Audio By Carbonatix
A Canadian teenager who is among the leading contenders for an Olympic gold in men’s figure skating has taken his practice regimen south. Patrick Chan, winner of the gold men in the Four Continents and
Canadian Figure Skating Championships earlier this year, recently relocated from his training camp in Orlando, and he now calls the brand new Palm Beach Ice Works home.
“It’s awesome here,” he says of the training facility in West Palm Beach. “The lifestyle is much better than in Orlando. As a high performance athlete, comfort comes first.”
You can catch Chan triple axelling six days a week, nine hours a day, preparing for next year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
“The countdown has begun,” Chan says. “The Winter Olympics are about 95 days away, so I’m working hard every day.”
During his time in Orlando, the Ottawa-born Chan wasn’t quite feeling the kind of family vibe that he needed to relieve the kind of pressure that comes with training for the Olympics.
“When I was in Orlando, I just wanted to go home.” Chan says of his time at RDV Sportsplex
in O-town. “It was a great facility, but I didn’t connect with anyone
up there. Here, the employees are dedicated and like family to me.”
Tim
Kyrkostas, director of business development at Ice Works hopes the facility becomes a mecca for Olympians. “It’s our mission and
goal to provide the best facility and amenities to world class skaters
and athletes,” Kyrkostas says.
The newly completed rink
features a state of the art 58,000 sq. ft. Olympic size training
facility, complete with an indoor running track, strength and
conditioning room, work out gym, and off-ice and ballet classes.
The
facility, located near the airport, offers lessons and tons
of activities for the general public. Check out the massive rink here.
