The dynamic duo
slide into town

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today, in the first of a two-part column, I present background information on Live and In Color, a Smucker’s Stars on Ice tour that skated its way into the Wachovia Center on March 13 celebrating its 1,000th show. I also have interviews with two world bronze medalists right from our neighboring state New Jersey, John Zimmerman and Kyoko Ina. Also included today is a cryptogram.
For more than two decades, Olympic champion and figure skater Scott Hamilton has entertained audiences with the Stars on Ice tour. Scott debuted his "America Tour" in October 1986, which led to the start of Stars on Ice that December. The J.M. Smucker Co. is in its sixth year as the tour’s title sponsor. Smucker’s also takes great pride in acknowledging the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. In fact, a portion of the proceeds from each tour ticket sold will be donated by Smucker’s Ice Tour to Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
Boys & Girls Clubs of America is known as a positive place for kids that provides guidance-oriented character development programs on a daily basis for children 6 to 18 years old. It emphasizes leadership development, education and career exploration, financial literacy, health and life skills, the arts, sports, fitness and recreation, and family outreach.
This year’s tour in Philadelphia consisted of Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen; 2002 Olympic pair champions Jamie Salé and David Pelletier (Canada); world champion and six-time U.S. national champion Todd Eldredge; world champion and two-time Japanese national champion Yuka Sato; two-time world bronze medalist and three-time U.S. national champion Michael Weiss; world bronze medalists and three-time U.S. national pair champions Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman; six-time Canadian national champion Jennifer Robinson; three-time world pair champions and two-time Olympic bronze medalists Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao (China); and two-time world silver medalists and five-time Canadian national ice dance champions Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.
The tour itself has won three Emmy awards and one ACE Cable Award (Best Sports Special) and is recognized as the finest ice production in the world.
I was very fortunate to be able to catch up with John Zimmerman and Kyoko Ina, who turned professional after the 2001-02 competitive season, and joined the Stars on Ice tour in the winter 2003. The 2008 Smucker’s tour marks the fifth season for them.
Kyoko and John both began skating at the age of 4. John began skating in Birmingham, Ala., where he was born in 1973. He loved the mall ice skating rink.
"I just started skating there when my mother took me there when she went shopping on Saturday afternoons. I had a really good time," he recalled cheerfully.
Kyoko Ina was born in 1972 in Tokyo but grew up in New York City. Kyoko felt that her mother has had the greatest impact on her career.
"My mother was the greatest influence on me, as she basically gave up her life for me," Kyoko said.
Also, she told me she has athletic genes running in her family. Her grandfather was a 1924 Olympic track competitor, her grandmom played tennis at Wimbledon, and her mother is an Asian Games swimming champion. How could she not be fantastic at her sport, with those genetic genes!
John also mentioned that his mother and family had the greatest impact on his career as a skater.
"I agree with Kyoko. For a lot of people, especially at a young age, the ones closest to you influence your mindset and motivation to compete," he said, adding that his parents would drive him to the rink and stay for practices and offer him moral support.
"My mom and dad spent countless hours trying to help me. They worked double shifts and tried to find sponsors for me. That was the single most important factor that affected my career," he said.
He told me that there were not a lot of rinks or coaches in the Birmingham area when he was young. In fact, his coaches told him to go to an area that would be able to provide more. As a result, he moved to Atlanta when he was 17 so he could find coaches that could help him get to the next level.
In comparison to John’s situation in Alabama, Kyoko grew up in New York, where it was not difficult to find rinks to train at. She feels fortunate that she did not have to move at a young age away from her family and friends to train.
The million-dollar question — figure skating or professional baseball?
"When I was fourteen, my mom sat me down when we were in the car in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I had just completed a week’s worth of baseball training and I had a great time. She just looked at me and asked me, ‘what do you really want to do?’" John recalled. "It was a difficult decision. Being in skating means I was going to have to sacrifice a lot of social life in school and baseball. It was a decision I made knowing skating a lot longer with more familiarity with it, and I felt more comfortable with it."
John was partnered with Stephanie Stiegler from 1995 to ’98. Kyoko was partnered with Jason Dungjen between 1991 and ’98. Kyoko and John were paired in the spring of 1998.
Believe it or not, the skating world is really very small. Both were without a partner and they just found each other. It was a logical idea to try it out. A month later, they hooked up with their coach Tamara Moskvina of Russia.
This marks the first U.S. pair team coached by Moskvina. As a team they won three U.S. national titles, several Grand Prix medals, and a bronze medal at the 2002 world championships.
However, their proudest competitive moment was their fifth-place finish at the 2002 Olympic games in Salt Lake City, performing two electric programs. Their bronze medal at the world championships a few weeks later was the first world medal by a U.S. pair since 1998.
I read that Kyoko’s and John’s height differential works to their benefit in their creative trademark moves such as the "candle lift" and "Besti squat" spread eagle.
With the combination of Kyoko’s versatile flexibility and athletic genes, along with John’s theatrical style, the dynamic duo (no, not Batman and Robin) created an unbelievable performance on the ice that the audience truly went crazy over.
Next week: The Olympic mindset, how they gave a helping hand to others outside the rink and a review about the tour itself.
CRYPTOGRAM
AZB YCXJA XW YTIADSE DY SXA XSKQ I CZQYDOIK LXJTXNA, MNA I PBSAIK XSB
Hints: Y is S; S is N; C is P; K is L; X is O
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com