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'Never, ever dreamed I'd go to the Olympics': Clayton resident remembers Lake Placid

Clayton resident Stacey Smith and her Olympic ice dance partner John Summers. The two finished ninth at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
Stacey Smith
Clayton resident Stacey Smith and her Olympic ice dance partner John Summers. The two finished ninth at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

Stacey Smith is an Olympian.

The former figure skater competed for the U.S. at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. 

As the ice dance competition wraps up at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, the Clayton resident is watching with a mix of pride, patriotism and accomplishment.

Smith recently spoke with St. Louis Public Radio about how she started in the sport, her memories of Lake Placid and the importance of embracing St. Louis' Olympic legacy.

"I never, ever dreamed I would go to the Olympics," Smith said. She received her first pair of skates at age 3, and her parents build a backyard rink at the family's Cleveland-area home. A world-class coach moved to the area and guided her early career. Then she moved around. "I lived in a number of different cities; had several different partners," she said. Eventually, Smith teamed with coach Ron Ludington, who matched her up with fellow figure skater John Summers. The ice dance team won three national championships and finished ninth in Lake Placid.

Olympian Stacey Smith speaks with St. Louis Public Radio's Wayne Pratt.

"We knew we were not going to medal," Smith said as she reflected on the 1980 Games. She called the ninth-place finish "perfectly respectable," adding, "It was an honor to be there." Before going to Lake Placid, she decided those Olympics would be her final elite-level skating performance. "This did represent the culmination of, for me, 20 years of skating," she said, while adding the team dealt with the pressure of performing on home ice. "Here we were, Americans, and we were competing in the United States as the American representatives. So, you can imagine the crowd reception. It does give you a little bit of extra energy." She has not been back to an Olympics since 1980, but has attended a few national championships.

Stacey Smith and John Summers compete at the 1980 U.S. Nationals

"I felt like the rules were an incredible straight jacket," Smith said when comparing her days on the ice to the current figure skating era. Men could only lift partners to chest level, and the partners could not be separated for more than five seconds. Now, couples are required to have side-by-side sequences with various turns while they are not touching. "I like to compare this to the tax code," she said. "They are forever changing it."

Smith and skating partner John Summers were U.S. ice-dance champions from 1977 through 1980.
Credit Stacey Smith
Smith and skating partner John Summers were U.S. ice-dance champions from 1977 through 1980.

She still watches international figure events including the Olympics, and current figure skaters are leaving an impression. "As I get older, I become more and more impressed with the athleticism and artistry of the skaters," she said. "They seem to get better and better. So, I feel like I'm in a unique position to appreciate how good they are." She also credits famed British ice-dancing duo of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (Torvill and Dean) with changing the sport forever. "In my opinion, they just broke open the skating rules, which were then re-written" after the pair's 1984 Olympic performance to French composer Maurice Ravel's 'Boléro.' Smith considered that performance a watershed moment for the sport.

Efforts are underway to promote St. Louis' heritage as the host of the 1904 Summer Games. Smith is one of the initiative’s strong supporters and is still learning about the legacy. 

Smith during a recent visit to St. Louis Public Radio. The former international figure skater is now a psychiatrist living in Clayton.
Credit Wayne Pratt | St. Louis Public Radio
Smith during a recent visit to St. Louis Public Radio. The former international figure skater is now a psychiatrist living in Clayton.

"I'm an Olympian, and I didn't know this," she said while pointing out the first diving event in modern Olympic history took place by the intersection of Big Bend and Forsyth Road. The start and finish line for the first modern marathon is just steps from that corner. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say there's going to be a movie made about this, she said. "Because the story is so interesting, and I think St. Louisans are going to be excited about it."

Follow Wayne Twitter: @WayneRadio

Copyright 2018 St. Louis Public Radio

Wayne Pratt is a veteran journalist who has made stops at radio stations, wire services and websites throughout North America. He comes to St. Louis Public Radio from Indianapolis, where he was assistant managing editor at Inside Indiana Business. Wayne also launched a local news operation at NPR member station WBAA in West Lafayette, Indiana, and spent time as a correspondent for a network of more than 800 stations. His career has included positions in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Toronto, Ontario and Phoenix, Arizona. Wayne grew up near Ottawa, Ontario and moved to the United States in the mid-90s on a dare. Soon after, he met his wife and has been in the U.S. ever since.