Spencer Howe
Chan/Howe at the 2023 Four Continents Championships
Full name	Spencer Akira Howe
Born	(1996-09-11) September 11, 1996 (age 27) Burbank, California, U.S.
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Figure skating career
Country	United States
Partner	Emily Chan
Coach	Olga Ganicheva, Aleksey Letov
Skating club	The Skating Club of Boston
Began skating	2006
Medal record Representing   United States Figure skating: Pairs Four Continents Championships 2022 Tallinn Pairs 2023 Colorado Springs Pairs

Spencer Akira Howe (born September 11, 1996) is an American pair skater. With his skating partner, Emily Chan, he is a two-time Four Continents silver medalist ( 2022 and 2023) silver medalist, a two-time Grand Prix silver medalist ( 2022 Skate America; 2022 NHK Trophy), and a two-time U.S. national medalist (silver in 2023; pewter in 2022).

Personal life

Howe was born on September 11, 1996, in Burbank, California. ^[1] He was born to a white-American father and Japanese mother. ^[2]

As of 2022, Howe coaches both figure skating and hockey at The Skating Club of Boston, where he trains.

He is in a relationship with fellow figure skater Gabriella Izzo. ^[3]

Career

Early years

Howe began figure skating in 2006 at the age of nine after following his sister, who later became an ice dancer, into the sport. ^[3]

Early in his pairs career, Howe competed in partnership with Ami Koga for Japan. They were coached by Richard Gauthier, Bruno Marcotte, Sylvie Fullum, and Cynthia Lemaire in Saint-Leonard, Quebec, Canada, and appeared at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events in 2016. ^[4]

Competing with Nadine Wang, Howe finished fourth in junior pairs at the 2018 U.S. Championships. Their partnership dissolved shortly after.

Following the end of his partnership with Wang, Howe moved from Saint-Leonard, Quebec to his hometown of Los Angeles, California, considering retirement due to a recurring shoulder injury that he was struggling with at the time. However, he was contacted by the president of U.S. Figure Skating, asking if he would try out with Emily Chan, who was looking for a partner at the time and he agreed. ^[3]

Partnership with Chan

Early years

Howe teamed up with Chan in 2019, and the two decided to train at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, coached by Aleksey Letov and Olga Ganicheva. ^[5] In their second season together, Chan/Howe placed seventh at the 2020 Skate America and fifth at the 2021 U.S. Championships.

2021–22 season

Chan/Howe finished ninth at the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup. In January, they won pewter for fourth place at the 2022 U.S. Championships and were sent to the 2022 Four Continents Championships in Tallinn, Estonia. Ranked third in the short and second in the free, they moved ahead of Canada's Walsh/ Michaud to take the silver medal behind fellow Americans Lu/ Mitrofanov. ^[6]

2022–23 season

The international pairs scene going into the 2022–23 season was greatly altered by the International Skating Union banning all Russian skaters in response to their country's invasion of Ukraine. ^[7] With more podium opportunities for pairs outside of Russia, Chan/Howe began with a silver medal win at the 2022 CS U.S. Classic. Howe said that they were pleased with the outcome in light of injury troubles that had hindered their preparations. ^[8]

Given two Grand Prix assignments for the first time, they won the silver medal at the 2022 Skate Canada International. ^[9] They won a second silver medal weeks later at the 2022 NHK Trophy, qualifying for the Grand Prix Final. ^{[10] [11]} Despite a jump error in the free skate, Chan said they were "very happy with our skate." ^[12] Chan/Howe struggled at the Final, finishing sixth of six teams. ^[13]

Chan/Howe won the silver medal at the 2023 U.S. Championships, a new best podium placement at the national championships. Chan said they were both "really grateful" for the result. ^[14] With national champions Knierim/ Frazier declining to attend the 2023 Four Continents Championships in favour of a paid appearance at Art on Ice, Chan/Howe became the highest-ranked American team in attendance at a home ISU championship. ^[15] In the short program, Howe fell on his triple toe attempt, but they still placed third in the segment. ^{[16] [17]} In the free skate, they overtook Canadians Stellato/ Deschamps for the silver medal, their second. Chan called it "a special moment for both of us." ^{[18] [19]}

Chan/Howe concluded their season by making their World Championship debut, finishing fifth at the 2023 edition in Saitama. ^[20]

2023–24 season

For most of the 2022–23 season, Howe had been dealing what was eventually revealed to be a torn labrum, which necessitated surgery in May of 2023. Chan and Howe resumed training together in July, and initially hoped to be ready to compete on the Grand Prix circuit in the fall. ^[21] However, they subsequently had to withdraw from their assignments, as Howe's return to readiness proved slower than they had hoped. He would later say that the process was about getting "to a place where it’s like, oh, wow, this is what it feels like to actually be able to skate and not always be dealing and managing with pain." ^[22]

