Figure skater Eric Radford is taking on a new role for Team Canada

About coaching: “I found it extremely enriching”

Along with over 400 other Olympic athletes, Radford said the forum “created such a connection with so many different athletes from so many different backgrounds, so many different sports and from so many countries around the world… [and] We’re all in the same boat.”

“I think one of the most important things I learned from this event is different ways and tools we can use to create a sense of community in our sport,” he said.

Radford will also take some of these tools onto the ice in his new coaching foray.

“I think because I had so much experience as an athlete, I thought, ‘You know, being a coach is going to be really easy,'” he admitted. “But it’s a unique skill. And I think that it requires a different kind of understanding, a different kind of analysis. You have to break things down into different parts that you just didn’t have to do as an athlete.”

“I found it challenging but extremely rewarding and I think I’m starting to learn more about myself as a coach.”

Radford said he shows more expression and basic skating techniques than high-level skills on the ice, which he said is surprising.

Is he a tough coach?

“I don’t think Eric Radford is a tough coach at all,” he replied. “I think I just expect the athlete to be there [on the ice]That’s because they want to be there and work hard. And if an athlete starts to get tired or lazy, then it’s a waste of time for him and me.”

This experience has made him grateful for the trainers he has had in the past – and more aware of the teaching techniques they could use to reach him and his partners.

“I always thought about how they taught and what they said,” he said. “Now I feel like a lot of it has stuck with me and I feel lucky that I was able to benefit from each coach… [even now] If I’m ever in trouble or a little lost and don’t really know how to deal with the situation, these people are right there by my side to support me.”