Salt Lake City Blog #4: Last Blog & Thank You

The day is finally coming to a close. Having the chance to finally sit down and rest my feet and tune into the recap of the recent golf championships is really making this night quite nice. Oh and don’t forget the room service!  I ordered chocolate moose cake to go along with that.

Where to begin, I would like to start by saying thank you. Thank you to all of the support all around the world not only for Alex and I but for then entire incredible team USA we were so lucky to have here. Taking home a gold medal in each category of senior figure skating is quite an achievement and as a fellow athlete and gold medal holder I congratulate all the athletes that made this achievement possible. Let’s start with a little recap. Pairs having won all of the medals in this event CONGRATS! You all have worked so hard and it is so early in the season and you should be so proud! Men congratulations, the performances you all were able to skate were incredible. Ladies amazing work on the podium two medals is amazing and finally, DANCE!  Great job to all of the athletes and so proud of Anastasia and Colin for pulling up to the podium you both were incredible and really skated your hearts out today. I know from my perspective I am so proud of all of Team USA here at this event. We displayed ourselves as ambassadors of our country and hosted an incredible competition!

On behalf of Team USA, I would like to start off by saying thank you to the incredible organizing committee here in Salt Lake City! Without all of the hardwork you all put in this event would not have flowed so smoothly. Thank you to all of the coaches and parents who continue to support their athletes day in and day out 365 days a year. Thank you officials for all of the time you dedicated to making this event special for each and every one of us, and thank you to anyone else whom I may be missing – the fans, the spectators and the fellow athletes for the support throughout the week without you none of this would have been possible.

So, now back to my chocolate cake (lol I’m just kidding)!   Let’s start off with the beginning of the day. Once again, dance had a later start today (thank you to whoever was in charge of the schedule).  I appreciate the extra time to sleep in and relax! I started my day with a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks with soy milk and yes I asked for whipped cream. I was once again joined by Massimo, my coach, for coffee and a beautiful sunrise over the mountains. I truly believe they never have bad weather here – no clouds, perfect temperature, one could not ask for a more beautiful place. I would happily retire here in the mountains! After enjoying my morning and discussing my upcoming events with Massi, I went to the hotel gym for a little workout just to get my body moving. The one thing that’s always bothered me as a figure skater is going to these beautiful hotels and seeing the amazing pools and not being able to swim because of the different use of muscle and the belief that the water will effect my skating.  Let’s just say I was swimming before I was walking as a young boy. My mom and dad practically had to drag me out of the water because I always managed to find a way into the pool.  After my workout, I went back to my room and prepared for my eventful day.

What can I say, I am so proud of my partner Alex for skating so together and so strong today. We really rocked the house! Our Gone with the Wind program was performed really well. We were focussing on our character and interpretation of music in this program and we really achieved that here. I couldn’t be more thankful to have the opportunity to walk away from this Senior B as the dance champions. Having won our first senior international title feels really amazing. We are excited for the upcoming improvements and for the Grand Prix season this year. I can not wait for the chance to perform our programs at Skate Canada and Cup of Russia.

Our bus leaves quite early in the morning and although I am excited to head home, I will miss Salt Lake City. I look forward to writing more blogs and I hope everyone enjoyed reading my updates.

Signing off and closing out this event thank you for following,

Daniel Eaton