Ryan:
The first few times I skated – my whole family skated, my parents
were adult skaters, my sister skated – and I got into a lot of
trouble at the rink when I was a little boy, running around breaking
things. So my mum put me in skating so she could watch me and my
sister at the same time instead of having me sneaking off. I started
skating then, but very recreationally.
Q:
How old were you?
Ryan:
Maybe two (laughs). Very young!
Q:
So at two years you already were causing trouble and breaking things?
Ryan:
Absolutely! Then I had a coach for maybe like two days. This was when
I was about five, a few years later. My coach got off the ice and
told my mother that if I ever was going to be a success in ice
skating, it would be as a clown in the circus and that she shouldn’t
waste her money. So my mom put me out of skating. So then that coach
moved away and Tom (Zakrajsek), my coach now, who just retired from
skating, then interviewed in Missouri to take the coaching position.
So my mom threw me on the ice, on a patch session, you know school
figures, just to make it look like that there were more skaters,
because it was such a small town. Tom was teaching my sister and I
was doing something stupid, and there is this huge crash. Tom looks
over and it was me swayed (?) out on the ice. And Tom just gets off
the ice and walks up to my mother and asks ‘who is that little boy
out there?’ And she is like ‘oh no’ – ‘that’s Ryan’ and
he says ‘I really want to teach him’. My mother was like ‘what?’
She says, ‘he doesn’t really skate’, but Tom says ‘I really
want to teach him’. You know, Tom has been teaching me ever since.
Since I was five years old. I didn’t take things seriously for long
time. Then we followed Tom up to Colorado when I was about twelve,
but mostly for my sister’s skating. She was just on the cusp, never
quite made it to Nationals, but was very close. We were kind of
trying to support her skating. As soon as we moved to Colorado, she
had a knee injury and was forced to quit. We just relocated our
entire family. I don’t know, I was at a really young age, I was
only twelve, I kind of took it on myself to kind of make … we just
moved for this, I really have to take is seriously. I want to put a
little more effort in this and really try to go somewhere with this.
This was kind of when my competitive career took off.
Q:
So you never thought – my sister quit, let’s just move back to
Missouri?
Ryan:
It’s funny, but it never crossed my mind. I was twelve years old, I
left all my friends, my entire life I just saw this great opportunity
to be around great athletes, right at the training center, which has
not just great figure skaters, but great athletes in general. It was
an adventure. I thought ‘I want to be like these people’. I was
very inspired when I moved there. It was just a huge turning point
for my skating, for my life. I wanted to be something special and
that was kind of the moment when I realized
…
Q:
that you can do it with skating?
Ryan:
I hope so!
Q:
I think you already did!
Ryan:
I’m working on it, still (laughs).
Q:
You said that you were inspired by other athletes. Can you name those
who inspired you in particular?
Ryan:
A lot of the other skaters that were there at the time. We had Damon
Allen, who was fourth in the country at that time, Brian Wells and
Shelby Lions were second in the country. There were so many good
skaters, even just local, younger skaters that were my level like
Daniel Lee who was a novice man, he ended up National Champion that
year (in 1997). I was just thinking, ‘wow’. I was so inspired, I
wanted to be one of these people. I looked up at them and I thought
how cool it would be if people looked up to me some day. This was
something that just really kind of opened my eyes, I think.
Q:
I think it is a little unusual that you have been working with your
coach for such a long time.
Ryan:
Especially in our society now. People are just switching left and
right.
Q:
Is it because you get along perfectly?
Ryan:
(laughing) Oh no! We have our fights, we have our issues, but when it
comes down to it, I trust him. I think he is the best coach in the
world. I would never feel comfortable having someone else standing at
the wall while I skated. It never was the same, no matter who it was,
even if it was someone with more credentials. It doesn’t matter to
me. I know he would do everything to make me a success and to make me
a better athlete. I never doubted that. And that’s why it worked
out the way that it has.
Q:
Where do you see your strong points as a skater?
