Moseley takes a spin at skating Jonny Moseley is no stranger to judged sports. As an Olympic moguls skier, he won gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games with speed, precise turns, and an iconic “heli mute grab.”
Photo Courtesy: www.nh.com/Ilja Herb - Jonny Moseley in British Columbia.
Jonny Moseley is no stranger to judged sports. As an Olympic moguls skier, he won gold at the 1998 Nagano Olympic Winter Games with speed, precise turns, and an iconic “heli mute grab,” a stylish 360-degree flat spin. Four years later, in Salt Lake City, he pushed the limits of the rule book which, at the time, didn’t allow skiers to throw inverted tricks (such as flips) over the moguls. Instead, Moseley landed a unique off-axis 720 called the “Dinner Roll,” and placed fourth.
Now the 35-year-old father of two is hoping to turn heads again – this time in skates and satin – as he pairs up with 2007 US National pairs skating champion Brooke Castile and battles five other celebrity couples in “Skating with the Stars,” which premiers on ABC on Monday, Nov. 22. Judges will include Olympic figure skaters Dick Button and Johnny Weir. Last weekend, Moseley spoke to teamusa.org from Los Angeles where he was practicing his twizzles.
Was it hard to get you to sign up for Skating with the Stars?
No, I was interested right away. I thought it would be really cool to learn how to do an Axel. But I suck at skating.
Did you play hockey or skate as a kid?
I’ve probably played three games of pond hockey in my whole life and skated recreationally maybe 15, 20 times – but that’s it. I have no idea how I sold them on the fact that I could do this. I can skate forwards, kinda do some crossovers, and backwards a little bit. And I’ve tried to do an Axel. What I was really doing was trying to do a 360 [but it’s a 540].
Now do you know the difference between a Salchow and a Lutz?
I do. In fact, today, for the first time, with the help of my awesome partner-coach-therapist Brooke Castile, I ran through all the jumps. I can’t do an Axel or anything. But I’m getting there. I can do a waltz jump.
A waltz jump! I have no idea what this is. Is there a crossover between freestyle skiing and skating? Do any skills transfer?
I thought there would be. In freestyle skiing [back in the day], there was some ballet skiing so I did have to choreograph some ski routines to music. But it’s a more precise balance point on skates. [On skis] we really crank on the boots – lean forward and backwards against them – to make the ski bend. [Skaters] don’t really do that. They’re positioned over a point on the boot, and that’s where you gotta stay. It’s so precise.
So you can’t do a Dinner Roll in skates?
No, just to get an inch off the ground on these things is crazy. I’ve been warming up the backflip though. No, no. I can’t do that. (haha) My hero growing up was Scott Hamilton; I thought he was the coolest
