Bradie Tennell: 2018 U.S. National Champion

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Bradie Tennell: 2018 U.S. National Champion Apr 23, 2020 22:52:05 GMT

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Post by Admin on Apr 23, 2020 22:52:05 GMT

Tennell’s mom is a nurse and is working during the pandemic. “It’s been a little crazy. It is stressful,” Tennell said. “But she’s been a nurse for so long and she’s always taken such great care of me, and I know she takes care of all her patients like they were her own family members. Because I’ve grown up with her being in hospitals all the time, it is scary, but I’m optimistic.”

With her mom in the health care field, it was a natural choice for Tennell to join the Blades for the Brave livestream benefit on April 17. Hosted by U.S. Champions and Olympians Jason Brown and Gracie Gold, the event raised money for Americares, to help the organization deliver protective gear and other critically needed supplies for health workers in COVID-19 hotspots worldwide. Tennell joined a group of fellow current Olympic and international competitors for the fundraiser, as well as former champions including Dorothy Hamill, Michelle Kwan, and Sasha Cohen. It was a way to “cheer up everybody and as a way to say thank you to all the health care workers who are literally risking their lives for us,” Tennell said.

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For most international competitive skaters, the spring and summer months are filled with show performances and preparation for the new season—and all of that has been delayed this year. Tennell has not started working on programs or music for next season yet, but is set on getting two new programs for the 2020-2021 season.

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“I definitely want to get new programs, even with the shortened preparation time, because I like to challenge myself,” she said. “And even last year, I would say that I had shortened preparation time because of my foot injury, so it’s not a completely foreign situation for me and I definitely feel like I still have room to grow and new challenges to take on. I wouldn’t want to keep the same programs, because then I’d feel like I’m putting myself in a box and not allowing myself to have the opportunity to grow.”

Tennell was scheduled to perform in several shows on the Stars on Ice tour this year, which was cancelled, as well as a couple other fundraising ice shows throughout the spring that were cancelled or postponed.

“With something like this, it’s so out of your control, and obviously the health and safety of everybody is more important than a figure skating show,” she said. “But if everybody does their part, then hopefully it will get better quicker.”

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Last Edit: Apr 23, 2020 22:53:04 GMT by Admin

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Bradie Tennell: 2018 U.S. National Champion Jul 25, 2020 0:06:04 GMT

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Post by Admin on Jul 25, 2020 0:06:04 GMT

Hockey analyst Jeremy Roenick filed suit Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court against NBC Sports, saying he was wrongfully dismissed for making a comment about a desired “threesome” with an on-air partner while other commentators said equally racy remarks and went unpunished.

Roenick, age 50, said the network applied a different standard to his remarks than those by skating commentators Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski in a different video. His lawsuit does not ask for a specific amount in damages.

NBC fired the former NHL forward in February for comments he made on a Dec. 18 episode of the Barstool Sports podcast “Spittin’ Chiclets.” On that show, Roenick joked about his hopes to “go to bed” with his wife and coworker Kathryn Tappen on a vacation in Portugal.

Roenick’s lawsuit claims former figure skating Olympians Lipinski and Weir said equally disturbing things on a July 2 video of 1998 Olympic gold medalist figure skater Bradie Tennell. In that video, they made comments about a camel toe and an affair.

Lipinski posted the video to her Instagram account May 29 but has since taken it town. In the video, she made a reference to a camel toe when she introduced Tennell, saying, “Nice camel spin into a toe loop.” Tennell had not attempted either move.

Weir and actress Elizabeth Banks then joked about Weir cheating on his “wife,” Lipinski, after Weir said of Tennell, “I’m really hoping we get to see her quads during this program.” Again, Tennell had not attempted the move.

The lawsuit also claims that Weir made comments during the 2018 Olympics on the body parts of certain skaters. Roenick asked his boss, Sam Flood, about the remarks. Flood allegedly said that Weir “is gay and can say whatever,” the court papers allege.

In the suit filed Friday, Roenick brought 12 claims against NBC Sports and Flood, including a claim alleging he was discriminated against because of his sex or sexual orientation.

Roenick apologized publicly for his remarks and Tappen allegedly told him she was not offended. But, the lawsuit says, she was allegedly pressured by NBC and a woman’s rights organization to condemn the comments, the lawsuit alleged.

As a result of his firing, Roenick says he lost contracts with “Kraft Hockeyville,” and with the Molson Coors Beverage company. He also lost public speaking income.

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Bradie Tennell: 2018 U.S. National Champion Aug 23, 2020 20:07:09 GMT

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Post by Admin on Aug 23, 2020 20:07:09 GMT

Bradie Tennell, the 2018 U.S. champion and PyeongChang bronze medallist in the figure skating team event, announced on Friday that she was making a move from longtime coach Denise Myers to Tom Zakrajsek.

"I want to thank Denise and Jeremy (Allen) for standing by me on my skating journey thus far,” Tennell said in a statement released by US Figure Skating. “I am looking forward to moving to Colorado Springs and getting to work as I prepare for the 2020-21 season and beyond.”

Tennell, a Chicago-area native, had been trained by Meyers since 2007, when she was just nine. She had a breakout season in 2017-18, winning bronze at her first-ever Grand Prix assignment at Skate America and then capturing the U.S. women’s title ahead of the Winter Games.

The move comes as big-name figure skaters make coaching changes around the world, notably Russians Alena Kostornaia and Alexandra Trusova, both who had successful seasons this past year, leaving famed coach Eteri Tutberidze for 2006 Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko.

