More Katherine Reutter news
You all don't want to know how many Times I got distracted reading other posts while trying to make this. It's not like it's even that hard, C&P, re-upload the picture so I don't hotlink, three bits of html. Why did it take me so long?
We don't post about females half as much as we could so watch me work on that this week :) Katherine was apparently just as excited to meet the President and First Lady as her twitter made it seem.
Sunday was payback time for Katherine Reutter.
She laid out cones, tied skates and stowed the padding that lines the boards for speed skaters at Webster Groves Ice Arena: the usual ways that a double Olympic medalist shows her gratitude.
"I love working with young skaters, especially in St. Louis," said Reutter, who won a silver medal in 1,000-meter short-track speedskating and a bronze in the 3,000-meter relay in Vancouver. "I came here to be pushed. I want to help this town the way the people here helped me."
A native of Champaign, Ill., Reutter traveled to St. Louis, sometimes twice each weekend, to train with the coaches of the Metros and Gateway speedskating clubs. Sunday, she lent them a helping hand. In addition to doing grunt work, Reutter shared the finer points of racing with a handful of advanced skaters at the Hardee's IcePlex in Chesterfield, then showed her winning form to about 40 aspiring skaters at Webster Groves.
She also took time to sign autographs, including the diary of Maria Laroia, 8. Laroia also brought a skating medal to show Reutter, who responded in kind.
"It's so good for them to see that if you work hard, you can achieve," said Maria's mother, Serena.
Reutter's hard work has paid off in a whirlwind of activity since February. Just two weeks after the Olympics, Reutter competed at the world championships in Bulgaria, earning bronze medals in the 1,000 meters and in the relay.
"That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do mentally," she said. "I had trained so hard for the Olympics, and it was so hard to stay motivated."
Last month, Reutter joined the Olympic delegation that visited the White House for a soggy reception with the Obamas.
"The president took both my hands to shake them, and I forgot how to talk," she said. "He had to ask, 'And your name is ... ?' That was a hard question. Then, Michelle moved right in for the hug. I was so stunned."
The weather was ideal in Hawaii, where she finally had a chance to unwind. "Sun tanning, eating ice cream and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts: That was about all I did," she said.
The schedule left Reutter less time than she hoped for visiting her parents, Beth and Jay, in Champaign, though she's following through on a promise to use her bonus of $25,000 for long-overdue repairs on the family home.
"It's going slowly," Reutter said. "I want to give my mom so much - carpeting and paint and a new bathroom - that I'm trying to spread the money as far as I can."
Reutter will stay with her parents for the next few weeks and return to St. Louis on May 11 to throw out the first pitch at a Cardinals game against the Astros. After that, she'll head to her other home base, Salt Lake City, for training. The first world cup event of the season is scheduled for Milwaukee in September, and Reutter hopes to use the next three years of international racing to prepare for the Sochi Olympics.
Just as the Olympic wave continues for Reutter, the area's speedskating clubs continue to capitalize. In the past, the end of the junior competitive season coincided with the end of the Games, so area clubs had not been able to build on the success of the area's skaters, at least one of whom has competed in every Olympics since 1968.
This year, though, the clubs bought ice time through May and skates for youngsters to rent, hoping to strike while the iron was hot, or the ice was still frozen. Russ Owen, president of the Missouri Speedskating Association, estimated that about 25 youngsters showed up each week.
The crowd swelled with Reutter's appearances Sunday.
"That's five years of recruiting," Owen said. "This has been more than worth it."
source
We don't post about females half as much as we could so watch me work on that this week :) Katherine was apparently just as excited to meet the President and First Lady as her twitter made it seem.
Sunday was payback time for Katherine Reutter.
She laid out cones, tied skates and stowed the padding that lines the boards for speed skaters at Webster Groves Ice Arena: the usual ways that a double Olympic medalist shows her gratitude.
"I love working with young skaters, especially in St. Louis," said Reutter, who won a silver medal in 1,000-meter short-track speedskating and a bronze in the 3,000-meter relay in Vancouver. "I came here to be pushed. I want to help this town the way the people here helped me."
A native of Champaign, Ill., Reutter traveled to St. Louis, sometimes twice each weekend, to train with the coaches of the Metros and Gateway speedskating clubs. Sunday, she lent them a helping hand. In addition to doing grunt work, Reutter shared the finer points of racing with a handful of advanced skaters at the Hardee's IcePlex in Chesterfield, then showed her winning form to about 40 aspiring skaters at Webster Groves.
She also took time to sign autographs, including the diary of Maria Laroia, 8. Laroia also brought a skating medal to show Reutter, who responded in kind.
"It's so good for them to see that if you work hard, you can achieve," said Maria's mother, Serena.
Reutter's hard work has paid off in a whirlwind of activity since February. Just two weeks after the Olympics, Reutter competed at the world championships in Bulgaria, earning bronze medals in the 1,000 meters and in the relay.
"That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do mentally," she said. "I had trained so hard for the Olympics, and it was so hard to stay motivated."
Last month, Reutter joined the Olympic delegation that visited the White House for a soggy reception with the Obamas.
"The president took both my hands to shake them, and I forgot how to talk," she said. "He had to ask, 'And your name is ... ?' That was a hard question. Then, Michelle moved right in for the hug. I was so stunned."
The weather was ideal in Hawaii, where she finally had a chance to unwind. "Sun tanning, eating ice cream and chocolate-covered macadamia nuts: That was about all I did," she said.
The schedule left Reutter less time than she hoped for visiting her parents, Beth and Jay, in Champaign, though she's following through on a promise to use her bonus of $25,000 for long-overdue repairs on the family home.
"It's going slowly," Reutter said. "I want to give my mom so much - carpeting and paint and a new bathroom - that I'm trying to spread the money as far as I can."
Reutter will stay with her parents for the next few weeks and return to St. Louis on May 11 to throw out the first pitch at a Cardinals game against the Astros. After that, she'll head to her other home base, Salt Lake City, for training. The first world cup event of the season is scheduled for Milwaukee in September, and Reutter hopes to use the next three years of international racing to prepare for the Sochi Olympics.
Just as the Olympic wave continues for Reutter, the area's speedskating clubs continue to capitalize. In the past, the end of the junior competitive season coincided with the end of the Games, so area clubs had not been able to build on the success of the area's skaters, at least one of whom has competed in every Olympics since 1968.
This year, though, the clubs bought ice time through May and skates for youngsters to rent, hoping to strike while the iron was hot, or the ice was still frozen. Russ Owen, president of the Missouri Speedskating Association, estimated that about 25 youngsters showed up each week.
The crowd swelled with Reutter's appearances Sunday.
"That's five years of recruiting," Owen said. "This has been more than worth it."
source