With world champions in men's and women's figure skating and ice dancing, the United States knew there was a chance to medal in the Olympic team event, but there was uncertainty over the fourth discipline -- pairs. And as the competition developed, it was clear that the duo of Danny O'Shea and Ellie Cam would indeed need to skate at a championship level.
"Ellie and Danny knew that we didn't want to focus on it because we know we do better when we just focus on our process," said Drew Meekins of Denver, who coaches the pair. "But of course we knew it and we felt the pressure of the moment. And I think more than anything what they wanted, what I wanted for them was a sense of earning this, whether it was a gold medal or a silver medal or whatever."
As it turned out, O'Shea, a graduate of the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, and Kam, currently a student at the school, delivered what Meekins called " a perfect skate under Olympic pressure," to set the team up for what became a gold medal triumph. Now, the duo is preparing for their own pairs competition. After their team success, Meekins acknowledges that there will be more eyes on his skaters, with greater expectations, but the pressure of winning another medal won't be uppermost in the minds of O'Shea and Kam when they take the ice.
"The phrase we love to use is 'skate in a way that makes you proud,'" Meekins said. "That makes you proud of your training, that makes you proud of the work you've done and makes you proud of all you've gone through to get to this moment. And if you can do that, you're going to be happy with the result no matter what."
