British figure skater Zoe Jones is 40 years old, and she still skates: she makes ejections and twists, flies over the ice on the partner’s outstretched hand, bravely enters into todes and is always ready to turn over in the air. She loves her art so much, that she is able to make an ejection even in the last seconds of a sport program. Zoe was selected for the 1998 Olympic Games as a single skater, but was unable to go to Nagano due to an injury. She was twice British champion and participated in the World and European Championships. Soon, the young figure skater retired from professional sports, got married and had three children. But after 13 years, she returned to the sport, following her dreams. She was a single player for a short time – she went into pair skating. Her partner, Christopher Boyadji is 10 years younger. Zoe is an example of perseverance and self-belief, despite stereotypes. I decided to find out the story of this amazing figure skater.
Since childhood, I am one of the few fans of figure skating at home
- Zoe, when and why did you become interested in figure skating?
- Parents brought me on the skating rink which opened near our house. This is the first and so far the only ice rink in my native Swindon (a city in Wiltshire). I was about six years old. In parallel, I was engaged in rhythmic gymnastics, participated in local competitions. Every day I went to training: early in the morning, then to school and again to training. At the age of 10, I realized that I love figure skating, and it’s better to focus on it. It was very expensive for my family to keep two sport spheres.
- How popular is figure skating in the United Kingdom? I remember the famous dancers Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean, brother and sister Kerr.
- We also have famous figure skaters: Jeannette Altwegg (Olympic champion), Robin and Steven Cousins, Stacey Kemp and David King, Jenna McCorkell. But British dancers are more famous, of course. Penny Combs and Nicholas Buckland recently retired, and now Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson shine at international competitions. I would not say, that figure skating is popular in my country. The competitions are watched mainly by friends and relatives of the skaters. You will not see a large number of viewers on the tribunes. There are people, who are interested in news about achievements of their athletes – they even go to neighboring countries for tournaments and shows. But it is not as massive as in Russia and Japan. And I was a fan since childhood: I watched all championships and Olympics. I remember, my brother was even angry when long tournaments started. I used to borrow the TV for all the evenings.
- Tell us about your first coach Lesley Norfolk.
- Mrs. Lesley used to perform in pairs with her husband John Pearce. We met at the rink, and I studied in Lesley’s group until I was 17. With her I won the first Junior tournaments, national Championships. We had a good group of skaters, and Mrs. Norfolk still works as a coach at our native rink.
The first part of the career and the lost chance of the Olympics
- In the 90-es of the last century you performed in single figure skating. What successes have you achieved?
- I participated in different tournaments – both local and international. I went to the Grand Prix in Canada, by the way, qualified for the European championship and twice for the World championship. I am also a two-time British champion in women’s skating. This title was given to me not at once – I several years went to it.
- How did you feel, when you represented your native country on the world ice stage?
- Oh, I was very proud! But I always put too much pressure on myself, which made me nervous and resulted in me not believing or trusting in myself enough. It lead to disappointing results. I was upset to get bad results, as I knew I was capable of being as good as the other girls. I gained inner confidence for a couple of months – when I qualified for the Olympics. But soon I got hurt, recovered for a long time... And the depression came again. I got cured, then I got sick again. Like walking in a circle! It was difficult for me to achieve the freedom of the soul, to free myself from some invisible pressure. But now everything is different: my life is arranged, and I skate just for pleasure. After all these years, I found what young Zoe wanted so much.
- What other solo-skaters performed in the national team of Great Britain that time?
- Jenna Arrowsmith, Stephanie Main and Tammy Sear. We competed against each other. Jenna, my age, worked with me at the rink for years. She is not a coach now, but we’re in touch.
- You qualified for the Olympic Games in Nagano, but did not participate in it. Why?
- Thanks to participation in «Karl Schäfer Memorial» I received a cherished ticket. It was such a happy expectation: to skate for Great Britain in a major tournament. But I had to compete at our British championship to confirm my place. I had a cortisone injection into my hamstring to try to make it possible to compete, but it was without results. I was hurt too badly and unable to compete. The trip was canceled, and in the next seasons I was out. But I came back fighting after changing a coach to Joy Sutcliffe. I won the British Championship in 2000 and 2001. Then I was tormented by new injuries, I could not train for months. Because of the stress I began to lose weight, there was a serious threat to my health. That’s why I left sports in 2001.
