Oona Brown

Oona Brown
Personal information
Country represented	United States
Born	(2004-09-10) September 10, 2004 Greenport, New York
Height
Partner	Gage Brown
Coach	Inese Bucevica Joel Dear Romain Haguenauer Patrice Lauzon
Former coach	Andrew Lavrik
Choreographer	Inese Bucevica Joel Dear Romain Haguenauer Patrice Lauzon
Skating club	SC of New York
Training locations	Huntington, New York Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Former training locations	Dix Hills, New York
Began skating	2008
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	177.21 2023 Skate America
Short dance	71.34 2023 Skate America
Free dance	106.49 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy
Medal record Figure skating: Ice dance Representing United States World Junior Championships 2022 Tallinn Ice dancing

Oona Brown (born September 10, 2004) is an American ice dancer. Competing with her brother, Gage Brown, she is the 2022 World Junior champion and a two-time U.S. national junior medalist (2021 silver, 2020 bronze).

Personal life

Oona Brown was born on September 10, 2004, in Greenport, New York. Her parents are Zhon Brown and Louis DeVirgilio. She has six siblings: Gage, who is her ice dance partner, Adira, Rowan, Tristan, Liam, and Morgant.

She and Gage are homeschooled.

Brown plays the drums and piano and plays the snare in two Irish marching bands. She also enjoys gardening, running, knitting, reading, and refereeing soccer.

Career

Early career

Oona Brown started skating at age 4. She and her brother, Gage, were paired up as an ice dance team in 2016. At the intermediate level, they placed 4th at their first Eastern Sectionals, and 12th at the 2017 U.S. championships. They moved up to the novice level for the 2017–18 season, placing 1st their next sectional championships, and 5th 2018 U.S. championships. They made their international debut at the 2018 Bavarian Open, where they competed in the advanced novice competition and placed 3rd.

2018–19 season

For the 2018–19 season, the Browns moved up to the junior level. They made their Junior Grand Prix debut at the 2018 JGP Lithuania, where they placed 9th. They placed 8th at the 2018 JGP Armenia, and won silver at the 2018 Eastern Sectionals. They advanced to the 2019 U.S. championships, where they placed 4th at the junior level and won the pewter medal.

2019–20 season

The Browns began the 2019–20 season at the 2019 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, where they placed 4th. For the 2019-20 Junior Grand Prix they were assigned to the 2019 JGP Russia and 2019 JGP Italy, where they placed 8th and 5th respectively. They went on to place 4th at the 2020 Ice Dance Final, and qualified for the 2020 U.S. championships where they won the bronze medal. They were named to the 2020 World Junior Championships team, where they placed 11th in the rhythm dance and 9th in the free dance, finishing 10th overall.

2020–21 season

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the major international events for juniors during 2020–21 were canceled; this included the 2020–21 Junior Grand Prix.

In December, the Browns debuted their new free dance to Australian singer Marlisa's cover of Metallica's Nothing Else Matters, filmed by On Ice Perspectives, a skating cinematography company created by former U.S. skater, Jordan Cowan. The free dance was performed at Bryant Park, and was uploaded to the On Ice Perspectives YouTube channel. It quickly gained popularity and surpassed one-million views within its first week.

In September, the USFSA held the virtual ISP (International Selection Pool) Points Challenge, which allowed skaters to be judged by ISU-level judges. The competition was used to give skaters byes to Nationals, which would usually be obtained through the Grand Prix series, and will also be used in the selection process for future international events. The Browns placed second overall in the junior event and qualified for the 2021 U.S. Championships.

2021–22 season

With the resumption of international junior competition on the Junior Grand Prix, the Browns were assigned to compete at the second stage of the French JGP in Courchevel. They placed second in the short program, narrowly behind the second American team present, Flores/Tsarevski, but won the free dance to take the gold medal, their first JGP medal. At their second event, the 2021 JGP Austria in Linz, the Browns were second in the rhythm dance. Oona Brown fell on her twizzle sequence in the free dance; as a result, they were fifth in that segment but narrowly took the silver medal overall. These results qualified them for the Junior Grand Prix Final, to be held in Osaka, but this was canceled as a result of restrictions prompted by the Omicron variant.

