Ava Marie Ziegler

Ava Marie Ziegler (born February 28, 2006) is an American figure skater. She is the 2023 NHK Trophy champion and 2022 CS Budapest Trophy champion.

Personal life
Ziegler was born on February 28, 2006, in Morristown, New Jersey, to parents Ron and Patricia (Mansfield). Her mother is a former competitive figure skater, who finished fifth at the 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, as well as a figure skating coach. She has a younger brother, Ronny. She is a resident of Dover, New Jersey.

Ziegler has a Shepherd-Rottweiler named Duke and a rabbit named Cocoa.

Early career
As a juvenile, Ziegler won the pewter medal at the 2019 U.S. Championships. On the junior level, she won the bronze medal at the 2021 U. S. Championship Series. She then went on to win the pewter medal at the 2021 U.S. Junior Championships behind Isabeau Levito, Kanon Smith, and Clare Seo.

2021–22 season
Ziegler made her international junior debut by winning a gold medal at the 2021 Cranberry Cup. She was given two assignments on the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix series, and placed sixth at the 2021 JGP Slovakia and seventh at the 2021 JGP Slovenia. She reflected afterward that she had made mistakes on the circuit that she attributed to adjusting to the higher level of competition, but added that "I loved being on the ice with people who were better than me because it pushes me to work harder."

At the 2022 U.S. Junior Championships, Ziegler won the silver medal, finishing behind Clare Seo.

2022–23 season
Debuting as a senior, Ziegler started her season with a fourth-place finish at the 2022 Philadelphia Summer International. She then made her Challenger series debut at the 2022 CS Budapest Trophy, which she won, scoring a new personal best free skate score in the process.

Ziegler was not initially given any assignments on the ISU Grand Prix, but following the withdrawal of fellow American skater Kate Wang from the 2022 Skate Canada International, she was called up to replace her. Ziegler placed third in the short program, earning a new personal best score, but dropped to fourth place overall after falling twice in the free skate and finishing seventh in the segment. Despite this, she set a new personal best in total score as well. Ziegler then went on to compete at the U.S. Eastern Sectional Championships, where she won the gold medal.

At the 2023 U.S. Championships, Ziegler finished ninth after placing eighth in the short program and tenth in the free skate. She closed her season by winning the bronze medal at the 2023 Coupe du Printemps.

2023–24 season
Ziegler began the season by winning the silver medal at the 2023 Cranberry Cup International, behind training mate Lindsay Thorngren. She said afterward that she was "super happy with my skates" at the event, adding that there "are things that I can improve throughout the season, but the overall, the competition was successful." Appearing on the Challenger circuit at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy, she came sixth, before finishing fifth at the 2023 CS Finlandia Trophy.

For the second consecutive season, Ziegler did not initially receive a Grand Prix assignment, but was invited to attend the 2023 NHK Trophy following the withdrawal of German skater Nicole Schott. She placed fifth in the short program after receiving an incorrect edge call on her triple Lutz and an underrotation call on the back half of her jump combination, but won the free skate after landing seven triple jumps, the only error being another call on her Lutz edge. Ziegler's free skate carried her into first place, overtaking Thorngren by less than two points for the gold medal. She set a new American women’s record for fewest appearances needed before winning a Grand Prix, having done so in her second appearance. She became the second American woman to win the NHK Trophy after Gracie Gold who won in 2014. Ziegler said of the result that "this is the moment I do this sport for!"

In advance of the 2024 U.S. Championships, Ziegler was preemptively named to the American delegation to the 2024 Four Continents Championships, which were to be held in Shanghai the week after the national championships. Shortly afterward, Ziegler announced that she was withdrawing from the national championship in favour of focusing on preparations for the Four Continents Championships, saying in a statement that "this was a difficult decision, however her team believes it in her best interest with both major competitions so close together." She would later reveal that "some health issues" after NHK Trophy had necessitated the choice.

At the Four Continents Championships, Ziegler came third in the short program, 1.03 points in front of Japan's Rinka Watanabe in fourth. Her only technical error was a call for an incorrect edge on her triple Lutz. She won a bronze small medal for the segment, and said she felt "really honored and enjoy being here." In the free skate both of her triple Lutzes received edge calls, and she put a foot down on the latter attempt, coming fourth in the free skate. She finished fourth overall, 1.02 points behind Watanabe, who overtook her for the bronze medal.

Competitive highlights
GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix.

Senior level
ISU Personal best highlighted in bold.