“Please. I heard everything you said to Ellis that night.”
“I was onlytalking.I hadn’t made any decisions yet.”
“You said I was holding you back. I wasn’t good enough. You’d never win, skating with me. And we both know that’s all you care about.”
“Well, you decided for both of us, didn’t you? So I guess we’ll never know now.”
“I guess not.” He turned toward the staircase. All the care he’d shown a few moments before had burned away, leaving nothing but cold disdain in its place. “Enjoy the rest of your run, Katarina. Try not to break anything on the way back.”
He started down the steps—faster now, too fast for me to catch up even if I’d wanted to.
I stood on the hilltop fuming, the salt of my sweat making my shinsburn again. The injuries were nothing serious, but they could have been. I could have snapped a bone, compacted my wrists when I braced my fall.
All those years of training, and I almost threw it away chasing Heath up a hill like we were still a couple of half-feral children.
It wasmyyear.MyOlympic season. No one was going to ruin it forme.
Not even Heath Rocha.
Kirk Lockwood:Everyone expected Torino to be a rematch between the Americans and the Russians—the one they’d all been waiting for since Sheila and I battled it out with the original Volkova and Zolotov back in Calgary.
During their medal ceremony at the 1988 Winter Olympics, Sheila Lin and Kirk Lockwood smile on top of the podium, while Veronika Volkova and Mikhail Zolotov glower from the step below.
Kirk Lockwood:But as any skating fan knows, it doesn’t always go the way you expect.
In a news clip from Russian state television, an anchorman delivers a breaking report, with English translation dubbed over his voice.
“Nikita Zolotov, son of decorated Olympic ice dancer Mikhail Zolotov, officially announced his retirement from the sport today. The younger Zolotov has been struggling with injury since the World Championships earlier this year in Moscow, where he and his partner, Yelena Volkova, suffered a shocking defeat to Americans Katarina Shaw and Garrett Lin.
“Volkova and Zolotov were widely expected to triumph at the ice dance competition during the twentieth Winter Olympiad in Torino, Italy, but now Volkova has been left without a partner only a few months before the Games.”
Veronika Volkova:Yelena was heartbroken.
Ellis Dean:Yelena was probably relieved. I mean, I don’t know her, but I always thought she seemed scared of Nikita. And of her aunt.
Veronika Volkova:She was still young. That is what I told her. She would go to the Olympics in four years’ time, with a new partner. A better partner. Another four years, and I was certain that no one would even recall who Katarina Shaw was.
Kirk Lockwood:With Volkova and Zolotov out of the picture, Shaw and Lin were the indisputable ones to beat. Coming off a world title,teams typically get a big confidence boost. They carry themselves differently. They skate like champions.
Katarina Shaw and Garrett Lin perform their 2005–2006 season free dance, to the music of British R&B singer Sade. Katarina’s costume is pure white, with a gauzy skirt and crystal-encrusted bodice. Garrett wears all black, with the same crystals decorating his shoulders.
Kirk Lockwood:We all expected Kat and Garrett to sail to the top of every podium that season, then collect gold in Torino as their victory lap. But like I said, figure skating is full of surprises. And the surprise that year was Lin and Rocha.
At their first-ever competition together, the 2005 Nebelhorn Trophy, Bella and Heath skate to selections from the soundtrack of the 1998 filmGreat Expectations.Bella wears a green dress with a flowing skirt. Heath’s costume is an exquisitely tailored satin tuxedo.
From the commentary booth, Kirk Lockwood remarks, “Seems like these two have been together a lot longer than a few months, doesn’t it? The way they’re skating, the gold medal is theirs.”
Garrett Lin:Kat and I didn’t do any of the early season events, and we were assigned to different Grand Prix events than Bella and Heath. So we wouldn’t compete against them directly until the Grand Prix Final in December, if we both qualified.
Ellis Dean:It was almost like Sheila planned it that way—keeping them apart to build up anticipation for the big showdown.
Garrett Lin:I was relieved—not so much for me, but for Kat. I knew she was having a tough time, especially with our free dance. But we still won both of our Grand Prixs.
Katarina and Garrett wave from the top step of the podium at Skate America in Atlantic City, then the Trophée Éric Bompard in Paris.
Kirk Lockwood:Even with as well as they were doing, it was a shock when Lin and Rocha took the silver at Skate Canada—only theirsecond competition together, and their first with stiff international competition. Then they took gold in Japan.
Bella Lin and Heath Rocha keep a close watch on the scoreboard at the NHK Trophy in Osaka. When their winning marks appear, they smile and embrace.
