COVER STORY
BACK ON THE ICE
Celski and Gunther Return Determined to Excell By Kelly Pugliano
After long months of training, travel and competition, skaters are relieved to hear the whistle blow after the last race of the season. It signifies that it is time to have a moment of rest and relaxation; time to spend with family, friends and maybe enjoy a slice of pizza or two. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the sea- son and learn from it. Compare that scenario to a required
“rest” due to injury and recovery, or the loss of a spot on an Olympic team and that time becomes the driving need to get back on the ice. Kelly Gunther knows first-hand how all the above can happen. She lived it. Having experienced Championships and world travel for ten years as a successful in-line skater, Kelly realized that to make her childhood dream of going to the Olym- pics a reality, she would have to switch to a discipline that was recognized as a sport in the Games. Kelly recently said, “I loved it (inline), but it wasn’t an Olympic sport. I had to move on. I’m getting older and I wanted my dreams to come true.” It seemed the best transition was to cross- over from pavement to ice and compete in Long Track Speedskating.
In December 2009, Kelly was part of the Olympic Trials in Salt Lake City, UT and skated some her fastest times to se- cure her spot on the Vancouver Olympic Team. She need only wait for one skater to finish her race, a teammate who was also trying to make the team. Kelly had skated faster times and was confident
that her dream came true. She even re- ceived congratulations from coaches and US Speedskating on becoming an Olym- pian. Kelly reflected “I will never forget that feeling, thinking I am GOING to this Olympics! This is what I DREAMED about ever since I was a little girl.”
Kelly would be an Olympian for 24 minutes.
Her teammate, Rebecca Bradford, fell at the finish of her race and was allowed a re-skate. Rebecca chased her own dream and with 76 hundredths of a sec- ond, took over Kelly’s spot. As an athlete, shock and disbelief is something that is almost palatable. Disappointment cannot come close to describing the experience of feeling such a high to wrapping your thoughts around such a low. Yet, Kelly’s outlook “Everything happens for a reason and there was a reason why I didn’t go.” is what makes her resilient.
Resilience is a quality Kelly would have
to rely on come March 2010. After feel- ing knocked down by not going to the Games, Kelly was entering the first turn of her 500 meter race at the American Cup Final and was literally down. She fell and suffered a compound fracture to her ankle. She remembers lying on the ice, freezing with her foot hanging off her leg. “I could not believe this just happened to me. I didn’t cry, nor did I want to. I knew someone somewhere else, someone was worse and I was going to be okay.” Not knowing if she would ever be able to skate again, Kelly entered into a long rehabilitation in Colorado Springs, CO with her team Chris Schroer and Sean Mc- Cann to make her ankle, with plates and 10 screws healthy again. The first time back on the ice was met with a little bit of nerves and ex- citement. To a girl who lived in skates, four months off is like an eternity. The ice be- came a place to feel normal
10 RACING BLADE Fall 2011
www.usspeedskating.org
again and little by little, her ankle gained strength and soon she rid of the metal in her ankle, her fears and the past. She gained her confidence back, and is deter- mined to make her comeback successful and stronger than ever. Kelly’s next goal is to bring it to the ice this season. She cannot wait to show her team at the OTC that her rehab has been successful and that they have given her the opportunity to skate again. The Sochi Winter Olympic Games is Kelly’s eventual goal and with months of rehab and a sum- mer of dryland that is went very well, and a racing season underway, she is looking forward to getting Back On the Ice. One can also have the same amount of time, also recovering from injury, but have a different outlook all together. JR Celski also suffered a devastat- ing injury, one that under most circum- stances would have ended most skat- ing careers. Quick response from fellow skaters, paramedic team and a surgeon who personally understood a speeds- kater’s body (Dr. Eric Heiden), worked in JR’s favor to help him not only recover, but recover well enough to skate in the Vancouver Olympic Games.
In September 2009, J.R. earned his spot on the US Short Track team in the 1500 meter distance at the Short Track Olympic Trials in Marquette, MI. He decided to skate in the 500 meter distance, which present- ed consequences beyond comprehension. In the final turn of the 500 meter semi- final, a skater’s worst nightmare followed. J.R. slipped and slid into the boards; the tip of his right blade impaled his left thigh and cut him to the bone. Missing his fem- oral artery by inches, he sat in a pool of his own blood as his friend Walter Rusk literally took the shirt (sweatshirt) off his back and applied first aid. “It was like I was watching a horror movie in real time. The second thing that
Photos by: Thomas DiNardo Bella Faccie Sports Media
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