Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond, Star Olympic Skater, Spectacular

Blessed with leaders, mentors and teachers who have your best interests in mind when you are young launches you from a great starting position.

Blessed with those same people who are extremely good at what they do borders on being a miracle.

In this life, we can all use a few miracles.

Especially when we are young.

Kaetlyn Osmond is incredibly talented and very blessed.

Hers seems to be a life in balance.

“Focus on being balanced – success is balance.”… Laila Ali

Watching her perform is a blessing for us.

Kaetlyn Osmond is a Canadian figure skater. She was the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in ladies’ singles, the sixth Canadian woman to ever win a medal in the ladies singles competition at the Olympics.

As a member of the Canadian figure skating team, she won an Olympic gold medal in the team event at the 2018 Winter Olympics, and a silver medal in the same event four years earlier.

fciwomenswrestling.com, femcompetitor.com article, photo via icepalace.ca

Ms. Osmond was also the 2017 World silver medalist, the 2017 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, a two-time Skate Canada International champion (2012, 2017), a two-time Nebelhorn Trophy champion, and a three-time Canadian national champion (2013, 2014, 2017).

Her silver medal at the 2017 World Championships and the bronze that Gabrielle Daleman won was the first time that two Canadian women had ever stood on the same podium at the World Championships.

We see that you are nodding. Yes, we are all very impressed.

Kaetlyn began skating at the tender age of three, following in the ice steps of her elder sister Natasha.

Due to a lack of ice during the summer in her hometown of Marystown, Canada, they often traveled to Montreal to train.

As a member of Canada’s figure skating team at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kaetlyn placed third in the short program portion of the team event, where the Canadians ultimately won the gold medal. In the individual event, she set new personal bests in the short program and free skate, and won the bronze medal.

That’s the public record of Kaetlyn’s spectacular accomplishments. She has a nice way a saying all of that in her own words.

At her Facebook she smiles, “Hi, my name is Kaetlyn Osmond and I am the 2013 and 2014 Canadian Figure Skating Champion. I am 18 years old and train at the Ice Palace Figure Skating Club in Edmonton, Alberta. I am originally from Marystown, Newfoundland and have lived in Sherwood Park, Alberta since I was 10 years old. I am very hard working and dedicated to my sport and have a positive, outgoing personality.

As a member of SkateCanada’s National Team, I have represented Canada at several international competitions. I am working hard to achieve my goal of representing Canada at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. This requires a lot of dedication and commitment but I really love it!”

We love her.

So do others.

Around the world.

At globalnews.ca they update, “Canada’s Kaetlyn Osmond has won a bronze medal in women’s figure skating at the Winter Olympics. The reigning world silver medallist from Marystown, N.L., skating to music from “Black Swan,” scored 152.15 in her long program for a combined score of 231.02.

Osmond’s medal is historic as it boosts Canada’s total in Pyeongchang to 27, an all-time high for the country at the Winter Games.”

Another respected media source huffingtonpost.ca adds, “Osmond’s bronze medal win not only boosted Canada’s figure skating team to its best-ever Olympic medal count (four medals — our previous best was three at the 1988 Calgary Games and the Sochi Olympics four years ago), but it bumped Canada’s total medal count to an all-time high of 27.

And she did it after fighting her way back from what could have been a career-ending series of injuries after pulling her hamstring and then breaking her leg in two places in 2014. Osmond, 22, also did it with her characteristic style.”

Are there more accolades? Of course.

Further admiration was expressed at nationalpost.com, “You know, today, Kaetlyn took care of her business,” said Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada’s high performance director. “She was in a position that if she skates what she can do, we knew she was going to be on the podium. We were so happy to see her put it all together with two amazing performances.”

She is a very classy and beautiful girl.

Kaetlyn will be looked to as one of the leaders of a future Canadian team that will have to rebuild after the 2018 Olympics.

Among those retiring are ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won double gold in Pyeongchang, three-time world champion Patrick Chan, and two-time world pairs champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, who captured bronze.

As we said. Kaetlyn is in great company.

It all started so long ago in Marystown, Newfoundland.

fciwomenswrestling.com, femcompetitor.com article, photo Wikimedia public domain

Please bring a thick soft coat and let’s visit.

Marystown is a Canadian town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador with a population of 5,506 as of 2011.

Located near the province capital of St. Johns, the village is located on the Burin Peninsula.

The city site townofmarystown.com also welcomes, “The Town of Marystown is the focal point of the Burin Peninsula offering many attractions and business opportunities. Ours is a vibrant and progressive community with varied industry, recreation programs, and a multitude of services.

Marystown is a community with a deep and proud history beginning in the Fishery and continuing with the Shipyard. Today, Marystown is a bustling community of almost 5,500 people and is the Regional Centre of the Burin Peninsula. Welcome to our town…we look forward to seeing you soon!”

They are so proud of Kaetlyn. In real ways they show the importance of a village beautifully shaping a young mind.

After she won the 2013 Canadian title, her community erected signs at the three entrances into the town.

The local arena also bears her name.

That was a little while ago. Here is what they recently did.

The mayor expressed how the whole community stayed up to watch her skate during the 2018 Olympics and a large crowd gathered at the arena to cheer her on.

The world travelers at Lonely Planet are very impressed with Kaetlyn’s part of the world. They share, “With rocky crags, drifting icebergs and puffins flapping by, Canada’s easternmost province – and historically its most rebellious – floats in a stunning world of its own.

St John’s, with its buoyant music, modern dining scene and steep, foggy streets, abounds with entertainment. Outside of the good-time capital, wee fishing villages freckle the coast and isolated outer isles. Here the natural world is your oyster. Set off for woodland hikes, berry picking and sea kayaking with glittering views. Don’t miss the Viking vestiges, plates of cod tongue and partridgeberry pie, or the rum-soaked tales that color this remote hunk of northern rock.”

Kaetlyn’s part of the world begs for a visit.

It’s refreshing to see so many of the most important elements of a very successful life come together for a beautiful well-rounded young person with a bright future.

“We are all tasked to balance and optimize ourselves.”…Mae Jemison

She seems to have what is so hard for many of us to attain which is a life in balance in the present with the foundation laid for an incredible future of expanding opportunities.

Complete with a rink full of devoted family and friends, a very supportive community back home and a bright and effective leadership team, Kaetlyn is living the life that most of us dreamed of having when we we’re young.