It all started on the eve of Thanksgiving, during the team meeting, when Team USA team leader Ann Barr played a message from Peggy Fleming to the team. The 11 skaters gathered in Grenoble, France, to compete in the last Grand Prix Series event, Internationaux de France, could hear the message, which Fleming had taped in her Colorado home: "I want you to know that Grenoble is a special place for me. This year marks the 50th anniversary of winning my Olympic gold medal in Grenoble. I hope it will be a special place for you also."
"We saw Peggy Fleming once, when she came to Nationals,"
Audrey Lu and Misha Mitrofanov recalled. "We just saw her and said hi. She is such an icon in the U.S."
"It was very sweet of hers to wish us well,"
Bradie Tennell, who
arrived for her second Grand Prix of the season determined, added. Team USA definitely made Grenoble a "special place" for them, too, as their 2018 French campaign was one of the most successful in years.
Grenoble's scenic mountain skyline was also quite inspiring. "Oh my gosh! This is so beautiful, I need to take my phone!" Tennell shared, recalling her thoughts when she opened her window the first morning.
Skating obviously took the most part of the skaters' time in Grenoble. Still, a few took the time to walk around the center of the city, not far from the official hotel. Lu and Mitrofanov,
who skated in the second senior Grand Prix of their career in Grenoble, had a good time there. "We almost got lost!" Lu admitted. "It was fun!" Mitrofanov added, laughing. Both took many photos to mark the occasion. "We loved the fountains and statues," Mitrofanov said, of which there are plenty in Grenoble.
Nathan Chen, one of the biggest stars of the week,
brought along his textbooks from Yale University to work on his papers. "I have a couple due next week," he mentioned, rushing from the ice to his hotel room to study. "And my finals are in two weeks – except the Spanish one, next Tuesday." Chen admitted that he picked the French leg of the Grand Prix so that it would match his own schedule, since it was taking place during Thanksgiving break.
The competition was soon there, however. It was held in just two days: all short programs, including the rhythm dance, on Friday, and all free programs on Saturday, with practice in the morning for both. Below the stands, in the long corridor taking the skaters from their lockers to the warm-up area, skating lounge and bus exit, you could easily bump into one of them – usually running. Like Tennell: "Trying to catch the bus!" she took the time to explain while rushing to the exit.
The first morning started with stitches for Kaitlin Hawayek. "I heard her say: 'I caught my leg' as we were skating," partner Jean-Luc Baker recalled. "Yes, we had a fun little practice incident," Hawayek explained right after the team's rhythm dance. "But you know, adrenaline is magical! It's a beautiful and natural drug. You don't think: you just do it!"
"We feel accomplished when we are able to improve," Mitrofanov said when he and Lu left the ice after their short program. "Our step sequence was rated a Level 4, while it was only a Level 1 at our last Grand Prix. We've worked so much on it!"
Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons, one of the most passionate sibling teams there are in ice dance today, delivered a great Tango. "Tango is really one of the most fun dances. You can make a big difference there!" Michael said post-performance.
Neither Fleming nor anyone will ever know what impact her message had on the team. But Team USA's results this weekend are certainly the best it has achieved in recent years. Chen won the gold and
Jason Brown, the silver, just like
Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea in the pairs competition. Tennell rallied from sixth place after the short to win a merited bronze.
Jason Brown shared the light with Chen in the men's event,
finishing first in the short program – still quad-less, but so present in his skating, and positive about the rest of the season ahead. "The quad is planned in there, and it is planned to stay. But under pressure and adrenaline, you want to come back to what you're comfortable with. I have to work on that technique under pressure and with adrenaline!" Brown commented. "And you know, I admire these guys for pushing the sport the way they do, but I won't give up the artistic side, and I'll keep pushing them on that side as well!" He promised.
Tennell landed a triple Lutz–triple loop combination in her free skate, though the loop was called underrotated. It's such an impressive combination, a magical and nearly impossible one when it is skated at full speed, like Tennell knows. "My coach taught me to take my skating in my own hands, with two main objectives: 1. Prevent injuries, and 2. The sense of accomplishment I feel when I've done something well. It's very rewarding to skate the way I have!" she said after her fantastic free skate to
Romeo and Juliet.
"We fixed some levels, but we lost some levels," Michael Parsons commented after their free dance. "I think the jet lag took its toll there. Energy-wise we can do much better than this!" Still, they delivered a beautiful performance to "To Build a Home."
Tarah Kayne and Danny O'Shea's own
Swan Lake was a true hit with the audience, probably through their very personal approach. "I love ballet, and
Swan Lake is one of my favorites," Kayne shared. "I like the fight between the white swan and the black swan. Listening to the music I thought I could embody both. There are lots of animalistic movements to embody those two characters into one person, who in turn interacts with their partner in the ballet."
And when skaters find themselves in dream destinations for international competitions, there's an added bonus to the long trip.
"One good thing about skating is that sometimes we can spend a few days visiting the site after competition. Next week we will go to visit Paris before going back to Dallas," Lu mentioned. Mitrofanov will have to fly back right after, however. "I'm a pre-med student," he explained, "and I have finals in a week." The same is true for Chen.
As for Kayne and O'Shea, they will spend one day in Paris. "We'd like to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame and the Louvre - well, only a small part of it, it's so big! We enjoy bakeries, we'll get to eat our way through France!" O'Shea said, smiling. They won't have time to go to Versailles, however. Kayne will have to retain her dream until their next visit:
the team has to head out to Tallinn. "We hope to continue on our improvement strike!" O'Shea concluded.
That certainly holds for everyone in Grenoble!
