Ronald Lam wasn't content to play it safe at the Winter University Games.
The Coquitlam figure skater landed his first-ever quad, not once but twice, to finish sixth overall at the games held in Trentino, Italy Dec. 11-21.
"Sometimes there's a moment when you need to go big and he needed to go big," said Bruno Delmaestro, who has been coaching Lam since he was nine years old.
Lam, who is the national champion for Hong Kong, landed a quad in his short program and then hit a quad triple in his long skate.
"For him, it was big. He was the only guy to do a quad triple. It just brought the house down and got the event going," said Delmaestro. "It's a jump that you have to be precise at the right moment. There's no margin for error."
The sixth-place finish qualifies Lam for the world championships set for March in Japan.
"Sometimes when you go big you just worry that you don't have a lot of margin for error to get that world score," said Delmaestro. "As a coach you try to raise the bar but if you make too many mistakes you don't make the score."
Delmaestro said Lam is working to include a quad in his program at the world championships, and he said his goal in Japan is very straightforward. "Go clean and go strong. Minimize your mistakes and make it in the top 24."
Delmaestro said it's important for the community to realize that Coquitlam is producing world-class skaters, with Lam developing right from the club's Learn to Skate program.
"We're proving that you can train in your own community and not have to leave and still compete with the world."
Coquitlam's Jordan Ju also took part in the World University Games, finishing 22nd in his short program and 23rd in his long.
Both Lam and Ju will now head to Taipei for the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships Jan. 20-26.
