Title: "The One that Got Away"
Hi Everyone. Thank you so much for visiting to read the latest installment of my life as I see it. :) I hope you enjoy it. There have been so many happenings since my last entry, so I hope I cover everything from Calgary Worlds to Champions On Ice and to what's up next.
I'll start with Worlds. A lot of things went down after the Olympic Games so it was really difficult for me to focus and get myself pumped up for the Worlds in Calgary. Not everything was bad, but I was very distracted and I didn't want to train anymore this season and everything sort of snowballed into what happened at Worlds. Originally I didn't want to compete because I knew I might not be prepared properly and I didn't want to give a poor performance. I also didn't want to take away the chance of another American who may fare well in my stead. In any event, I ended up going . On the way there my flight was delayed thirteen hours so I had to spend an extra night away from the event, and when I finally got there I woke up in bed two days before the qualifying round and I couldn't move. I had severe back spasms. I was only able to practice for about fifteen minutes per day leading up to the event, so I was definitely not expecting anything good to come from my experiences on the ice. My qualifying round was a triumph for, just to be on the ice. I attempted the quad for the first time in a year and didn't do too badly with it. I landed some more jumps, but made some mistakes and placed lower than I thought I would. The next day was the short program, and I skated what I thought was a great program aside from a bootleg combination spin at the end. I had seen some of Emanuel Sandhu's program before me and he went into first and I thought I'd laid down a solid attempt at beating him. The results flashed up and I was in second and I couldn't understand how I lost to someone who fell. I haven't been the biggest fan of the scoring system this year, but I was so dejected by what I saw. I made a mistake on a spin and for some reason my triple flip had been downgraded to a double and I lost to someone who fell on a triple lutz. If anyone remembers, last year at the World Championships Irina Slutskaia made a worse mistake on her combination spin and bobbled her combination and still beat a nearly clean Sasha Cohen, and I just couldn't understand my result. I was in the final warm-up group for the free program, thankfully, and I was happy about that at least. After the short program I was mentally and physically drained and I had nothing to give for the free program. I tried the quad again and made a better try than in qualifying, but skating only fifteen minutes per day at a competition doesn't really cut it for four and a half minutes with an injury, so I was tired by the third jump. By the final triple flip my back was dead and so were my legs and I couldn't push anymore, the time for pushing was over. I made so many mistakes, and I can't even remember what place I got, but I tried and that's all I could have done, so I wasn't angry or upset, I was just happy the season was over.
Almost immediately after Worlds I flew to Florida to begin rehearsals for Champions On Ice. It was wonderful seeing everyone I hadn't seen since Olympics and just being back in the friendly tour atmosphere. I was a little worried about seeing Rudy Galindo after a nasty article he did for a Chicago paper during the Olympics, but we made amends and we're getting along really well. We didn't have a fight or anything, just a heart to heart and it's over. I'm still in a daze from the season, but I'm so happy to be on the tour with all my friends and I'm skating my heart out every night. Marina Anissina has been a great help and she gives me pointers almost every night so I'm trying to grow as a performer as well as an athlete. Overall, everything has been kosher. There haven't been any dirty little secrets revealed yet, nobody is involved in a bitch fight, we're all just happy to be with one another. It's a very nice atmosphere on the Tour, and I think that translates to the audience because everyone is genuinely happy to be skating.
The tour goes until August so planning for next season has been a little difficult. I will also be participating in three shows in Japan in July which will be part of Champions On Ice Overseas, they take place in Yokahama. I will be competing in the Grand Prix and as always I'm hoping for Russia, Japan or France. It will be a full season for me, difficult of course, but nonetheless I will try to give it my all and win every event I'm in. I'm tired of beating around the bush and saying I'll be happy if I do a good job, now is the time for guts and I will try my best to have a Weir Dynasty in figure skating. To ensure this I'm looking for only the best music for this season, as well as the best people to work with. I have some new ideas and I think with my team of people I'll be solid and prepared for t his season.
Wow, so looking back at the season is kind of depressing. I didn't achieve many of the goals which I aspired to and I didn't skate well anywhere aside from Nationals. I guess it's a scratch season. The one thing I am proud of is that I didn't give up. I sound like I'm tooting my own horn right now, but I never gave up. I fought until the bloody death of this Olympic season and I grew so much in many ways, I guess sometimes you need to be knocked down so you can climb back up. I completely intend on climbing back up.
Take care everyone and have a great spring/summer. I'll write as soon as I can. Come to Champions On Ice! Believe me, there are LOTS of tickets left. ;)
Love,
-J
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