YOUTH ESSAY CONTEST
dream. Tree skaters on that plane who really inspired me were Laurence Owen, Maribel Vin- son-Owen and Larry Pierce. Laurence Owen was only 16 years old when she won the U.S. Championships. She was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. She was full of hope. I could see how much she loved skating from her smile in the pictures. Maribel Vinson-Owen was her moth- er and coach. She was a nine-time U.S. ladies champion. She had given her whole life to skat- ing. Larry Pierce was an ice dancer. He and his partner won the national championships with only five weeks of training together. Tey were so talented and ready to take on the world as figure skating champions. Unfortunately, they never made it off the plane. Tose skaters fell from the sky, but I do
at the ice rink. Ten she skated a beautiful short program. It was like she was skating for me. She was living my dream. At only 15 years old, she went from playing in the ice to being an Olympi- an. I once read that Julia was not very flexible, so she began stretching several times a day. She went on to become known at the Olympic Games for being incredibly flexible. I often watch that Olympic performance on my iPad just before my competitions. It reminds me that weaknesses can be overcome through hard work and dedication. It also reminds me of how much I love skating. Julia’s Olympic performance in the long
program was also inspiring even though it was not perfect. After landing her triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination, she fell on the triple flip. I am sure she was disappointed but she didn’t give up. I think about her performances at the Olympics often and it inspires me to always do my best in each and every moment. Most of all, it reminds me that it’s OK to fall. Everyone falls sometimes, even Olympians. Te important thing is to get back up and do a landing like you really just landed that jump. I believe that when tragedy happens you
have to make it your strength. My dad has stage four colon cancer. He was diagnosed in Octo- ber 2013. Since his diagnosis, he has had three surgeries, chemotherapy and chemo-radiation treatments. After my dad’s diagnosis, my little brother suddenly got sick and spent four days in the hospital. It has been a difficult time for me and my family. Skating helps me cope with my stress. I’ve learned to turn all of those negative feelings into a giant ball of power. My mom and I call it a “power ball.” Ten, I let it roll on the ice rink, making my jumps higher and my spins faster. At the end of a day of training with the power ball on the rink, I feel like a champion. After learning about the skaters on that plane that crashed in 1961, I felt truly inspired by their tragedy. Each one of the skaters had got- ten on that plane with a dream in their heart. So much hard work and determination had gone into making it to the World Championships. Tey would never get the chance to live that
not believe that their dreams died with them. I began to think about coach Frank Carroll and how he was inspired by his coach, Maribel Vin- son-Owen. Her legacy lived on through his work as a coach. He then inspired Olympian and U.S. champion Michelle Kwan, who was his student. In that way, Maribel Vinson-Owen’s dreams lived on through coach Carroll, through Michelle Kwan and through the millions of people that they inspired. Te movie RISE made me think about
Julia Lipnitskaia’s struggles and success, my lit- tle brother’s sickness and my dad and his battle against cancer, and how skating is the way to overcome anything. I often fall hard on the ice, but I always get back up. I will hold the promise of those skaters that came before me, that prac- ticed hard, that were determined and never gave up, deep in my heart. I will put their tragedy in my power ball. It will grow more powerful and roll with more speed than ever before. I will give rise to their dreams because, like them, I am a figure skater. And, figure skaters always rise after a fall.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS ON ICE
(JUVENILE) In 1961 the United States Figure Skating
Association and the world suffered a great loss when Sabena Flight 548 crashed en route to the World Figure Skating Championships held in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Te entire United States team was lost in the crash. With such a devastating loss, how was figure skating going to survive in the U.S.? So many figure skaters stepped forward to take the helm and shape the future of figure skating. Teir bravery, in the face of such grief and loss, has contributed to the strength of U.S. figure skating today. We see their efforts echo in the accomplishments of our
2014 Winter Olympic Team. In the 2014 Winter Olympics, the United
States Olympic Team won 28 medals with their 230 athletes. Some of the people who inspired me the most were Jason Brown, Meryl Davis and Charlie White, and Jeremy Abbott. Tey all did an amazing job at the Olympics. I would love to see all of them compete at the 2018 Win- ter Olympics. Jason Brown should be known as “Mr. Per-
sonality on Ice.” I loved his Riverdance long pro- gram. His charisma and ability to connect to the crowd are similar to figure skater Douglas Ram- say, who perished on Sabena Flight 548. Mr. Ramsay had a special ability to connect with his audience. At the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Brown proved to be a formidable showman in both his short and long programs. His ability to draw in the audience, even those watching on television, is an amazing gift. After watching both skaters (via the miracle of YouTube) I feel inspired by Douglas Ramsay and Jason Brown to work hard on my facial expressions in my program and to connect to the audience. Meryl Davis and Charlie White are like a prince and princess on ice. I loved their beauti- ful artistry in their programs. If I had to pick a favorite skater between them, I would still pick both of them because they were so breathtak- ing. From watching Meryl Davis and Charlie White’s Olympic programs, I was amazed at how perfect and easy it looked and I knew that is what I want my programs to look like. Each element that Meryl and Charlie perform in their programs look like a perfect photograph. Teir unison is dizzying to me. I feel inspired by them to work harder in my off-ice classes, like ballet and conditioning, so I can emulate their grace on the ice. I want each of my required elements to look like a beautiful picture. When I was watching Jeremy Abbot’s short
program, I was starstruck with how he could connect with the music very well. After he had the wind knocked out of him, I was sure that he was not going to continue with his program. I have fallen like that in competitions, but not as
SKATING 37
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60