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Post by Admin on Jan 30, 2014 23:43:28 GMT
Polina Edmunds was just 20 months old when she first put on a pair of ice skates. It was the first step she made in her journey to the Olympic Winter Games, which will be achieved next month in Russia, fittingly where her mother, Nina, got her start in skating. The two will be at the Winter Games together since Nina is one of Polina’s coaches. And it will be quite a homecoming for the Edmunds family when Polina competes in Sochi. Polina, now 15, was the surprise silver medalist at the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships this past week in Boston, which helped her earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team. “My mom’s brother and her uncle live in Tver,” said Polina of the Russian town located about 100 miles northwest of Moscow where Nina also grew up. “I’m sure they are very excited. They’re probably contacting my mom right now.” Although it is quite a jump for Edmunds — the Olympic Winter Games will mark her first senior-level international competition; the U.S. championships were her first senior event of any kind — she would not be the first teen to dazzle on the Olympic stage. After all, Edmunds’ idol is Tara Lipinski, who became the youngest Olympic figure skating champion at 15 when she upset Michelle Kwan for the gold medal in Nagano in 1998. Sarah Hughes went on to win the gold medal four years later in 2002 when she was 16. Perhaps what is of the most surprising to many in the figure skating community is that Edmunds hardly seems surprised at all. She came to Boston with some of the most technically demanding routines in the women’s field (her short program featured a more difficult triple jump compared to that of eventual champion Gracie Gold). Edmunds also came to Boston with the luxury of no expectations. Although she had made a name for herself in the junior ranks, few expected her to reach the podium, much less finish higher than two-time defending U.S. champion Ashley Wagner, who placed fourth overall. But Edmunds and her coaches all continually said they expected her to make the U.S. Olympic Team. Although many had her pegged as an Olympic hopeful for 2018, Edmunds said she always had 2014 in the front of her mind. She said she remembers receiving a red Team USA jacket with the year “2014” marked on it when she came to nationals in 2010 and had already calculated years ago that she would be age-eligible to compete when the Winter Games came to Sochi. “This year, when I turned 15 I thought, ‘Oh this is it,’” said Edmunds, who was wearing a gold necklace with an ice skate on it.
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Post by Admin on Feb 3, 2014 1:29:58 GMT
After earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for next month’s Winter Games in Sochi, figure skater Polina Edmunds received a thunderous sendoff at her school in San Jose Friday morning. The entire student body, teachers and other supporters crammed into the gymnasium at Archbishop Mitty High School to wish the 15-year-old well as she joins the Olympic figure skating team to compete in Russia. “Be fearless. Go out on that ice and skate your heart out and be who you are know that you have all of here supporting you, here at home—and we’re really proud of you. So congratulations,” Chastain, who won two Olympic gold medals and one silver, told her in front of the energetic crowd. Polina Edmunds acknowledges the crowd during the medal ceremony following the free skate program during the 2014 Prudential U.S. Figure Skating Championships at TD Garden on January 11, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts. Polina appeared awed by the ceremony and the outpouring of support “When I was named to the team, I was really excited but it didn’t really set in yet. So when I came home and I came to Mitty, I was just so excited and everyone was just so enthusiastic and that made me excited,” she said. “Thank you for everything and continue to cheer for me because I love it,” Polina said.
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Post by Admin on Feb 3, 2014 14:39:03 GMT
This is not any ordinary 15 year old, Polina Edmunds became an overnight hero and as Chastain said, "Look around - greatness is right next to you!" That is the ultimate truth being in a gym full of rich history for the Mitty Monarch family. Tuesday was her first day back on campus after taking the silver medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She was surrounded by hundreds of her school mates who cheered, clapped and chanted, "USA! USA!"
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Post by Admin on Feb 4, 2014 20:26:06 GMT
Figure skater Polina Edmunds of San Jose took off for Munich on Monday - according to a photo she posted on Twitter. From Germany, she'll need to eventually head to Sochi, Russia, where the Olympic winter games opening ceremony begins on Friday. The photo shows her traveling in style. Sitting in a front row seat, Polina is wearing a teal sweatshirt with the word "FAMOUS" across the chest. She looks coyly into the camera, headphones around her neck, and her arms crossed in a silly pose. @polinaedmunds Arrived! 1st Olympian Spotting! @jasonbskates and I just met and had dinner with snowboarder @justin_reiter ! But her father, John Edmunds, CFO of Inphi in Clara, quickly dismissed the notion that anyone paid for his 15-year-old to sit in first class. The family of another skater who trains with Polina gifted his daughter the miles for her upgrade so that she could sleep on her way to Munich, where she landed on Tuesday. "Rest assured David and Nina were in economy," Edmunds told NBC Bay Area, referring to Polina's mom, Nina Edmunds, and coach David Glynn.
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Post by Admin on Feb 8, 2014 23:34:46 GMT
Polina Edmunds, who is currently in her sophomore year of high school, entered the 2014 U.S. Figure Skating Championships with one junior national title already under her belt. Many observers considered her the potential future face of U.S. ladies figure skating, but not many expected the future to arrive quite so fast. @polinaedmunds David and I in our Opening and Closing Outfits! Had a great time in Team processing! A brilliant short program suddenly thrust the 15-year-old into the conversation for an Olympic berth, and she sealed the deal in the free skate, finishing second overall, behind eventual champion Gracie Gold, and booking her ticket to the Winter Games. But she may have done more than that. Her youth and underdog story are exactly the type of characteristics that American viewers look for in selecting their traditional Olympic darling. This year, Edmunds is the logical choice to ascend to that lofty perch, and she'll ride that wave to become America's breakout star in Sochi. Lipinski, like Edmunds, qualified for the Olympic Games when she was 15 years old. She would end up capturing gold at the 1998 Nagano Games and, in the process, become the youngest athlete to win gold in an individual sport. That's a record she retains to this day, but one which Edmunds, should she strike gold in Sochi, would break. Edmunds is not only fine with the comparisons, she relishes them, emphasizing that growing up in the sport, she idolized Lipinski for her performance and accomplishments. "She's been the biggest inspiration for me," Edmunds told Nancy Armour of USA Today shortly after learning that she'd been selected for the team.
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