American Alysa Liu, the two-time and reigning U.S. champ, also announced this summer that she would go from childhood coach Laura Lipetsky to a trio of coaches, including Lee Barkell, Lori Nichol and Massimo Scali.

Liu, who turned 15 earlier this month, is not eligible for senior international events until next season. She will continue to be based in Oakland, Calif., where she is from.

Tennell, however, plans to make the move from suburban Chicago to the Colorado Springs, Colo., area, where Zakrajsek is based. He’s previously coached Mirai Nagasu, Vincent Zhou, Jeremy Abbott and other top international skaters.

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Bradie Tennell: 2018 U.S. National Champion Aug 24, 2020 20:24:30 GMT

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Post by Admin on Aug 24, 2020 20:24:30 GMT

Olympic bronze medalist Bradie Tennell announced today that she will begin training with Tom Zakrajsek in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Tennell, who won the U.S. title in 2018, was previously coached by Denise Myers and Jeremy Allen in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. She will continue to work with choreographer Benoît Richaud.

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"I want to thank Denise and Jeremy for standing by me on my skating journey thus far," Tennell said. "I am looking forward to moving to Colorado Springs and getting to work as I prepare for the 2020-21 season and beyond."

Tennell has medaled at the previous three U.S. Championships. In addition to being 2018 U.S. champion, she is the 2019 U.S. silver medalist and the 2020 U.S. bronze medalist. Most recently, she earned the bronze medal at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2020.

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Bradie Tennell: 2018 U.S. National Champion Oct 21, 2020 19:40:16 GMT

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Post by Admin on Oct 21, 2020 19:40:16 GMT

Three years after she had gone from “who?” to “wow!,” jumping from ninth to first at the U.S. Championships in just one season and then becoming the highest U.S. finisher at both the 2018 Olympics and world championships, Tennell felt as if she were spinning her wheels.

It wasn’t as if the figure skater from north suburban Chicago no longer was getting solid results. Last season, despite a foot injury in late summer, she became the first U.S. woman to qualify for the Grand Prix Final since 2015 and the first to win a Four Continents Championship medal (bronze) since 2017. She also completed a full set of medals at nationals, adding 2020 bronze to her 2018 gold and 2019 silver.

“But I was getting older, and I didn’t feel I was reaching my goals fast enough, and I wasn’t progressing fast enough,” Tennell said.

Tennell was increasingly annoyed by her failure to get traction on her goal of adding another spin to one jump, the Axel. She wanted to master the triple Axel, a jump that is turning into something of a litmus test for elite women the way it did for elite men in the 1980s.

It reached the point where, at age 22, she would explain the frustration during a recent phone interview with a paraphrase of a quote about insanity attributed to Albert Einstein.

“I was doing the same thing over and over and not getting a different result,” Tennell said. “This is literally the definition of insanity.

“I felt like I was slowly losing myself. I was putting everything I had into this, and it just wasn’t happening. It’s very crushing when you feel you are letting yourself down, when you’re trying so hard, and it’s not going anywhere. You feel like, ‘What am I missing?’”

Tennell’s initial response to that question had been to continue working with her longtime coach, Denise Myers, in Vernon Hills, IL, while planning regular visits to coach Tom Zakrajsek, known for ability to reach jumps, in Colorado Springs, CO. It was Zakrajsek who had taught Mirai Nagasu the triple Axel, a process that began when she was 21 and ended three years later, in 2018, when Nagasu became the first U.S. woman to land the jump in an Olympics.

Near the end of what was to have been the first two-week visit to Colorado, in early August, Tennell realized she had found something else that was missing: an environment in which she was not the only high-level skater, where several champions could motivate her.

The athletes training with other coaches at the World Arena in Colorado Springs include 2018 Olympians Vincent Zhou and Karen Chen, 2019 world junior champion Tomoki Hiwatashi and 2018 U.S. junior champion Camden Pulkinen. Watching Zhou and Hiwatashi rattle off clean quadruple jumps regularly in practice has inspired Tennell.

“A week into being out here [Colorado Springs], I fell in love with the training atmosphere, and I really loved working with Tom,” she said. “I tried to picture myself going back, but I couldn’t picture it, and I didn’t want to picture it. In my gut, I feel like this is where I belong. This is like a fresh start.”

So, with the help of her mother, Jean, she moved to Colorado, sharing an apartment with a non-skater and preparing for a season in which Covid-19 has made planning anything else nearly impossible.

Tennell’s sudden change of coaching plans had ended a 13-year working relationship with Myers. Asked via text message if the move surprised her, Myers replied, “I’ll always support Bradie. Sometimes the grass is greener, but sometimes it isn’t. Time will tell, and I truly hope she is happy.”

Many feel it takes two years for a skater to adapt fully to a new coach. That “break-in” period may be shortened by the current circumstances, with pandemic-related event cancellations minimizing travel and giving skaters more uninterrupted training time.

“Of course, we’re still getting to know each other, but I think it has been a fairly smooth transition,” she said. “Not having to travel so much is helping that.”

By now in any other season, Tennell would likely have done at last one foreign competition. Her first live competition under Zakrajsek’s tutelage will be Skate America in Las Vegas Friday and Saturday with no spectators and in a bubble created to protect athletes, coaches and officials. NBC Sports will provide complete coverage on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock Premium.