- What is the happiest moment for you in the first part of your career?
- I think there were two moments. They are equally expensive, so I will mention in chronology by time. At the championship of Great Britain 2000 I performed the whole free program without errors. I remember being very worried until the last second. And then I jump cascade 3 flip – 2 lutz. It was happiness! The same emotions were, when I found out that I was going to the Olympics (1997). Specific medals and tournaments are not particularly important in my career. Happiness is moments.
Creating a family and homecoming
- As far as I know, you became a coach in Canada after leaving the sport.
- Yes, I went overseas for my husband. We met in Scotland, where I temporarily moved in the late 90s – for the better training conditions. My future husband played for the local hockey team. He is Canadian, invited to work as a foreigner. In general, many Canadians still play in British hockey clubs today. We got married, and after a while the husband offered to return to his homeland. So, in 2002 I got to another continent, found a work there by profession. Then I gave birth to children and devoted myself to the family. When my husband and I divorced, I returned home – to Swindon.
- Tell me about your children.
- I have two charming twin-daughters (12 years old) and a talented son (7 years old). All of them also skate, the daughters have already qualified for the national tournament of the Novis level. They are coached by Christopher, my partner, and I make choreography. We decided with the kids, that I wouldn’t be their personal trainer. After all, mother and daughter are not the best combination on the ice.
- How do your parents and brother do?
- My parents are retired, rest and enjoy life. Daddy worked for a gas company for many years, mom worked in a call center. My brother is two years younger than me. He works in a computer shop and devotes his free time to football, a typical British sport. By the way, he never liked figure skating.
She took the first step, and life itself gave new opportunities
- Why did you decide to return to the sport after so many years?
- After the birth of my son in 2012, I started skating a little. The ice was, because I worked as a coach at my home rink. But in free minutes I tried to do elements myself. Rarely at first, then more and more. I wanted something to aim for. When I heard, that the World champion Midori Ito had competed at the ISU adult competition in Obertsdorf, I decided that I would too. Midori was the first to perform several difficult jumps. She had to return to big sports, skated on the same ice with young competitors. I all years, until coaching children, I felt, that I shouldn’t have graduated with figure skating. I knew, I could do more and better.
- And at the age of 34 you decided to take a chance…
- I wanted to get back in shape after having my last child. The easiest for me was to go back on the ice and skate for the pleasure. But I was a competitive skater in my younger age, that’s why I wanted to do more and more. I restarted to try some triple jumps after a little while. The year before, Midori Ito had landed a double axel, which was a great inspiration for me. But I wanted to be the first woman to land a triple. When you compete in adult competitions, you can do two programs: the first one is a normal program with jumps and spins, and the second one is an artistic program, where the emphasis is on artistry and interpretation of the music. I won the Adult Competition in Oberstdorf, and I came back home and continued practicing harder and harder, trying more and more triple jumps. I posted in social media the video of me landing a full set of triples, and my friends told me: «Why don’t you try competing in the Senior British Championships ?». This was the final motivation, my career restarted. I competed again at the British Championship in Senior Ladies and finished 2-nd in general. This was probably the most nervous competition of all my life. I didn’t want to look silly, I was scared that people would laugh at me if I skated badly and wonder what I was trying to accomplish. But everything went well, and I skated two beautiful programs. I was extremely happy. It was a real achievement for me: after retiring for 14 years I had come back and finally proved to myself I could do it! But after that, I didn’t know what to do. The level of Ladies is very high now, and I knew that I didn’t have my place in the senior international level.
- Weren’t you afraid to compete with skaters, who are younger than you twice and more?
- No, I didn’t think about age and rivals. It was scary only to take the decisive step – to return to sports after many years, overcoming internal barriers and stereotypes.
- How did you decide to perform in pairs? This is the most traumatic kind of figure skating.
- Oh, I dreamed of pair skating when I was a girl. I loved to watch the high lifts and spins. But there was no suitable partner in my country. However, we tried to skate with one guy, the champion of Great Britain. But the federation had plans for me as a single skater, so we weren’t allowed.
