Myroslava “Myra” Fisun is in a big hurry. Competitive figure skater. Figure skating coach. Researcher. Climate-action activist. EcoAthletes Champion.

All before the start of her senior year.

In high school.

“The #ClimateComeback will clearly not happen overnight,” admitted EcoAthletes founder Lew Blaustein. “That’s why we need committed young leaders and Champions like Myra to lead it.”

The Armenia-born, ethnic Ukrainian Fisun first skated in Ukraine when she was around six years old.

“I was naturally good at it and loved it from the start,” Fisun recalled. “It felt like I was flying! My parents enrolled me in skating lessons, and I was on my way. It really has been my only sport.”

Fisun’s family emigrated to the United States before she started school, settling in the Bay Area. Her skating did not miss a beat. “I won the first competition I entered, which was in the third grade,” she shared. “I immediately loved all of it: competing, performing and, yes, winning!”

She quickly advanced to the next level, competing versus older kids, adding harder jumps and spins to her repertoire, and choosing to attend a middle school for figure skating.

You read that right.

“I went to the Oakland School for the Arts, where I ‘majored’ in figure skating,” acknowledged Fisun. “We were a small but devoted group, some practicing as early as 5 AM, as well as during and after school.”

Fisun’s skating improved but she hit a roadblock when she reached high school. “The school cut the figure skating program,” she explained. “My freshman year was very difficult: My skating was very limited as the nearest rink was nowhere near where we lived. I ended up being able to skate just once a week. My skating and grades suffered. And all this happened while we had to deal with COVID.”

As she moved through her sophomore year, Fisun got better at time management, finding more time to skate. But then circumstances beyond her control forced her to pivot: “I couldn’t compete at full capacity because of knee and back problems. So, I volunteered as a coach. I received my official coaching jacket the week after I turned 16. I wanted other kids to love skating the way I did.”

Starting with toddlers and kids in primary grades, Fisun has demonstrated a natural aptitude for coaching. She emphasizes the need to have a healthy relationship with skating, and to avoid the toxicity that can permeate the elite levels. Her reputation spread quickly, and she soon added special needs kids and adults to her roster.

All this while recently starting her senior year in high school.

Fisun is also in a hurry when it comes to making a difference on climate.

“I became interested in climate change during my freshman year in 2019-20,” she said. “I was falling apart. As mentioned earlier, I wasn’t skating nearly as much, which was stressful. And I couldn’t avoid the news about climate disasters, with glaciers melting, wildfires, and the rest. It was terrifying and I ended up with a case of climate anxiety.”

Looking for ways to take climate action, Fisun stopped using single use plastic and began to eat locally. But that just wasn’t enough: “I wanted to join something and was ecstatic to sign on with the Sunrise Movement in April 2020. It’s youth-led and it gave me a voice. As with coaching, I like to find and nurture other people’s passions for climate change. I got involved right away with Sunrise’s policy working group, helped out on research projects and did public speaking. In fact, I conducted a training on policy and environmental issues with 400 attendees from the Cal-State university system and the University of California climate justice group.”

But that isn’t all for Fisun.

In fact, in addition to school and coaching skating, she seemingly has made her climate activism as a full-time job, by:

• Chairing the City of Albany Climate Action Committee

• Researching climate change and public health at Stanford University

• Joining the board of Stanford Climate and Health

• Advocating for both equality in sports and environmental issues on Capitol Hill

• Joining a multitude of both local and international environmental organizations to spread the importance of climate action, especially among youth.

And now you can EcoAthletes Champion to her growing résumé.

“Figure skater and EcoAthletes Champion Joe Klein told me about it,” noted Fisun. “I never knew there was a place for climate-active athletes to connect and, through the Resource Hub, learn how to lead climate action. It’s so exciting to me to be part of a team of athletes who are making a difference on climate. The team is so diverse, so talented. It’s incredible to be a part of it and to get started”

You can follow Myra on Instagram