Congrats Kelly!

In the summer of 2010 I met a quiet, shy speedskater named Kelly while she was rehabbing from what should have been a career ending ankle injury. I did not know it at the time, but as I became to know Kelly I learned that she is one of the most resilient people I have ever met.


Kelly went through the 2010 Olympic Trials fighting to make her first Olympic team. The Olympics is something ever athlete dreams of and for Kelly it was a matter of making the sacrifice of switching from inline to ice skating to try and make her dream a reality. After a vigorous trials Kelly was set up to make the team when a teammate fell and was granted a reskate. The conditions of the reskate were optimal for the other competitor and as a result Kelly missed the 2010 Olympic Games. Obviously Kelly was devastated, but she picked herself up and showed up for practice the very next day ready to complete her season. Next, the unthinkable happened to Kelly when she fell during a race and experienced a complicated compound fracture in her ankle and was told she may not be able to skate again.


After surgery and weeks on crutches Kelly moved to the Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center to attempt the long task of rehabbing back to first walking and then skating again. I remember Kelly being in sports medicine daily and often twice a day doing what she needed to do to become healthy again. Now, two years later, Kelly is not just skating again, but she is skating at the highest level having made the 2011-2012 World team last week. I am very proud of Kelly and excited for her to continue her career as we move forward towards Sochi.