Ryan:
Technically speaking , I think I’m a very good jumper. I’ve lot
of strength, so I can usually muscle things out and get the triple
Axel and the quad. I think I have a good ability to connect with the
audience. This is my favorite part. I like to look up to the crowd,
look into someone’s eyes instead of glazing over them. It’s very
important to me to bring the crowd into my performance. When I look
out and I see somebody smiling, that’s just such a great deal. Most
time people just watch, they clap, they are very polite, but when you
see someone react to what you are doing, it’s just a really special
moment. I think there is nothing else in the world where you can feel
that. I don’t know if it necessarily is a strength, but it’s my
favorite part. It’s what I like to do most.
Q:
Where do you see your weakness?
Ryan:
My weakness… probably details. Just basic skating stuff, things in
between the jumps, in between spins. That’s really all what we work
on nowadays, it’s just those little things and trying to take these
little dead spots and really go through and make it more seamless. We
do a lot of video work. There is a lot of times when I don’t even
realize I’m letting out and then I watch the videos and - ooohh. We
work on the programs. We’re getting there. They’re definitely not
perfect, but we are heading into the right direction.
Q:
What do you do besides skating?
Ryan:
I’m a junior in college right now. I have about a year and a half
left of school. I’m kind of taking a little break from that just to
really focus on these last few years of my career, because this is
something I’m not going to be able to do forever. My body is just
not going to be able to do it. I want to put everything I’ve got
into it right now. Hobbies – I love to read. I probably read about
one or two books every week.
Q:
What kind of books?
Ryan:
I read a lot of different things; mostly novels, mostly fiction. I
have a hard time reading non-fiction, because things never work out
right, it bothers me, there are always so many open ends, because
that’s life. I read fiction stuff. Everything seems perfect. In
fiction books, things work out, whether it’s a good ending or a bad
ending, at least there is an ending.
Q:
Do you like to read suspense or love stories?
Ryan:
(laughs) No love stories! Mostly suspense. I like to read fictional
humor, lots of funny stories that make me laugh. I like to kind of
set on authors and then I read everything an author has written. I
read the Harry Potter books and I really enjoyed them.
Q:
Do you have any other hobbies?
Ryan:
Let’s see. I like to watch movies. I don’t sleep very well. So I
stay up late at night watching movies all the time. I’ve a
collection of about maybe 1200 or 1300 movies. It’s a little
ridiculous.
Q:
And you’ve watched them all?
Ryan:
Oh no, but I try! I’ve watched a good chunk of them. I also really
like crummy B-movies, like monster movies.
Q:
Godzilla?
Ryan:
Oh, I love Godzilla! It’s so much fun. People come over to my
house, often for birthday or Christmas presents they get like a
one-dollar movie, something that’s about leeches, something really
bizarre. For some reason, I just love them. I think they are so
funny. Even though there is usually pretty bad acting in them, it’s
still fun.
Q:
I remember you were studying business? Why?
Ryan:
Yes, that’s right. Business marketing, because I think skating did
so many great things for my life, at a very young age it taught me to
prioritize, to manage my life, to set goals and to accomplish them.
It’s put me in a stable financial situation where I don’t really
have to worry about how to pay bills, because I can skate, I can
teach skating. So I wanted to get my business marketing degree to be
able to somehow market our sport and to bring more viewership into
our sport and trying to get some new demographics, because I feel
like the demographics that we are hitting are just kind of slowly
fading. The more we can reach out to younger people, I think that’s
really going to help. That’s basically the main reason I want to
use my degree for.
Q:
It’s interesting, while in the USA the
figure skating audience is older, it’s young in Asia and in Russia.
Ryan:
Yes. It’s completely different. I’ve never been to Russia, I’d
love to go. It hasn’t happened yet. Every time I go to Japan, I
feel like a rock star!
Q:
In Korea, too. Have you been there?
Ryan:
I haven’t, but I heard it’s insane, which is great. The funny
thing is, I wouldn’t want that in America. I’m very quiet, I like
to have my space. Having like the spotlight for a week at a time is
great, I love it. I love it, because I know I can go back down to
life and that’s what’s so great about it. It would be hard to
deal with it, but hopefully by the time I’m marketing the sport,
the kids that are in the limelight will enjoy a little more of that.
Q:
You were also teaching. How many students do you have?
