A British ice dancer and her skating partner are to become Finland’s first same-sex team to take part in a competition after a rule change by the country’s skating federation.
Millie Colling, 20, who was born in Gateshead and moved to Finland at the age of six, and Emma Aalto, 19, will compete in a qualifier for the national championships next month after pressing for an amendment to the rules to allow them to enter as a team.
The pair said they were “best friends that want to skate together”. Their request was supported by their coach, Neil Brown, who helped persuade the skating federation to agree new rules, referring to ice dance partners as Skater A and Skater B instead of man and woman.
Colling, an art student, enrolled at skating school a year after her family moved to Finland, and Aalto, a fashion student, has been skating since she was five years old. They met two years ago.
“We were immediately on the same level, we really clicked,” said Colling. They began to skate together but “at that point we hadn’t seen any other same-gender skating teams”.
But this year, the retired Olympic champions Madison Hubbell and Gabriella Papadakis performed together, hoping to help break gender stereotypes in the sport. Colling said: “It was completely new and we were, whoa, OK.”
It was a “common misconception” that same-sex teams were gay or in a relationship, she added. “There are lots of queer athletes, and we really admire them. But it’s not the case that in order to be in a non-traditional team you have to be queer.”
Aalto said: “The point is to be opening possibilities for everyone, not just for queer people.” Ice dancing with a same-sex partner was “not necessarily any different”, she said.
Colling added: “One of us leads, one follows, one lifts, one of us is lifted. We have quite similar body mass, so technically there are some differences, but we still do the same content.”
“Every partnership is different,” said Aalto. “Every couple has their own strengths and weaknesses, and their programmes are built around those strengths and weaknesses. Ice dance is a really individual sport – each couple is unique, and we’re just another unique couple.”
If the duo qualify, they would be unable to take part in the national competition in December, as that requires further changes. “The federation has said we can’t do it yet – but fingers crossed for the future,” Colling said.
The pair hope their participation in the qualifier will be a strong signal of change to the ice dance community and the public. They do not expect to win – “we’re just excited to get out there”, Colling said.
They said they felt free and happy while skating. “You stop being a normal version of yourself. You can be whatever you want on the ice,” Aalto said. “It’s the best feeling – it feels like home.”
