18 IFSMAGAZINE.COM OCTOBER 2019
communities up north,” Rochette explained.
“Just to be there working and see how
people live was very interesting. It was an
eye opener.”
One might think that cardiology would
hold a particular interest for Rochette, given
that heart disease was the underlying cause
of her mother’s premature death. However,
the road to practicing in that field takes
many more years and while Rochette said
she loves cardiology she wants to start
practicing medicine.
“I think I would have loved cardiology
anyways because as an athlete it’s pretty
cool to understand how the heart works,
especially after what happened to my
mother, and also my grandfather and my
uncle ... there’s a lot of heart disease in my
family,” she said. “Also, through my work
with the Heart and Stroke Foundation
and the Heart Institute in Montréal, it’s
something that I really got close to.
“But I don’t know if that will be my
choice of career because with cardiology,
it’s six to eight years of residency. I’m 33
now, so I would not be done until I am 40
or 42 years old. That will also influence my
decision for sure.”
NEW ERA APPROVAL
Rochette finds it easy to understand why
fellow Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond, in the
wake of winning a World title and two
Olympic medals (ladies and team) in 2018,
would walk away from the competitive
side of skating at age 24 and glide into the
touring life.
“She accomplished everything she
wanted to and even more. She won Worlds,
she got her Olympic medal, so yes, I can
definitely understand that,” said Rochette.
“With skating, you need to have a very
strong discipline every year to compete
and it’s not easy.
“When you have the opportunity to do
shows, you get the best of both worlds. You
can do what you love and make money
without the stress of competition. Kaetlyn
loves performing so it’s great for her to skate
freely without that stress.”
Rochette is thrilled the World Champ-
ionships are coming to her hometown
of Montréal next March, and said she
thinks it will be “great for the city and,
hopefully, for skaters and skating fans to
discover Montréal.”
If Rochette can break away from her
medical studies (she will be back in the
classroom full-time early next year in the
lead-up to her licensing exam), she would
dearly love to be one of those fans and take
the opportunity to see a new generation of
skaters that thoroughly impresses her.
“I love to watch and I love to see how it’s
evolving, and seeing these younger skaters
doing quadruple jumps ... I think it’s crazy,
and I’m glad I’m not competing during this
time. I feel like they’re so good,” she said.
“It’s interesting to see how every year
the rules are changing a little bit, and how
the skaters are using those changes to their
advantage. It’s exciting to see all the guys
doing these quad jumps that we never
thought would be possible.
“There’s always people complaining about
the technical side taking over too much,
but you can’t be afraid of progress. It’s very
exciting to see the evolution, but it’s also
important to keep the artistic side — it’s
what makes figure skating, figure skating.”THEN AND NOW
Though becoming a doctor will fulfill a
lifelong dream, Rochette admits a part of
her still misses life on the ice.
Skating brought her notoriety and public
acclaim — in addition to her Olympic
success, she claimed six Canadian titles
and a World silver medal — along with
memories that will stay with her for
a lifetime.
Rochette’s competitive life ended in
Vancouver in 2010, but she said it was not
supposed to wind up that way. She had
visions of perhaps competing for another
year or two, maybe even going to a third
Olympics in 2014.
But life changed in so many ways after
those Games, both on and off the ice, that
those plans were shelved. Today, she admits
to a tinge of regret about how it ended.
“I didn’t plan on stopping right away after
Vancouver — I wanted to do one or two
more seasons, maybe get a World title,” she
recalled. “But the way things happened after
Vancouver — there was my mother’s funeraland I didn’t go to Worlds. I started training
again at one point for the Japan Open, and
I wanted to do the Olympics again. But,
then I started doing shows, and there were
so many great opportunities I never had
before that I wanted to take — even some
things outside of skating. So I never went
back to competing.
“The first few years ... the first cycle was
hard. I was still skating in shows, but I really
wanted to be in the Olympics again. When
I was at the Sochi Games in 2014 (as a
television commentator), it was bittersweet.
Nothing beats being at the Olympics.
“But you have to be careful. You need to
find something else that will ... maybe not
replace it but will give you the same thrill in
life and motivation or satisfaction.
“Nothing will ever beat my life as a skater.
It was amazing. We travelled the world, we
had a great skating family, and there are
people I still keep in touch with. Skating
gives you that big family and gives you
friends on almost every continent. That’s
very cool.
“I don’t have any regrets, but at the same
time, I miss it. I miss seeing the world,
or being in a hotel in Japan and going to
different restaurants. Show life was much
more low stress than competition and we
had so much fun together as a group.
“But at the same time, it’s not something
you can do until you’re 50 — well, don’t
tell Kurt Browning I just said that — but
it’s rare, and I feel like not many girls are
doing it.
“I did Tessa and Scott’s show (the ‘Thank
You Canada Tour’) in Québec City ... it was
cool to be back on the ice, and I got to do
some of the group numbers. I do miss the
crowds and I do miss skating, but it’s time
to do something else.
“I feel like I’m so far away from skating
nowadays that when I watch it, it’s exciting
and I’m happy to just be watching it.”
When asked if people in her new world
of medicine know her history as an Olympic
figure skater, Rochette laughed. “Sometimes,
a nurse will be looking at me funny and ask,
‘Were you here last year?’ or ‘Did we do a
rotation together?’
“Then I’ll come back the next day and
the person will say, ‘Oh, I know who you
are now.’ It happens a bit, but not as much
as after 2010. It’s different now.”
Nonetheless, all these years later,
Rochette still finds it difficult to explain
the rollercoaster of emotions in Vancouver
and how she handled it.Nothing
will ever
beat my life
as a skater.
It was
amazing.