To brighten up your weekend…
Here’s another old clip from skater Lucinda Ruh. Enjoy.
And wait for the spins.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
Here’s another old clip from skater Lucinda Ruh. Enjoy.
And wait for the spins.
Fluid, graceful, beautiful, hypnotic, entrancing – Lucinda is a gift to figure skating fans. Thanks.
Wow. You don’t see that every day. What a nice gift, Neo!
I must say, I miss hearing Dick Button’s voice! 🙂
Exquisite, there’s hope for humanity yet….
I’ve never been much of a fan of figure skating, but I had tears in my eyes watching that.
For an interesting read, go to her website. She has some eye-opening things to say. Look under the My Mission section.
“I have always been a fish out of water, always the odd one out, the one that didn’t belong anywhere, the one who never was accepted. I don’t feel anywhere is my home.
When I was little I skated, did ballet, played the cello and piano. I was busy full time growing up with not a second to spare for childhood. Homework, nap time and mealtime was all done in the car going to and from the ice rink. Wake up time was 4 am and bedtime was 11 pm. With a German Swiss upbringing and living in a Japanese society the discipline and structured way of living was extreme.
At school and at the rink I was bullied and teased as I always lived in a foreign country so I never fit in. I was physically and emotionally mistreated. I was put in many political situations beyond my control and even what I did on the ice wasn’t justified and prevented me from being an Olympian!
I trained nonstop through injury or illness never speaking up for myself for if I did there would be big consequences. I was secondary and my skating was who I became associated with. The training and spinning became excruciating and taking a huge toll on my body. With serious injury after injury my body started to break down. I could no longer compete at the amateur level due to the fractures in my spine and pain in my whole body and so I turned professional.
I performed through pain and as my professional life progressed I got more and more ill. I was at the hospital all the time when I wasn’t on ice for the shows and I skated until I couldn’t walk for I thought as long as I could get on that ice and spin I would stay alive.
Spinning was my escape from reality for it was like a meditation for me where no one could touch me. But I did not prevail and my body and mind went through a physical breakdown and now without the spinning I was lost. I felt like I was dying of emotional exhaustion and physical overtraining. My body froze and for five years I was unable to function and I lay in bed unable to move, pick up the telephone, shower, walk outside and some days barely talk. It felt like my body was in a coma. I floated above my head and just watched my body lay there. My brain had suffered ongoing brain concussions due to the extreme speed of the spinning and I was left exhausted from exhaustion. It has been calculated that the G force to my brain while I was in a spin was the same force as to a fighter pilot!
This is when my true journey began…”
Oops, should have included the link:
Lucinda Ruh website
kcom,
Thanks for the link. Kind of like Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story.” Many have no idea how much some successful people have paid in hard work, pain, sweat and tears to reach their goals. Makes one appreciate their achievements all the more.
Amazing — I got dizzy just watching her!
kcom: That’s a sad story, and it seems to be all too common among child athletes.