UNION COUNTY, N.C. — As athletic events continue at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the United States’ winter athletes are picking up medals in snowboarding, skiing, ice skating and other sports.
Competitive figure skating, a hallmark of winter Olympic Games, continues to draw eyes with dynamic tricks, jumps and spins.
What You Need To Know
An ice rink in Indian Trail is home to four Olympic hopefuls, all under the age of 17
The two duos recently medaled at a national competition
Their coach, Mathew Gates, says they have Olympic potential
Back home in Union County, a group of talented kids are hoping to be in the next generation of Olympians, and they are putting in the work, and hours, to get there.
“I want last year’s rotation lift right now,” is the order called out by coach Mathew Gates.
Gates, himself a former Team USA athlete, missed out on two Olympic Games due to his status at the time as a non-U.S. citizen.
“It would have been 1998, and 2002, Salt Lake City,” Gates recalled. “Because I didn’t have citizenship, I could only go to the world championships. So I went to the world championships a couple of times for the USA, cause the rules are a little bit different.”
When he was not competing, Gates began training future figure skaters in 1996. Originally in Connecticut, Gates then moved his program down to Union County several years ago, hoping to turn the area into a hotbed of Olympic-level competitors.
“I had lots of like national-level skaters, international-level skaters, world-level skaters up in Connecticut. And, when I moved down here, I wanted to make a similar school,” Gates explained.
Currently, one of Gates' former trainees, Zachary Donohue, is an Olympian for Team USA this year. Gates said Donohue started on the same track as these skaters. Donohue has two Olympic medals from Beijing.
His Elite Training Team is on its way, picking up two national medals earlier this year.
“This is the first year we’ve had a national medalist. I think, believe, first national medalist from this rink,” Gates added, referencing the facility, Extreme Ice Center.
The center, off Highway 74 in Indian Trail, is the home rink of his two medaling teams. Combined, the four young skaters spend hours at the rink.
“Usually it’s six days a week, usually it’s mornings, wake up at like 5, get here at 6, all the way to 8:30 when I go to school,” said 12-year-old Ethan Peng.
Peng and his partner, 9-year-old Molli Taylorson, are one of Gates’ ice dancing duos. The two kids are in the beginning of their second season and are often training before the sun comes up.
“Now, bring her around and exit,” Gates tells Peng as the 12-year-old swings Molli around his neck.
It’s an impressive feat for any athlete, let alone two kids dealing with math and social studies in between skating sessions.
“I like the way that you can travel so fast on the ice,” Peng said.
“You can do cool things on the ice, and it’s a really cool sport. I just like skating,” added Molli.
Meanwhile, standing outside the rink’s glass doors are two moms, often holding coffee or tea, watching their kids and hoping they don’t come home with any injuries.
A day in the life
“They work so hard between school and skating and their off-ice training, it’s just an inspiration to watch their work ethic,” said Molli’s mom, Leslie Taylorson.
“I’m really proud of them,” added Ethan’s mom, Chen Chen.
The two moms and their families have taken different approaches with their children’s skating prowess. Ethan still goes to school, often skating in the early morning, and then after class. Meanwhile, Molli is enrolled in virtual school, spending most of the day at the rink with her older sister, with virtual classes and schoolwork sprinkled in between training.
“It’s been a life change for our family, because it’s a commitment that it takes to be here and dedicated as they are,” Taylorson said.
“I need to work, and Ethan needs to go to school,” Chen added.
The duo recently placed second at the National Development Final. The National Development Camp takes place right after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, letting the younger, more inexperienced teams watch the nation’s most talented figure skaters compete for coveted Team USA Olympic spots, according to U.S. Figure Skating.
Molli and Ethan are trained by Gates and former Olympian Alexandra Zaretsky. One of the duo’s biggest competitors happens to train with them.
Training is hard work
“I love on the ice being able to express myself in ways I can’t do off the ice,” said Aaron Gutman.
Gutman, who just turned 16, is in his second season with ice dance partner and 10-year-old Anna Waugh. Gutman is the oldest of the four figure skaters.
He and Waugh have been skating together for more than a year. Individually, Gutman has skated for nine years, and Waugh has been skating since she was 3.
Together, the second of Indian Trail’s ice dancing duos finished third at the same National Development Final.
“Hard work pays off,” Gates said simply about his two teams.
And it is hard work, Molli Taylorson said between sessions.
“It’s pretty hard when you first learn it, but once you practice it over and over again, you kind of get the hang of it, and so it’s not very hard,” Molli explained on the ice.
She has been skating for six years and said she too has Olympic dreams.
“I just want to keep trying, until I get it perfect,” she added.
Eyes on the future
Zaretsky and Gates said both duos have a shot at Olympic qualification in future years, as long as they keep up their training and commitment to the sport.
From the sound of it, all of them have similar goals.
“I want to go to Olympics one day, and second of all, I just feel really honored of doing what I wanted to do, and I really wanted to work hard for it, to achieve greater levels,” Ethan said.
“I watch the Olympics and I like to watch the Olympics and so I was like, well if I try hard enough, and I know I do with my partner— I possibl[y] one day can be in the Olympics and that will be super great to me,” Anna added.
To make Olympic names for themselves and North Carolina, the children know it will take a lot of work and effort, which is clear in their daily routines.
“You know, if we want to do it, we can,” Ethan said about the dedication required to make an Olympic Games.
The weight of it all can be heavy on the moms though. When asked about the sacrifices made for their children’s commitment to the sport, both moms said they would do what it takes.
“I think that it’s up to them. I mean it’s really what they want to do with it, we’re here to support them and to encourage them to take their dreams as far as they can go,” Taylorson said.
“We’ll do everything for them to support them and raise them up,” Chen added.
From the kids’ perspectives, they say it is worth it.
“There are times where I think it’s too much. Then I think, where would I be without this sport? This sport is so important to me, it pays a crucial part in my life. And, it’s brought me so much joy. What would it be like without that sport?” Gutman said.
“When I get sad, I want to skate. I don’t know why. It makes me happy,” Waugh added.
If everything goes according to plan the next several years, those dreams, long hours and years spent skating could pay off with Olympic qualification.
“Because they’re young — both teams are young. It’s hard to tell which Olympics they’ll be ready for. So we just — teams get ready earlier than they used to. There are younger teams now, so we could be shooting for three Olympics from now,” Gates said about their recent National Development Final medaling. Meaning, an Olympic competition could be on the horizon sometime in the 2030s.
Gates said each of them is putting anywhere from 20 to 30 hours in at the rink. For Gutman, it’s an opportunity to show the country not to count out the South when it comes to winter sports.
“It says no matter how small the city or state you’re in, there’s always an opportunity if you work hard, have good dedication, and you work smartly, that you can always make it to wherever you want to go,” Gutman said.