Jordan Malone is competing in the Winter Olympics 2010 in Vancouver in short track.
Making his Olympic debut in Vancouver, Jordan Malone got started in short track after a hugely successful inline skating career. Malone won the overall world title in 2003, and hit the ice shortly after to begin training for short track. He quickly rose through the ranks, narrowly missing the 2006 Olympic team after an injury. Since then he has become a mainstay on the World Cup circuit. In Vancouver, Malone will skate in the 500m, 1500m and 5000m relay.
Malone recalls watching short track at the 1998 Olympics, but says it was 2002 that really got him interested. Apolo Ohno inspired many inline skaters to take up short track, simply for the chance to compete at the Olympics. "Imagine what that's like as an inliner," Malone said. "It's like, 'He came from inline, why can't I?' " He then decided that he would make the transition, but not until he had done all he could as an inline skater. "I didn't want to leave that sport with any regrets," he said, and coming off a bad injury in 2002, he stuck with inline for one more year. Malone ended up winning worlds overall in that final season.
Once he started skating, Malone realized he had the talent but had to work on technique. "I was strong, but I couldn't go anywhere," he said of his early days. He moved to Los Angeles to work with coach Wilma Boomstra, who focuses on the technical side of skating. Before joining a national team program, where they assume you have a technical base, Malone made sure to have the basics down so he could then work on endurance and training. It didn't take long—he qualified for a World Cup team in the later part of the 2004-05 season, his first in short track. He later qualified third for the 2005 World Championship team.
Coming off his early success, Malone was looking to make the 2006 Olympic team. But while training in Los Angeles about one month before trials, Malone fell and twisted his ankle, snapping off a piece of the bone in the process. He had surgery to remove the bone fragments a week later, and was back on skates nearly two weeks later—with just one week left until trials. Aside from the pain, Malone had lost much of his strength, and he failed to qualify for the team. But he was happy to be competing at all. "It was one of the situations that helps you show who you are," he said of skating through he pain.
Malone credits his mother with enabling him to succeed in sports. Although she was not an athlete herself, Malone says she taught him the life lessons he needed, including attention to detail. She also spent years driving Malone to practices and meets, including a two-hour trip to Waco every weekend. She even had a hand in his training: Malone said she had a moped, which she used to pace him while he skated behind her on inlines.
In 2002, as an inline skater, he was twice sidelined by significant injuries. First, while warming up at a meet, he slipped and his left foot hit the boards and twisted, resulting in a spiral fracture. He spent four months in a walking cast, during which he could only train by riding a bike or running in water. Two weeks after returning, another freak accident left him hospitalized: He tripped over a timing wire during a race, and went headfirst into the timing device that had no padding. When he woke up in a hospital in Switzerland, they told him he broke his upper jaw, lost four teeth, and had been convulsing during the 20 minutes it took to stabilize him at the scene. Malone ended up with four plates and 16 screws in his head to keep his jaw in place. He momentarily considered quitting at that point. "And then, 'What am I thinking?' No way am I done," he said. "This is what I love to do."
Though he put his education on hold, Malone plans to go to college and get an engineering degree. He enjoys building and has started a business called Full Composite Racing. He makes the "tips" that skaters wear on their fingers for when they put their left hands on the ice on turns. Malone wasn't happy with the tips the skaters were using, which broke a lot and often didn't stay on. So he experimented with carbon fiber, a super strong material that is also difficult to work with. "They're expensive and hard to make and it took me a long time to figure out," he said. "And my garage is a mess." He now supplies much of the national team, at cost, and sells tips to other skaters to make his money back on the initial investment.
Making his Olympic debut in Vancouver, Jordan Malone got started in short track after a hugely successful inline skating career. Malone won the overall world title in 2003, and hit the ice shortly after to begin training for short track. He quickly rose through the ranks, narrowly missing the 2006 Olympic team after an injury. Since then he has become a mainstay on the World Cup circuit. In Vancouver, Malone will skate in the 500m, 1500m and 5000m relay.
Malone recalls watching short track at the 1998 Olympics, but says it was 2002 that really got him interested. Apolo Ohno inspired many inline skaters to take up short track, simply for the chance to compete at the Olympics. "Imagine what that's like as an inliner," Malone said. "It's like, 'He came from inline, why can't I?' " He then decided that he would make the transition, but not until he had done all he could as an inline skater. "I didn't want to leave that sport with any regrets," he said, and coming off a bad injury in 2002, he stuck with inline for one more year. Malone ended up winning worlds overall in that final season.
Once he started skating, Malone realized he had the talent but had to work on technique. "I was strong, but I couldn't go anywhere," he said of his early days. He moved to Los Angeles to work with coach Wilma Boomstra, who focuses on the technical side of skating. Before joining a national team program, where they assume you have a technical base, Malone made sure to have the basics down so he could then work on endurance and training. It didn't take long—he qualified for a World Cup team in the later part of the 2004-05 season, his first in short track. He later qualified third for the 2005 World Championship team.
Coming off his early success, Malone was looking to make the 2006 Olympic team. But while training in Los Angeles about one month before trials, Malone fell and twisted his ankle, snapping off a piece of the bone in the process. He had surgery to remove the bone fragments a week later, and was back on skates nearly two weeks later—with just one week left until trials. Aside from the pain, Malone had lost much of his strength, and he failed to qualify for the team. But he was happy to be competing at all. "It was one of the situations that helps you show who you are," he said of skating through he pain.
Malone credits his mother with enabling him to succeed in sports. Although she was not an athlete herself, Malone says she taught him the life lessons he needed, including attention to detail. She also spent years driving Malone to practices and meets, including a two-hour trip to Waco every weekend. She even had a hand in his training: Malone said she had a moped, which she used to pace him while he skated behind her on inlines.
In 2002, as an inline skater, he was twice sidelined by significant injuries. First, while warming up at a meet, he slipped and his left foot hit the boards and twisted, resulting in a spiral fracture. He spent four months in a walking cast, during which he could only train by riding a bike or running in water. Two weeks after returning, another freak accident left him hospitalized: He tripped over a timing wire during a race, and went headfirst into the timing device that had no padding. When he woke up in a hospital in Switzerland, they told him he broke his upper jaw, lost four teeth, and had been convulsing during the 20 minutes it took to stabilize him at the scene. Malone ended up with four plates and 16 screws in his head to keep his jaw in place. He momentarily considered quitting at that point. "And then, 'What am I thinking?' No way am I done," he said. "This is what I love to do."
Though he put his education on hold, Malone plans to go to college and get an engineering degree. He enjoys building and has started a business called Full Composite Racing. He makes the "tips" that skaters wear on their fingers for when they put their left hands on the ice on turns. Malone wasn't happy with the tips the skaters were using, which broke a lot and often didn't stay on. So he experimented with carbon fiber, a super strong material that is also difficult to work with. "They're expensive and hard to make and it took me a long time to figure out," he said. "And my garage is a mess." He now supplies much of the national team, at cost, and sells tips to other skaters to make his money back on the initial investment.
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