Oona tested positive for COVID-19 in early January, as a result of which they were forced to withdraw from the 2022 U.S. Junior Championships. Despite this setback, they were named to the American team for the 2022 World Junior Championships, with Gage vowing that "we're going to put absolutely everything into this" after the many missed competitions as a result of the pandemic.

The World Junior Championships were originally to be held Sofia, but were delayed from their traditional early March to mid-April in order to accommodate a move to Tallinn because of pandemic restrictions. Due to invasion of Ukraine, all Russian and Belarusian skaters were banned from attending. The Browns scored a new personal best in the rhythm dance, freedance, and total score. As Ted Barton said, "They did not look like leaders coming into the free[dance] and hoping to win; they had to earn it, so they didn't hold anything back. [They] just pushed all the way through it." Gage said "the last time we competed was in October. Just to get actually out here and compete was an amazing feeling. We missed that feeling for six months." They won the free dance as well to take the gold medal.

2022–23 season

While the siblings had been debating for some time whether to remain at the junior level or move up to the senior ranks following their Junior World title, they decided to do the latter, with Gage calling it "the turning point for us, and it was great that it ended the way it did." They made their senior international debut on the Challenger circuit, finishing fifth at both the 2022 CS Nepela Memorial and the 2022 CS Budapest Trophy. The Browns were then invited to make their Grand Prix debut at the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy, where they placed seventh. They were eighth at the 2022 Grand Prix of Espoo.

In their senior national championship debut, the Browns finished ninth at the 2023 U.S. Championships.

2023–24 season

Following the 2023 national championships, the Browns began working with coaches at the Ice Academy of Montreal in February of that year. While remaining based primarily in New York, they travelled to Montreal periodically for additional assistance. The siblings cited Guillaume Cizeron and Zachary Donohue as people they valued the chance to collaborate with. After winning the silver medal at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International, the Browns were seventh at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy.

Initially with only one assignment on the Grand Prix, they were added to the 2023 Skate America as well before the series commenced. They finished seventh there, setting a new personal best total score (177.21). They fared better at their second assignment the following weekend, coming fourth overall at the 2023 Skate Canada International with another new personal best score (187.62), less than five points behind bronze medalists Reed/Ambrulevičius of Lithuania, and finishing ahead of two rival American teams, Zingas/Kolesnik and Pate/Bye. Gage stated that the back-to-back competitions had been "tricky", but that "we know now that we can do it and we are ready to do it again in the future."

Programs

Season	Rhythm dance	Free dance	Exhibition
2023–2024	This Town Satellite I'm Still Standing by Elton John arranged by Hugo Chouinard choreo. by Inese Bucevica, Joel Dear, Romain Haguenauer, Patrice Lauzon	All by Myself by Eric Carmen, Sergei Rachmaninoff arranged by Hugo Chouinard choreo. by Inese Bucevica, Joel Dear, Romain Haguenauer, Patrice Lauzon	How Ya Like Me Now by Kool Moe Dee I Got The by Labi Siffre
2022–2023	Cha Cha:Bones by Imagine Dragons, Tony Evans and His Orchestra, Gnarls Barkley choreo. by Inese Bucevica, Joel Dear	Big Sky by Annie Lennox No Good Place for the Lonely by Joe Bonamassa choreo. by Inese Bucevica, Joel Dear
2021–2022	How Ya Like Me Now by Kool Moe Dee arranged by Hugo Chouinard	Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture I Belong to You (+Mon Cœur S'ouvre a ta Voix) by Muse arranged by Hugo Chouinard
2020–2021	When I Get My Name in Lights Everything Old is New Again (from The Boy from Oz)	Nothing Else Matters performed by Marlisa by Metallica
2019–2020	When I Get My Name in Lights Everything Old is New Again (from The Boy from Oz)	Bloodstream by Tokio Myers Air performed by Jan Werner by Johann Sebastian Bach
2018–2019	La Cumparsita performed by Milva by Gerardo Matos Rodriguez Tangled Up by Caro Emerald	Still Got the Blues Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix. Pewter medals (4th place) awarded only at U.S. national, sectional, and regional events.

