- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
He was even better in practice!Very solid! Tom Dickson is doing a great job not only choreographing his program but also coaching him.
Of course I am talking about Alexander Johnston!
Of course I am talking about Alexander Johnston!
I'm really liking him. Seeing him skate was the best thing that came out of this competition for me.
From my interview with Aaron
Aaron’s career on the ice began when he was 4 years old, playing hockey. “I played hockey for 12 years,” he explained, “very competitive hockey at a very high level. By the time I was 16, I was doing AAA hockey.” He made the USA hockey development team in 2007 and was getting scholarships to college. He started figure skating at age 9 and competed in both sports at the same time, but endless wear and tear and bruising knocks he suffered in playing hockey was tough on his body.
“I was having some pain and at one point I couldn’t walk,” he recalled. “I had terrible pain. I figured something was wrong – really wrong. I went to the doctor and learned I had two fractures on my L4 and L5 vertebrae – both sides.
“They put me in a body cast for four months. I really couldn’t do anything – no therapy – nothing. I just sat on the couch and watched TV. After four months, I was able to go to therapy and I was able to go to school.
“It was extremely hot and uncomfortable.”
This was in the summer in Scottsdale, Arizona (known for temperatures reaching well over 100 degrees).
“Back in school in the fall, it was embarrassing to be wearing a full body cast, so I would put a shirt under the cast and a shirt over it. I had a hard time walking. Going to therapy every day, thinking maybe I wouldn’t ever be able to skate again or play hockey, but I remembered what my grandfather said, ‘You can be good at two sports or you can be great at one.’”
“I had already accomplished a lot in hockey – played at very high levels, I hadn’t done that much in figure skating – hadn’t taken it that far. At the time I was juvenile champion (2005) intermediate bronze medal (2006) and 5th at Novice Nationals (2007). I was 16 at the time. I wanted to see how far I could go in figure skating.”
Lovely performance. I saw the protocols and was like 3Z-1/2L-3F?! Beautiful deep edges, fluid hands, and excellent interpretation (even looked like a Beatle! ). His skating skills and transitions scores deserved to be much higher. Too bad about the SP, otherwise he could have even made the national team. But definitely one to watch.
I think Alexander's jumps are executed beautifully and his movement is beautiful so it's more than the choreo. .
Johnson will need a quad to be competitive. He isn't as great as Jason Brown who just needs a consistent triple axle to move into contention at nationals.
Love Jason too so I have two that I can follow and truly enjoy. I also kind of like Joshua but that's it.
Aaron doesn't remind me of an artisic Yagudin...he's more of an Elvis imo.