It's a good thing North Vancouver-born figure skater Kevin Reynolds finally found a pair of skates that fit his feet OK, because he needed to be sharp Sunday night in Sochi to help Canada earn Olympic silver in the team competition.
Reynold missed much of the 2013-14 season because of an annoying skate problem - his narrow heels made it difficult for him to find a pair that fit after he wore out his old favourites last season. The poor-fitting boots didn't allow him to pull off the high-flying jumps that are a staple of his programs.
Reynolds tried eight pairs before finally finding one that fit. On Sunday night he helped Canada put the boots to Team U.S.A., holding off the Americans on the final night of the team competition to claim silver behind the host Russians. The 23-year-old landed three quadruple jumps in his routine to help him rack up a score of 167.92, second only to Russian hero Evgeni Plushenko in the men's free skate portion of the team event.
"It was amazing," Reynolds told CBC television after the competition ended. "From start to finish I could hear Team Canada cheering me on in the background."
Reynolds subbed in for teammate Patrick Chan who skated the men's short program in the team competition but was held out of the free skate so that he could rest for the individual competition running Feb. 13-14.
"I'm glad that I could get the performance that I did tonight out the way," Reynolds said in a Skate Canada release.
"Considering that I didn't know for sure if I would get to participate until only a few days ago, I think I did great. I'm glad I was able to contribute here."
Reynolds was born in North Vancouver but grew up in Coquitlam and now trains at the Burnaby-based B.C. Centre of Excellence. He finished second at the Canadian figure skating championships in January, one spot behind Chan and one spot ahead of North Vancouver's Liam Firus who is also in Sochi and will compete in the individual men's competition.
Team skating is a new addition to the Olympic program. Placings from short programs and free skates in men's and women's singles, pairs and ice dancing are added up to decide gold, silver and bronze-medal winning countries.
Reynolds, Chan and Firus will all compete in the men's individual short program starting tomorrow at 7 a.m. (PST) and free skate Friday, also at 7 a.m.
