HARTSELL
Danielle and Steve Hartsell compete their short program at the 2002 U.S. Championships in Los Angeles.
petitively again, but through grit and determina- tion, they came to the 2001 U.S. Championships and placed first in the short program, receiving a standing ovation. Tings didn’t go as well in the free skate, and they dropped to third, falling short of the World Team. Tey were bitterly disappointed at the result.
Johns encouraged them to get away for a few days to lift their spirits. While on vacation in Jamaica, Danielle met Chris Minnis and sparks flew. He came to visit her in Michigan about a month later and after three days said he wanted to date her exclusively. “We had no idea when we were going to see
each other again, but we kind of had that feeling,” she said. “Within a year, we both knew we were going to get married.” She and Steve got back to serious training in hopes of qualifying for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, but his groin injury forced them to with- draw from the 2002 U.S. Championships prior to the free skate. Danielle was in constant pain from her knee, but knew Steve still wanted to compete, so she offered to continue. He told her to retire, which she did, moving to Richmond, Va., to be with Minnis. Although she was young and in love, the transition was still difficult. Te first month she was there she taught one group lesson a week. Eventually, she developed a coaching career. In September 2003, she and Minnis got married. Tey’re now parents to Olivia, 7, and Cameron, 4.
“Moving away from Michigan and every-
thing that I’d ever known really forced me to grow up a lot and learn to be way more independent,” Danielle said. “It shaped me into the adult that I am now.
Steve Hartsell performs with Harmony Theatre on Ice.
“Having skated pairs for so long, commu- nication and compromise are the two things that always come up,” she continued. “I have to admit, I really wasn’t good at either one of those things with my brother. I don’t know that I was good at that in my marriage in the beginning either. We were very young. “We kind of laugh now when we talk about
it, because we feel like part of the fact that we’ve been together so long is a little bit of luck. Ten, the other part of it is that we have really grown together as individuals. Chris and I have been so fortunate that we’ve always been a really good team. We always have each other’s backs.”
Daughter Olivia went through learn-to-
skate, but now is into competitive cheerleading. Cameron only likes to go to the rink to watch the Zamboni. He’s in youth soccer. Danielle has stayed involved with skating
over the years as chair of the Athlete Adviso- ry Committee and as a member of U.S. Figure Skating’s board. She helped launch the Athlete Alumni Association. Now she is pursuing judg- ing, which she loves. “It’s great to have different perspectives,” she
said. “Put on a new hat and view skating from a totally different angle. It gives me a little bit more appreciation for the judges than I had when I was growing up, because I wasn’t always very pleased with them. Now I kind of see it from their per- spective.”
When Cameron starts kindergarten next
year, she’ll turn her attention to building a career. She’s interested in nutrition and exercise. After Danielle retired, Steve skated one sea-
son with Marcy Hinzmann and one season with Kristen Roth before calling it quits. He didn’t know if he wanted to coach full-time, but eventu- ally he found a way to thrive. Presently he coach- es at three rinks; he’s director of the Basic Skills program at one and is building a pairs program at another. “Once my skater takes the ice at a compe-
tition, there’s nothing I can do,” said Steve, who still lives in Michigan. “I wondered whether my personality would be able to handle that. I’ve al- ways enjoyed the aspect of teaching the sport and talking about what I know in the sport, but that aspect of not being in control I knew was going to be a challenge for me. “What I learned pretty early on is that while
I don’t have control of the outcome once the skat- er leaves the boards, I have a lot of control on how the process goes along — the training and other preparation,” he added. “Tere are going to be things along the way you have no control over, but you can control how you execute the process.”
SKATING 9
MIKE POWELL/GETTY IMAGES
KRPHOTOGS PHOTOGRAPHY LLC
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