Duhamel, Radford fire coach eight months before Olympics
http://www.cfjctoday.com/article/57...amel-radford-fire-coach-eight-months-olympics
http://www.cfjctoday.com/article/57...amel-radford-fire-coach-eight-months-olympics
Meagan Duhamel pauses for a moment to collect her thoughts.
The question is a simple one: Why would the Canadian figure skater and pairs partner Eric Radford — world champions in both 2015 and 2016 — fire their coach just eight months before the 2018 Olympics?
"At the end of the day," Duhamel begins, choosing her words carefully, "what Eric and I have been doing isn't working anymore and we needed to make some changes."
And that's exactly what they've done, announcing Friday they're parting ways with Richard Gauthier in a both surprising and bold shakeup that will see two new faces added to their backroom staff when preparations for the Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, get underway in earnest over the summer.
"This will be our last competitive season," the 31-year-old Duhamel continued in a phone interview with The Canadian Press. "It was now or never to try something different. We feel like we need to refresh and reinvigorate our skating to have a chance to stand on that podium at the Olympics.
"This was what needed to be done."