Kailani Craine is a figure skater and Winter Olympian who was awarded a Scholarship within the 2017 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program and was paired with Kerri Pottharst OAM as her Mentor.
Kailani was born in Newcastle in 1998 and began skating as an 8-year-old at Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in her hometown after attending a birthday party and ‘wearing a glittery purple skating dress’
Competing for Hunter Ice Skating Club, Kailani won the Australian junior title in 2012, then again in 2013, 14 and 15. She also won the national senior title in 2014, as a junior, and would defend that title for the next two years. She also won the Hollins Trophy, the Wintersun Trophy and the MJS Trophy in 2014.
Having excelled at a young age, she soon made the decision to divide her time between Australia and the northern hemisphere, especially the Toyota Center in El Segundo, California, USA, which became her ‘home away from home’.
In 2015, Kailani collected another Hollins Trophy and the time had now come to test herself against the best in the world. Kailani finished 8th at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany in 2015 and 2nd at the Nestle Mentor Cup in Poland, before finishing 16th at the Junior World Figure Skating Championships in Estonia that year.
2016 presented yet another challenge, and Kailani transferred to the senior ranks and finished 27th at the Senior World Figure Skating Championships before a top 20 result at the Four Continents competition in Taipei.
The highlight of Kailani’s career was earning selection for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games and she finished 16th in PyeongChang on her Olympic debut.
“I started skating when I was 8 years old at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium in Newcastle NSW, Australia and since then, I have literally not stopped.”
“Figure skating is an amazing and exciting sport. It’s traditional yet cutting edge and always evolving. It’s extremely technical, highly creative, at times can be completely brutal, but it can also create some of the most awe-inspiring sporting moments. I simply love being on the ice in front of a massive crowd, the bigger the better. You don’t always have to be in first place to steal the show. I love performing and I love being a figure skater!”
Honours & Achievements
- 2014: Hollins Trophy – Gold
- 2014: Wintersun Trophy – Gold
- 2014: MJS Trophy – Gold
- 2014: Australian National Figure Skating Championships – Gold
- 2015: Australian National Senior Figure Skating Championships Penrith – Gold
- 2015: Hollins Trophy – Gold
- 2015: Nebelhorn Trophy Oberstdorf – 8th
- 2015: Junior World Figure Skating Championships Estonia – 16th
- 2015: Four Continents Figure Skating Championships South Korea – 12th
- 2015: Nestle Mentor Cup Poland – Silver
- 2016: Senior World Figure Skating Championships Boston – 27th
- 2016: Four Continents Taipei – 13th
- 2018: PyeongChang Winter Olympics – 16th, Debut
- 2022: Beijing Winter Olympics
