Joannie Rochette was born on January 13, 1986. Rochette is a 23 year old Canadian woman figure skater. Her mother, Therese Rochette, died suddenly of a heart attack on February 21,2010. Rochette’s mom’s sudden death hit Joannie Rochette really hard. Her mom was her best friend and her biggest supporter. Therese Rochette was always convinced that her daughter would one day be on the Olympic medals podium.
Joannie Rochette knew that competing was the only way to be on the Olympic medals podium. So on Tuesday, only two days after her mom’s unexpected death, Rochette skated in the women’s figure skating short program. Many people expected that she would not skate, but her coach, Manon Perron, knew otherwise. She said “Never….because she was so ready and the goal was so strong. I’ve been with her since she was 12 so we just have to look into each other’s eyes and we know right away. It was really hard on her because her mom was the biggest thing in her life, but she’s not a quitter.”
After Rochette skated an amazing performance she finished 3rd in the short program. This was such an emotional time for Rochette that as soon as she was done skating she busted into tears. Many say that this was the best performance of her life. Rochette was only 7.14 points behind the 1st place winner, Kim Yu-Na of South Korea, and 2.42 points behind the 2nd place winner, Moa Asada of Japan. Kim Yu-Na’s performance made it really hard for Rochette to reach her dream. Kim’s score beat 7 skaters’ scores combined. It was really amazing that Rochette’s score was that close to Kim’s.
On Thursday Joannie Rochette competed in the women’s figure skating long program. She was not as emotional as she was on Tuesday. Rochette skated a wonderful performance on Thursday. She finished 3rd in the long program, Moa Asada finished in 2nd, and Kim Yu-Na finished 1st. Joannie Rochette and her mother’s dream came true when Rochette stepped onto the Olympic medal podium in the 3rd spot.
I personally think that what Joannie Rochette did was amazing. I don’t know what I would have done if my mom died two days before I was suppose to skate in the women’s figure skating short program. Even if I did skate I don’t think I would have done nearly that well. I probably wouldn’t have even finished my performance.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/02/26/olympics.rochette.finals/index.html
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