Alexandra Paul (Ice Dancer)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Alexandra Paul

• Alexandra Paul (1991–2023) was a Canadian competitive ice dancer. During her illustrious career, Paul with her skating partner and eventual husband, Mitchell Islam, clinched the silver medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships and claimed three bronze medals at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships (2011, 2014, and 2015). Paul and Islam represented Canada at the highest level of competition, competing at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. After taking a competitive retirement in 2016, she worked as a Figure Skating Coach at Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie before starting working as a lawyer at Barriston Law in Barrie in 2021. On 22 August 2023, She died in a multi-car crash in Melancthon Township, a rural area of Ontario, Canada.

• Paul and Islam graduated from Oakland University in April 2017.

  

• Growing up, she received training in various dance forms like ballet and jazz.

• During the 2008–09 figure skating season, Alexandra Paul and her partner Jason Cheperdak achieved fourth place at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Spain and sixth place at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the United Kingdom.

• At the 2009 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Paul and Cheperdak secured the third position.

• Thereafter, Paul started searching for a new skating partner. Coincidentally, Mitchell Islam, a Canadian Junior silver medalist and Junior Worlds competitor, was also in search of a new partner. Interestingly, both of them had received training at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie, Ontario.

• In January 2009, Islam’s father, David, arranged a tryout for his son, where Paul and Islam became a team and immediately began preparations for the Minto Summer Skate competition scheduled for late July.

• In a remarkable performance, they outperformed the reigning Canadian Junior Champions in the free dance program and emerged as the overall winners of the competition. This victory earned them the opportunity to participate in the Junior Grand Prix circuit.

• They took part in two events during the 2009–10 ISU Junior Grand Prix season. Their debut in Poland resulted in a fourth-place finish, and one month later in Turkey, they secured fifth place.

• Their outstanding performance at the 2010 Canadian Figure Skating Championships saw Paul and Islam secure the first position. As a result, they were assigned to compete in the 2010 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, where they achieved the silver medal.

  

• Their coaching team comprised Mitchell Islam’s father, David, along with Tyler Myles, who was the 2001 Canadian Junior Ice Dance champion, Kelly Johnson, a former Junior Worlds medalist, and Pavol Porac, a former competitor at the World Championships.

• During the 2010 Skate Canada International event, they secured second place in the free dance and finished fourth overall.

• Unfortunately, during the short dance, Alexandra Paul sustained a rib injury, which led to their withdrawal from their next assignment, the 2010 Cup of Russia in Moscow.

• The duo moved up to the senior ranks for the 2010–2011 season.

• At their senior national debut, the 2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, Paul and Islam claimed the third position.

  

• At the 2011 Skate America, they finished in eighth place.

• During the 2011 NHK Trophy, they were ranked seventh in the short dance but had to withdraw before the free dance due to an injury sustained by Paul, who had a cut to the back of her thigh following a collision with Italy’s Lorenza Alessandrini and Simone Vaturi during a morning practice on November 12.

• In June 2012, Paul and Islam commenced their training at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

• They did not participate in any Grand Prix events in 2012 and ultimately secured fourth place at the 2013 Canadian Figure Skating Championships.

• The following season, they began with a bronze medal at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy and finished fifth at the 2013 Skate Canada International.

• After their bronze medal win at the 2014 Canadian Championships, they were chosen to represent Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where they finished in 18th place.

• During the 2015 World Championships held in Shanghai, China, Paul and Islam achieved the eighth position in short dance, followed by a fourteenth-place finish in free dance, ultimately resulting in a thirteenth-place ranking in the overall standings.

  

• Thereafter, they made the decision to change coaches and joined the coaching team at the Gadbois Centre in Montreal, Quebec. This coaching team was led by Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, and Romain Haguenauer.

• During the summer of 2016, Alexandra Paul suffered a hamstring injury.

• Despite this setback, Paul and Islam managed to secure a bronze medal at the 2016 CS U.S. International Classic.

• On November 18, Paul injured her knee when she fell during a practice session in the morning at the 2016 Cup of China. Consequently, the duo withdrew from the competition before the short dance.

• They officially retired from competitive skating on 15 December 2016.

• She worked as a Figure Skating Coach at Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie from 2017 to 2021.

• In September 2020, she began her legal career as an articling student at Barriston Law; she served in this role for a duration of nine months. In May 2021, Paul started working as an associate lawyer at Barriston Law, focusing her practice on matters related to wills, estates, real estate, and corporate law.

• In 2021, she got married to Islam, who came from a family deeply rooted in the world of figure skating. His mother, Debbie, held the title of former Canadian ladies junior champion and achieved a senior bronze medal. Notably, she also served as a judge on the men’s panel during the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. On the other hand, Islam’s father, David, held the role of Director of Ice Dance at the Mariposa School of Skating in Barrie.

• On 22 August 2023, Paul was killed after her car was hit by a transport truck in Melancthon Township, north of Shelburne in Canada. She was in the vehicle with her son, who was taken to a children’s hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries following the accident.

• A GoFundMe page was set up for her beloved son, Charlie Islam, after her death.