- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
Icenetwork has a pretty engaging interview with him on his career. Some fun notes.
You know, I'll miss him. He's not someone I'll always watch, but he's someone who seems to have great love for what he does. COP has changed many things, but perhaps the most significant is how it's shortens careers. Evan Lysacek competed internationally at the senior level for just six seasons. van der Perren more than doubled that. Whenever he seemed to be on the edge of retirement, he managed to find some motivation to keep continuing on - and it's been rewarded. I hope he finds success in whatever he endeavours to do next.
- His first and last worlds were both in Nice. He said he could barely land a triple jump at that time.
- He started skating after seeing Disney on Ice
- He could land a 3A before he knew what a rocker or counter was
Also, a major change has been the arrival of Asian skaters. When we started, we were making fun of them. At the 2003 worlds in Washington D.C., no Japanese skater could jump triples -- besides [Takeshi] Honda. Each time we saw a Japanese competitor, we were confident that we would beat him. Well ... that has changed tremendously! It's the same with the Russians today. They have disappeared, but they are coming back strong. Look at their juniors; they are just incredible!
You know, I'll miss him. He's not someone I'll always watch, but he's someone who seems to have great love for what he does. COP has changed many things, but perhaps the most significant is how it's shortens careers. Evan Lysacek competed internationally at the senior level for just six seasons. van der Perren more than doubled that. Whenever he seemed to be on the edge of retirement, he managed to find some motivation to keep continuing on - and it's been rewarded. I hope he finds success in whatever he endeavours to do next.