"My mother used to go skating every Sunday; she even had a skating outfit and her own skates. Then my dad and brother and I started to join her when I was about 7 years old. I guess I must have shown some aptitude because, pretty soon, I was skating after school then training before school. I loved the feeling of gliding across the ice, then the jumping and spinning all felt so natural and beautiful."
"My family was living in the Oakland Hills, so I was training at Berkeley Iceland, which wound up being home to several Olympians and their coaches, so it was a great place to start off. I remember my first competition in the U.S. was at the legendary Sutro Skating Rink in San Francisco right above the iconic Sutro Baths-what an experience!"
"My family then moved to Paris where I was training with the French National Skating Team. The World Champion at the time, Alain Calmat, was French, so it was truly inspiring to be skating in that environment, Every summer we went to Chamonix in the Alps to train at high altitudes, and one winter we went to Megeve for a competition-it was such a magical environment."
Joel Goodrich began skating at age seven after joining his mother on Sunday outings and quickly advanced to training before and after school. Training at Berkeley Iceland exposed him to Olympians and experienced coaches. A family move to Paris led to training with the French National Skating Team during the era of World Champion Alain Calmat, with summers spent training at high altitude in Chamonix and competition in Megeve. Returning to the United States at 13, he competed nationally throughout high school and entered UC Berkeley intending to compete at the senior level and pursue Olympic trials. His experiences relate to the quad revolution, Olympic pressure, and calls for judging transparency.
Read at San Francisco Bay Times
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