Skater travels to North Korea
Amy Gregson – Times Reporter
While the country of North Korea is a mystery to most people in the world, a local skater had the chance to travel to the country.
Erica Risseeuw of Gleichen has been skating for the country of Great Britain for nearly two years with partner Robert Paxton, and the two were able to skate in North Korea for the Paektusan Prize.
“The experience Robert and I had was unbelievable and probably the most interesting experience I have had in my career so far,” said Risseeuw. “I was very apprehensive to go at first since North Korea doesn’t exactly have a respectable reputation to us North Americans, but was certainly glad I did go!”
North Korea, officially called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is a single-party state led by Kim Jong-il and is considered by many in the world as a totalitarian dictatorship.
Tourism is not common from people in Western countries and is organized by the state. One or two guides who speak the language accompany all tourists at all times.
She said skating at the Paektusan Prize was outstanding and that the arena was filled with 6,000 spectators each of the three days of performances.
“Everyone sat in such an orderly fashion and everyone was respectful,” said Risseeuw. “The athletes, yet simply all the people in general, are very disciplined and selfless. Everything they do is for the leader of their country and they have developed huge pride in their country.”
The event was considered a demonstration and all athletes did their competitive programs with no warm-up.
Risseeuw began skating as a four years old at the Gleichen Figure Skating Club and entered her first competition at seven years old.
She then trained at a number of clubs in Calgary to further her singles training.
In 2008 her coach in Calgary, Scott Davis, set up lessons for Risseeuw at the world-renowned Mariposa Figure Skating Club with coaches Doug Leigh and Lee Barkell, and mentioned she was interested in pairs skating and if there were any potential partners interested in a tryout.
She met Paxton, who competes for Great Britain, in April 2008 and she said everything just clicked. However, with her being in her last year of high school, Risseeuw didn’t make any decisions until June 2008 and made the official move to Barrie, ON on July 1, 2008.
Risseeuw said it was a difficult decision to compete for Great Britain while being Canadian, but she and Paxton knew they were the right partners for each other.
“We felt at this time that Great Britain would provide us with a lot of great opportunities and experience,” said Risseeuw.
The pair has already had huge opportunities in gaining international exposure and experience. They were selected to skate at the 2009 and 2010 European Figure Skating Competitions, placed seventh and 12th respectively.
“The struggles we’ve encountered have been similar to a lot of up and coming amateur skaters and that is simply due to the everyday cost and expenses of training at such an elite level,” Risseeuw said.
Risseeuw said they believe they were selected to go to North Korea based on their performances at the European Championships.
She said they delivered their best performances all year in North Korea.
Risseeuw and Paxton are busy staying conditioned and in competitive form because they have been named as an alternate for the upcoming World Championships in Torino, Italy.
They will then start working on new programs in April, compete at summer competitions in the United States and Canada and then focus on skating well at the National Championships in November, which could earn them a spot for the European Figure Skating Competition in Switzerland in January.
Their goal is to get on the senior grand prix circuit and be competitive at the World Championships, being held in Japan next season.
“Our ultimate goal is simply to become the best team we can be,” said Risseeuw. “We feel we are still improving and far from reaching our full potential.”