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Skater shows natural
talent Most nine-year-olds would be beaming at the prospect of an afternoon on the beach but especially so when, like figure skater Jaimee Nobbs, they've spent a couple of weeks in a wintery Vienna. Nobbs, of Salter Point, would have been destined to play hockey had it not been for a chance introduction to skating four years ago, which has seen her reach the top in Australia, if not the world. She recently returned from a major international figure skating competition in the Austrian capital, having beaten the best from Europe, including Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, to win gold in her age group. Her obvious talent for skating was identified by chance at the Cockburn Ice Arena while on a visit with her mother, Olympic hockey gold-medallist Lee Capes, and her physical education class from school. Capes and her husband Michael Nobbs represented Australia at the Olympics along with aunts, uncles, cousins and even Nobbs' grandmother June Capes. Capes said the event in Vienna had given some indication where Jaimee fitted in among other skaters of the same age around the world. "We know the Russians didn't have all their best skaters in Vienna but the Ukrainians and most of the other countries did," she said. "These kind of trips are crucial for Jaimee and some of the other young skaters who train with her under former Russian pair Irina Stavroskaia and Valentin Kadzevitch at the Cockburn Arena." Last year, Nobbs spent a month in the US training under former Soviet Olympic coach Valentin Nikolayev. |
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