Camden Cheer thread

[Sylvia]

Cross-posting from the U.S. Men's news thread... Arizona Republic article on Camden (March 9, 2024) before his 2nd Worlds:

Gilbert's Camden Pulkinen preparing for World Figure Skating Championships

Camden Pulkinen was just 16 years old when he left Arizona to further pursue a figure skating career. Now, he's an Olympic hopeful for 2026.

www.azcentral.com

He faced a lot of scrutiny for the decision when moved to New York for college, especially coming off a successful showing at the World Championships.
Now Pulkinen is finishing his senior year at Columbia and is to get his degree in economics and psychology. It’s a tough act to juggle, balancing classes at one of the country’s most academically esteemed universities in the Ivy League system while also being one of the best figure skaters in the United States. He doesn’t get special treatment from his professors, even as he prepares to travel to Montreal to compete in the World Figure Skating Championships. But it’s been worth it.
“I knew that for me as a person, beyond just a skater, it was crucial,” he said.

“Camden is honestly one of the most talented skaters right now,” [Alex] Johnson said. “I think what has been frustrating is that he may not have always been able to consistently deliver up his abilities. The first season of us working together was trying to figure out each other, what he needs as an athlete from a coach, what his ideal state of being is prior to competing.
“I think his success earlier on in his career was a little bit less formulaic and kind of a result from raw talent. This past season, we’ve worked together to figure out what it is that he needs and what his recipe for success is. A lot of it is us getting to know each other further and building these routines and processes that help him get in the right space to deliver when it matters.”

I was glad to see Camden's first coach in Scottsdale, Karen Gesell, interviewed for this article. She was still coaching him when he competed in his first international -- the 2016 Youth Olympics -- before he moved to Colorado Springs later that summer.

ETA another excerpt:

Pulkinen trained at the Ice Den in Scottsdale with the Coyotes Skating Club. That’s where he met Karen Gesell, who was already coaching [Camden's older sister] Elena and soon took Camden under her wing. Gesell, originally from Wisconsin, moved to Arizona in 1993 and has been coaching in the state since 1998. She was the first coach hired at the Ice Den.
The two were together for 10 years.
“From the first time I saw him, I could see a fire under the little guy,” Gesell said. “I could tell that he was going to be something really good. He had a certain charisma on the ice.”

ETA - shared by the journalist (his first-ever figure skating article):

https://twitter.com/x/status/1766888889137119264

 

[kittyjake5]

That was a great article. I have always enjoyed his skating.
Wishing Camden the Best at Worlds and a good result!

 

[Sylvia]

This article by @Jayar was posted in the U.S. Men's news thread back on March 19:

Camden article ahead of worlds:
https://www.usfigureskating.org/news/article/pulkinen-graduates-us-podium-columbia-next

Excerpt from the end:

“It’s bittersweet,” he said. “Once undergrad is over, there is no such experience like it, so I am sad that it is coming to a close. But I know that there is life beyond this, so realizing that there is more to come is something that I have come to terms with. I am excited about the timing of graduation being after the World Championships so that I can go out with my friends and have fun. I’m really excited to walk (in the graduation ceremony) with my friends, grab some photos and do the things that 15-year-old me who moved to Colorado Springs thought I had closed the door to. This is all that I really wanted out of coming to Columbia and living in New York City.”

Congratulations to Camden on graduating from Columbia today (May 13) with a degree in Psychology - a fan captured the moment he received his diploma from the livestream: https://twitter.com/Camden2000325/status/1790032593356050622

From Camden’s new photo account - getting a pre-graduation haircut on Sunday: https://www.instagram.com/p/C64eFNwRgcD/

 

[Sylvia]

Posted today: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7C0ByEud8v/ (includes many congratulatory comments from his fellow skaters)

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[Sylvia]

Among Jackie Wong's "most memorable Team USA performances in 2023-24 relying on memory only" (published June 5 on USFS' website):

Ok I’m cheating a bit here, but I had to mention the battle of the Toscas in one line. The final group of the men’s free skate in Columbus gave us two angsty, fiery Toscas. And they were both phenomenal, and for me, two of the best of the day.

Fan cam of Camden's FS at 2024 Nationals (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6GJqU2Gp9M

Not posted in this thread - Anything GOE's Izumi Yoneyama interviewed Camden at 2023 NHK Trophy (published on Jan. 18, 2024):

"I'm coming back with a vengeance": Camden Pulkinen talks '23 season, Columbia University, and the upcoming US Nationals

Since his Senior Grand Prix debut in 2019, Camden Pulkinen has continued to captivate audiences with the elegance and dynamism of his skating, as well as the thoughtful eloquence with which he discusses the sport and his career. I sat down with the American skater after his performances at the...

anythinggoe.com

Excerpts:

His free program to Puccini’s music sets up an effective contrast, underscoring the strengths of his interpretation of more lyrical, classical music and the passion with which he delivers it; it comprises La Bohème’s ‘Quando me’n vo’ framed by the iconic ‘E lucevan le stelle’ from Tosca. Rather than explicitly portraying the narrative arc of Puccini’s works or moving to embody the protagonist, Pulkinen approaches the big-scale operatic program by foregrounding the music in his expression. “Although I really like the story, the story is so complex that it’s really hard to portray every little scene, whether it’s him in prison or him being betrayed. But something you can easily fall back on is how the music makes you feel. Because every time I listen to this music it makes me feel a certain type of way. So that’s something that I can always rely on and always bring forth whenever I skate it.”

