Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck are ice dance's new duo - with experience on their side: "The connection we have is great"

In the summer of 2022, after Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck had made their respective Olympic debuts at Beijing 2022, Dieck reached out to Smart when he learned that, like his partnership, hers had ended.

But what appeared like a brilliant pairing of a new ice dance duo proved more complicated with Smart, who had previously competed for Spain alongside Adrian Diaz, and was in talks to join the popular TV series Dancing on Ice in her native Great Britain.

"She was not in that headspace where I was, like knowing I wanted to continue," Dieck, a German native, told Olympics.com recently. "She was in the middle of so many things and wasn't sure. So I got a 'no' from her... but I didn't want to leave it as a 'no.'"

As Dieck travelled to Smart's training city of Montreal to tryout with several other partners, Smart had a dinner with coach Marie-France Dubreuil and other members of her team that came with a surprise message: We think you should team up with Tim.

Having already signed on to her Dancing contract, Smart agreed to a tryout. As Dubreuil and other Ice Academy of Montreal coaches watched rinkside, Olivia can remember them nodding. "This is quite good," she thought to herself mid-skate with Dieck.

The only issue? She was about to set off for months of TV filming in the U.K. But that didn't deter them: The "no" became a "yes."

"There was a no and then a yes and then a... let's be away from each other for eight months and try to make it work," Smart recalled, laughing at the whole scenario. "Everything was very fast-paced."

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Smart/Dieck in second season: "The goal is consistency"

Fast forward just over two years and Smart/Dieck are, indeed, an ice dance duo, competing for Spain on figure skating's international circuit. Last season they made their debut, placing 19th at the World Championships. Already this season they've had their best result to date: A third-place finish at Skate America last month.

This weekend they head to their second Grand Prix assignment at Cup of China in Chongqing, where they have an outside shot at making December's elite Grand Prix Final, which sees only the top six teams qualify.

"We went into the season with the goal of our team being consistent," said Smart. "We're a new team still. It's our second season together and last season was a tester of where we felt like we fit and what our style was.

"This year we felt like we had a bit more control over what we knew we could do and where we wanted to put ourselves."

Keen to show off their experience and nuanced abilities as skaters, Smart brought a Dune medley to the table for their free dance.

"When I heard the music in the first place, it gave me a feeling I wanted to feel... I wanted something that gave me goosebumps, something that made me feel that type of way," Smart explained. "It can show the emotional side [and our] strong skating side. But then we just had to find the balance of, 'Okay, we can't have it be too theatrical' and let it be very natural, too."

There is always risk in choosing music that is too current, both in terms of other skaters using it (Smart/Dieck are the lone ice dance duo to have a Dune program this season), as well as audiences having a certain expectation around the soundtrack's interpretation.

"It's a totally different style to last year, but it fits us much better," added Dieck. "It's more put together to show our skating skills... bigger skating and show off our lines. That's what's mainly changed."

After a series of early-season alterations to the program, and a new costume for it for Olivia, the two arrived at Skate America feeling as though it was "like lights out for the both of us," Smart said.

Duo eyes 2026 Olympics - with hurdles still to scale

Having gone through her own process of obtaining a Spanish passport when she teamed up with Diaz back in 2016, Smart says she's confident of where Dieck's process is at ahead of their stated goal of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

"I got an email from the (Spanish skating) federation with a letter from the government saying that they got all the letters together," Dieck explained. "And like, now the next steps... will be just the waiting."

Their performances internationally can only help their cause, they said.

"The Olympic Committee see all of our results," Smart said. "So they base their decision on that. All they want to see is if we had potential to get ourselves to the Olympics. So if we continue [this season] to show up, be consistent and put ourselves out there on the world stage... hopefully [that] will catch their attention enough to get that push."

While they are driven in part by that process externally, both skaters have been out on the international circuit for some 10 years now and are finding satisfaction in bringing their respective experiences to the ice in a new partnership.

"The connection we have right now is great on the ice," Dieck said. "This is what is mainly going to bring us forwards [results-wise], because in partnerships, especially in ice dance, you need to have that strong connection.

Added Smart: "The reason why we both came back is because we weren't done with the sport. Yes, we have medal ideas and long-term goals, but we want to make the most out of the years that we have left in the sport. ... Yeah, that's why we're back. So [it's about] just having fun, every single day."

Smart on social media stance: "We see what you say"

In September, after making their season debut at Nebelhorn Trophy, Smart posted a first-person testimonial on her Instagram (above), calling out what she called "bullying" by some fans on X.

"There are some people online who really have an opinion... fans behind the computer [who] like to say their word," she said. "Not just opinions, [but] mean stuff written on there.

Smart said one comment included that she should have "stuck to my Dancing paycheck" in reference to her leaving the TV program to return to competition.

She decided to speak out.

"Verbal abuse on social media should not be tolerated," she continued in the video. "And I'm saying this as a grown, confident woman. ... it really brought me down. Imagine these kids getting into skating and they go online and see these comments.

"We see your comments; we see everything. ... We see what you say."

Smart told Olympics.com that she knows her statement won't make a seismic shift in the online atmosphere, but said she felt more compelled to speak out for younger athletes to help keep the sport "happy and healthy."

"Where I can keep the safe space, I'd like to just at least try for the younger generation of skaters because we want to see this sport thrive and we want to see it continue," she said. "No one speaks about it openly and publicly. ... But I'm glad that it reached the right people. And there has been some shift in that conversation since then."

And, Smart said, it's her mum's "proudest moment" of her outside of skating. "I was like, 'thank you, mum,'" she laughed.