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JAHNKE: Broadmoor skater reaches pinnacle at age 25FROM PAGE 1vanced age for a skating breakthrough, Jahnke finally had his moment.“I guess I don’t think about the word ‘surprise’ a whole lot,” said Jahnke, who turned 25 Friday and skates for the Broadmoor Skating Club. “It’s not like I thought I was one of the favorites to get on the team going in.”Ipjuries and a troublesome triple axel— a jump considered a must-have for a men’s skater to succeed at the elite level— conspired over the years to prevent Jahnke from doing his thing.Growing up in Grosse Point Farms, Mich*, where he began working exclusively with Ronayne more than 16 years ago, Jahnke showed promise early, winning medals four times in novice and junior nationals, including a 1993 win.But about eight years ago, while performing a triple axel, he suffered an I ankle injury so severe it required surgery. He reinjured the ankle on the same jump a few years later, in 1997.“The mental scars from an injury like that are far greater than the physical ones,” Ronayne said.Jahnke, superb in skating’s artistic elements, also struggled with lingering effects of Osgood-Schlatter’s disease, a condition that strikes adolescent boys whose bones grow too fast for their tendons. The condition can result in frequent injuries. Jahnke still wears a cuff on his knee because of it and must be careful to stretch and apply ice often.Perhaps because of his straggles, or maybe because of his maturity, Jahnke appears to possess an outward view uncommon among most elite athletes.Jahnke coaches and teaches skating at World Arena to make ends meet. His picture is one of 20 staff coaches on the wall at the arena.Stuck on a bulletin board is a message of congratulations to Jahnke, notWhen: Monday through March 30Where: MCI Center, WashingtonSchedule: Mon. 8:30 a.m. - men's qualifying, 5 p.m. - Pairs short program. Tues. noon, compulsory dance, 5 p.m. - men's short program. Wed. 8:30 a.m. - women's qualifying; 5 p.m. - pairs free. Thurs. 11 a.m. - original dance; 5 p.m. - men’s free. Fri. 11 a.m. - ladies short; 5 p.m. - free dance; Sat. 5 p.m. - ladies free.TV*: Thurs. 5 p.m. - ESPN2, men's and pairs short programs (taped); 8 p.m. - ABC, event not listed, (taped). Sat. 4 p.m. - ESPN, ladies short program and original dance (taped); 7 p.m. - ABC, ladies free skate (taped)’Times subject to change due to coverage of war and NCAA basketballfor making the worlds team but for passing his coaching exam.“He’s so cool,” said Diane Schrader, whose daughter, 11-year-old Emily, gets lessons from Jahnke.“He’s one of my role models,” says Ambar Kaiser, 16, a competitive skater who Jahnke has been working with for about a year.Unassuming enough to once sign an autograph “Dear Pat: Thanks for wanting my autograph. Ryan Jahnke,” Jahnke doesn’t expect star treatment.He is one of the most popular coaches in Learn to Skate, the World Arena Ice Hall program teaching beginners. It doesn’t pay as much as one-on-one coaching, which Jahnke also does. But he likes it anyway.“It’s one of those things that’s your payback to the rink,” Jahnke said. “You just play games. You’re pretending and stuff. That’s more for fun.”Jahnke is also a volunteer Sunday school teacher at New Life Church, where he has taught a class of about a dozen disadvantaged youths, ages 4-14,for the past three years.“It’s not a typical Sunday school class,” Jahnke says with a laugh. “It’s a lot rowdier.”When World Arena Ice Hall manager Lorene Graves needs someone to organize a food or clothing drive, she knows whom to ask.“I definitely feel that so many of my pursuits ail day long are about me and selfish already,” Jahnke said. “(So) the rest of my life should be about other people. I can’t live my entire life for myself.” In the past year, a private sponsor stepped forward to help out. She prefers to remain anonymous. Despite being grateful for the support, Jahnke’s goal is to someday not need her assistance.His parents, who still live in Michigan, help out by providing a townhouse for Jahnke and his wife, Tashiana. The couple also rents out a basement bedroom to another skater.Ryan and Tashiana, who works part-time at a local boutique and is a full-time student at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, met at World Arena when she worked in the front office.Kaiser, Jahnke’s student, was watching nationals in her living room with her mom when Jahnke got the best of his nemesis, landing his triple axel cleanly.Two months later, she told a story about how she had gotten frustrated about her own double axel. She had it for a while, then lost it. In skating, jumps can be like that. No one knows better than Jahnke.“He told me he had been working really hard for six years to get his triple axel down,” Ambar said, and “for me not having a double axel for a month was not a big deal. He was trying to say ‘Always keep positive.’ It really paid off for him.”It can also help fairy tales come true.CONTACT THE WRITER: 636 0259 or merijo(»gazette.com
Newspaper Details
Colorado Springs Gazette
Colorado Springs, Colorado, US
Sun, Mar 23, 2003
Page 44
Full Page
Clipped by
Tatiana G.
NA, 23 Apr 2025
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