He described the experience of working with renowned choreographer and former ice dancer Shae-Lynn Bourne for the program as “amazing- she’s the best”, and a collaboration which he said had changed his very idea of what choreography was, opening up the potential for motion to go beyond the music. “I think that in the past I’ve thought of it just to be a movement, but I think what she does really well is she always ties into emotions. She always asks, ‘What story do you want to portray? What emotions do you want to bring out for viewers?’ And that’s a really cool question to be asked.”

Too often, figure skating has been viewed with the preconception that all must be given to the sport, and that higher education and academia cannot be integrated with the life of a top-level athlete. Yet skaters such as Pulkinen are a testament to the very fact that there are other options available, and that those beliefs can be chipped away at. “I think the skating world really tries to push you in a direction,” he said. “I’ve faced a lot of backlash for doing the whole ‘school and skating’ thing. So many times I’ve heard or seen people say, ‘Oh, well, he’s just gonna retire.’ But this is how things change in the sport. I don’t want people to have to choose between school and skating. Now, I’m not saying you have to do, like full-time, or do seven classes like I am right now. But I do think there is merit in doing two or three classes or one class a semester. And I don’t think anyone should ever have to sacrifice academia for sport. Long-term I would love to change the sport and change the narrative that’s been written around us that you have to sacrifice every single bit of your life for skating. I think there’s always going to be sacrifice, no matter what: I’m sacrificing my Thanksgiving being here, I sacrificed school for a week to be in France two weeks ago. And there always will be that sacrifice, but I think academia is something that should really be integral to a lot of people, not just for the direct learning but also for the people you meet, for the friends, how to socialize. So I think I’ve been pushed to make a decision, but I refuse to make a choice between skating and school, because they both are really core qualities of mine, and core things that make up who I am as a person.”

 

[Sylvia]

Camden in the mixed zone after his Trophee de France practice yesterday in Angers:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1851954482986320162

… “I usually train in the morning, then go to work from about 10am to 6pm and then have an evening work-out. Of course it is a lot but I enjoy my life outside for skating. I will do it like this for a year now, not sure if I will do like this next year, but I will keep skating, so don’t worry.”
He wants to focus more on performing his programs this season, last year he says he was often too focused on executing the elements, this year he wants to really push the performance side again.”

 

[Sylvia]

Time to give Camden some Cheer before he competes in his second GP at Finlandia Trophy in Helsinkithis week - Olympics.com article published today (Nov. 11) - Figure skater from the desert, New York financier, ethnic puzzle: Camden Pulkinen thrives on being an “enigma" in sport - interview by Lena Smirnova: https://olympics.com/en/news/figure...inance-work-milano-finlandia-trophy-interview

 

[Sylvia]

Here's @Jayar's Camden article for USFS (Nov. 14):

Pulkinen Tries New Balancing Act | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

Excerpt:

One of the reasons why Pulkinen accepted the role at Capital One was the flexibility that it offered, allowing the pursuit for an Olympic team berth. The company asks for two to three days in the office per week, with Mondays and Fridays as work from home days. This arrangement has allowed Pulkinen to craft a schedule that supports success not only in the professional world but in the rink as well.
“It’s a pretty flexible environment,” he said. “As long as I am communicating with my team and let them know what I am doing, when I am available, and make my meetings, they are flexible. I am completely transparent with everything that I have outside of the office, and I appreciate that Capital One sees beyond the employee because we are more than the identity of who we are at work.”
Despite the flexible work schedule that Capital One offers, Pulkinen has still had to make some adjustments to his training. For starters, he is unable to travel to Lakewood, California, to work with Rafael Arutunian as he had in previous seasons due to logistical reasons. Pulkinen has, however, been able to continue working with his New York-based coach, Alex Johnson. Shae-Lynn Bourne has also taken a larger role in Pulkinen’s training beyond the choreographic duties she has filled the last couple of seasons.

 

[zigzig]

Whelp, might as well dredge this one up to congratulate Camden on his second bronze at nationals and to all the naysayers who said he was toast following a bleh GP season!

CONGRATS!

 

[DreamSkates]

Whelp, might as well dredge this one up to congratulate Camden on his second bronze at nationals and to all the naysayers who said he was toast following a bleh GP season!

CONGRATS!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

 

[jmtfti]

This wasn't posted here before, but in August On Ice Perspectives posted a video of Camden working with Shae-Lynn Bourne on the creation of this season's free:

I was happy to see him skate so well at Nats!