018 CS Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy; she placed second in the short program with a personal best score but dropped to fifth after the free skate. In September, at the 2018 CS Autumn Classic International, she ranked fifth in the short and seventh overall. She attempted the triple Axel in the free program, but her jump had a two-footed landing and was downgraded due to insufficient rotation. She made her Grand Prix debut in October at the 2018 Skate America and placed ninth in the short program, tenth in the free skate, and tenth overall. She was also invited to the 2018 Skate Canada International, where she placed fourth in the short program, ninth in the free skate, and seventh overall.

Andrews would place eighth at the 2019 U.S. Championships before going on to win silver at the 2019 International Challenge Cup and the 2019 Egna Spring Trophy.

2019–20 season

Beginning on the Challenger series, Andrews placed fifth at both the 2019 CS Lombardia Trophy and the 2019 CS Finlandia Trophy. On the Grand Prix, Andrews placed fourth in the short program at the 2019 Internationaux de France with a new personal best. Fifth in the free skate, she placed fifth overall.

Andrews finished sixth at the 2020 U.S. Championships. Finishing the season at the 2020 World Junior Championships, Andrews placed eighth.

2020–21 season

Andrews started her season competing at the ISP Points Challenge, a virtual US domestic competition. At the first opportunity, she placed fourth. She was assigned to compete at the 2020 Skate America in Las Vegas, an event attended only by skaters training in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic. She placed eighth.

Competing at the 2021 U.S. Championships, also held in Las Vegas, Andrews placed twelfth.

2021–22 season

Beginning the Olympic season on the Challenger series, Andrews placed fifth at the 2021 CS Autumn Classic International.

Following Bradie Tennell's withdrawal from the 2021 Skate America, Andrews was named to replace her. She placed tenth at the event. She finished in fifth at the 2021 CS Cup of Austria. She had to withdraw from the 2021 Internationaux de France due to an injury in the warmup.

Andrews finished ninth at the 2022 U.S. Championships. This result earned her an assignment to the 2022 Four Continents Championships, where she came ninth as well. In the spring, she had surgery to treat supraventricular tachycardia, which she had experienced for almost a decade.

2022–23 season: First Grand Prix medal

Andrews finished in sixth place at the 2022 CS Nebelhorn Trophy to start the season. At her first Grand Prix assignment, the 2022 Skate Canada International, she finished fifth in the short program in a close field. She then "surprised" many by finishing second in the free skate, rising to take the silver medal. She became the first Black American woman to medal in singles in the Grand Prix era that began in 1995, and the second Black woman after Frenchwoman Surya Bonaly. Andrews noted the significance, saying "it is a huge deal for me. I am one of the few people of color in the sport, and to bring home a medal is even more special." Heading into the 2022 NHK Trophy, she planned to add a second flip to her free skate, having recovered from an ankle "tweak" that had necessitated lessening her content in the early events. Fifth in the short program, she dropped to ninth after the free skate, where she singled her planned second flip.

At the 2023 U.S. Championships, Andrews placed narrowly third in the short program. In the free skate she made two jump errors and was overtaken for the bronze medal by Amber Glenn, but she still won the pewter medal and stood on the senior podium for the first time in her career. She was the first African-American woman to stand on the US podium since Debi Thomas in 1988, which Andrews acknowledged as "amazing."

2023–24 season

Andrews' preparation for the new season was first delayed while spending time preparing for a potential appearance at Coachella that ultimately did not come to fruition. She then had heart surgery to deal with atrial tachycardia, which she had been dealing with for a decade. She was ultimately able to begin work on her programs by July, but she did not feature in early domestic and international competitions due both to the delays and to an unrelated illness. She finally debuted at the Kings Cup International in early October, winning the silver medal.

Beginning on the Grand Prix at the 2023 Skate Canada International, she finished sixth in the short program. Jump problems in the free skate dropped her to eighth place. She went on came tenth at the 2023 Grand Prix of Espoo.

Competing at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia, Andrews won the bronze medal.

At the 2024 U.S. Championships, Andrews was ninth in the short program but delivered a strong fifth-place free skate and moved up to sixth overall.

2024–25 season

Andrews began the season by competing on the 2024–25 ISU Challenger Series, finishing fifth at the 2024 Cranberry Cup International and tenth at the 2024 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge. In late November, she competed at the 2025 Pacific Coast Sectional Championships, where she won the silver medal, thus qualifying for the U.S. Championships. She then went on to win gold at the 2024 Santa Claus Cup.

At the 2025 U.S. Championships, Andrews placed a disappointing twelfth in the short program but delivered a solid free skate, placing fifth in that segment and finishing in sixth place overall. She then closed the season with a fourth-place finish at the 2025 International Challenge Cup.

2025–26 season

In preparation for the season, Andrews recorded the vocals for the track, "Turning Page," used for her free skate.

Andrews opened her season by competing on the 2025–26 Challenger Series, placing seventh at the 2025 CS Nepela Memorial and twelfth at the 2025 CS Trialeti Trophy.

In November, Andrews announced that the 2025–26 figure skating season was her last as a singles skater and that she intended to switch disciplines and pursue pair skating beginning with the 2026–27 season. Selected as a host pick for 2025 Skate America, Andrews delivered two clean programs, earning a new personal best free skate and combined total score and placing fifth overall. She subsequently finished fifth at the 2025 CS Tallinn Trophy.

At the 2026 U.S. Championships in January, Andrews finished in seventh place and was subsequently named to the 2026 Four Continents team.

At the 2026 Four Continents, Starr finished 8th after the short program, ultimately dropping to 15th overall after the free skate.

Programs

Competitive highlights

• GP – Event of the ISU Grand Prix Series
• JGP – Event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series
• CS – Event of the ISU Challenger Series
• TBD – Assigned
• WD – Withdrew from competition

Detailed results

Senior level

Junior level

External links

• at the International Skating Union
• at U.S. Figure Skating
• at Team USA
• at InterSportStats