A North Texas figure skater is living her Olympic dream, stitched together by family, perseverance, and years of hard work.
McKinney’s Emily Chan will represent Team USA in pairs figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Milan. She’ll compete alongside her pairs partner, Spencer Howe, in one of the sport’s most demanding disciplines.
Emily’s path to the Olympics started at a child’s birthday party at an ice rink. By age four, she was competing and her parents, Mary and John Chan, were soon immersed in the demanding life shared by families of elite athletes: long drives, meals in the car, and homework done between practices.
Mary Chan also began making Emily’s skating dresses. Every competition dress Emily has ever skated in, including her Olympic costume, was handmade by her mother. “Sometimes one dress takes about 100 hours,” Mary Chan said.
Like most elite athletes, Emily’s journey has been marked with ups and downs. There were championship moments and painful setbacks, even times she considered quitting the sport. “I told her whatever she decided, we would support her,” Mary said…