South Africa's Gian-Quen Isaacs draws strength from Chad le Clos on road to Milano Cortina 2026

Gian-Quen Isaacs defied the haters. Brushed aside their taunts. Laced up her ice skates and is hoping to become the first South African figure skater since Nagano 1998 to go to the Winter Olympic Games.

While the 20-year-old Capetonian is in hot pursuit of her own dreams, she hopes to break new ground for the sport in South Africa at the upcoming ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier 2025.

“My biggest thing is I really want my journey to be an inspiration to others. I want the new generation of kids to come up and have something already,” Isaacs told Olympics.com.

“I want to be able to open the doors for the skaters so that it's done. All you have to do now is your best. I want to... be the change.”

Isaacs was first introduced to the ice rink when her sports-mad mother took her to an ice hockey match in Cape Town. The head coach at the learn-to-skate club recognised Isaacs’ potential and referred her to her current coach, Megan Allely-Painczyk.

“I remember thinking, ‘What's figure skating? What is that?’ I had only watched the hockey games, so I was like, ‘Do I really want to be changing sports?’ I remember I went to one of the competitions, and I never looked back. It looked so interesting.”

As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation. Click here to view the qualification system for each sport.

2020: "In South Africa, it's known as a Cinderella sport" - Gian-Quen Issacs

ISU Skate to Milano Figure Skating Qualifier 2025 preview

Gian-Quen Isaacs: Blossoming into a bright prospect

Isaacs has blossomed into one of South Africa’s brightest prospects since her early beginnings at the Ice Station in Cape Town at age eight.

Her single mother, Letitia Isaacs, had to juggle life, work and a daughter looking to break it into one of the most competitive sports in the world. The young Isaacs spent time on the ice early mornings before school and straight afterwards.

Pursuing a sport that is not considered mainstream comes with additional challenges, which include a fair share of ignorance and some animosity from within.

“Very early on, I was told that I wouldn't amount to much in my sport because of where I came from and my circumstances and everything,” she recalls.

“It would be either people in the rink or because it's a very Cinderella sport, it would just be anyone who hears about figure skating, because it is a Cinderella sport in South Africa. It's not cricket, rugby, soccer.”

Gian-Quen Isaacs: 'I'm still here!'

After falling short of qualifying for Beijing 2022, Isaacs now has another shot at becoming the first South African in 25 years to go to the winter showpiece.

Isaacs came to a difficult crossroads ahead of the previous Winter Games, with a bout of COVID-19 forcing the young athlete into deep introspection about her career.

The affable youngster had lung problems before she contracted the virus, which exacerbated her illness. To add to her frustrations, Isaacs was not allowed to get onto the ice for two months.

“Being away from skating, I had to think, ‘Okay, I've never gone more than a week without skating. I really had to re-evaluate and think, ‘Okay, is this something I actually see myself doing? Am I doing it because it's all I've done, and is it because I have to, or is it because I want to?” she said.

‘I found myself asking the hard questions and I'm still here.”

Isaacs is now all in as she looks to emulate Shirene Human, who was the last South African figure skater to compete at the Winter Olympics in Nagano 1998. Human also featured at six World Championships.

“I'm quite realistic, so I don't see this qualifier just about getting to the Olympics. I see it as an experience where I can put myself out there, and I can do the best that I can. That's all I can do,” Isaacs said.

“I want to get to senior world champs, and I want to qualify for or be able to get into the Grand Prix series.”

Lessons from Chad le Clos

The hours on the ice have paid dividends in recent years as she is exposed to more international competitions.

She took a step closer to the big leagues when she competed at the Four Continents Championships in the Republic of Korea. Isaacs has also spent time at the Ice Lab in Bergamo, Italy, one of Europe's premier training hubs for the sport, working under coach and choreographer Ondrej Hotarek.

As she navigates the pressures of competing on the global stage, Isaacs has found inspiration and words of wisdom from South Africa’s second most decorated Olympian, Chad le Clos.

Le Clos’ incredible upset victory over Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly at London 2012 counts as one of her earliest memories of the Olympic Games.

When Isaacs got to meet her idol earlier in 2025, she asked him for some tips on making it on the global stage.

“So, I met him again in January, and he's so cool, and he had a lot of good tips when it came to being an athlete at this stage of my career,” she said.

“I was saying that it was really difficult as a South African to go out on that stage and do well, especially with a lot of pressure.

“And I still remember he told me that I should, instead of thinking of it as pressure, I should really just perform. I should go out there and be like, 'Okay, you are all here to see me. And he was like, ‘Go in with the idea of 'Okay, I'm just here and I'm performing, and I am going to make everyone watch me and I'm going to be the best. So yeah, it was really good advice.”

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