Alumni Spotlight: Kyleigh Gaff

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Kyleigh Gaff graduated from Miami University in 2013 with a minor in Italian.

She's going to need that over the next month.

Gaff, who previously competed for Miami's senior, collegiate and junior synchronized skating teams as a RedHawk student-athlete, will spend the next few weeks in Italy as part of her current job with U.S. Figure Skating. A Director of High Performance Operations with the organization, Gaff will be on site for the 2026 Olympics in Milan to ensure that things go smoothly for the American skating delegation.

"I work very closely with the management of the logistics that go into getting our athletes ready for any type of competition…I am the main point of contact for the United States Olympics and Paralympic Committee, and I am also involved in Olympic games operations for the delegation," Gaff explained.

Kyleigh Gaff and U.S. Figure Skating High Performance staff — *Gaff (third from L) with the U.S. Figure Skating High Performance staff*

Gaff joined the U.S. Figure Skating staff in 2016 after earning a Bachelor's degree (in Mass Communication, with a focus in video production) and Master's degree (in Sports Leadership and Management) from Miami.

Her initial role with USFS was specifically related to synchronized skating before she transitioned into the high performance department about five years later. This will be her first trip to the Olympics.

"Essentially what we're doing is we are just there for the athletes and the coaches…working closely with other members of our staff to ensure that this Games is as seamless as possible for our athletes…keeping everybody safe and sound, and doing everything that I would want as an athlete if I was at the pinnacle of my career," said Gaff.

Preparations have been ongoing for many months and even years, ramping up ahead of the U.S. Championships in St. Louis, Mo. earlier in January, the official announcement of the 2026 team the next day, and a training camp in Bergamo, Italy over the past week-plus to help the athletes acclimate to the host country.

Gaff has countless logistics big and small to manage, but said her time as a Miami skater and student-athlete helped her learn the organization and attention to detail that serve her so well as a U.S. Figure Skating employee.

"With synchro, there's such a time management aspect you have to have…on a schedule you're tying your left skate at 10:52:35, then at 10:55 you're going to tie your right skate.

"Then you put left-right-left-right getting out of that locker room at 10:57:01, :02, :03, :04," Gaff added jokingly.

"But that's how regimented we are…managing that and being on two different teams, managing all those steps you had in your mind: At one point you would have to have memorized three programs and keep up with the ever-changing landscape of what the discipline needs and wants and the rules that are associated with that. I wouldn't have been able to do that anywhere else [but Miami]…it was the perfect setup because I was able to go to college with skating truly being in my scope and still be a part of that school atmosphere.

"Today, bringing that to what I do with the operations space and the logistics space, it's kind of like me bringing it back to what I would have wanted as a student-athlete…saying, 'What can I do to support and how can I support?'"

Long before Gaff arrived at the Olympics this winter, she got a taste of both national and international competition during her time as a RedHawk. The Lynnfield, Mass. native, who was recognized with Miami's Team Spirit Award before graduation, was a member of Team USA with the Red and White from 2009-13 and ended her career as a student-athlete with a trip to the 2013 World Championships, which were contested only a few miles from her hometown in Boston.

"The sisterhood of what we had at Miami and what they still do with Miami is something: You still see that sea of red in the stands," Gaff pointed out.

"The best memory I have from that is just being out there with other skaters that were just as passionate about synchronized skating and the success that they wanted to see with Miami. At that time —and right now, too— Miami is still a top team in the country and in the world. That legacy is not common…

"We won the collegiate national championship in 2011," continued Gaff, who was part of a run of 12 straight titles by the RedHawk collegiate team. "My first-ever national championship and a cool moment to continue on the record-breaking success…then making the 2013 world team and ending my skating career where it started in Boston [was special]…

"My grandparents got to see it. My brother got to see it. My parents, who have always supported me. My high school friends who never were able [before that] to go see me compete for Team USA…

"To this day, still being able to keep connected with those that want to see this discipline move forward is really, really cool and you kind of pick up where you left off with them."

