Inspiration from the 2011 U.S. Ice Dance Medalists

This past week was filled with excitement in the figure-skating world! During the same week as the European Figure Skating Championships, some of the top ice dancers in the world competed at the U. S. Figure Skating Championships for their spots to represent the U.S. at the World Championships!

Watching ice dancers perform can be a great inspiration for skaters, parents, and people in any walk of life. I’m going to discuss how the top three ice-dance teams at the U.S. Championships can inspire us!

First, we have the 2010 Olympic and World Silver Medalists and three-time U.S. Champions, Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

Meryl and Charlie are a team that can inspire us through their work ethic and through the years they’ve stayed together as a team. They are still a young team (24 and 23), but they have been together for many, many years (since 1997). This, along with their work ethic, has developed two excellent skaters into the wonderful team they are now!

Meryl and Charlie’s example can apply to young skaters … it takes many years to become a great skater, but if you stick with it and work hard, you never know what you can achieve. 🙂  I’d also like to mention that Meryl and Charlie are nice people, and when I’ve been with them at competitions, they are nice sportspeople – something all skaters should aspire to be! Watch for Meryl and Charlie’s speed and attack in their performance.

Meryl and Charlie’s 2011 U.S. Championships Free Dance:

Second, we have Maia and Alex Shibutani, who are the U.S. Silver Medalists in their first year of competing in Senior Ice Dance!

This team is a very young team (16 and 19 years old)! They are also a brother-and-sister team. It’s fun to remember all the wonderful memories I had skating with my brother when we were younger. 🙂

It’s great to see how Maia and Alex have developed over the years from when I knew them at the Colorado Springs World Arena. They’ve really blossomed and are a team to watch out for! They will likely become World Champions one of these years.

Anyone can be inspired to see how much can be accomplished by a young team who works hard. Watch for Maia and Alex’s fluid, beautiful skating and classy interpretation.

Maia and Alex’s 2011 U.S. Championships Free Dance:

Third, we have Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein, the U.S. Bronze Medalists and 2010 Junior World Gold Medalists.

Yet another young team like Maia and Alex, but not quite as young (18 and 22). I loved the performance quality of Madison and Greg’s free dance. It was very expressive and entertaining.

Madison and Greg really took on the character of the music, which I think is so important in ice skating. All too often, the elements are the main focus and the performance is the afterthought. It’s wonderful to see how the technical aspect and performance are combined in their performance.

A great way to be inspired by Madison and Greg is to take on whatever task, event, or performance you have and perform it with character! What I mean by that is to do the preparation by putting in the work … then, when it’s time to perform, just have fun and go for it! Watch for Madison and Greg’s expression and characterization.

Madison and Greg’s 2011 U.S. Championships Free Dance:

Three great ice-dance teams that can inspire in many different ways! I hope you enjoyed watching and feel inspired!

Photo Credit: Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani (USA) by Liz Chastney at Ice-Dance.com. Used with permission from Liz Chastney.