Showing posts with label skating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label skating. Show all posts

November 26 - Canada-on-Ice Day

  Posted on November 26, 2021


This is an update of my post published on November 26, 2010:




On this day in 1975, Canadian ice dancer Patrice Lauzon was born in Montreal, Quebec. With his wife and partner Marie-France Dubreuil, he became the world silver medalist in 2006 and 2007, competed in the Olympics twice, and 4-time gold medalist of Canada.



On this day in 1981, Canadian hockey player Gina Kingsbury was born in Uranium City, Saskatchewan. She ranks second all-time in scoring among the St. Lawrence Skating Saints.




And on this day in 2009, Canadians worried about thinning ice!


The effects of global warming are very evident and already somewhat dire for people in the far north of Canada. Apparently houses are built based on the PERMAnent nature of permafrost, and so porches and houses are beginning to droop as the permafrost melts. Major flooding has been occurring in some communities, and hunting and berry production is down in some locations because of the disappearance of permafrost. Some residents comment that the land looks a lot like a desert now.



Enjoy ice...

Go ice skating today.

There are many ways to enjoy ice skating—going around and around a rink is great exercise and, with music, a lot of fun.



Some people love learning figure skating moves and competing, and a hot, relatively new form of this sport is synchronized skating. (Watch this YouTube video if you've never seen synchro skating—it's really cool, and it definitely should be made into an Olympic sport!)




 
Some people love speed skating, and of course the rough-and-tumble version of speed skating, short track, is a favorite of Olympic viewers.


And then there is the most important game on ice skates: hockey! This sport is popular at all levels—even at the become-a-You-Tube-star-at-age-9 level.





Save the ice...


Here is a website that's all about protecting the Arctic. 







You're Welcoming Day
(Friday After Thanksgiving)








Black Friday
(Friday After Thanksgiving)





Buy Nothing Day
(Friday After Thanksgiving)






Sinkie Day
(Friday After Thanksgiving)







(Friday After Thanksgiving)
(Friday After Thanksgiving)
(Friday After Thanksgiving)
(Friday After Thanksgiving)

(Friday After Thanksgiving)
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

July 26 – Happy Birthday, Dorothy Hamill

Posted on July 26, 2015

Born on this date in 1956, Dorothy Hamill started skating at age 8. But it was a nice-and-slow start—just group lessons once a week. The kind of thing my kids did, too.

Soon Hamill started skating more seriously—you know, private lessons and getting up early for 4:30 a.m. ice time! Soon her father was paying about $20,000 per year for skates, lessons, costumes, and travel!

At age 12—just four years after she started skating!—Dorothy Hamill won the novice ladies' title at the U.S. Championships. She began to compete internationally.

And in 1976, at age 19, Dorothy Hamill won the World Championship AND the Olympic Gold Medal!

Here are some interesting things we can learn from Hamill's figure skating career:

  • When she was just 17 years old, Hamill took the ice, ready to skate, and heard boos from the crowd. She was upset, left the ice, and burst into tears—but it turned out that the boos were directed at the judges, because the home crowd in Munich, Germany, was upset with the German skater's scores that had just gone up.

In other words, the boos were nothing to do with Hamill. The crowd settled down, she took the ice again, and she did great, winning a silver medal!

What we can learn: Sometimes, the negativity coming your way isn't REALLY coming your way. Check it out before reacting emotionally.

  • When she was skating at the Olympics, Dorothy saw signs that said, “Which of the West? Dorothy!” She thought at first that the signs were comparing her to a witch, and she felt hurt. But actually, the signs were asking which of the “Western” skaters would beat Christine Errath for the Gold Medal – and their answer, Dorothy, was a sign of support.

    Naturally, Hamill soon realized the intent, especially since the people with the signs were carrying American flags and whooping and applauding for her!

    What we can learn: Spelling matters. Also, don't take offense too easily; sometimes the negativity coming your way is actually positivity!

  • When Hamill was competing, figure skaters had to trace slow-and-careful figures in the ice (hence the term “figure” skaters). Hamill had pretty terrible eyesight, and her coach urged her to get the largest possible frames so she could actually see out of the corners when doing the figures.

    After winning Gold, a trend for glasses with oversized frames started. Also, of course, her bobbed hairstyle was a huge fad. After all, Hamill was “America's sweetheart”!

Also on this date:


Maldives Independence Day

























Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:


Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

July 7 – Happy Birthday, Michele Kwan

Posted on July 7, 2014

She really, really wanted an Olympic gold medal.

But sometimes you can want something really badly, you can work really hard for it, you can even become “the best,” and you still might not reach a particular goal.

How you handle that disappointment makes all the difference. If you are very proud of all you did achieve, and if you are gracious in the face of your disappointment, and if you move on to other wonderful things – then you gain more respect and happiness than many people who actually achieve their most high-flying dream.

Michele Kwan never got the Olympic gold medal in Women's Figure Skating, but she did earn a silver and a bronze. She also earned NINE U.S. championships and an amazing FIVE World championships.

She is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history!

And because of Kwan's consistency and artistry for over a decade, she is considered one of the greatest figure skaters of all time!

She was also one of the most popular female athletes in the United States throughout her competitive career. 

She landed tons of endorsement deals and was the top-paid skater for a number of years.

It's really a minor footnote than she never won Olympic gold, don't you think?

Stats and facts...

Michele Kwan was born and raised in Southern California (I was born and still live in So Cal, myself). Her parents were immigrants from Hong Kong.

Kwan is only five feet two inches tall! And still, when she performed her signature spiral, her legs seemed to go on for days!

Kwan has earned many awards aside from her skating medals, including the Billie Jean Award for her contribution to women's sports, being named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine, and an honorary doctorate's degree from a college in Vermont.

Skating magazine has a Reader's Choice Figure Skater of the Year award. The skaters who have won this award have only one once, except for Johnny Weir, who won it twice. And except for Michele Kwan, who won it SEVEN times! In 2003, the organizers of the award joked that they were renaming it to the Michele Kwan Trophy, and they said that she was no longer eligible for the award.

Kwan has acted as public diplomacy ambassador under Presidents George W. Bush and under Barack Obama; she has traveled to many places in the world representing American values. She is now a State Department senior adviser for public diplomacy and public affairs.


Also on this date:










Star Festival in Japan













Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for:

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)