Ryan:
I don’t really teach at all, because of the Olympic push. I had one
student that I brought up from the bottom, from starter. She actually
just quit. I really was sad about it. It’s a really great feeling
to teach somebody, something you are passionate about and watch them
become passionate about it. They went from not being able to stand up
on skates to do double Axels. That’s exciting! I don’t know if I
necessarily will be a coach ever full-time, but I think I’ll always
coach, always help people, obviously when I’m retired from skating
I’ll do it a lot more. Obviously skating will be always a part of
my life, whether it will be in skating shows or coaching. It’s
another way to give back in my opinion that I really like.
Q:
Your sister is coaching, right?
Ryan:
Yes. My sister actually helps with a lot of Tom’s kids. She is a
spin specialist. She is really creative, really fun, the kids love
her. She’s got a very bubbly personality. I work with her a little
bit. It’s a lot of fun. It’s kind of weird working with my
sister, but she is such a sweetheart. She’s got such a big heart.
You feel it when you are working with someone that just genuine and
you want to do exactly what they are asking of you. She is so
creative, she comes up with a lot of cool spins. Especially the
little flexible girls, they do crazy things that I’ve seen. She is
really happy, she is working a lot. Tom is so great to help her out
to get started. She was Tom’s very first student. It’s a very
good situation.
Q:
And you are one of his first students, too.
Ryan:
Yes. You know what I wanted to say about that, what I thought that
was so cool – is at least with Tom, I know that unless somebody
skates until their thirties, I’m going to be the longest student
Tom he’s ever had. You know, at Tom’s level, he doesn’t really
take any five-year-olds anymore. And not to mention, even if he did,
it’s kind of unheard of to stay with someone
over 20 years. There is that bond that you get with someone
throughout the ages, when Tom was in his mid-twenties and I was five
and six. He was like a father to me, and then all of a sudden he’s
in his mid-thirties and I’m like 15, 16, he is like a brother.
There are many different cycles we’ve gone through. It’s a cool
situation. I really don’t know anyone who had a coach or student
for over 20 years. I think it’s working pretty well for me.
Q:
You always had a strong practice group in Colorado Springs, with
Brandon Mroz, Rachael Flatt and Jeremy Abbott, but Jeremy now has
left. How did that affect you?
Ryan:
It is really interesting. We miss Jeremy a lot. He was a great kid, a
great asset to our group and our club. I’ve been in our club for 13
years. Our top skaters retired, they moved, it has been happening for
so long. It’s just that our top skaters, which is the top skaters
in our country, have changed. And that’s why it’s kind of in the
long line before talking about it. It’s something you get used to.
You realize, there is someone else up that kind of step up into those
shoes. As much as he is missed, it’s just something that we kind of
come to realize that it’s just going to happen. We’re doing ok.
Q:
Does it maybe mean that Tom has more time for you as one top skater
has left?
Ryan:
I don’t know if you guys know how many good skaters Tom has?
(laughs). I was talking to my friends one of those days and I
realized, every student that Tom has, is capable of being a National
Champion in their level and discipline, in my opinion. He’s just
got so many good kids, and kids you haven’t heard of and you’re
going to hear of for the next few years. Incredible kids for such a
young age. Maybe I get a little bit more attention, but he’s got
his hands full. Tom just got so many good kids to deal with. It’s
tough. It’s not an easy thing to do. I think he handles it really
well.
Q:
Does it feel like there is a constant competition going on between
Tom’s skaters?
Ryan:
To a point, I guess. He pits us against each other in like little
competitions and games, but for the most part we are a team. I want
Brandon, Rachael and Alexe Gilles to be medaling in their Grand
Prixs, to be winning. The better they get, the better I’m going to
get. I realize that and I genuinely want them to be successful, and I
know they want the same for me. We’re very close. We push each
other through our run-throughs every day, and when someone is having
a rough day we all come over and try to pick him back up. We do that
because we all know they’d do the same thing for us. I’d really
use the word ‘family’ to describe our atmosphere. I think it’s
really invaluable when people don’t realize it’s so important.
It’s a huge key. We’re doing the same thing. To know you’re not
the only one doing it, is such a comforting feeling. When we are all
alone, it’s hard. It gets really difficult.
Q:
Also when you are having injuries…
Ryan:
Especially with the younger kids, they’re suffering through
injuries for the first time. I’ve been injured for the last 20
years! So I really like to give my guidance and help them out. I
think that it works out pretty well. It’s a pretty good system that
we have.
