(NEXSTAR) – She may only be 18 years old, but Isabeau Levito is a rising star in the world of figure skating. After battling back from an injury, the highly-touted New Jersey skater is looking to make a name for herself at the 2026 Winter Games. It's the next step for an athlete who has been honing her skills for as long as she can remember. "I just know that I have never had a memory in my life where I don't skate," Levito said. "It's such a satisfying way to put my energy to use." Levito got into figure skating after seeing her mother watch the competitions during the 2010 Winter Games. So Isabeau's mom put the then 3-year-old into ice skating class – a decision that changed her life. "From a young age I've been [at the rink] from like morning to afternoon," Levito recalled. "Some people would say I live here." Levito quickly found a mentor in Yulia Kuznetsova, who taught "learn to skate" classes at the local rink in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. "She was very tiny, very tiny," Kuznetsova said. "And she [would] fall, get up, fall, get up, and she just follow me everywhere." Kuznetsova saw the young skater's potential and began teaching her privately. From there, their bond deepened. "For her, I'm a second person after her mom," Kuznetsova said. Levito said their closeness makes Kuznetsova "the perfect coach" for her. It wasn't long before Levito started rattling off a string of impressive achievements: world junior champion in 2022, U.S. national champion in 2023 and world silver medalist in 2024. As she began preparing for a run at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, however, she suffered an unexpected setback – a stress fracture in her foot, which shut her down for three months. "There was nothing I could really do," Levito said. "There was no cross-training I could do since all the loading of figure skating kind of happens on one foot ... it was very traumatizing." Levito admits that it was a depressing period in her life during a moment when she had so much ambition. By the time she could train again, she had just seven weeks to prepare for the World Figure Skating Championships. "I remember first starting back on triples, and I was just sinking into the ice on the landings," Levito said. "Like I just couldn't hold myself up, and that was also very depressing." During the few weeks of preparation left, Levito gave it her all and managed to finish fourth in the world. "It's again, like, another good lesson for myself. How well I can do when I put in the right amount of work," Levito said. Now, Levito and Kuznetsova hope that work pays off with the chance to compete on figure skating's biggest stage – The Olympics. "For me it's huge and special ... I get emotional," Kuznetsova said, "Just to think, from diapers to here ... when she came she was in diapers." For Levito, she says that imagining success at the 2026 Winter Games still feels dreamlike, surreal. "I hope it comes true," Levito said.