Chan/Howe announced that they would return to competition at the 2024 U.S. Championships in Columbus. ^[22] Despite Chan putting a hand down on the pair's throw loop in the short program, they won the segment by 1.29 points over Kam/ O'Shea. Afterward, they announced their withdrawal in advance of the free skate. Howe explained that the short program was "a big success for us, and a huge milestone to our comeback, but we feel we want to take this time to continue to get healthy and set ourselves up for success." ^[23]

Despite their withdrawal from the national championships, Chan/Howe were named to the American team from the 2024 World Championships in Montreal. ^[24] They came twelfth in the short program, having had issues on their throw and spins. ^[25] Thirteenth in the free skate, they finished twelfth overall. Chan viewed the result as "amazing for us," explaining that "last year we had a great debut. This year, we have a little bit different circumstances, but we're here and we're grateful." ^[26]

Programs

With Chan

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2023–24 [27]	Craw-Fever I Got a Feelin' in My Body by Elvis Presley choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 by Muse choreo. by Olga Ganicheva
2022–23 [1]	Nyah (from Mission: Impossible 2) by Hans Zimmer performed by CH2 choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	Ghost: The Musical Unchained Melody / The Love Inside performed by Richard Fleeshman and Caissie Levy Unchained Melody performed by Marc Martel choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	Something's Got to Give by Labrinth
2021–22 [28]		Elegy for the Arctic Divenire by Ludovico Einaudi choreo. by Olga Ganicheva
2020–21 [29]	Onmyoji 2 by Shigeru Umebayashi choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	The Prayer by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager, Alberto Testa, Tony Renis performed by Andrea Bocelli, Celine Dion choreo. by Olga Ganicheva
2019–20 [5]	Je Crois Entendre Encore by Alison Moyet choreo. by Olga Ganicheva	On the Nature of Daylight by Max Richter choreo. by Olga Ganicheva

With Koga

Season	Short program	Free skating
2016–17 [4]	Yesterday by Paul McCartney Yesterday (from André Rieu Celebrates ABBA – Music of the Night) choreo. by Julie Marcotte	Ryōmaden by Naoki Satō choreo. by Julie Marcotte

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix. Pewter medals (fourth place) awarded only at U.S. national and subnational events.

Pairs with Chan for the United States

International [30]
Event	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23	23–24
Worlds				5th	12th
Four Continents			2nd	2nd
GP Final				6th
GP NHK Trophy				2nd	WD
GP Skate America		7th
GP Skate Canada				2nd
CS U.S. Classic				2nd
CS Warsaw Cup			9th
Cranberry Cup			4th
John Nicks Challenge			6th	2nd
National [5]
U.S. Championships		5th	4th	2nd	WD
U.S. Pairs Final	6th
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Pairs with Wang for the United States

International: Junior
Event	17–18
Mentor Torun Cup	2nd
National
U.S. Championships	4th J

Pairs with Koga for Japan

International: Junior [31]
Event	16–17
JGP Czech Republic	9th
JGP Germany	8th

Men's singles for the United States

International: Junior
Event	13–14	14–15
JGP Belarus	15th J
JGP Estonia		12th
National
U.S. Championships	8th J	6th J

Detailed results

With Chan

2023–2024 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 18–24, 2024	2024 World Championships	12 62.86	13 112.58	12 175.44
January 22-28, 2024	2024 U.S. Championships	1 65.86	WD	WD
2022–2023 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
March 20–26, 2023	2023 World Championships	5 70.23	8 124.50	5 194.73
February 7–12, 2023	2023 Four Continents Championships	3 66.96	2 134.15	2 201.11
January 23–29, 2023	2023 U.S. Championships	2 66.86	2 130.00	2 196.86
December 8–11, 2022	2022–23 Grand Prix Final	6 53.85	6 109.06	6 162.91
November 18–20, 2022	2022 NHK Trophy	2 64.62	2 122.87	2 187.49
October 28–30, 2022	2022 Skate Canada International	2 67.39	3 119.09	2 186.48
September 12–16, 2022	2022 CS U.S. Classic	2 61.71	2 120.10	2 181.81
September 8–10, 2022	2022 John Nicks Pairs Challenge	2 60.45	2 113.64	2 174.09
2021–2022 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 18–23, 2022	2022 Four Continents Championships	3 64.47	2 116.47	2 180.94
January 3–9, 2022	2022 U.S. Championships	4 61.94	5 115.31	4 177.25
November 17–20, 2021	2021 CS Warsaw Cup	12 56.94	8 106.45	9 163.39
September 9–10, 2021	2021 John Nicks Pairs Challenge	6 59.77	6 110.31	6 170.08
August 11–15, 2021	2021 Cranberry Cup International	4 63.61	4 118.83	4 182.44
2020–2021 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
January 11–21, 2021	2021 U.S. Championships	5 60.41	5 116.65	5 177.06
October 23–24, 2020	2020 Skate America	7 55.58	8 95.57	7 151.15
2019–2020 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 12–16, 2019	2020 U.S. Pairs Final	6 49.76	5 89.28	6 139.04

References

External links

• ISU Biography
• U.S. Figure Skating Biography