The “Figure Skating Godfather” is Here! Brian Orser Signs a Contract with CFSA
August 11th, morning time, the daily scheduled training of the Chinese figure skating team was happening as usual. However this time, many foreign coaches were present to help guide Wenjing Sui and Cong Han and other athletes who were there. They are Brian Orser and his team who have trained Olympic Champions like Yuzuru Hanyu, Yuna Kim and so on. Today, Brian Orser signed a contract with the Chinese Figure Skating Association, taking a big step forward in helping to prepare for the 2022 Olympics.
Orser and his coaching team are one of the most successful coaching teams for singles skaters. Under their tutelage, South Korean star Yuna Kim won the 2009 World Championships and the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Yuzuru Hanyu, under their guidance, won the 2014 and 2018 Olympics along with the 2014 and 2017 World Championships. For the next few years, Orser and other members of his coaching team will regularly come to China to assist with training skaters and coaches, helping them to better prepare for the 2022 Olympics.
Brian Orser's team includes people like Tracy Wilson, David Wilson, and Lee Barkell. Brian Orser, who has won 2 silver medals at the Olympics, embodies the soul of the team. He is skilled at identifying talent in skaters who are ranked around top 10 in the world and push them to become medal contenders. Tracy Wilson is an expert in coaching skating skills, especially when it comes to the complicated content that high level athletes include in their programs. David Wilson is an expert choreographer and has unique methods for developing personal expression. Lee Barkell is good for jump technique and other difficult elements. Brian Orser's team also has very specialized approach in how they choose their music, costumes and how they understand the current scoring system. This partnership is not only for the 2022 Olympics, it will also take into account long term development for the 2026 Olympics and to improve the overall level of coaching in China.
At the press conference, Shen Xue, head of the Chinese Figure Skating Association, thanked Orser for coming all the way to Beijing and said that she hoped that this new partnership will help them a lot in preparing for the 2022 Olympics. "I used to be an athlete myself, the growth and development [of an athlete] requires a coach to guide you, self reflection, but you also need input from the outside world. I hope that Orser will be able to share his experience with us and allow our skaters to learn from the best in the world."
When talking about the details of the contract, Shen Xue revealed "Along with preparing for the 2022 Olympics, Orser and his team will come to China regularly to assist and observe China's ladies' single skaters to help CFSA discover talent and potential athletes and coaches for future Olympics Games."
Before the press conference, Orser and his team attended one of the National team's trainings. He commented, "They have a really positive training attitude, the youngest ones are especially interested in their lessons, this is a really good start."
Tracy Wilson was really impressed by China's top pairs team, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han. "They were very young when I advised them many years ago, I'm very happy to see them improve step by step and become World Champions, it's the same feeling that I have when I coach Yuzuru Hanyu. Now young Chinese athletes are more and more ambitious, China's future in figure skating is limitless."
