I THINK I WANNA MARRY YOU!!
Nothing says romance like a couple in love skating under the soft falling snow. Suddenly, the couple finds themselves alone in the middle of the rink and someone drops to one knee to pop the magic question....everyone stops to watch, anticipating the moment that they embrace and we hear someone yell "YES!" Our skating rinks have host many such moments and we look forward to more love matches in the future.
Ice skating has provided the background to many memorable love stories. Some of the more popular skating love stories are Ice Castles about a young skater who loses her sight after a fall and is nursed back to strength by her boyfriend and returns to the competitive stage. Movies such as 'Cutting Edge' often feature the tale of two unlikely people drawn together by the challenges of skating and fall in love.
Of course the most poignant story is that of young Russian skaters Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovna Gordeeva and the late Sergei Grinkov, who met as young skaters when Ekaterina was only fourteen years old. Together they became world and Olympic champions and one of the sports most loved skating couples. Tragedy struck in 1995 when Sergei fell to the ice and died of a heart attack. Toghether the young couple had a small child and the world was captivated by Ekaterina's struggle to cope with the loss of her husband. She has continued to be a fan favorite and found love on the ice once again with Olympic Champion Ilia Kulik, whom she married and had another child.
So in this month we celebrate Valentine's and salute skating's powers of attraction. The world is full of more stories of love on the ice. Figure skaters who fall in love with hockey players, felllow competitors who share a passion, as well as thousands of couples who have used a skating rink as the backdrop to proposals, anniversaries and other special events. If you have a story to share we invite you to post your comments here or on social media with the hashtag #chlxn or #skatinglovestories.