Grit, Fortitude, Resilience

Roland Jarquio’s journey back to the ice from injury

By Taylor Dean

When Roland Jarquio stepped on the ice at the age of 32 in 2003, little did he know he was starting a journey of a lifetime. He spent almost a decade focusing on enjoying skating, performing and improving his skills before competing in the 2015 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships, a competition that would change the course of his life.

Jarquio signed up for three events at the Adult Championships in Salt Lake City: the adult gold men free skate, dramatic and light entertainment.

“I was very excited to skate this program set to Thriller and choreographed by Doug Webster — it was always a crowd-pleaser,” Jarquio said. “It was a sheer joy to perform, and ironically, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than when skating that program.

“It was in the middle of that program that the injury occurred.”

Jarquio’s Thriller program was his last event of the competition and the last of the day on the secondary rink. Unknown to Jarquio, the event was set to start 20 minutes earlier than originally scheduled, and he was still getting ready when his name was called.

“I missed my warmup … and I had just enough time to finish putting my skates on before taking my starting position on the ice.”

About 30 seconds into the program, Jarquio performed a running body slide to transition into a spin. As he stood up, he felt a sharp rip. In pain, Jarquio was determined to continue skating and headed into a Lutz jump, only to feel a bigger ripping pain across his body.

“It literally felt like something had come undone,” Jarquio said. “I attempted my next move, a spread eagle, and that’s when I collapsed to the ice and couldn’t get myself up. I was assisted off the ice … and I crawled onto a chair and the room started spinning, and my field of vision went completely white.”

While EMTs and other skaters were helping Jarquio, an official walked over and congratulated him on winning the bronze medal in the event.

“What? I was so sure I was disqualified and was so disappointed about it. She told me ‘there’s no minimum time requirement, so you got credit for the time you did skate.’”

Jarquio returned home, where an MRI scan revealed an adductor tendon tear — an injury that would require surgery.

“It was clear to me that I was anatomically incorrect, no amount of physical therapy was going to correct that and that I had to have the surgical repair done if I was going to skate again,” Jarquio said.

He went into surgery within three weeks and had to wear a metal hip brace for eight — including while he was sleeping. Jarquio’s physical therapy lasted almost a year, but he was able to return to the ice within six months of having surgery.

“I was not allowed to jump until 10–11 months post-surgery, and I decided to return to 2016 Adult Nationals a full 12 months later,” Jarquio said. “I was just so grateful to be there. I felt very strong after so many months of hard work.

“However, I didn’t have the stamina, and I had only been jumping again for a month. I fell on simple footwork and was so winded afterward, the EMT even came up to me to make sure I was OK! So while I was very disappointed I didn’t have a glorious skate, I was definitely buoyed by my skating friends who had followed my recovery on social media.”

Jarquio’s comeback to skating is one of the ultimate Get Up stories. Now, six years later, he will be competing in several events at the 2022 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships presented by Prevagen and vying for gold in the championship adult gold men competition.

The 50-year-old was also recently featured in U.S. Figure Skating’s 2022 National Skating Month campaign. His photo was featured alongside the slogan “The Next Century of Skating Starts With You.”

“It’s probably one of the coolest things that have ever happened to me,” Jarquio said. “I’ve received so many positive comments from friends and fellow skaters.

“It’s pretty hard to understand what impact you might be having on other skaters, let alone any non-skaters, with a skating Get Up story. That said, we all fall down. We can all relate it to something in our lives. That’s kind of the whole point. So if my story, albeit about a rare injury in skating, can help lift up someone — anyone — who’s going through a setback, then that would make me feel very grateful.”

Jarquio hopes seeing his face on an inspirational national campaign and reading his story gives individuals hope and motivation to get up and overcome their own obstacles, whether it’s an injury or a life event.

“You will be knocked down and asked to get up several times in life,” he said. “Even though this Get Up story is about a physical injury, it’s the same grit, fortitude, resilience, whatever you want to call it, that is required for so many of life’s various setbacks. And that, I think, is the point of #wegetup.”

Roland Jarquio recently shared his Get Up story on U.S. Figure Skating’s Voices From The Ice podcast. Learn more here and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.