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Luke Digby

Luke Digby
Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby at the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy
Born (2001-02-05) 5 February 2001 (age 23)
Sheffield, England,
United Kingdom
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Figure skating career
Country Great Britain
DisciplinePair skating (since 2021)
Men's singles (2016–19)
PartnerAnastasia Vaipan-Law
CoachSimon Briggs
Debi Briggs
Jason Briggs
Skating clubDundee Ice Skating Club
Began skating2007
Medal record
British Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Sheffield Pairs
Gold medal – first place 2023 Sheffield Pairs
Gold medal – first place 2024 Sheffield Pairs

Luke Digby (born 5 February 2001) is a British figure skater. He is a three-time British National champion (2022-2024) in pair skating with Anastasia Vaipan-Law.

Personal life

Digby was born on February 5, 2001.[1] In February 2024, he became engaged to his girlfriend, former British ice dancer, Megan Morley.[2]

Career

Early years and singles career

Digby began skating in 2007 at iceSheffield as a single skater.[3]

Digby participated at 2017 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, where he finished eighth and then went on to place sixth at the 2017 Volvo Open Cup. He competed at the 2017 Junior Nationals, placing fifth.[4]

Digby also won side-to-side Junior Nationals in 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, his best international result was second place at the 2018 Torun Cup. He also finished eighth at the 2018 Minsk Arena Ice Star and fourth at the 2018 Volvo Open Cup. His only performance at the JGP in Egna was scored in eighteenth place. He also competed at two JGP in 2018, twelfth in Slovakia and eleventh in Lithuania.[4] His last international ISU competition in single skating was the World Junior Championships. He finished in forty-third place with 40.37 points and did not advance to free skating.[5]

Pair skating career

2021–22 season: Pairs debut with Vaipan-Law

Following the 2018–19 figure skating season, Digby moved to pair skating, teaming up with Anastasia Vaipan-Law with Simon Briggs, Debi Briggs, and Jason Briggs becoming their coaching team.[6]

Vaipan-Law/Digby made their international debut as a team at the 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy. They finished twelfth overall and recorded personal bests in all three segments of competition. The team competed at three more events throughout the fall, winning the 2021 Tayside Trophy and finishing fourth at both the 2021 Trophee Metropole Nice Cote d’Azur and the 2021 CS Warsaw Cup respectively.[7]

At their first British Championships in November, Vaipan-Law/Digby narrowly took the title ahead of the long-dominant team Jones/Boyadji. Jones/Boyadji initially received the assignment to Great Britain's single berth in the pairs' field at the 2022 European Figure Skating Championships, but after Jones recorded a positive COVID-19 test shortly before the event, Vaipan-Law/Digby were assigned to replace them.[7]

Vaipan-Law/Digby set a new personal best in the short program at 2022 Europeans but finished eighteenth in the segment and did not advance to the free skate.[7]

2022–23 season: World Championship debut

Vaipan-Law/Digby began the 2022–23 figure skating season with a tenth-place finish at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy and a silver medal at the 2022 Tayside Trophy. On the 2022-23 ISU Grand Prix, they were the host-picked pair team for the 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy in Sheffield, where they finished seventh. Following this, the pair finished seventh at the 2022 CS Warsaw Cup.[7]

Vaipan-Law/Digby went on to defend their title at the 2023 British Championships and were selected to compete at the European and World Championships.[8] The pair finished in tenth place at the European Championships in Espoo, Finland.[9] They then went on to place tenth at the 2023 International Challenge Cup.[7]

Making their World Championship debut in Saitama, Japan, Vaipan-Law/Digby qualified for the free skate after placing seventeenth in the short program and went on to place sixteenth in the free skate, finishing in sixteenth place overall.[10][11]

Vaipan-Law and Digby during their short program at the 2024 World Championships

2023–24 season

Vaipan-Law and Digby during their free skate at the 2024 World Championships

Beginning the season with two Challenger series assignments, Vaipan-Law/Digby came eighth at the 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy and fifth at the 2023 CS Autumn Classic International.[7] They received an unexpected opportunity to compete on the Grand Prix when reigning world champions Miura/Kihara withdrew from the 2023 Skate America. They finished seventh at the event.[12]

Vaipan-Law/Digby were ninth at the 2024 European Championships.[13] At the 2024 World Championships in March, they attempted a more difficult jump in the short program than at the European Championships. Despite a mistake on it, they qualified for the free skate, and they ended in twentieth place.[14]

2024–25 season

Vaipan-Law/Digby started the season by finishing sixth at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. Going on to compete on the 2024–25 Grand Prix series, the pair placed sixth at 2024 Skate America, earning personal best scores in the process. They subsequently placed sixth at the 2024 NHK Trophy.[15][7]

Programs

Pair skating with Anastasia Vaipan-Law

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2024–2025
[16]
2023–2024
[1][17]
2022–2023
[18]
2021–2022
[19]
2020–2021
[20]

Competitive highlights

Pair skating with Anastasia Vaipan-Law

Competition placements at senior level [15]
Season 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
World Championships 16th 20th
European Championships 18th 10th 9th
British Championships 1st 1st 1st
GP NHK Trophy 6th
GP Skate America 7th 6th
GP Wilson Trophy 7th
CS Autumn Classic 5th
CS Finlandia Trophy 12th 10th
CS Lombardia Trophy 8th
CS Nebelhorn Trophy 6th
CS Warsaw Cup 17th 7th 2nd 2nd
Challenge Cup 10th
Tayside Trophy 1st 2nd 2nd 2nd
Trophée Métropole Nice 4th

