5 Lessons That Any Skater Can Learn From Team USA
By Elizabeth Misson
It’s hard not to marvel at the sheer talent on display during the Olympic Winter Games. But anyone who has trained or coached a sport can tell you that talent alone will not take you all the way to the top. So what sets these athletes apart from the rest?
Watching our Team USA skaters at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, you may have noticed there are five key things that these athletes — who are the best of the best at what they do — have in common.
Of course, not all skaters who lace up their skates will get the chance to glide on Olympic ice, but the lessons you can learn from these athletes are lessons that will help you on your skating journey, no matter where it leads you.
Here are five key ingredients to success that our Team USA skaters exhibit that any skater can learn from:
1. They focus on the process, not the outcome.
There are two types of athletes — those who are extrinsically motivated and those who are intrinsically motivated. Extrinsically motivated athletes compete and perform for the purpose of winning the praise of others, or a shiny, new medal to show off. Intrinsically motivated athletes train hard to be better and for the satisfaction of being able to produce their best performances during competition, when it counts the most. If you listen to the interviews with our athletes, you never hear comments about the color of their medal or seeking glory. You hear about being able to bring their personal best to the ice, for which they trained so hard for. An intrinsically-focused mindset can carry a skater to reach their maximum potential.
2. They learn from their mistakes, but keep them in the rear-view mirror.
No athlete is perfect. Several Team USA athletes competing in this Olympics had suffered devastating mistakes in PyeongChang, South Korea. But not one of them gave up or hung up their skates after 2018. Each skater and each team came back four years later wiser, having learned from those prior mistakes and turned out personal-best performances in 2022. Make a mistake, learn from it, keep going and be better next time.
3. They know there are no excuses and sometimes life isn’t fair.
Sometimes life just isn’t fair and when unfair things happen, the best athletes don’t make excuses or place blame. When Vincent Zhou learned he tested positive for COVID-19, he was understandably devastated. But he handled himself with class and showed a resiliency that will forever be remembered. Even though Vincent didn’t get the chance to competed in the men’s event this time around, he still showed us all what a world-class athlete looks like. Unfair things will happen to all of us on our skating journey — and in our life journey — but you get up and you move on.
4. They are present in the moment.
There is so much hype around the Olympics — and it’s probably very easy for an athlete to lose their focus. The best athletes though, are aware that they are getting an opportunity that very few will get and they cherish every moment. We saw it on Nathan Chen’s face when he was just about halfway through his free skate — living every moment to the point where he couldn’t help but smile. We also saw it when Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker finished their rhythm dance and couldn’t stop dancing, even as they were taking their bows. Focus on your opportunity and seize the moment, and you will carry those memories with you for life.
5. They value friendship over rivalry.
Probably one of the most memorable photos that came out of the Games was of Madison Hubbell and Madison Chock walking away after the team event with their arms around each other in support. These are women who train on the same ice every day, chasing the same dream, and who know that on any given day their placements could go one way or the other. However, they see themselves as friends and teammates, not as rivals. When you are secure in your abilities, you treat your competitors as friends and respect each other.
Elizabeth Misson is a U.S. Figure Skating quadruple gold medalist, a Learn To Skate USA® program director and the director of American Ice Theatre Cleveland.
Are you ready to follow in the footsteps of your favorite Team USA skaters? Take to the ice today and get started at LearnToSkateUSA.com.