Q:
Please tell us more about your programs. Why did you choose “Dark
Eyes” for the short program and this classical, ironical classical
style for the long program?
Ryan:
Dark Eyes was an idea that my choreographer this year, Tom Dickson,
came up with. He wanted it to be kind of sleazy, gypsy-ish.
I don’t think I really mastered the character yet, but it’s
definitely the newer of the programs. I think it’s going to be a
lot of fun when I really understand the character and I really feel
it for two minutes and 50 seconds. I get moments of it, you know.
That was his idea and I love the music. We had just a good time with
it. The long program, they’ve been asking me for doing baroque,
classical music for years, and I’ve always said no. I said, ‘that’s
not me’, ‘I don’t know if I can pull that off’, and now I
thought, this is my last chance to make an Olympic team. I should
just get them what they want, but (laughs), but there is just no way
that I can take me out of a performance! Once it all set and done,
we’re still building, I think that people are going to be surprised
about how well I can do some of the movements. I’ve been trained in
ballet, in modern dance for the last ten years. So I can move pretty
well and get nice lines, because I’m nice and tall. I think I can
make it a new strength that people haven’t seen before and kind of
turn heads that way, without loosing what makes me ‘me’, be a
little tongue in cheek, with some of my movements.
Q:
It is a very entertaining program.
Ryan:
I try! I just like to make people laugh. I don’t want them (to
think) ‘oh, we’re laughing, so we don’t notice he is not
skating.’ I want them (to say) ‘wow, he is really skating, and he
still got this, he is still making us happy.’ That’s kind of
where we’re coming from. It’s getting there. I really feel
strongly about the long program. All in all I believe it’s going to
be a hit by the end of the season.
Q:
How do you describe your personality?
Ryan:
My personality… kind of funny, because … I don’t know how to
say this! I’m sometimes so introverted. I like to be by myself….
Q:
This is hard to believe!
Ryan:
I know! It’s just sometimes. Sometimes I want to be by myself, I
want to be reading, I just want to kind of be doing whatever it is I
do and block the world off. And then other times, I want like every
single person’s eyes on me. I want that attention, I want the
spotlight. I have to have the balance, but I keep it in the middle. I
need to be either in the spotlight or in the dark. It’s very back
and forth for me. It’s very interesting. My dad is very
extroverted, very funny. He likes to be at the center of attention.
My mom is completely introverted. So I can understand where I got it.
I think that I’m a difficult person to explain. I think if you talk
to a lot of my close friends, they will agree, because they’re
always trying to figure me out. It’s hard. I’m very extreme with
whatever I do, whether it would be out or in or whatever. It’s a
hard thing to explain, I guess. For the most part, I like to think
that I’m very funny. I like to laugh, I like to make people laugh,
I like to make people smile. I think that probably would be the
overall personality of mine. Seriously, sometimes I just want to walk
in the rink, get on the ice, train, go home, not to say a word to
anyone. I don’t want to be rude, I just want to have my space. It’s
very different, based on the day.
Q:
How did your preparations for the season go?
Ryan:
I’ve been having such a good time this season, just training. It’s
really getting there. There were some rough patches, but I’m
looking at things so much different. I realized this season that it’s
really a privilege for me to be able to train and to go after the
goals I’m going after. I want to be an Olympian. I’m trying to do
that. I have a chance. It’s just such an honor that’s been
bestowed on me to even have the talent, to be able to do it, have the
work ethic. Because I kind of grasped that it just made it so much
fun to go into the rink and train, and certain things I used to hate
I love now.
Q:
What did you hate for example?
Ryan:
Oh my God. My coaches shut my music off when I’m popping or if I
show attitude at anything, then my coaches flip my music off. And
that’s like my crazy button. Whenever they push that I’d just go
“whoaaa” (screams). This year, this season, I walked up to my
coaches and I’m like ‘I know you don’t need this permission,
but I’m going to give it to you anyway. If you think that it is the
right time to shut my music off, go ahead and do it.’
Q:
Were they surprised?
