Athletes tend to pay a little more attention when a world champion is speaking to them.

Nelson Skating Club head coach Sarah Gower noticed this as soon as her skaters began taking direction from retired Canadian figure skating star Kaetlyn Osmond.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 funny, because we might say the same thing to the skaters and they sort of listen, but if it comes out of her mouth, theysa国际传媒檙e like, sa国际传媒榦h!sa国际传媒� They really pay attention.sa国际传媒�

Osmond, who won three Olympic medals and was the first Canadian in 45 years to win ladies singles at the , is working with young skaters for a week at the Nelson and District Community Complex.

While her words may carry a touch more weight than Gowers, Osmond says it doesnsa国际传媒檛 take long for athletes to relax around her.

sa国际传媒淚 think when they spend more than two minutes with me, they realize I joke a lot and make fun of people a lot along with myself, and that kind of loosens it up around them and they realize Isa国际传媒檓 more of a human than terrifying.sa国际传媒�

The club was able to invite Osmond thanks to a personal connection with coach Jordyn Eberts sa国际传媒� the pair previously trained in Edmonton together.

Osmond said she has been helping with skaters one-on-one, conducting practice drills and would also talk to them about how she dealt with issues such as competition nerves.

By the end of the week, she said she hopes to see the skaters had made a little progress with their own goals.

sa国际传媒淢iracles donsa国际传媒檛 happen in a week. I just like to see if the light switch goes off. They might not even be able to land something new or do something new, but even if something just makes that little tiny bit more sense, thatsa国际传媒檚 as much as I can get out of it. And thatsa国际传媒檚 super rewarding for me.sa国际传媒�

Since retiring in 2019 at 23 years old, Osmond has taken part in shows such as Stars on Ice while pursuing a media studies degree at Edmontonsa国际传媒檚 University of Alberta. Eventually she hopes to make a career in radio broadcasting.

Coaching has been the biggest surprise of her post-competition life. It wasnsa国际传媒檛 something she wanted to do sa国际传媒� Osmond admits being pushed into it by a friend sa国际传媒� yet mentoring young skaters has restored love for the sport she says had in part been lost once her career was over.

Now shesa国际传媒檚 juggling a full-time coaching job with her studies.

sa国际传媒淭o be able to go back into the world and see theresa国际传媒檚 still joy in a lot of younger skaters and watching them try to live their dream, it kind of gives me purpose in skating, which is amazing.sa国际传媒�

It doesnsa国际传媒檛 hurt that they are learning from one of the best.

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| tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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