My Encounters With Laetitia!
I had the incredible experience of attending the World Championships in my hometown in 1998. I attended about twelve practice sessions, plus the pairs, men's, and ladies' free skates. Practice sessions were held at Parade Ice Garden, only a few blocks away from the Target Center, where the events were held. Parade has two rinks and all the seats are within about 15 feet of the ice!
I first saw Laetitia on Thurs, March 26th, more than a week before the ladies' competition. It was the first day of practices and not very many skaters were here yet - but Laetitia was! Before her practice session, she was outside the entrance of the building, stretching. Since it was the first day of practices, I was just in awe of seeing any skater a few feet from me, and I was too nervous to say anything to her (I would get bolder as the days progressed!).
However, she gave me a second chance because two days later, she was outside again with her coach before her practice. This time I didn't hesitate (okay, maybe for a couple seconds :) ) and walked up to her and asked if I could get my picture with her. She smiled and said "Sure," and I showed her coach how to work my camera. So she stood and posed with me (and put her arm around me!) while her coach took our picture. Then I told her that I thought she was doing great in practice and she smiled and said thanks. I should've stayed and talked to her some more but I clammed up and left. AAAaaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhh! Oh, well.
I didn't get really close to her again for another week, but I watched several of her practices. She is a fantastic jumper!! She worked on a triple lutz-triple toe combo and landed quite a few of them. She also was very consistent on her 3toe3toe. Sometimes she got a little frustrated, but she always kept trying something until she did it.
Closer to the night of the ladies' event, I decided to make a poster for Laetitia that read "Good Luck Laetitia." I held it up at Parade during a morning practice session the day of the SP. Her coach saw it first and pointed it out to Laetitia, and when she saw it she smiled at me and waved! I was so happy!
The next day, the morning of the FS, I watched her practice at the Target Center (another great practice). Got some decent pictures of her. When she was done, I went to the boards and called her name. She came over and I handed her a stuffed dog that I had bought for her. I also got her autograph this time and had a lady take another picture of Laetitia and me. I would've liked to say more to her, but by this time people were crowding around for autographs, so I had to leave. But I was so glad that I got to give her the dog and that I got her autograph.
Thank you, Laetitia, for a great week!!
See the picture of Laetitia and I on my 1998 Worlds Photo Gallery
