 Skate
Today has teamed up with Barry Mittan to provide you an insight into
the personalities of the people in this wonderful sport and to give
you a more personal connection when you watch them on television or
see them at an event. Mr. Mittan is the author or editor of several
books and hundreds of figure skating articles. All of Barry's stories
are reviewed by the skaters, and their coaches or others if requested,
before publication to ensure the greatest accuracy.
All current
articles and many previous articles may be read in their entirety by
following the links below. Mr. Mittan retains all copyrights for these
articles and they may not be reproduced without permission. Please visit
www.jbmittan.com for more details.
Archived Articles
2008
January - March 2008
2007
2006
2005
2004 |
August 30, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Nicole Orford and Malcolm Rohon are determined to prove that they are better dancers than they showed at Canadian Nationals last season. The dancers, ages 16 and 20 respectively, will be competing in junior dance this season.
"We won novice dance at Sectionals last year and were second at Westerns," Rohon continued. "but we didn't do well at Nationals. This year we want to redeem ourselves. We're going to come back with a vengeance."
They opened their season at Minto Skate in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. "We started out really well," Orford noted. "There were a lot of couples there but we were fifth in the compulsories and second in the original dance. We made some technical mistakes in the free and came tenth."
The couple finished fifth in the free dance and sixth in the original dance in the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships in August. "We were fourth in the open Westminster Waltz, sixth in the junior Westminster, fourth in the junior Argentine Tango, and seventh overall in compulsories," Orford noted....
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August 24, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
.jpg) At the 2009 Canadian Nationals, the biggest surprise was Kate Charbonneau's gold medal performance in the junior ladies. Charbonneau had never competed in Canada before last season.
"She was completely unknown," said coach Robert Tebby. "Kate was born in Winnipeg but moved to Minnesota when she was five. She's been training at Mariposa in the summers since she was eight or nine."
"Kate was invited to do a North American Challenge Skate a few years ago to compete for the United States," Tebby said. "I told her not to do it because of all the paperwork she'd have to do to compete for Canada later, but then she busted an ankle, so it wasn't an issue. I wanted her to compete just in the United States for a few years to toughen her up."
"I started skating when I was three because my Mom, Lorie, is a coach," Charbonneau recalled. "She trains me in Minnesota, but I love coming to Mariposa. They have really good coaches like nowhere else in the world." |
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August 16, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 For some skaters, winning a medal is the most important thing, but for Pennsylvania ice dancer Michael Soyfer, just being able to skate again was a victory.
The 18-year-old was involved in horrendous car crash in May 2009 that totaled his car and left him in the hospital in a coma with a fractured skull and a shattered left arm that had to be reassembled with metal plates and screws.
"I don't remember anything about the accident," he said, "but as soon as I came out of the coma, I told my Mom I wanted to start back skating." "I told him that the only way he was going back on the ice was with a helmet," Mrs. Soyfer noted.
After a lot of physical therapy, Soyfer was back skating again within a month, but didn't regain full use of his arm for a few additional months. It wasn't until August that he was first permitted to do any lifts... |
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