Ice dance with Gage Brown

National
Event	17–18	18–19	19–20	20–21	21–22	22–23	23–24
GP Finland						8th
GP Skate America							7th
GP Skate Canada							4th
GP Wilson Trophy						7th
CS Budapest						5th
CS Finlandia							7th
CS Nepela Memorial						5th
Lake Placid IDI							2nd
International: Junior
Junior Worlds			10th		1st
JGP Armenia		8th
JGP Austria					2nd
JGP France II					1st
JGP Italy			5th
JGP Lithuania		9th
JGP Russia			7th
Bavarian Open			4th
Lake Placid IDI			4th
International: Advanced novice
Bavarian Open	3rd
National
U.S. Championships	5th N	4th J	3rd J	2nd J	WD	9th
U.S. Ice Dance Final			4th J
Championship Series				1st J
ISP Points Challenge				2nd J
Levels: N = Novice; J = Junior TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Detailed results

Senior results

2023–2024 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
October 27–29, 2023	2023 Skate Canada International	4 73.91	4 113.71	4 187.62
October 20–22, 2023	2023 Skate America	7 71.34	7 105.87	7 177.21
October 4–8, 2023	2023 CS Finlandia Trophy	5 67.98	5 106.49	7 174.47
August 1-2,	2023 Lake Placid Ice Dance International	1 75.26	2 105.40	2 180.66
2022–23 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
January 23–29, 2023	2023 U.S. Championships	9 72.80	8 109.09	9 181.89
November 25–27, 2022	2022 Grand Prix of Espoo	9 65.71	8 100.99	8 166.70
November 11–13, 2022	2022 MK John Wilson Trophy	7 70.34	7 103.40	7 173.74
October 13–16, 2022	2022 CS Budapest Trophy	5 62.94	4 103.39	5 166.33
Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2022	2022 CS Nepela Memorial	6 59.48	5 101.14	5 160.62

Junior results

2021–22 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
April 13–17, 2022	2022 World Junior Championships	1 66.98	1 103.27	1 170.25
October 6–9, 2021	2021 JGP Austria	2 63.70	5 89.04	2 152.74
August 25–28, 2021	2021 JGP France II	2 59.79	1 94.46	1 154.25
2020–21 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
January 9–21, 2021	2021 U.S. Championships	2 66.20	2 96.71	2 162.91
2019–20 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
March 2–8, 2020	2020 World Junior Championships	11 59.50	9 92.55	10 152.05
February 3–9, 2020	2020 Bavarian Open	4 59.90	5 91.16	4 151.06
January 20–26, 2020	2020 U.S. Championships	3 64.91	3 95.63	3 160.54
November 12–16, 2019	2020 U.S. Ice Dance Final	4 59.07	3 94.40	4 153.47
October 2–5, 2019	2019 JGP Italy	8 54.81	2 91.34	5 146.15
September 11–14, 2019	2019 JGP Russia	8 52.45	6 88.88	7 141.33
Jul. 30 – Aug. 2, 2019	2019 Lake Placid Ice Dance International	5 53.66	4 79.30	4 153.47
2018–19 season
Date	Event	RD	FD	Total
January 18–27, 2019	2019 U.S. Championships	3 63.34	4 90.33	4 153.67
November 14–17, 2018	2019 Eastern Sectional Championships	2 55.70	2 83.64	2 139.34
October 10–13, 2018	2018 JGP Armenia	6 55.48	9 78.35	8 133.83
September 5–8, 2018	2018 JGP Lithuania	5 55.47	12 69.28	9 124.75

Novice results

2017–18 season
Date	Event	PD1	PD2	FD	Total
January 26–31, 2018	2018 Bavarian Open	3 11.56	5 11.57	2 51.18	3 74.31
December 28, 2017 – January 7, 2018	2018 U.S. Championships	6 22.50	10 18.43	3 65.55	5 106.48
November 14–18, 2017	2018 Eastern Sectional Championships	2 21.78	1 22.90	1 65.28	1 109.96

External links

• Official Website
• Oona Brown / Gage Brown at the International Skating Union
• Oona Brown and Gage Brown at U.S. Figure Skating