Grit, Courage, Poise, and Presence ... and Olympic Dreams

I watched Nathan Chen’s Olympic medal-winning performance. I think a lot of people did.

Mesmerizing.

I don’t think there are many other words. His free skate was magical and radiated joy – so much so that a smile quickly erased the anxiety I felt for him as he gracefully and carefully executed moves meant to look easy and spontaneous. 

The Olympics is about watching the best athletes have their moment under the watchful eye of the world.

But, as we all know – or should know, it isn’t about that one moment. It is about all the moments and the choices and the sacrifices leading up to that one moment.

Olympic dreams are as much about grit and courage as it is about poise and presence.

Bradie Tennell, 2018 team bronze Olympic medalist, two-time U.S. National Champion, and 2020 Four Continent bronze medalist, puts in the hard work -- every day. She shows up. She gets up. She is a true champion.

There is a lot of pressure on these athletes during the Olympic Games. It is not just their own performance on the line – it is a medal count tallied by onlookers from all continents.

I’ve been blessed in my job to have had the opportunity to speak with and photograph Tony award winners, Medal of Honor recipients, military heroes, television stars, BAFTA award winning screenplay writers, Guinness Record holders, YouTube stars, stunt pilots, and Olympians. Almost always, I walk away with the same feeling – these are humans who are so much more than their accomplishments.

In the same way, my daughters have been able skate with some of the people they look up to – and some they didn’t even know they would!

They’ve shared the ice with Bradie Tennell, Gracie Gold, and Donovan Carillo. My oldest skated on the same ice as Mirai Nagasu and Ashely Wagner during a fundraiser for the Mason Wasz Foundation.  My youngest skated in the same exhibition as Isabelle Martins. We have watched local skaters go on to skate for Disney on Ice or compete regionally -- skaters who started in the same places they have. They have had the opportunity to have been taught by well-known coaches.

Perhaps they’ve known from tagging along with mom on interviews or photoshoots, or perhaps it is just innate to children, that Olympic athletes are people, too. I am always impressed by their level of respect for these well-known skaters that is matched only by their ability to skate alongside them without losing their own focus.

The great gift here is that they know, at least on the surface, that greatness is bigger than the Olympics. Greatness is deeper than medaling. Greatness requires determination. Greatness requires dedication. Those triples and quads come at a cost. Those medals, the titles, the notoriety … it all comes at a cost. 

During these Olympic Games, watching these men and women achieve the dreams of every young skater is incredible. Having skated with them is even better. But my kids knowing the courage and determination that it takes – and knowing that sometimes, the greatests go unrecognized – is a gift I don’t take lightly.

My daughters have been able to watch Olympic skaters performing their fully prepared programs, and they’ve practiced alongside Olympic skaters as they warm up, fall down, and get back up.  They see the exhaustion. They hear the frustration. They watch the determination, and they see the dedication. They see that sometimes Olympians accidentally sleep in. Sometimes they get there before the rink opens. Sometimes, they don’t look polished. Sometimes they are injured, or sick, or tired, and they care for themselves by training differently that day – and that is OK.  … for it is in those moments, when my daughters see these skaters in vulnerable moments, that they know greatness is not in the medal count. It comes from within. 

Sometimes greatness appears in the toughest of moments, in the overcoming of injury, in the continuing despite the challenge, in the making of difficult decisions ... one at a time, while living out the desires of your heart. Bradie Tennell is such an inspiration to my girls!

2014 Team event bronze Olympic Medalist, two-time U.S. National champion Gracie Gold, modeled greatness in, not only her accomplishments, but in her taking time to care for herself and then making a triumphant return to figure skating on the national stage.

Susie Wynne, 1988 Olympian and two-time U.S. Figure Skating Championship gold medalist, announcing at the Skate For Mason event supporting the Mason Wasz Foundation. 

Kyle Shropshire ~ Disney On Ice Performer

2014 team bronze Olympic medalist, 2016 World Silver Medalist, 2012 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, and three-time U.S. National Champion Ashley Wagner.

Mirai Nagasu, 2018 team bronze Olympic medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist, two-time World Junior medalist and seven-time U.S. National medalist.

Mirai Nagasu, 2018 team bronze Olympic medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist, two-time World Junior medalist and seven-time U.S. National medalist.

Mirai Nagasu, 2018 team bronze Olympic medalist, three-time Four Continents medalist, two-time World Junior medalist and seven-time U.S. National medalist.

2014 team bronze Olympic medalist, 2016 World Silver Medalist, 2012 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, and three-time U.S. National Champion Ashley Wagner.

2014 team bronze Olympic medalist, 2016 World Silver Medalist, 2012 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, and three-time U.S. National Champion Ashley Wagner.