Olivia Smart


Olivia Smart is a British-Spanish ice dancer who currently skates for Spain with Adrián Díaz. With former partner Joseph Buckland, she is a three-time British national junior champion, and competed at three World Junior Championships, reaching the top ten in 2014.

Personal life

Olivia Smart was born on 1 April 1997 in Sheffield, England. She became a Spanish citizen in July 2017.

Skating career

Partnership with Buckland

Smart teamed up with Joseph Buckland in 2010. They made their JGP debut in autumn 2011, ranking 13th in Austria and 12th in Estonia. They came in 17th at their first World Junior Championships, held in Minsk in March 2012. In the 2012–2013 season, the duo missed the JGP series and finished 22nd at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan.
In 2013–2014, Smart/Buckland placed seventh at both of their JGP assignments, Poland and the Czech Republic, and finished 10th at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Smart/Buckland moved up to the senior level in the 2014–2015 season. In October 2014, they placed fourth at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy, an ISU Challenger Series event. In November, they won silver medals at the International Cup of Nice and NRW Trophy before taking the British national title in the absence of Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland. Smart/Buckland withdrew from the 2015 European Championships before the short dance, Buckland having fallen ill with gastroenteritis. The duo went on to place 27th at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, China. Following that season, they split.

2015–2016 season: Teaming up with Díaz

On 13 December 2015, it was announced that Smart had teamed up with Spanish ice dancer Adrián Díaz and that they wished to represent Spain. On 15 January 2016, Smart announced that the British skating association had released her, and that she and Díaz would train in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, under Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, and Romain Haguenauer.

2016–2017 season: Debut of Smart/Díaz

Making their international debut, Smart/Díaz took silver behind Elliana Pogrebinsky / Alex Benoit at the Lake Placid Ice Dance International in late July 2016. They later competed at three ISU Challenger Series events, placing 4th at the 2016 U.S. International Classic, 6th at the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International, and 6th at the 2016 CS Finlandia Trophy, before winning gold at the Open d'Andorra.
Smart/Díaz finished second to Sara Hurtado / Kirill Khaliavin at the Spanish Championships. As a result, they were not nominated for the 2017 European Championships.
In February, Smart/Díaz took silver at the Bavarian Open. Later that month, Federación Española Deportes de Hielo selected them to compete at the 2017 World Championships, the main Olympic-qualifying competition. The two placed 16th in the short dance, 19th in the free dance, and 18th overall at the event in Helsinki, Finland. Their result allowed Spain to send one ice dancing team to the Olympics.

2017–2018 season

In July 2017, FEDH announced that Spain's Olympic spot would go to the team which received the highest combined score at the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb and Spanish Championships.
Smart/Díaz began their season on the Challenger Series, placing 7th at the 2017 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic and 4th at the 2017 Autumn Classic International. Making their Grand Prix debut, the two placed 6th at the 2017 Skate Canada International in October. In December, they placed 5th at the 2017 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, scoring 4.18 points less than Hurtado/Khaliavin. Later that month, they won the Spanish national title by a 3.23 point margin, resulting in a final deficit of 0.95 points. On 17 December 2017, FEDH announced that Hurtado/Khaliavin would compete at the European Championships and Olympics while Smart/Díaz would be assigned to the 2018 World Championships. They finished 12th at the event in Milan, Italy.

2018–2019 season

Smart/Díaz began their season at the Autumn Classic International Challenger Series event where they placed second behind Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje. At the onset of the 2018–19 season, they were assigned to two Grand Prix events, the Skate Canada and Internationaux de France, finishing fifth at the former and seventh at the latter.
After winning the silver medal at the Spanish Championships, finishing behind Hurtado/Khaliavin, they placed eighth at the 2019 European Championships.

2019–2020 season

Smart/Díaz began the season with a victory at the 2019 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, and then placed fourth at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International. At their first Grand Prix assignment, 2019 Skate America, they placed fourth, with three new personal bests set. Smart/Díaz concluded the Grand Prix with another fourth-place finish at the 2019 Internationaux de France.

Programs

With Diaz

With Buckland

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Díaz for Spain

With Buckland for the United Kingdom

Detailed results

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships.

With Díaz for Spain