Part of being a champ is acting like a champ. You have to learn how to win and not run away when you lose.
Falling down became second nature and it really didn’t bother me.
My dad worked several jobs to pay for my expense in skating.
One of the things I like best about the Halloween show is that I change outfits about six times in the show. It is a lot of fun to play the different characters.
I was a tomboy who liked to play rough just like my two older brothers. That’s probably why I liked the athletic part of skating – especially the jumping!
There is no age, height, or weight requirement to skate. It is good exercise no matter what your age is. If you want to be competitive, most start young. But, I practice with many adult competitors.
I do not have any pets. We travel too much.
My hobbies are painting, crafts, and I like golfing.
My life has been a whirlwind since the ’94 Olympics.
I was thrilled one year when I was younger when not only did my brothers get hockey sticks for Christmas – but I did too!
But after a few minutes of convincing myself that I really wanted to go – telling myself that I love skating and that my coach is there waiting for me – I would get up and go. And my mother would always get up and eat breakfast with me!
Even now, my husband Jerry, our son Matthew and I live only five minutes away from my parents home, and my brothers live about ten minutes away. It’s been great having such a supportive family.
It wasn’t always easy getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning to go to the rink. Sometimes I wanted to just go back to sleep.
People are really sick of seeing the winner not win and what the public thinks should happen.
I like to try all kinds of styles so it always challenges me and forces me to try to look different.
Even now I can’t describe why I love skating so much.
My parents never pressured me to skate. They always said I could quit if I wanted to. They only expected me to skate when they had already paid for the expensive lessons. But, otherwise they said I could do what I wanted to do.
I get to see the different sides of skating now which involves not only competing, but entertainment.
I won my first medal when I was nine years old. It was at the Boston Open.
I started skating when I was six years old.
I think it’s a lot harder for the pros to have a long career in ice dance and in pairs. It seems the singles have a little bit of a longer career.