Gay Games report

I may have posted some of these details before, but here's the message that I sent to the skaters' list I'm on:

I had the most amazing time competing at the Gay Games last week. It was wonderful to meet Sara and Debbie, as well as many other skaters, and also Jim, who volunteered. It was also great to see Cinderella and Erica. All of the skating was incredible to watch. I’ve already started asking my coach how to do some of the neat things I saw, like a lunge into a sit spin.

Several skaters did programs in memory of friends, family members, and partners. I don’t know how they do it -- I would be in tears trying to skate such a moving tribute.

I had to skate against the book in both of my events, as the other skater in my group didn’t show up. My freestyle program went well, although I didn’t land my loop. I did land it in the warmup for my showcase event, but not in my showcase program. (I’ve been saying for four years that my goal was to land a loop at the Gay Games. Maybe I should have been more specific and specified that it should be during the competition!) Regardless, the one in the warmup felt good, and I’m happy with how I skated in both events. I was surprised to get two gold medals.

The ice show was a lot of fun. I chose to skate my spotlight program, which is to “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked. I hadn’t skated under a spotlight before, so that was a little disconcerting. I didn’t skate my program as well as I would have liked, but I still had a wonderful time.

I can’t wait for 2010 in Cologne!