 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 |
January 03, 2010
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Britney Simpson and Nathan Miller, the 2009 U.S. national pewter medalists, won the bronze medal at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Dresden, Germany in October and placed fourth at the ISU JGP in Lake Placid, New York, their first international event.
Their goals for the season include winning the junior pairs title at U. S. Nationals and reaching the podium at Junior Worlds.
Simpson, who is only 13, started skating when she was about five and a half.
"I was going swimming at the same place where they had a skating rink," Simpson recalled. "I saw the girls skating in the sparkly dresses and I wanted to twirl around like they did. So I stopped swimming and started skating."
Miller, who is 21, started out on the ice when he was five... |
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December 27, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Felicia Zhang and Taylor Toth are among the rising stars in U. S. junior pairs skating. The couple, who teamed together in May 2009, have already competed in two ISU Junior Grand Prixs. They placed sixth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Torun, Poland and 11th in Dresden, Germany.
"Our goal was to try to get some Junior Grand Prixs to get experience before Nationals," Toth sad. "I've done the JGPs in Quebec and Slovakia, but Felicia had not done any. It was really beneficial for us as a new team. We did OK at both of them."
"Now we know what others are doing and what we need to work on," Zhang added.
Toth, 21, first went skating when he was seven years old. "My mom and dad wanted to go to public skating so they took me along," he said. "I skated and played hockey in recreational leagues but I always had a problem with offsides... |
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December 20, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Margaret Purdy, a perky 14-year-old who was born in London, Ontario, started on the ice at age four as a hockey player, a sport she continued for four more years, usually playing forward. She followed her father and older brother into the sport.
But after Alison Purkiss, who was teaching power skating, asked her to try figure skating, she decided to give it a try and switched when she was seven. "I decided to go into figure skating because I liked jumping," she noted. Just a few years later, she is representing Canada internationally with Michael Marinaro in pairs, a discipline she started when she was 12.
Purdy is also competing in singles, placing 13th in pre-novice at Divisionals in 2009. She landed her first triple toe loop at 13 and now does both the triple toe and the triple Salchow. She will be using a Bollywood short program and "My Fair Lady" for her long, both new this season... |
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December 13, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 U. S. pairs skaters Cassie Andrews and Nicholas Anderson will have to wait until next season to add to their haul of gold medals at U. S. Nationals. The pair placed 5th at the Midwestern Sectionals in November and did not qualify for the 2010 Nationals. The couple have won nationally in juvenile pairs (2006), intermediate pairs (2007), and novice pairs (2009).
This season, in their first year as juniors, the couple had more modest goals. They hoped to compete in the ISU Junior Grand Prix Series and skate well at the U.S. Nationals. They accomplished the first part of those goals by placing 13th at the ISU JGP in Dresden, Germany.
"That was our first competition this year and our first junior international, so we just wanted to skate clean," Anderson said... |
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December 06, 2009
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Canada's Carolyn MacCuish has already reached the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in pairs with Andrew Evans in the 2007-08 season, placing eighth. Now the dark-haired beauty is trying to do the same in ice dancing with new partner, Tyler Morris.
The dancers, who have been together only since the spring, began their competitive careers at Minto Skate, then won the Pike's Peak Invitational in September. They placed eighth in their first international event, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Pokal der Blauen Schwerter (Blue Swords) in Dresden, Germany in October, then finished 11th at the ISU JGP in Turkey two weeks later.
Only 17 and 18 respectively, the duo have good prospects on the international junior ice dancing scene. "This year, we just want to make a name for ourselves in ice dancing," MacCuish said. "We'd like to make top five at Nationals," Morris added.
MacCuish started skating when she was four years old. "My parents put me in Canskate because they wanted me to learn how to skate," she said...
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