- How did you meet Christopher Boyadji?
- I first met Chris at the adult competition in Oberstdorf: he was training there with his previous partner. I met him once again in 2015 at my returning to nationals. Shortly after I noticed a post on facebook, explaining that Christopher and his partner had split and he would be looking for a new partner. I plucked up all my courage and wrote to him. I explained that I knew I was old and a mother, that I didn’t fit the normal pairs criteria… But it had always been my dream to skate pairs and I knew I was capable of being a good partner. Chris answered me and said he needed time for himself, but if he had a tryout I would be welcome to come along. I thought he was just being polite and never expected to hear from him again. A few months later I got a message asking if I was still interested. Of course, I said yes and made arrangements for my trip to London.
The tryout was great, but I was still so shocked to be asked to skate with Chris, I never really believed someone would want to up and move to my home town to skate with me and fit into my very hectic lifestyle. I told Christopher that I couldn’t leave Swindon, my children and their established way of life. The partner agreed to settle in my city. My dream was coming true, and since we have been working together towards our goals.
- Who trains you?
- We do most of it ourselves. It is very difficult, because we skate on the same ice with many adult amateur skaters. Every day we train children and practice, when they are at school. It’s hard to keep motivated, but we try. Sometimes Katerina Papadakis and Ruth Woodstock come for a few days: they helped us to make programs last year and recently prepared us for competitions.
- How do your days go on?
- We coach from 6-8 AM, then rush the kids to school. Come back to the rink to train from 9:30-11:30. We train off ice and then again on the ice for a 45 min session. Then it’s time to go back to school for the kids. After coaching we have off ice with our students and then athletics with my own children. Eventually we return home around 8:15 PM for dinner and bed.
- In what tournaments will you take part this season?
- Grand Prix in America, the British Championship and the «Bavarian Open» in Oberstdorf. This is my lucky city: I skated there as a child and won medals.
- The Olympic champion Alyona Savchenko, my idol in figure skating, lives in Obersdorf!
- We communicate well with Alyona, we have a lot in common. Her husband Liam is also British, and partner Bruno is Christopher’s best friend. We worried a lot about their couple at the Olympics, didn’t sleep at night to see the live broadcast. Alyona and Bruno deserved this victory like no one else! In past years, we stayed at Alyona’s and Liam’s home during the tournament, now we are happy to meet their daughter.
Happiness to go for her dreams and to inspire others to do it
- What do you feel when you represent your homeland in big sports?
- I feel great emotions at every performance! We hardly build the way to tournaments, through thorns. But I’m happy with the way things are going. This spring another dream of mine came true – to get to the World championship in Saitama. There is a special atmosphere, so many fans of figure skating, who support athletes for any performance, put their heart into gifts.
- Are your relatives and friends proud of you?
- Of course, they cry for my success. And I emotionally react to everything, I enjoy every performance. I get a lot of good feedback from compatriots and fans of figure skating from around the world. People write that I inspire them by my example. Especially adult women see, that a career doesn’t end with the children’s birth. It’s never too late to fulfill your dreams and be happy. It can be combined with motherhood, if you believe in yourself.
- I think you are so happy in sports, that you are ready to skate all your life!
- Oh, I don’t know. The ice doesn’t let to go away. Last season, when there were injuries, Christopher and I thought to finish. Training conditions are also so hard for us. But I didn’t want to leave on a bad note! I wanted to go to the World Championship in Tokyo, and we made the right decision, because it was the best competition in my life. Although it is already difficult for me to jump because of age, my back is weak, but I want to continue skating.
- When you at last leave sports, what will you do?
- Christopher and I will devote ourselves to coaching. We want to develop pair skating in the UK, to grow champions. Now we are looking for a partner for my daughter, although it is difficult, because British guys are not very interested in pair skating. And my son is unlikely to become a pair skater – he is not tall enough, but he jumps quickly and high. Better to let him succeed in single skating. I hope to make my children happy. But I’m not ending my career. Wait for me at the competitions!
Here you can read the Russian version of the interview!
@ Interview by Marina Chernyshova-Melnik
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