She's All Grown Up Now

She is every bit the vision of maturity, this four-time Canadian champion with goals and dreams of conquering the world before she finally hangs up her blades.
But you should know this assured sense of self didn't happen overnight for Joannie Rochette, an observation that, it must be said, is oh so very clear to anyone who has known this petite young charmer from Ile Dupas, Que., for any length of time.
It is as simple as drawing a line between her first appearance at a BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Saskatoon (way back in 2003) and today, when Rochette stands head and shoulders above the rest of the women's skating field in this country. The journey from then to now? Even Rochette herself can tell you just how very far she's come.
"Back then, I think I fell on my double lutz," the just-turned 23-year-old said with a knowing laugh. "I could not even do all the triples and I was still fixing my “flutz” (a term skaters use to describe doing a triple lutz off the wrong edge). Thank God I did, because now you get a big deduction for that. Artistically, I watch old programs from when I was a junior and my first year of senior and oh my God, I’ve made a great progression in that area."
She's quite the different person, too, it must be said. Back in 2003, Rochette arrived in Saskatoon as a painfully shy 16-year-old but with a resume that including Canadian junior and novice titles in back-to-back seasons. Even then, everyone already was pointing toward Rochette as the one to take the torch from Jennifer Robinson and move Canadian women's skating to a new and higher level.
Not that it was easy for her to talk about any of it. Rochette, who had little command of the English language at the time, can giggle now as she recalls the press conference that followed the 2003 women's event at Saskatchewan Place (now the Credit Union Centre).
"I was very shy to speak English," said Rochette. "Annie Bellemare was helping me a lot with that. She was speaking for me."
(an aside: Rochette won the silver medal that year, while Bellemare — Skate Canada's ever busy manager of marketing and sponsorship — took the bronze, the last of her five career medals at Canadians).
More often, it was coach Manon Perron holding Rochette's hand through it all. It was a common sight: Reporter would ask Rochette a question and she'd immediately turn to Perron and converse with her coach in French before responding (if Perron didn't do it for her, that is).
"I could understand but I wasn’t really sure of the questions, so I would speak to her," said Rochette while smiling about the memory.
Today, she speaks almost flawless English and does it with the confidence that befits a young woman who should own a fifth straight Canadian crown by week's end. In March, she'll jet off to Los Angeles believing full well she can be the first Canadian woman in 21 years to stand on the podium at the world figure skating championships.
She's all grown up, that much is true. And what a sight it is to see.