Donovan Carrillo

Donovan Daniel Carrillo Suazo (born 17 November 1999) is a Mexican figure skater.

Carrillo was born on 17 November 1999 in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.

Before taking up skating, he was enrolled in gymnastics and diving.

His parents are physical education teachers.

He has three sisters: Daphne, Daniela and Sonny.

Carrillo began learning to skate in Guadalajara when he was eight years old.

In 2013, he moved to León to keep training with his Coach Gregorio Nuñez.

His junior international debut came in September 2013 at a Junior Grand Prix (JGP) event in Mexico City, where he placed 15th overall.

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.

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

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.

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.

He has competed in the final segment at six ISU Championships – two World Championships (2018, 2021), three Four Continents (2018–2020), and the 2018 World Junior Championships.

He has earned the highest placement by any Mexican skater at a World Championships and qualified to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

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.

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 because he could not 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.

He is the 2019 Philadelphia International silver medalist and a six-time Mexican national champion (2017–2019, 2020–2023).

At the 2019 Four Continents Championships in January, he placed fourteenth in the short program (and thus qualified for the final segment), 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.

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 up 0.20 points short of the free skate technical score necessary to qualify to compete at the 2020 World Championships.

Due to the pandemic, Carrillo could not train on ice for four months, but the delivery of a harness and spinners allowed him to continue practicing jumps at his coach's house.