Paul Wylie (see right), 1992 Olympic silver medalist, attended the 2008 Ice Theatre of New York gala and also acted as the emcee for the event. The main reason? His good friend and once training mate Nancy Kerrigan was the honoree and he couldn't pass up the chance to be by her side as Ice Theatre celebrated her accomplishments on and off the ice.
Since the Olympics, Paul has toured with Stars on Ice for many years, worked as a commentator for ESPN, went to Harvard Business School, did a stint at the corporate offices at Disney and in between found the time to get married and have three(!) children. Paul currently works as a coach and choreographer at Extreme Ice in Charlotte, North Carolina and also travels to work with skaters on choreography (U.S. novice champion Danny O'Shea worked with him for a few weeks in Danny's hometown of Buffalo Grove, Illinois). He's still very much involved with the competitive skating world and is mentoring Jeremy Abbott and watching over his career.
Paul also told me that he's still learning to be a great husband and father. During the dinner, I also had a chance to find out which skater currently competing sort of reminds Paul of himself during his heyday. The answer might surprise you. Or maybe not. It's Mao Asada -- no, I'm just kidding. I actually told Paul I thought Japan's Takahiko Kozuka skated like him -- very stylish and musical. But Paul wasn't thinking of Takahiko. Hm...
These interviews are great! Thanks for the posts.
Posted by: Laura | December 05, 2008 at 07:53 AM