Donovan Carrillo


Donovan Daniel Carrillo Suazo is a Mexican figure skater. He has competed in the final segment at four ISU Championships – 2018 Four Continents, 2018 Junior Worlds, 2018 Worlds and 2019 Four Continents. His 22nd-place finish and total score of 200.76 are the highest placement at a World Championship and highest total score, respectively, ever achieved by a Mexican figure skater.

Personal life

Carrillo was born on 17 November 1999 in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Before taking up skating, he was enrolled in gymnastics and diving. He has a sister, Daphne.

Skating career

Early years

Carrillo began learning to skate in Guadalajara when he was eight years old. Then in 2013 he move to León to keep training with his Coach Gregorio Nuñez.
His junior international debut came in September 2013, at a Junior Grand Prix event in Mexico City, where he placed 15th overall.

2014–2015 season

Carrillo received two JGP assignments. In September, he placed twenty-first at the 2014 Czech Skate after placing twenty-first in both segments. In October, he placed twenty-second at the 2014 JGP Pokal der Blauen Schwerter. Later in the season, he won the junior men's title at the Mexican Championships.

2015–2016 season

In 2015, Carrillo placed eighth at the 2015 Santa Claus Cup in Budapest in the junior men's competition.

2016–2017 season

Returning to the JGP series, Carrillo placed thirteenth in September in Yokohama, Japan. In October, he finished ninth at a JGP competition in Dresden, Germany.
In March, he placed twenty-seventh in the short program at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan and did not advance to the free skate.

2017–2018 season

Making his senior international debut, Carrillo placed ninth at the Philadelphia Summer International in early August 2017. Later that month, he achieved his career-best JGP result, finishing seventh in Brisbane, Australia. In September, he competed at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, the final qualifying opportunity for the 2018 Winter Olympics. He ranked nineteenth in the short program, twelfth in the free skate, and fourteenth overall, which was not enough for an Olympic spot.
In January, Carrillo qualified to the final segment at the 2018 Four Continents Championships in Taipei; he ranked twenty-second in the short program, seventeenth in the free skate, and eighteenth overall. In March, Carrillo qualified for the final segment at Junior Worlds, placing eighteenth in the short program and twenty-second in the free skate to finish twenty-first overall. Two weeks later at the World Championships, Donovan placed twenty-fourth in the short program and qualified for the free. He placed twenty-first in the free program and finished twenty-second overall.
He trains mainly in León, Guanajuato, coached by Gregorio Núñez.

2018–2019 season

Carrillo started the season at 2018 JGP Bratislava, where he placed eleventh in both segments and placed eleventh overall. He was offered a second Junior Grand Prix assignment in Linz, Austria, but had to decline due to being unable to afford to attend the competition. He was assigned to the 2018 CS Autumn Classic International but withdrew before the event. He had sustained a right ankle injury. At the 2019 Four Continents Championships in January, he placed fourteenth in the short program, placed twentieth in the free program, and seventeenth overall. At Four Continents, Carrillo landed a triple Axel for the first time.
In February 2019, the Comisión Nacional de Cultura Física y Deporte announced that Carrillo would be granted funding beginning in March. Carrillo aggravated his ankle injury before the 2019 World Championships, and did not make the free skate.

2019–2020 season

Carrillo won his first international medal, a silver, at the 2019 Philadelphia Summer International. Assigned to two Challenger events, he placed tenth at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International and seventeenth at the 2019 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb. Competing at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, Carrillo placed fifteenth with new personal bests, but came 0.20 points short of the free skate technical score necessary to qualify to compete at the 2020 World Championships.

Programs

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

Detailed results

Historic ISU personal best scores highlighted in bold and italic. Current ISU personal best scores highlighted in bold.