As part of the Get Up campaign,
Team USA athletes were asked to share how lessons they learned on the ice pushed them in skating and life. You might be surprised to find you share some of the same traits that make Team USA athletes so resilient.
Jason Brown: Accept the process All ice skaters fall. That’s part of
the process of learning to balance your weight over a thin blade on slippery ice. Always the optimist, Team USA’s
“Every single time I make a mistake, I think about my dad and how proud he was of me falling. I never thought someone would be proud of me for that!”
Jason Brown
Jason Brown puts falling in a positive light: “You can’t get up unless you fall.” When Jason was 13, he learned to embrace challenge. His dad, who at- tended Jason’s competitions but rare- ly watched him practice, came to the rink one morning to watch his son train. Wanting to show off a bit, an excited Jason had a rough session and kept falling. When he got off the ice, he apol- ogized to his dad for not skating bet- ter. Instead of being disappointed, his dad told him that he couldn’t be more proud. He was inspired by what he had seen and was amazed that Jason kept getting up even after the toughest falls to try again. In an instant, Jason real- ized there is a process to learning chal- lenging skills. The trick is to not give up. Even today, the Olympic bronze medal- ist relishes that memory. “Every single time I make a mistake, I think about my dad and how proud he was of me fall- ing,” Jason said. “I never thought some- one would be proud of me for that!”
Adam Rippon: Break it up into steps Setting a goal is the first step to-
ward reaching a goal, but there are many steps in between. For instance,
Madison Chock: Talk it through
Communication is a slippery slope.
Kids often don’t understand their par- ents (and vice versa!). Sometimes a friend’s feelings get hurt over a mis- understanding. Figure skating teaches you how to express yourself and get along with people. Olympic ice dancer Madison Chock
relies on her ability to honestly and re- spectfully talk with partner Evan Bates during tough times. “If I’m having a hard day or if he’s having a hard day, we’re always there to support each other and have each other’s backs,” she said. “So, if I can’t find it within myself to get up,
SKATING 23
figure skaters know that before they can jump they have to learn to glide. Jumps don’t just happen overnight. Planning a series of smaller goals will help you reach that ultimate goal, be it on the ice or in life. U.S. men’s champion Adam Rippon uses lessons he’s learned in figure skat- ing to be a successful adult. “I schedule things out. I set goals for myself,” Adam said. “Like I want to pay off my car by this time. I plan out how I’m going to do that. I plan out if I want to buy a house one day. And that goal-setting and that drive to achieve that goal, if I take a step back, those are all things that I learned as a student on the ice.”
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 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
