bil.png)
Archive Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID |
2013.55.46 B |
Object Name |
Video Recording |
Title |
Donald Jackson Interview 2006 |
Scope & Content |
Donald Jackson interview, 25 October 2006. Digitized MP4 from Sony 40 Advanced ME DVCAM. Two videos with a total viewing time of 00:43:13. 1 of 2: 00:01Talks about amateur status, contract to turn professional, encouraged by president of Canadian Figure Skating Association to take the contract and make money and not go on to the next Olympics, already World Champion so how could he do any better 04:03Childhood: mother started him skating, joined Oshawa Skating Club, played pee-wee hockey in figure skates until his coach told him to get hockey skates, could not afford them so stayed in figure skating, president of the Skating Club found a coach from Europe and Don was his first student, Mom worked to earn money for the lessons, when the club burned down had to travel to another one, coach suggested he train in England but the Minto Club in Ottawa found him some money and a coach, so stayed in Canada, then went to New York and ended with Sheldon Galbraith who guided him to the World Championships 07:19Living away from home: at age 14 lived with a family in Ottawa, lived in a little apartment in NYC across from Madison Square Gardens 08:55When did you take figure skating seriously? Skated because I loved it, enjoyed the work, had some talent, it wasn't work it was fun, started to win competitions, no idea where he was going to go, just did his best, was 14 when he won the Canadian Juniors 09:38Did you do other sports? No, didn't have the time, school figures took up 60% of the mark & he trained in them for 4-5 hours, plus few hours free skating; figures were not his strong event, his strength was in jumps and spins 10:25Role models: Barbara Ann Scott, impressed him because she was the Olympic Champion, respected her, proud she was Canadian 11:08First World Championships: age 16, was in Colorado Springs, could not afford to take his coach so skated alone, skated in show at Fort William and they paid his return ticket through Colorado Springs, first time the judges had seen him, came 10th in figures, 4th in free skate and 7th overall, an unexpected placing, watched other skaters and learned from them, decided to change coaches and went to New York City; (13:40) "There's no secret to good skating. If you have the talent and you can do it and have good guidance you can do it. And if you love what your are doing, you can do it for the rest of your life." 13:581960 Olympics & Worlds: 4th in figures, 2nd in free skate, Bronze medal overall; 2 weeks later expected to win the Worlds, top 2 skaters from the Olympics were not there, expected a good fight, came 2nd in figures, 1st in free skate and 2nd overall; decided to stay in another year, then came the airplane crash that killed the American team in 1961 & Worlds cancelled; 1962 Worlds: skated a clean performance and did the triple lutz jump for the first time, had 7 perfect marks, the most ever given to a single skater in men, if he hadn't stayed he might not have done the triple lutz because he probably would have turned pro 16:02On the Olympic experience: age 19, not really aware of what to expect, skated outdoors 17:34About the Bronze medal: it was significant 17:46Worlds in Vancouver - in own country, always told not to read and not to believe your own press, they want to sell papers and make you look really good, just did his best he could on the ice, not disappointed in 2nd because skated the best he could; (18:20) "Whenever you go into competitions, you just have to do your personal best and if you win, it's the icing on top of the cake." 18:311961 plane crash: very hard, he knew and trained with the team, remembers his mother calling where he was staying, afraid he had been on the plane, that was the first he heard of it 19:341962 Worlds: had a partial sponsor at the time, returned to Toronto and trained with Sheldon Galbraith, cut down his expenses; this time at the Worlds had his coach with him since he and the other skaters were able to divide the cost for him to go 20:31Triple Lutz: had only done it 4 times in summer training, 1 more time at Christmas, the lutz at Prague was the 6th time he landed the jump, coach told him he didn't need to do it to win but he wanted to after all the training 21:39The jump was at the beginning of the programme, landed it and continued his focus, couldn't hear the music until at other end of rink, did not know he won until the scores were added up and he heard the announcement 22:26What was that moment like? Good feeling; his mother was in the audience, closed her eyes when he did the jump, waiting for the audience reaction 23:06Why was this the first time for this jump? Just a matter of technique and knowing what to do (take off edge, timing, rhythm), 12 years before another one was landed, now a standard jump for both men and women 24:49Retirement: as an amateur could not make any money, brother going to University, the Skating Association said to make money (you can't eat a Gold medal), had offers from 3 different shows, at top of the world; did not have the opportunities available today; his mom had worked hard all those year so now he could help out his family 27:20Offer of car: kept it as turning pro, then did not need it since he was on tour, so his brother had the use of it for going to university 27:30On skating as a pro: skated with Ice Follies, did his programme as in amateur skating until the promoter told him he didn't have to, so he "hammed" it up for the audience and they loved it; had a one-piece suit made of elastic materials skiers were using, allowed him to put hands over his head, which boys did not do then 28:54On his line of skates: started the company with his brother, has since sold it to another company, still wearing his own boots, helped to design the boot for a competitive skater 30:34On how skating has changed: the technical aspect: the boots much lower, more support, needed for quad jumps, need strong ankle to support the jump and not just depend on the boot; today have instant replay, videos, can see the competition, coaches work as a team, we are getting results 31:49First for Canadians: Vern Taylor, Brian Orser - triple axel, Kurt Browning - quad, Elvis Stojko - quad/triple, a lot of firsts for Canada; talks about Kurt and the quad 33:30Post competitive career: was going to go into teaching eventually, while on tour with the pros would do seminars in small town clubs; talks about Brian Orser saying he inspired him; enjoyed helping young skaters; a lot of those little towns have produced a lot of good skaters 35:20Life lesson: "What I've learned in skating is you go out to do the best you can and we all have failures, we all have mishaps. Don't give up. That's the most important thing - to learn from your mistakes, not to give up. You still have to be realistic too. You may have high goals. You can't be disappointed." 36:46On applying experience learned in skating: not giving up and trying to keep in shape, keep healthy by keeping active, "Skate because you love it, The results will come." 2 of 2: 00:06Talks about funny moment 02:16Value of sport in life: "it's been my life's work. I'm fortunate to be in something that I love." 02:58Benefit with the competitive side: stay healthy, meet a lot of people, travel, socialize, loving what you do, get mind off worries 03:58What does it mean to see both young kids and adults learning about your sport? As long as they enjoy it and they are doing it because they want to do, parents need to guide their children and make opportunities, (04:36) "I'm just the finished product of a mother, a father who were doing their best to help me, my brother, my coaches, skating clubs and I was fortunate that I had all these people behind me. And I had some talent and I didn't give up ... I knew what I wanted. I just loved what I was doing and as I got higher and higher in the competition, my goals became higher and higher." 05:26Still skating in exhibitions 05:41On being inducted to the CSHoF: honour; great to be part of the idols I always admired that are already inducted, hope I can leave a good impression for everyone and inspire others 06:38Shows Lou Marsh trophy 07:50Show world championship medals |
Date |
2006/10/25 |
People |
Jackson, Don Galbraith, Sheldon Orser, Brian Browning, Kurt |
Search Terms |
Don Jackson Donald Jackson Figure skating Skating Interview 1960 Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley 1962 World Figure Skating Championships |