Ryan:
Yeah. I don’t even know if they’ve done it since, maybe once. And
this was months ago. It’s just one of those things. It’s like a
challenge like I look up and I see they’re even acting toward it,
I’m just trying to get everything back into the rest of the
program. It’s become almost like a game with me instead of like
‘don’t do it’, ‘don’t do it’ (whispers). I used to hate
when they chased me around when I skated, reminded me of little
things, because I wanted to focus on the jumps. Now I know that I
need to remember those little things. I was just talking to Tom
yesterday about it. I said, ‘you just can keep chasing me around’
and he said ‘you’re serious’? I said, just do it, I feel it
gets making me better. I need that attention, I need those details.
He’s like, ‘alright, I’m going to write this down, do you want
to sign it, so you remember it’? (imitates Tom’s voice). We’re
just kind of breaking down some walls that I’ve put up over the
years. It’s been great. I feel like I’ve been able to do things I
never thought possible. We’re on to something for sure.
Q:
Regardless of how this season goes – will you continue skating?
Ryan:
I don’t know if I continue or not. I haven’t really made a solid
decision yet. Realistically, I don’t think I could stick around for
another four years. My knees swell up every night when I’m done
skating, my ankles get poppy, my shins are breaking… I want to take
it year for year. If I keep getting better, I don’t know why I
wouldn’t keep skating. I just want to reach my peak. I don’t want
to be like ‘oh God, he skated too long’ obviously, and I don’t
think I’ll physically last, but if I’m improving, and having fun
doing it, which is something that I really found in the last few
years… I really love to skate and for so long when I was a kid it
was a burden, skating, because I didn’t have anything else to do.
It was an awful place to be. I realized, this is just a great thing.
It’s so cool what I’m capable of and hopefully capable of. I
don’t like to put a block on anything for sure, but we’ll see. I
really think that this is my last chance at an Olympic team, which is
very important to me and I really want to be the National Champion
this year. I honestly think that if I put everything out there and
things work out the way that it is possible. I just want to do
everything in my power to make that possibility greater percentages.
I don’t want a committee to sit behind a desk and say ‘we’re
going to send this guy and this guy’. I want them to think ‘Ryan
Bradley is our champion, he has that spot. It is in the rules. Who
are the other two guys?’ I just kind of want put myself in that
position where no one gets to decide anything. That’s part of why
it’s my goal and part of the reason I’ve been training as hard as
I have. Just like I said, finding how much fun it is to really feel
my body get stronger, feel my brain get stronger, it’s a really
cool thought.
Q:
If you were sent to an isolated island and could take three things,
what do you take?
Ryan:
Three things… Well, it’s an isolated island, so it’s probably
going to be warm, so I cannot take my skates. The first thing I’d
take for sure would be the Amazon kindle. Do you guys know much about
the kindle? It’s an American product and they haven’t set it up
worldwide yet. It’s a digital book. So I have like a thousand books
on one book.
Q:
Oh, an e-reader.
Ryan:
Yes. And it’s made by Amazon.
Q:
We have Amazon in Germany as well.
Ryan:
That’s right. I actually ordered things from Amazon in Germany.
Just random things. It happened , I forgot to bring home souvenirs
and I’m like ‘oh, yeah, I’m bringing it in tomorrow’, I go on
Amazon Germany and I’m like ‘send it now’. So my Amazon kindle.
I have so many books, because I’d probably be very bored. What else
would I take? A deserted island.. oh gosh, my kindle would die, it
would run out of power. I couldn’t take my i-pod, it would last
like three hours. I guess I’m taking pillows so I can just sleep
until someone found me! I guess, some clothes would be good.
Hopefully I was wearing clothes when I got there, otherwise it would
probably be a really bad day. I don’t know! I’m so like digital,
everything is based on my computer and my gadgets. What would I take?
I would starve!
Q:
You can catch some fish!
Ryan:
Oh God, I could never kill an animal. It would be awful! My heart
just.. thinking about all this! I don’t know… maybe an
all-you-can-eat buffet. I don’t know if that’s within the rules.
But that would be the way I could do without killing squirrels and
stuff like that. That’s a really hard concept! I’d need some
preparations done before I could answer this.
Q:
I think you answered it pretty well. The fun about this question is
the spontaneous answer.
Ryan:
That’s a good point. I guess if I had thought about it, it wouldn’t
be very funny.
Q:
Thank you for the interview and all the best for the season!
