Stamford Ice Dancer Makes Debut On Olympic Ice As Part Of Team Ukraine

Heekin-Canedy and Dun finished in ninth place out of 10 ice-dancing teams in the event, scoring 49.19 points for their Short Dance. That topped their total at last month's European Championship, where they scored 45.84 points. 

The skated to the rhythms of the Quickstep to "That Man" by Caro Emerald, Foxtrot to "Speaking of Happiness" by Gloria Lynne and the Charleston to "Pigalle" by Patricia Kaes. 

By finishing in ninth, they scored 2 points for Ukraine, which came in ninth place in the Team Event with 10 points and did not make the final round. Great Britain (10th with 8 points), Germany (eighth with 17 points), China (seventh with 20 points) and France (sixth with 22 points) also failed to qualify for the finals of the Team Event. 

Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States won the ice dance portion of the Team Event with 75.98 points in their Short Dance. Russia, Canada, the United States, Japan and Italy qualified for the finals in the Team Event, in that order. The Team event concludes Sunday at 10 a.m.

Heekin-Canedy, 22, and Dun, 24, are the three-time Ukrainian national ice dance champions. She has dual citizenship, and his is Ukrainian. Their Ukrainian teammates are Natalia Popova in ladies, Julia Lavrentieva and Yuri Rudyk  in pairs and Yakov Godorozha in men's.

Heekin-Canedy and Dun will return to the ice for the ice dance competition, beginning with the Short Dance on Sunday, Feb. 16, and the Free Dance on Monday, Feb. 17.

She was born in Beverly Hills, Calif., and grew up in Stamford. She has represented Ukraine since 2007, and she and Dun have been a team since 2011.

“I like the Ukrainian people, their openness and sincerity,’’ Heekin-Canedy said in an interview on the www.sochi2014.com website. “Its culture goes back many centuries. I am sometimes amazed to contrast America, with only 200 or so years [of history]."

Although they compete for Ukraine, Heekin-Canedy and Dun train primarily in Hackensack, N.J. Last year, the duo finished 14th at the World Championships. They were 23rd at this year's European Championships held in January.

Heekin-Canedy was raised in Stamford and attended Greenwich Catholic School through the eighth grade. 

Read more about the skating Team Competition here at the Sochi2014 website. 

Read more about Heekin-Canedy and Dun here on the Daily Voice. 

Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.