2014 -- H 7134

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2014

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING MARISSA CASTELLI AND HER SKATING PARTNER, SIMON

SHNAPIR, FOR QUALIFYING FOR THE UNITED STATES WINTER OLYMPICS PAIRS

FIGURE SKATING TEAM AND REPRESENTING THE UNITED STATES AT THE 2014

WINTER OLYMPICS IN SOCHI, RUSSIA

     

     Introduced By: Representatives Ucci, Winfield, Costantino, Mattiello, and Chippendale

     Date Introduced: January 16, 2014

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, Marissa Castelli, born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1990, a graduate of

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Cranston West High School where she was an All-State Lacrosse player, received the joyous

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news on Sunday morning, January 12, 2014, that she and her skating partner, Simon Shnapir, had

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qualified to represent the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in the pairs

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figure skating competition; and

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     WHEREAS, Marissa Castelli and her skating partner Simon Shnapir, are the two-time

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defending United States Pairs Figure Skating Champions, winning Gold Medals at the 2013

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Championship in Omaha, Nebraska and at the 2014 Championship in Boston, Massachusetts.

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After their breakthrough win in 2013, Marissa and Simon proved they were a force to be

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reckoned with in pairs skating when they repeated as champions in 2014. Their performance in

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the short program, the best of their careers, staked them out to a commanding lead, a lead they

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would not relinquish; and

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     WHEREAS, Marissa and Simon have also performed well in prior international

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competitions. They won Bronze Medals at both the 2009 World Junior Figure Skating

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Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the 2013 Four Continent Figure Skating Championships in

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Osaka, Japan. At the latter championships they also helped the United States Figure Skating

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Team take the Team Gold Medal Championship; and

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     WHEREAS, Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir have been skating partners since June

 

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of 2006 and their more than seven years of hard training, diligent practicing, endless hours on the

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ice, and more hours brainstorming and planning their programs, has all paid off for them. Marissa

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Castelli will be representing her country, the City of Cranston, the State of Rhode Island, and the

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Skating Club of Boston at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and her skating partner Simon Shnapir will

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be returning to his birth country at the Winter Olympics, as he was born in Moscow and lived

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there for over a year before moving to Sudbury, Massachusetts; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby congratulates Marissa Castelli and her skating partner Simon

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Shnapir for qualifying for the United States Winter Olympics Pairs Figure Skating Team and

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representing the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir.

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