John Millier and Kathy Slack
John Millier, right, and Doug Williams, left, helped Team USA’s eff orts as team leaders at the 2013 World Championships.
be told a joke. T ey have observed how diff erent coaches prepare and how they interact with their skaters. Of course, there are also the parents and family members who attend the Games. “My main job is to make sure everyone is
calm,” he said. T at, in and of itself, can be a full-time job. T at is, of course, if it were a full-time job.
In fact, both Millier and Slack are volunteers. Although their expenses will be covered, neither Millier nor Slack is an employee of U.S. Figure Skating. Millier was a longtime professional club disc jockey, and Slack, who owned a wallpaper business and worked as an interior decorator, both said they could not work full time and be team leaders. Slack would not be able to be a team lead-
er, she said, without the support of her husband, Bill, who is retired from General Motors. “We have both put a lot of our own things
on hold so we could do this,” Slack said. “Once, I got a call from U.S. Figure Skating on a Satur- day or Sunday asking if I could be on a plane to Istanbul in 18 hours. We were supposed to have friends come over but we rearranged things and I was on a plane to Istanbul.” T at said, neither one of them would trade
the role of team leader for anything. “Team leading has given us the chance to see the world and has sparked my wanderlust for travel,” said Slack, who is considering taking a river cruise in Europe following her duties in So- chi.
“Most importantly, though,” she added,
ing, gymnastics and aerobics. Dalley is more reserved and would spend time “reading sit- uations.” He was the one, for in- stance, who planned the living arrangements in the Olympic Village. Parker, meanwhile, was the one who spent hours dec- orating the skaters’ area in the village red, white and blue. In Vancouver, Parker spent most of her time with the singles skaters, while Dalley worked mainly with pairs and ice dancers. And by the time Parker and Dalley arrived in Vancouver, both had evolved as team leaders. One of Dalley’s
big highlights was witnessing Meryl Davis and Charlie White win the silver medal. Parker, meanwhile, found herself in the middle of Olympic history as she stood alongside the boards when Evan Lysacek prepared for his free skate. Hav- ing observed him compete nu- merous times all over the globe — including once when he was so ill but wound up winning anyway — Parker was cautious- ly optimistic about his chances for gold in Vancouver. “I just knew he was so
tough,” she said. And after the results came
through showing Lysacek had upset Russia’s Evgeni Plushen- ko, Parker was right in the thick of things, celebrating with Ly- sacek, his coach Frank Carroll and choreographer Lori Nichol. Parker spent a lot of her
time in Vancouver documenting the Games with her camera. Not only did she get pictures of the skaters, but she also snapped away in the dining hall when Olympic stars such as Apolo Anton Ohno and Shaun White came by. “I think it’s nice that diff er-
ent people get the opportunity to experience this,” Parker said,
Lorrie Parker and Olympic champion Evan Lysacek
SKATING 17
“and I’m excited to watch the Olympics on TV. I’ll probably have an Olympic party at my house to celebrate.”
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