Team USA’s Mirai Nagasu knows
“Stepping onto the ice I’d say is when all your nerves are in a bundle and you have to master them, you have to control them, you have to channel them really because they’re there for a reason. You know your body is telling you I’m ready. If you use them in the right way they can elicit a performance that you could never have achieved without them.”
Evan Bates Evan Bates:
Use that nervous energy While
training can be a little
nerve-wracking sometimes, competi- tion definitely multiplies the butterflies in your stomach. Two-time Olympi- an Evan Bates taps into that nervous energy to perform better. “Stepping onto the ice when all your nerves are in a bundle and you have to master them, you have to control them, you have to channel them really because they’re there for a reason,” Evan said. “You know, your body is telling you ‘I’m ready,’ and if you use them in the right way, they can elicit a performance that you could never have achieved without them.”
“I like competing, and I won’t let one competition affect my whole life.”
Mirai Nagasu Mirai Nagasu:
Remember you have control Every time you lace up your skates,
you’re in control. You choose to be here. You train hard to get better. You get up after each and every fall.
this firsthand. In 2014, she made the choice to rise above a difficult and pub- lic experience. After finishing just off the podium at the 2010 Olympics, Mirai’s goal was to make the 2014 U.S. Olym- pic Team. After a challenging Grand Prix season, Mirai worked hard and finished third at the 2014 U.S. Cham- pionships, the event where the Olympic Team would be selected. To her great disappointment, Mirai was not named to the team. After weeks of heartache, Mirai faced a huge emotional challenge: Should she quit doing what she loves or let go of the negativity and skate on? Mirai made the right choice: “I like com- peting,” she said, “and I won’t let one competition affect my whole life.”
adrenaline rush No matter how many medals they’ve
won, Team USA athletes still remember falling in love with skating as little kids. Max Aaron started playing hock-
ey when he was 4 and loved the rush of going fast. At age 9, he started fig- ure skating to improve his hockey skills. Today, it’s figure skating that feeds his competitive drive. “I want to be the best so badly,” Max said. “I want to be the champion. I want to put a smile on my parents’ faces.” Whenever Adam Rippon needs a
little inspiration, he taps back into the young boy who would wake up his mom at 5 a.m. because he wanted to get to the rink. “I just felt so cool and so awe- some being on the ice,” Adam said. “I was the only one on the ice at points, so I’d play whatever music I wanted and I was just jamming out as an 11-year- old.”
When Madison Chock was a little
girl, she “loved getting on the ice and just feeling the cold air and zooming around and the crunch that the edges make when you glide and press deep- er.”
Tuning into those exhilarating feel- ings and sounds can bring back the joy on a tough day.
“I want to be the best so badly. I want to be the champion. I want to put a smile on my parents’ faces.”
Max Aaron SKATING 25
Max Aaron: Embrace the
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