Nice Loooong Q & A with Jordan, from TeamUSA.org...
speedskating.teamusa.org/news/2010/04/05/medalist-q-a-jordan-malone/35079?ngb_id=3Medalist Q&A: Jordan Maloneby Emily Pan / April 05, 2010
Here were the questions - click the link above to see Jordan's answers!
It is not common to hear of a Winter Olympian coming from Texas, but that did not stop Short Track Speedskater Jordan Malone. Raised in Denton, Texas, Malone fell in love with the ice at the age of 5 when his daycare took him to the rink for the first time. Originally starting in inline speedskating, he made the switch to ice and has never looked back. Since then he has become the only U.S. short track speedskater to compete in all of the past five World Championship events from 2005 to 2009.
Teamusa.org recently had the chance to ask him a few questions about his first Olympic experience and plans for the future. Here's what he had to say.[/img]
1.
What was it like to participate in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games?It was a long time coming, and it was something that I have anticipated and hoped for my whole life. It was pretty satisfactory because the Olympics justify everything that we do, for however long. I don't enjoy training, and I don't enjoy going through all the hardships without having some sort of reward. And that was my reward.[/img]
2.
How did it feel to win the bronze medal in the Men's 5000m Relay?It was great because we've been saying all along that we were the strongest men's team in U.S. history and that we were the strongest short track team in U.S. history. It was great to prove it and bring home hardware. There's no denying a medal, and it's that same thing again - justifying what we do. So, you come back with an Olympic bronze medal, and all of a sudden everything was worth it.[/img]
3.
How has your life changed since winning the bronze medal?I have a lot more fans, but I wouldn't say my life has changed much. I'm still the same guy, act the same way, and go home to the same town. So nothing's changed other than I have a lot more people interested in what I do.[/img]
4.
What is your most memorable experience from the 2010 Winter Games?Well, obviously getting the medal was pretty memorable, but I would have to say the Opening Ceremony was probably the most exciting part, believe it or not. There was so much anticipation towards it when we finally got there whereas the medal, you're just kind of nervous the whole time and then it's finally "Ha!" - more satisfactory. So, I would say those were my two most memorable experiences.[/img]
5.
After your knee injury in 2009, what was it like to come back and compete in the 2010 Winter Games? Were there any problems that came up?Yea, I had to be very careful about what I did in skating and outside of skating. There was a lot of stuff I used to do like play paintball on the weekends, but I obviously couldn't do it because of my torn ACL. But, I was able to baby it enough to be able to compete on it, and, you know, it's pretty cool. It's not just that I won a bronze medal; it's that I did it overcoming something pretty significant, which makes it that much sweeter.[/img]
6.
How do you get psyched up before a competition? Do you have any superstitions or pre-race rituals?It doesn't take much to get me psyched up before a competition; just thinking about it and what sort of weight is on the line is what gets me going, but I do have a lot of pre-race rituals. Obviously, there's a lot of grooming involved before a race, so I have to tie my skates in an exact certain way before each race or else I'll have to start over. I have to get dressed in a certain way, and there are all sorts of stuff like that. It's not just a pre-race ritual; it's sort of a combination between something that's a routine that makes you comfortable and superstition. It's a little bit of both. And if you don't [put on your gear in the same order], it sort of throws you off. For a sport that's so unpredictable, it's nice to have some predictable pattern that we control since there are so many things that we can't control in our sport.[/img]
7.
You don't see very many Winter Olympians from Texas, so how did you get started in short track speedskating?The Hidden Oaks Daycare in Denton, Texas took me to the rink when I was 5 years old, and of course immediately I fell in love. Like every other little kid, I wanted to go fast, you know, like Ricky Bobby. It was love at first sight for skates, but my mom didn't take it super serious at first. She thought, "Oh yeah, okay. We'll see how far this goes." And she's got me in baseball and all this other stuff at the same time, but for some reason the dedication [for skating] was always there from the very beginning. It was something that it wasn't hard for me to love, so it was easy. And obviously, I had a successful career in inline speedskating, but there's a ceiling, a barrier at the top. You can only go so high; you keep hitting your head against the wall every time you just go to World Championships. Then you see people going to the Olympics, and there's that glory that comes with it and also that passion of being able to represent where you're from on the biggest stage of all. The Olympics is the biggest stage ever in sports. So, watching Apolo in 2002 at the Winter Games made me think, "Man, I want to do that. I really want to do that." Then, in 2004 I made the switch, and it turned out to be a good idea.[/img]
8.
If inline were to become an Olympic sport, would you change back?I've thought about that a million times, and the problem is that inline has changed so much in the last 6 years since I left the sport. What I loved about the sport has really all gone away so that they could try and make it an Olympic sport. My favorite race is no longer existent, and the tracks I used to skate on have been made plain and boring. They've taken the variables out of [inline] speedskating, which is what I loved. And that was the only reason I was so good. I was a small guy in a big sport, and it was all these little variables that I was able to capitalize on to become a World Champion. Now they've sort of taken all of that away. And if it does make it into the Olympics, most likely it will be a marathon, which I hated that race. I wanted to be on the bank track doing points elimination, which was my passion, so probably not. I've got a new passion now and a new love, so I'll probably just stay with this sport.[/img]
9.
Considering all the international competitions you've competed in, what was your favorite country to skate in and why?Probably Japan was my favorite country to skate in. As far as ice, the ice was actually terrible. The rink was nice, but the ice that we skated on was horrible. I didn't do very well, but even despite all that, the people in Japan were so nice. The food was amazing, and it was a pleasant place to be - clean and well kept. It was just a nice country to be in, and it was my first time to go to Japan. And as far as inline, I would say France. I loved competing in France, and they loved me competing in France. I met a lot of friends and even family at the same time. Also, I lived there on and off for a while, skating on professional teams. I wouldn't say I know much French; I know enough to get myself out of trouble and order what I like on a menu. But, those are my two favorite countries, inline and ice.[/img]
10.
Who on the men's short track team do you get along with the best and why?I would probably say J.R. (Celski) because we have similar taste in music and similar views on life. We've gotten into some pretty deep conversations, and it turns out that we have a lot in common. But, I get along with everybody on the short track team pretty well. Travis Jayner and I have gone on a couple of international trips. We spent 2 weeks in Korea together, and that was a lot of fun. It was just 2 weeks in Korea on vacation, not even skating, but we were there to watch the Korean Olympic trials. And then, Simon Cho has lived with me before; he's just a great dude. All the guys I get along pretty well with, but I would say, most of all, probably J.R.[/img]
11.
Have you started thinking about competing in the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games?I don't think there was ever any doubt, even going into the Olympics. I'll be hyped up for Sochi, so there was no doubt in my mind that I'm going to go for it. People have asked, "Are you going to be there?" but that's a little premature. It's 4 years away, and that's a huge time span. You never know what's going to happen between now and then. As far as me having the motivation, yea, I have a bronze medal, but I didn't come into this sport to win a bronze medal. I came in to win a gold medal. So, I'm happy with my bronze, but I'm not satisfied. There's always a little more desire unless you've accomplished everything, and I'm definitely looking forward to doing another.[/img]
12.
If you could do any other Olympic sport (summer or winter), what would it be?Oh, hmm... I'd probably say snowboarding because that just seems like an awesome lifestyle. It's something where you could spend all day doing it with your friends and train at the same time. But, I like my sport because it never feels like work to me, and I feel like that would be the same way with snowboarding. I would want to do something that I look forward to getting up every morning to go and do, so probably snowboarding - slalom, half pipe, or anything. [/img]
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Tags: Jordan Malone ; Short Track Speedskating