Figure skating pair

Schaller and Mayr back where they started for the World Championships

Livio Mayr (left) and Sophia Schaller are competing at the World Championships for the first time.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

The figure skating pair Livio Mayr and Sophia Schaller are experiencing their first World Championships in their second home country, Canada.The Anifer native has a special relationship with Montreal. The pair even have a few fans in the audience at the major event.

Livio Mayr lived in Canada for four years. On Wednesday (17:00 CET), he and his figure skating partner Sophia Schaller will be performing for the first time at a World Championships in Montreal. "It's a complete home World Championships," says Mayr happily. The Anifer native emigrated to Montreal around six years ago: "That was more or less where I started pair skating." The figure skater then accompanied his coach Bruno Marcotte to Toronto.

Mayr came back to Austria and to Schaller because of his big goal: the Olympic Games. Both athletes need an Austrian passport to compete as pair skaters at this major event. The two now commute back and forth between Salzburg and Toronto. "The training conditions in Canada are a lot better," says Schaller. Partner Mayr adds with a grin: "There are as many ice rinks there as there are churches here."

The pair have to cover the flight costs for the training sessions themselves. "Most flights cost between 600 and 800 euros there and back." But it's worth it for them. After all, uncomplicated training is hardly possible at the ice rink in the Volksgarten. "It's very much geared towards ice hockey," sighs Anifer.

Girlfriend cheers them on
In the short program on Wednesday, all the effort should pay off. They want to be one of 20 pairs to make it through to the free skating on Thursday. They have been in the land of the maple leaf since the beginning of March and have been training in Montreal since Sunday. "We are very happy with the training," says Schaller, sending his regards to Salzburg. The European Championships in Lithuania in January (18th and last place) went completely down the drain. In his second home country, however, things should go better with familiar faces. "My girlfriend is Canadian. She and her family are coming to cheer us on," says Mayr, hoping for a bombastic atmosphere.