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Hungary's Hadford Heralds Her Heritage Katherine Hadford January 22, 2008
"I have always felt connected to Hungary," she continued. "Until I was about three years old, my grandparents babysat us while my parents worked. I spoke only Hungarian and heard many stories about our great relatives, including Szechenyi Istvan, and about how productive Hungary was before the Soviet invasion. We also traveled to Hungary to visit our relatives." "I decided to skate for Hungary to broaden my life experiences," she continued. "I am interested in foreign diplomacy and I wanted to live there to perfect my knowledge of the Hungarian language, culture, and people. At the same time, since I wanted to also continue skating, I explored the idea of skating for Hungary. I thought if I qualified to be a part of the Hungarian National Team I could live and train in Hungary, perfect the language, learn more about the culture as well as continue skating and competing." "Languages, geography, and history are my favorite subjects," she continued. "Training in Hungary as well as in other European countries and competing for Hungary give me an opportunity to increase my knowledge in these subjects as well as continue my passion for figure skating. I also hope to bring some good results for Hungary and to promote figure skating in Hungary." Hadford began skating when she was seven. Prior to that, she had tried tennis, skiing, soccer, and swimming. "Nobody else in my family figure skates," she continued. "My mother was a competitive skier and tennis player and everyone in my family still skis and plays tennis. My brothers and sister also play travel and high school soccer. One of my uncles was the Hungarian national fencing champion, another was a Hungarian swimming champion and participated in the Olympics, and one of my aunts was a competitive horseback rider in the United States." "One summer my Mom took me to the local ice rink to sign me up for group lessons just for fun," she recalled. "I had done some ballet classes but I was really bored with ballet and asked to try something new. I had seen Oksana Baiul on TV and loved her skating and thought it would be fun to try it out also." Once she started, she gave up other sports to concentrate on skating. "I landed my first triple jumps at about eleven years old and they were the triple salchow and triple toe loop," she recalled. "I really like to learn new elements and spinning in different positions. I also enjoy competitions and especially enjoy charity shows and exhibitions. My favorite charity show in which I have performed several times is Harvard University's Evening With Champions. I also love traveling to different countries, meeting new people, and learning about different cultures." In the United States, Hadford achieved her best results in the 2002 U.S. Nationals when she finished fourth in novice ladies at the age of twelve. That same year she earned a bronze medal in Slovenia at the Triglav Trophy - her first international assignment. But was too young to qualify for further international assignments. Her last U. S. Nationals was in 2005, when she finished 17th in senior ladies. Although she began skating in Hungary in 2005, the 18-year-old did not start competing in Hungary until 2006, finishing third in seniors the last two seasons before taking the silver medal this season. Hadford finished 24th in a field of 52 at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in 2007, her first major international. This week, she is competing at the European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, her first senior ISU championships. Earlier this season, although she skated well, she placed a disappointing 23rd in the ISU JGP Vienna Cup, but rebounded with a 12th place finish at the ISU JGP Pokal der Blauen Schwerter in Chemnitz, Germany in October. She scored her personal bests in the free skate and overall. Jerana Ipakjan coaches Hadford, who trains in Budapest, Hungary full time. Last season, she trained with Zsofia Kulcsar in Hungary. While still in the United States, Hadford had worked in Delaware with Priscilla Hill and Natalia Linichuk, both of whom she strongly admires and respects even to this day. "On the average, I train about three hours on ice, about an hour off ice, and another hour for ballet and Pilates," Hadford said. "Running, swimming, and bicycling are often part of my off ice training routine." Ipakjan choreographed Hadford's programs for the 2007-08 season. She is using "Flashdance" by George Moroder for her short program and "Selections" by Michael Smith for the free skate. For a gala program, Hadford has chosen several favorites among which are: "My Heart Will Go On", "I Will Survive," "March With Me," and "Ave Maria." She usually chooses the one which best fits the show's theme. "Whenever my coach or I hear a piece of music we like we show it to each other and then she decides if it will work for me or not," Hadford said. "We choose music that best fits my skating style and ones that will best allow me to do everything required under the new judging system. In competitions, I prefer to skate to classical or modern classical. In exhibitions I enjoy many varieties, especially music with words because for competitions we cannot skate to music with words." "Under the new judging system it is very difficult to be creative," she continued. "The rules spell out exactly what you are allowed to do, how many points each element is worth, etc. The new system does not allow a lot of room for creativity or uniqueness. Sometimes I do come up with new spin positions, combinations, spirals, footwork ideas and I show them to my coach and then she decides which can be used in accordance with the new judging system rules and which is worth the most points." Hadford is in the twelfth grade at Seton School. Her favorite subjects
are history, geography, and languages. "I hope to continue learning
at least one other language but preferably two more," she said. "I
am fluent in Hungarian and English. I plan to be involved in foreign
affairs in the diplomatic field." "I plan to attend university after skating," she continued. "Since full time skating training means I must be on the ice or in off ice training during school hours, it is impossible to be in a classroom at the same time. Your body cannot be in two places at the same time! Right now I plan to put attending university on hold for a short time until I am finished with my competitive skating career. Once I attend university, I want to make sure I attend all the classes like the regular full time students." Off ice, Hadford said, "I like going to the movies or watching some of the old time movies and modern shows on TV. Some of my more recent favorites are Pursuit of Happiness, Legally Blonde, Freedom Writers, The Devil Wears Prada, and Music and Lyrics. I like taking long walks with my family and dogs on the beach. We have two dogs. One of them is an adopted dog that someone abandoned. He is epileptic and requires a lot of care. We also have two dwarf bunnies. I like sewing and making things. I like just sitting around the house and relaxing with my family or visiting my cousins who live nearby. Sometime its fun to go to the malls and just look around." Hadford enjoys listening to a variety of music. "It is difficult to pick favorites because I like so many different types," she said. "With classical music, violin and piano are my favorites. I like listening to current musical hits but I also enjoy many of the older hits like Sonny and Cher, Sting, and Gloria Gaynor." "My favorite thing to do when I have nothing to do is reading," she stated. "I like to read just about anything -- magazines as well as books. Sometimes I read magazines that are mostly gossip, and often I read really interesting ones like National Geographic. Aside from the many schoolbooks I am required to read, I love reading the diaries of various people who lived through war, especially people from Eastern Europe and China." "I love to travel, especially with my family," Hadford said. "I cannot specify one favorite trip because each trip I have taken had very special and memorable moments. Some of the most memorable ones are Venice, Italy, our first trip to Hungary, Lake Placid, and Los Angeles. When I have some free time I like to play tennis and soccer. I like skiing also but we do not have many opportunities to do that because of my busy schedule." "My competitive skating goals for the next season are to train focused, to stay injury free, and to perform optimally at my competitions," she said. "I hope to be able to qualify to participate in some senior Grand Prix competitions in the future."
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Katherine
Hadford, from Vienna, Virginia, is the latest American-born skater
to skate for the country of her heritage. "My mother is a Hungarian
citizen," Hadford explained. "My grandparents escaped from
Hungary and emigrated to the United States in the 1950's. When communism
left Hungary in 1989, several families who were forced to leave for
the sake of their lives thought about going back and several actually
have moved back"
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