Kyleigh Gaff in Japan — *Gaff (center) at a competition in Osaka, Japan*

A number of Gaff's day-to-day responsibilities at U.S. Figure Skating encompass working with all levels of synchronized skating in the United States, including Miami's current teams. She is one of many former RedHawks who have gone on to serve in roles connected to the sport, whether as coaches, judges, officials or volunteers.

"The coolest thing is the amount of people that have graduated from Miami that are involved and still connected into the sport," Gaff smiled. "There are skaters at Miami from back in the 2000s that I would never have thought they'd be some of my closest friends in the position that I'm in now; you have that alumni connection, but I never would have thought we'd be this close.

"I call it a family."

"She knows every single athlete by name," Miami head coach Katey Nyquist commented. "Not only all the synchro athletes, which is a big group of people, but she knows all the other disciplines: Where they're at, who they're being coached by.

"That's a lot to do, and it's because she cares."

"Kyleigh is a fabulous representation of Miami Skating and of synchronized skating," RedHawk assistant coach Sammie Levine added. "Katey and I both worked with her as athletes, and now as coaches, and it's just so obvious how much she cares about setting the athletes up for success.

"She plays a huge role in every little detail that goes on behind the scenes."

While synchronized skating is not yet an Olympic sport, Gaff and the Miami coaches are among thousands of supporters across the country who hope to see it included in future editions of the Games, perhaps as soon as 2034 when the United States hosts the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, site of this year's synchro national championships.

"U.S. Figure Skating and the entire synchronized skating world has been very passionate about getting synchronized skating into the Olympics," Gaff said. "It may not look like what synchronized skating looks like to us today, but the foundation of what synchronized skating is, with skaters on the ice all making formations and transitions and connections that are connecting the other disciplines of other figure skating, is real."

"We are really passionate about synchro being included in the Olympics," said Nyquist. "These athletes work so hard and are so talented in so many different ways, in terms of their athleticism, their performance quality and their skating skills.

"They —one hundred percent— should be at that world stage at the Olympics, and as coaches, we want to do whatever we can to support the Olympic movement and help it get there. We want to be advocates for it."

No matter if or when those worlds eventually collide for Gaff in future Games, right now, her focus is solely on the 2026 Olympiad and helping U.S. Figure Skating shine on the brightest stage in the sport. Skating competitions in Milan run from Feb. 6-19, and whether or not fans ever happen to see Gaff on the television/streaming coverage, the product of the Red and White will most certainly be hard at work behind the scenes in Europe solving problems and organizing details for the red, white and blue.

The continuing alumni pipeline that Gaff represents, starting on the ice in Oxford, Ohio and spanning literally around the globe, makes everyone associated with Miami Skating incredibly proud.

"It speaks a lot to the program and the legacy Carla [DeGirolamo], Lee Ann [Shoker], and Vicki [Korn] created and how much intention they put behind giving athletes opportunities to love the sport that they're in and to want to give back," Nyquist said.

Kyleigh Gaff with world champion in Boston — *Gaff (far R) with 2025 women's singles world champion Alysa Liu (third from R)*

"That was a big part of their philosophy as coaches and it's something that we always want to carry on with as well, because we feel the same…knowing that the athletes have such a great skating experience that they want to continue to be a part of it and to give it back to the other athletes speaks volumes."

"Right now, I'm able to help an entire delegation rather than just looking out for my one team," Gaff said. "I'm not just looking out for me and my teammates: My teammates are all the athletes, coaches, officials and staff members…

"We're looking forward to a brighter future in terms of what figure skating can offer to the nation and the world."

Find more Front Row Features at: MiamiRedHawks.com/FrontRowFeatures

To follow the U.S. figure skating team at the 2026 Winter Olympics, click here for the daily television schedule. Miami's 2025-26 synchronized skating teams continue their competitive season over the next few weeks leading into the U.S. Championships March 6-7 in Utah; the RedHawks' schedule is available here.

(All photos in this story are courtesy of Kyleigh Gaff)

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