By Scott Kindberg (skindberg@post-journal.com)
The Japanese woman who captured the world figure skating championship on Saturday in Moscow has a connection to Jamestown.
Miki Ando appeared at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena in August 2005, one of hundreds of skaters who took part in Skate Chautauqua. The event annually attracts many of the world's best figure skaters, who have their talents evaluated by some of the sport's top judges.
Ando didn't disappoint.
"She was very shy and very beautiful, a wonderful skater,'' recalled Kirk Wyse, who has coordinated the event with Lenel van den Berg and Mary Handley since 1995. " I think the fact that of all the competitions that take place around the world that she chose Skate Chautauqua to debut a new program was a tribute to the reputation of Skate Chautauqua.''
Local attorney and sports historian Greg Peterson was impressed. Initially drawn to the rink to interview Ando's then-coaches, former Olympic champions Carol Heiss and Hayes Jenkins, Peterson quickly recognized the young woman's talents.
"The original storyline was Hayes and Carol, the husband and wife who were both Olympic gold medalists,'' Peterson said. "I had interviewed both of them the year before and we kind of became acquaintances thereafter. I went over to the rink to videotape (Heiss) and I could see (Ando) was a special talent.''
Armed with his camera, Peterson videotaped Ando's performance, too, and he has posted it on-line on YouTube.
"I'm interested in history and, certainly, sports is part of that history,'' Peterson said. "Everybody has a story to tell and I believe that story should be documented. Second of all, especially when it comes to sports, you never know when you might see the stars of tomorrow today. To document that is kind of fun. Finally, to look back and say, 'Golly, they were here,' and to be able to visualize that makes it special."
Ando arrived in Jamestown with quite a resume. In addition to being Japan's national champion, she was also ranked No. 4 in the world and was the first women to ever land a quadruple jump in competition. By 2007, she had claimed her first world championship.
See ANDO, Page B-2
World title No. 2 came Saturday when she defeated Olympic champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea. The competition was originally scheduled for Japan before it was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in March.
"In (Ando's) interview afterward, she was very humble,'' said Wyse, who watched the competition on-line. "She mentioned that she was very happy that she skated so well for the people who went through so much.
"Figure skating is a national sport in Japan and for her to win at a time of strife in her country is a great, uplifting thing."
Having elite skaters at Skate Chautauqua is nothing new. Sarah Hughes, the 2002 Olympic champion, appeared in Jamestown in the late 1990s.
"As we were watching (the world championships) on the Internet," Wyse noted, "I said, 'Oh, my God, we have a world champion and an Olympic champion who have skated at Skate Chautauqua.''
Wyse and van den Berg, the co-directors of the Jamestown Skating Academy, will have another chance to showcase figure skating talent on Saturday when they produce Excellence On Ice at the JSBIA. Show times are 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
VIP on-ice tickets are $30 and reserved arena seating tickets are $10 or $12.
The box office at the JSBIA is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
To reserve tickets by phone, call the Excellence on Ice ticket line at 484-2624 or reserve tickets online atwww.JamestownArena.com. Excellence on Ice is sponsored by The Post-Journal, the Warren Times Observer, Cummins Jamestown Engine Plant, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation and SE-93.
No comments:
Post a Comment