Isabeau Levito

Levito began learning how to skate in 2010 at the age of three in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Her mother, a fan of figure skating, initially put her in learn-to-skate classes as a way to improve her balance.[3] Levito began taking private lessons with her current coach Yulia Kuznetsova, a former pair skater, at age three. She competed at her first U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the juvenile level in 2018 where she took the title, and would later go on to win the silver medal in the intermediate category in 2019, the junior silver medal in 2020, and the junior national title in 2021.

Levito made her junior international debut at the 2021 JGP France II, the second of two Junior Grand Prix event held in Courchevel, in August. She won both segments of competition to take the title ahead of South Korean skater Kim Chae-yeon and Canadian competitor Kaiya Ruiter.[4] At her second event in October, the 2021 JGP Austria, Levito took the silver medal between Russian skaters Sofia Muravieva in first and Anastasia Zinina in third.[5] Due to her win in France, Levito qualified as the fifth seeded skater to the junior women's event at the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final in Osaka, Japan under the qualification rules established for the 2021–22 season, but she withdrew from the event in November due to injury.[6] The Final was later cancelled due to concerns related to the Omicron variant.[7]

After recovering from an unspecified lower body injury, Levito competed at her first senior-level U.S. Championships in January. She placed fourth in the short program and narrowly advanced to second in the free skate to take the bronze medal overall, behind Mariah Bell and Karen Chen. Due to her age, she was ineligible to be named to the American Olympic team.[8]

Levito was assigned to finish her season at the 2022 World Junior Championships, but these were soon disrupted by events. Shortly after the conclusion of the Olympics, Russia invaded Ukraine. In response, the International Skating Union banned all Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at ISU championships.[9] With the Russian women having dominated the women's discipline in recent years, their absence made Levito a medal favourite.[10] As well, due to both the invasion and the Omicron variant, the World Junior Championships could not be held as scheduled in Sofia in early March, and as a result were moved to mid-April in Tallinn.[11] She won the short program, introducing a Lutz-loop combination into competition, with a score of 72.50, 3.12 points ahead of Shin Ji-a of South Korea.[12] Levito finished second in the free skate, behind Shin, but remained in first overall by 0.54 points and took the gold medal. She was the first American woman to win the World Junior Championships since Rachael Flatt in 2008.[13]