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Olympic achievement a big boost for local skaters

Kayla Halliday, Jagoda Cala and Katelynn Petrak know exactly where they’ll be around the dinner hour on Thursday, Feb. 22.
figure skaters
Jagoda Cala, 13, Katelynn Petrak, 11 and Kayla Halliday, 12, chat before taking the ice for their workout at the Coquitlam Skating Club on Tuesday. The skaters say they've been inspired to chase their own competitive dreams by the success of their fellow clubmate, Larkyn Austman, who will represent Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, that begin next Friday.

Kayla Halliday, Jagoda Cala and Katelynn Petrak know exactly where they’ll be around the dinner hour on Thursday, Feb. 22. 

The three young figure skaters at the Coquitlam Skating Club will be glued to their television sets at home to watch their teammate, Larkyn Austman, skate her long program at the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea where it will be late Friday morning or early afternoon. And, as they prepare to take the ice at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex for a routine mid-winter training session, they couldn’t be more excited. Or proud.

One of their own, with whom they’ve shared the ice, is achieving their Olympic dream that unites them.

“It’s inspiring,” said Katelynn, 11, who competes as a pre-juvenile.

“She has shown us the hard work pays off,” said Jagoda, 13, who’s been skating since 2008 and hopes to compete in the 2022 Games in Beijing, China.

“I see the dedication she has every day,” said Kayla, a 12-year-old juvenile skater.

Heather Austman, Larkyn’s mom, a former figure skater herself and a coach at the skating club for 35 years, said her daughter’s achievement of her Olympic dream has been a boost for the community-based club that doesn’t have the resources or training facilities available at some of the centres of excellence or private clubs around the country.

“To have someone make an Olympic team from a small club, in a local venue, it’s exciting,” Austman said. “Even the ice guys are excited.”

Austman said having a role model skating in their midst has been especially motivating for the club’s younger skaters who see the time and hard work it takes to become a top-level competitor, while the story of Larkyn’s journey to the Olympics that really started to take flight when she was a flower girl retrieving boquets and trinkets thrown on the ice at the 2010 Games in Vancouver resonates with the adolescent skaters.

“They’re seeing oh my gosh, it happens to real people,” Austman said. “It makes it real for them.”

When the Canadian National Skating Championships were at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre a few weeks ago, the Coquitlam club had a huge contingent of skaters in the stands supporting Larkyn in her quest to finish at least third in the women’s competition and earn a spot on Canada’s Olympic team.

“I was on the edge of my seat,” Jagoda said, adding she was also quietly singing along to Larkyn’s music from Les Miserables as she skated her free program.

Kayla Halliday has been paying particularly close attention to Larkyn’s career trajectory because so far, she’s pretty much following the same path, having won her sectionals as a juvenile and preparing to compete at the BC Winter Games in an Olympic year.

“She likes to call me her Mini-Me,” Kayla said, referring to the character from the Austin Powers’ movies who is a diminutive clone of Mike Meyers’ Dr. Evil.

But Larkyn is anything but evil at the rink, the young skaters said. In fact, they marvel at her perseverence and work ethic.

“I see a lot of work, and sometimes it’s going to be tedious,” Kayla said.

“If you don’t push yourself, you’re not going to get better,” Jagoda said.

Austman said it’s important young skaters get a chance to see every side of the sport.

“You can get caught up in the fanciness and glamour,” Austman said. “But it’s when they see the struggles, what she has to do even on the bad days that end in tears, that’s the real world of skating.”

Although, she suspects, when Larkyn competes at Gangneung Ice Arena, everyone from the club will be shedding tears of joy as they share her accomplishment.

“They started the same way, they look at it and they can see the progression,” Austman said. “They see the reality in it and they say wow.”

Larkyn Austman returns home from a two-week training camp in Colorado Springs in time for a send-off that will be held Monday, Feb. 5, 7:15 p.m., at the Mike Butler room in the Dogwood Pavilion across the street from the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex. Austman and the rest of Canada’s Olympic skating team departs for South Korea two days later. She’ll march in the opening ceremonies on Feb. 9 and then attend a training camp in Seoul before returning to Pyeongchang to begin her competition with the women’s short program on Feb. 21. And yes, her family will be there as well to cheer her on.