A Timmins athlete is getting ready to share the spotlight with Canadian figure skating superstars.
When the Rock the Rink Tour, which is the last for Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir before they retire, hits Sault Ste. Marie Oct. 29, Julia Romualdi will be performing a solo routine.
The decorated Special Olympics figure skater has won a number of awards in the sport, including a silver medal at the Canada Winter Games.
The Rock the Rink Tour kicks off in British Columbia next week.
Along with Virtue and Moir, Olympians Patrick Chan and Elvis Stojko are also headlining the tour.
‘It’s an honour to be skating alongside these special people,” said Romualdi.
At most of the Canadian stops along the way, the skaters will be sharing the ice with a Special Olympics Canada athlete.
Romualdi is working on her routine, a solo performance to Avril Lavigne's song Fly.
“I chose that song because Avril Lavigne is one of my favourite singers and she’s also a Special Olympic ambassador,” she said.
The song has special meaning for Romualdi.
She said the lyrics describe her journey through skating.
“All my life I always drive to meet my goals and dreams. So my time to fly, that’s the perfect words to describe my life,” she said.
The 23-year-old keeps a busy schedule.
She skates five times a week and volunteers twice a week. She's been with the CanSkate program for more than five years, is a volunteer coach with the Special Olympics FunDamentals Program, sits on the Ontario Special Olympics Leadership Council, and is an advocate for the Down Syndrome Society.
“I do have free time, I do get to hang out with my boyfriend. And I also have a job, I work at Walmart," she said.
Romualdi first put on skates at the age of three.
“I just like being on the ice, I like gliding and feeling like an ice princess,” she said.
While she's looking forward to meeting Virtue and Moir on the tour and thanking them for including Special Olympians, her favourite skater is Joannie Rochette.
At the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Rochette won the bronze medal just days after her mom died suddenly.
"And the reason why she’s my favourite skater is because she has the courage to skate after her mother’s death, which is an incredible story and that gives me courage too to go out and skate,” she said.
Tickets are still available to the Sault Ste. Marie stop here.