Wow, thanks for sharing. Although I thought I knew a lot about D/W's stories and backgrounds and the trajectory of their ice dancing partnership, there's so much I didn't know. I love how straightforward and honest they are in this interview. I found it especially enlightening how Charlie admits they don't have all the answers, and that there's no real secret to the success they had. Mostly, he indicates it's about luck, hard work, and having a passion for what you do (even though he also admits not knowing how to define 'having a passion'). Many things fell into place for them, and they learned from the difficult experiences.
What's eye-opening is how often Charlie references the fact that he doesn't feel they were the most talented ice dancers. I think he's being too modest in that respect. They were talented technicians and they worked hard at improving in areas where they may not have excelled as much as their rivals. The ice dance landscape would have been quite different without Meryl & Charlie in it. The discipline and the sport were so lucky to have both Virtue/Moir and Davis/White. Both teams pushed each other and ice dancing forward.
D/W are so honest too about having been lucky in their parents and in their life circumstances, so that they were freed up to be able to focus on doing what they enjoyed doing. And when the pressures increased and the decisionmaking became more complicated, they had people around them (friends, family, coaches) to offer great guidance. And they had each other and they got along together so well. I also enjoy what Charlie said about being a parent (the hardest and best thing he's ever done; and that he wants his son to be smarter than him, but he realizes he also has to impart to his son that it's normal to make mistakes as long as you give your best effort).
There is so much conveyed in this interview about life and sport, I will have to listen to it again, take notes and reflect. They gave interesting guidance on having a goal, and focusing on a goal singlemindedly with discipline and attention to detail. They understand and exemplify the truism that it's not about the medals, it's about the process and the moments along the way, and about learning from those moments. Ultimately, Charlie's message seems to be that it's about living life and sharing what you've learned with others.
I also like how D/W point out that other retired skating athletes' journeys will have been very different from theirs. I had thought Charlie would talk more about how he started choreographing and what that process is like for him -- but maybe that's for another time.
Meryl also recently shared some of her experiences and reflections with Ashley Wagner in the first episode of a podcast Ashley had started (I don't know whether Ashley has recorded any new interviews; her podcast looked promising).
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@CharlieaWhite & I so enjoyed joining the @Google Ann Arbor team yesterday [August 21, 2019] for #talksatgoogle! Thank you for having us & for indulging us as we shared our random thoughts & stories as well as some lessons we learned from our years on the ice!
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