A focused and re-energized Mitchell Gordon is ready to continue the treacherous ascend up the Canadian senior men’s skating ranks.
It was back in 2012 when the Connaught Skating Club’s showcase athlete captured the Canadian junior men’s title. The momentum continued the following year as Mitchell turned heads with a seventh place finish in debut at senior at nationals.
However, his progression slowed last season thanks to more focus on his Grade 12 workload and an ultra competitive Olympic year with spots in Sochi at stake. Mitchell slipped to 11th at the Canadian championships and is more determined than ever to re-establish himself as one of the country’s top up-and-coming skaters.
He opened the new season with a promising seventh place finish at a junior grand prix event in Slovenia, thanks to a career best score in the long program. He looks to build off that performance at another junior competition in Germany this week.
“Since coming back, I have made some changes to my short program to make it much more consistent and hopefully (it results) in a higher ranked score,” said Gordon, shortly before his training session at Minoru Arenas last week.
What has the 18-year-old more upbeat about the season ahead is a better balance between his training schedule and studies. He admits ensuring he had a final good year of high school in the classroom took its toll. Now he is a part-time student at Langara.
“Im taking classes in the morning then coming here to skate,” he said. “There was just a lot on my mind last season. This year I am back and I am sharp with my mental game.”
Gordon is also aware he needs to be patient about his progress now that he has reached skating’s pinnacle level. His goal for this season is to at get back in the top eight at nationals and earn an invite to represent Canada at the Junior World Championships. However, it’s hardly a certainty.
“When you think about it, the last flight of the Canadian championships is basically the past 10 years of junior champions,” reasoned Gordon. “Once you are in senior, it’s the best of the best in Canada and it’s definitely a process when it comes to going up the rankings.
“My goal is to get into the top five in the next couple of years which would get me to (senior) worlds but it is still a very tough gig. Since I won juniors in 2012, a couple more really good juniors have come up. There are about four or five guys who are age eligible to go to junior worlds. It’s going to be very interesting to see how it turns out.”
As a one-time elite senior men’s skater himself, Gordon’s coach Keegan Murphy can relate to his student. He is quick to point at the big picture and how Gordon is part of Canada’s next wave of young skaters working towards the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
“I remember going through the exact same thing as an athlete where you are expecting to get immediate results like you did at the other levels,” said Murphy. “At senior you need to look at it as more of (an Olympic) cycle. It’s going to be an exciting three years for this younger generation of skaters.
“Our goal is a real nice short program in Germany and then make the final group skate at the (Skate Canada) Challenge event in Montreal. It’s that experience and success that will better prepare Mitchell for nationals.”
