Esteemed US Olympic coach [Mr. John Nicks, 91] teaches local youth figure skaters

[Sylvia]

Article on Mr. John Nicks' Jan. 26th visit to an ice rink in Breckenridge, Colorado:

Esteemed US Olympic coach teaches local youth figure skaters

The town of Breckenridge was blessed with an unexpected and atypical sporting opportunity this week at Stephen C. West Ice Arena. World and U.S. hall of fame figure skating coach John Nicks was in town...

www.summitdaily.com

Excerpts:

The town of Breckenridge was blessed with an unexpected and atypical sporting opportunity this week at Stephen C. West Ice Arena. World and U.S. hall of fame figure skating coach John Nicks was in town for a ski trip with his daughter, their first time to Breckenridge, and he was connected with the town recreation department. They asked if Nicks, 91, would be interested in a figure skating clinic, and the recently retired longtime coach for U.S. Figure Skating couldn’t say “no.”
Back when Nicks was the age of the youngsters he taught in Breckenridge this week, he learned about the sport thanks to his father’s sports equipment store in Brighton, England. Nicks was his father’s “guinea pig” for the ice equipment he sold. Soon enough, Nicks and his younger sister developed as pair skaters, ultimately winning the British, European and World Championships in 1953.

Nicks also hopes casual fans appreciate the mental and physical toughness of figure skaters. He said it takes someone special to gradually and, at times, painfully learn a new trick when the margin for error of landing on a quarter-inch blade is slim.
That’s why “the triangle” of athlete support is so important to him. The three parts of the triangle are the athlete, coach and parent, and Nicks said some of his success as a coach of more than 1,110 skaters over nearly six decades came thanks to his understanding of the balance between when the athlete needed the parent versus the coach and vice versa.
“In figure skating, you have to be cognizant of so many things,” Nicks said. “You have to be athletic, artistic and understand the importance of music in a program. You have to be pretty tough with all of the falls and hurts you’re going to have. And you have to handle pressure.”

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

If I had a kid who wanted to skate, I'd have started them immediately with Mr. Nicks. You can almost always spot a "Nicks Skater", in the most complimentary way. He made Ashley Wagner into a skater worth watching after years of middling results.

 

[Sylvia]

Group photo posted on Meno/Sand's Instagram ("What a fun night celebrating with Mr.Nicks on his 92nd. Birthday! "): https://www.instagram.com/p/CN_3ETXL0G5/

 

[kittyjake5]

Happy Birthday to Mr. NicksHe looks great!

 

[AxelAnnie]

He is a national treasure!

 

[Wyliefan]

Sasha Cohen has a nice birthday post up: https://www.instagram.com/p/COBIllihiE1/?igshid=10hphdo7k0cnn

 

[Sylvia]

Randy Gardner tweeted then & now photos ("49 yrs. now and then with coach #JohnNicks and @taiskates"): https://twitter.com/theRandyGardner/status/1385774907267579904

Tai Babilonia re-tweeted Randy and added her own message: https://twitter.com/taiskates/status/1385777915565015043
"He took us straight to the top! So wonderful celebrating Mr. Nicks' s 92nd birthday last night! He's in amazing shape & feisty as ever ❤ #respect #legend #mrnicks"

 

[zigzig]

Mr. Nicks is da bomb. Pure class. But man, his wife used to cut his skaters' music on her BOOMBOX in the 90s and it always sounded liked someone pulled the plug on the VCR midway through a song...see:

https://youtu.be/MhQBR8Q97L8?t=62