 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 |
| Tops in Taipei |
| Published on September 08, 2008 |  
|
Melinda Wang
September 8, 2008
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Chinese Taipei's Melinda Wang made history by finishing 15th at the 2008 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Goyang City, Korea last season, the highest finish by a lady from that country. She placed higher than her two teammates to earn a spot at the World Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden a few weeks later.
Her success continued as Wang made the final free skate at the World Championships, placing 23rd overall. She is the highest Chinese Taipei finisher by a lady since 1988 at the Worlds Championships. "My goal for the season was to make it to Worlds and skate in the final round," she stated. "Next year, I hope to place higher."
Wang skates for Chinese Taipei in part because her mother was born there, although Melinda was born in New York City. "My mom's sister is a big supporter of the federation," Wang said. "I was discovered by Dr. Alice Sulindro, and she convinced us to do it."
The talented teen started skating when she was three. "My cousins had invited my parents and me to go skating at Play Land in Rye, New York," she recalled, "but it was snowing really hard so they decided not to go. They chickened out. So my mom and my sister and I went to the public skating." "Once we started, she left us along the edge and went out to the middle," added her mother, Julie. "She got the rink guard to teach her to spin and all sort of tricks."
"I landed my first triple salchow four years ago," Wang noted, "but now it's not my best jump. My toe loop is my best. I have all the triples but they're not all consistent yet. I'll be working this summer to get my jumps more consistent. I also want to improve my spins and footwork to get higher levels."
Alexander Ouriashev and Vladimir Fedorov coach Wang, who trains in Glen Ellyn and Naperville, Illinois. Candy Brown and Caroline Lee trained her when she was younger. Wang also works with John Nicks whenever she visits her grandparents in California. She has worked with Ouriashev for the past four years, but with Fedorov only a year.
Wang usually skates five days a week for three hours a day and has off ice training with Chris Minor from Get Fast Inc. at Geneva, Illinois for an hour once a week. She also does ballet twice a week when she can fit it in. She has taken ballet classes since she was three. "Sometimes I'll skate every day when it's near competitions," she added.
Last season, her short program included a triple toe-double toe combination, triple flip and double axel. For the long program, Wang added a second double axel and solo triple lutz and triple toe loop plus a double loop.
Wang has also competed in ice dancing. She danced with Paul Wood for two summers, competing at the Indy Challenge and Lake Placid Dance Competitions. Then she partnered with Nathan Lim in 2006-07, finishing 11th in intermediate dance at the US Junior National
She has nearly finished her dance tests, lacking one pre-gold and four gold dances. "I am ready for the Blues, Quickstep and Westminster Waltz," she added. "That's why I started working with Vladimir last season to help me with the higher level dances." "I'm not doing Moves in the Field any more and I wanted to do something to keep up my edges and skating skills," she said. "I started doing dance four or five years ago with Oleg Epstein, but I don't plan to compete again unless I can't jump."
The 17-year-old has also been engaged in other sports and dances. She did T-ball, softball, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and Chinese character dance when she was younger and also rode horses. "I did it for fun for a couple of years, but my mother was scared so I stopped," she said. "I liked skating better because I like skating really fast and flying through the air." Wang also played soccer on a district team all through elementary school.
Susie Wynne-Barth designed Wang's programs, both of which were new this season. Phillip Mills made adjustments and gave a new footwork for the international competitions. Wang skated to "Otonal" by Raul di Blasio for her short program. "I wanted to use it for the long because Johnny Weir skated to it and he's one of my favorite skaters," she said. "My coach said 'No' and picked 'Tosca' instead."
Wang included selections from the Puccini opera in her long program. She was very excited to find out Evan Lysacek was also skating to Tosca this season. Evan has been a Naperville skater for her to look up to ever since she started to skate at All Seasons Ice Arena. "I like to skate to happy music," Wang said. "I don't like slow classical music. I find most of my music at the public library. I go there with my mom and we bring back a whole bag full of CDs."
She uses "I Just Wanna Fly" from the soundtrack of "A Bug's Life" for shows. "Oleg Epstein gave me a bunch of CDs and I picked it from that," she noted. "It's kind of dramatic but happy music." Wang listens to hip-hop, rap and pop music off the ice. "I used to play the piano and violin through elementary school, but I didn't like it as much as skating," she said.
To relax, she likes to watch television, mainly the Disney Channel, Project Runway and Gilmore Girls. She also likes to hang out with friends, watch movies, take photographs and chat online. She also likes to sew. "I tried to make a skating dress once," she said, "but now I just help the dress lady design them."
Wang is a junior at Naperville North High School. "I hope to get out of school early," she said, "but I'm not sure what I want to major in college. I like math and science." She will continue to train for next season and hopefully will make it to the 2010 Winter Olympic team for Chinese Taipei.
|
|
|
|