Single skating

Competition placements at junior level [21]
Season 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19
World Junior Championships 43rd
British Championships 5th 1st 1st
JGP Italy 18th
JGP Lithuania 11th
JGP Slovakia 12th
Ice Star 8th
Mentor Cup 2nd
Volvo Open Cup 6th 4th

Detailed results

Pair skating with Anastasia Vaipan-Law

ISU personal best scores in the +5/-5 GOE System [15]
Segment Type Score Event
Total TSS 180.13 2024 Skate America
Short program TSS 61.31 2024 Skate America
TES 33.52 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
PCS 28.26 2024 Skate America
Free skating TSS 118.82 2024 Skate America
TES 61.05 2024 Skate America
PCS 57.77 2024 Skate America
Results in the 2024–25 season[15]
Date Event SP FS Total
P Score P Score P Score
Sep 19–21, 2024 Germany 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 6 60.05 4 114.63 6 174.68
Oct 12–13, 2024 United Kingdom 2024 Tayside Trophy 2 61.96 2 109.80 2 171.76
Oct 18–20, 2024 United States 2024 Skate America 6 61.31 6 118.82 6 180.13
Nov 8–10, 2024 Japan 2024 NHK Trophy 7 58.17 6 116.28 6 174.45
Nov 20–24, 2024 Poland 2024 CS Warsaw Cup 2 66.54 2 115.83 2 182.37
2023–2024 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 18–24, 2024 2024 World Championships 20
54.69
20
98.37
20
153.06
January 8–14, 2024 2024 European Championships 8
56.79
9
102.22
9
159.01
November 16–19, 2023 2023 Warsaw Cup 2
61.84
3
102.50
2
164.34
October 20–22, 2023 2023 Skate America 6
50.60
7
83.24
7
133.84
October 14–15, 2023 2023 Tayside Trophy 3
50.70
2
107.59
2
158.29
September 14–17, 2023 2023 CS Autumn Classic International 6
52.64
4
107.18
5
159.82
September 8–10, 2023 2023 CS Lombardia Trophy 6
55.32
10
87.65
8
142.97
2022–2023 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 22–26, 2023 2023 World Championships 17
55.42
16
97.96
16
153.38
February 23–26, 2023 2023 International Challenge Cup 10
41.12
10
85.81
10
126.93
January 25–29, 2023 2023 European Championships 9
49.43
10
88.06
10
137.49
December 1–4, 2022 2023 British Championships 1
55.20
1
105.76
1
160.96
November 17–20, 2022 2022 CS Warsaw Cup 8
48.30
7
99.56
7
147.86
November 11–13, 2022 2022 MK John Wilson Trophy 7
50.29
6
93.52
7
143.81
October 15–16, 2022 2022 Tayside Trophy 2
52.31
2
93.19
2
145.50
October 4–9, 2022 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy 10
40.79
10
70.89
10
111.68
2021–2022 season
Date Event SP FS Total
January 10–16, 2022 2022 European Championships 18
51.11
18
51.11
Nov. 30 – Dec. 5, 2021 2022 British Championships 1
50.49
2
91.42
1
141.91
November 6–7, 2021 2021 Tayside Trophy 1
57.56
1
101.37
1
158.93
October 20–24, 2021 2021 Trophée Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur 4
40.72
4
81.33
4
122.05
October 7–10, 2021 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy 13
45.79
12
86.77
12
132.56

References

  1. ^ a b c "Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY: 2023/2024". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 13 January 2024.
  2. ^ Morley, Megan. "02/07/2024 💍 We're Engaged! My first, only and forever love, I'm still in shock. Truly the most magical surprise. Together forever ♾️". Instagram. Instagram. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Biography". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Competition Results". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  5. ^ "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2018 - Junior Men". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY". www.isuresults.com. Retrieved 26 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY: Competition Results". International Skating Union. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
  8. ^ a b "British Figure Skating Championships". British Ice Skating. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  9. ^ a b "European Figure Skating Championships". ISU results. International Skating Union. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Dundee figure skating stars Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby hailed after 'brilliant' World Championships debut in Japan". The Courier. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  11. ^ a b "World Figure Skating Championships". ISU results. International Skating Union. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Vaipan-Law & Digby Reflect on Skate America". British Ice Skating. 24 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  13. ^ a b Slater, Paula (11 January 2024). "Beccari and Guarise clinch unexpected gold at 2024 Europeans". Golden Skate. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  14. ^ Cran, Georgi (26 March 2024). "Olympic champion Christopher Dean helps Dundee figure skaters at World Championships". The Courier.
  15. ^ a b c d e "GBR–Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby". SkatingScores.
  16. ^ a b "Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY: 2024/2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 22 August 2024.
  17. ^ a b Vaipan-Law, Anastasia. "2023/24 Free Program". Instagram. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY: 2022/2023". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY: 2021/2022". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 November 2021.
  20. ^ a b "Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY: 2020/2021". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 16 March 2021.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference SS-LD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  22. ^ "Luke DIGBY: Competition Results". International Skating Union. Retrieved 25 October 2023.