Harley & Katya

Next young lady on the ice,

from Russia, Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya.

Honestly, I couldn't tell you at what point it went wrong.

And, yes, maybe some people could have helped more

or done this more, or, you know...

I don't know, I don't want to blame anyone.

I guess a lot of people were like,

"Oh, how could you not, like, see any of this?" You know?

Like, "You should have, like, done this and you should have done that,"

and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

End of the day, they can all go fuck themselves

because no one was there,

so no one really knows the full story

besides me... and Katya.

First in the free program...

And today, I'm going to be making my famous egg flip.

And I'm gonna be drinking it raw.

And I'm gonna be cracking one egg...

There's kind of two stories that resonate with readers.

One is winners, everyone loves the winners.

The other ones are the human interest stories, okay?

These are the ones that

weren't born with a silver spoon in their mouth,

who have defied the odds

and gone on and represented Australia.

Um, the importance of having good tucker

is very important for your health and for your diet.

So, why do you have this high... high-nutritional diet?

Well, I skate a lot.

Katya and Harley was one of the easiest feel-good stories

that you could possibly imagine.

Tastes very nice as well.

Well, he never really thought about skating or... or anything like that

until he was about, I think, eight years old,

when him and his mother drove past an ice rink at Blacktown.

And they went in, got on the ice, and away he went.

This place, it's more than just a skate rink.

It's a place for these kids to come along, get fit and enjoy the ice.

I could see Harley zipping across the ice,

back and forwards, back and forwards.

And I called him over and I said to him,

"Harley, I didn't know you could ice-skate."

He said, "I didn't know I could either, Mum."

Once you're out on the ice and you're, like, in the zone, it's...

you get a massive rush of just, like, sort of freedom

and the cold air blowing on your face,

and you feel free across the ice

and you sort of can do, you know,

basically whatever you want.

You don't know at the time, but there's coaches there watching,

and they come up and approach the parents, and, "Oh, that's your son.

How long has he been skating?"

"Oh, first time."

He flew through skate school

and he was already competing at a competition that year.

It was his passion, you know, just to keep going.

Didn't worry about his mates and that,

just wanted to ice-skate.

Midnight in Moscow.

Happy New Year, Peter, and to all of you folks back home.

Katya was born and raised in Moscow.

This was in 2000. She was born January 1st, 2000.

Mum had a dream. We had an ice skating rink open nearby.

Mum thought, "I should take her there."

I started skating at the age of, like, four and a half.

She was so tiny, small even for her young age.

I took a closer look at her.

This girl was amazing right from the start.

She was so swift, with her little feet...

An absolutely fearless little person.

She was always smiling, always in good spirits. Very joyful.

Katya was probably

the most positive person I've ever known.

I've never seen her upset.

She was a very strong person.

Katya was adventurous.

The girl was very courageous.

She loved to win.

I remember my first competition.

I took second place because I fell doing my triple jump.

If I hadn't fallen on that triple, I would have been first.

Morning, Harley.

Merry Christmas, Harl.

I used to get up really early,

ride my bike from home to Rooty Hill Train Station,

catch the 4:45 train, stand up the whole way,

you know into Redfern, change at Redfern, Canterbury,

then ride my bike into the ice rink.

You got the coaching fees and... and the boots

and the uniforms and that.

It was expensive, but...

we seen how Harley, like, over the time,

as he got better and better at it,

we seen his potential and that,

we... we just always stuck by him.

We're probably the only parents in the ice skating fraternity

don't have a background in ice skating.

If Harley's doing a jump now,

I still don't know what it's called.

I don't even know what it is.

So, Harley grew up in Rooty Hill area of Western Sydney.

Very big Aboriginal community in Mount Druitt,

so always involved in Aboriginal community,

very natural dancer as well.

Harley is Ngemba Weilwan on our maternal side of the family.

Harley's dad is Kamilaroi from Moree.

Even before ice skating, he was always very keen

to give anything a go, really, and just get into it.

I don't think we ever looked at any of the obstacles,

none of us, really.

We just support each other and just go for it.

Mum, this is mine! Mum, look.

This is mine.

Oh! Rollerblades!

I got a bike at home.

Yay! Just what I wanted, rollerblades.

I think it's the dream of every young athlete,

in no matter what the sport,

you know, "Mummy, Daddy,

I'm gonna go to the Olympics one day."

But there are funded sports and there are unfunded sports,

and Ice Skating Australia is an unfunded sport.

There's not a huge amount of sponsorship

for anybody really,

unless you're right, right at the top.

Costumes and flights and all that,

trying to get to competition.

Buying new boots, blades, training gear, you know,

the travel cost of going back and forth to the ice rink.

You're paying all those costs yourself.

It's an expensive hobby at that stage

and most of us are working day-to-day to help pay for it.

Within Australia, there's a three-tier system.

So we have the clubs that are based within each ice rink.

Each ice rink will have an in-house figure-skating club,

which then feeds onto our state association...

...the state bodies...

And then they feed through to our...

...national federation, Ice Skating Australia.

The administration is all volunteer-based.

...is run by volunteers.

...all volunteers, including myself.

We have a board of seven.

And then above them in Australia, we have...

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia.

- Olympic Winter Institute. - OWIA.

It was set up by the Australian Olympic Committee.

...in 1998.

Sort of an overriding body for a lot of winter sports.

...to achieve success at the Olympic Games.

...prospective Olympic skaters...

The one per cent.

...at the top of the tree.

Beyond Ice Skating Australia, there's...

...the International Skating Union...

which runs the sport around the world.

And that's affiliated to the International Olympic Committee.

I personally don't think it's that complicated.

That doesn't happen in some other countries.

They get identified as early as seven years of age.

When kids are accepted into these clubs, it's no longer a hobby.

Ice rinks and gyms are very expensive.

The government pays for it all.

Many of these kids are being trained to become champions.

At about age ten is when most children get dropped.

And those who conquer these milestones

can then try to compete and strive for the top.

Competition within the national teams is always very strong.

The athletes I've coached have won over 100 gold medals

at World and European championships and Olympic Games.

And for those who make it, skating is a ticket

to fame and fortune.

- -

Katya's mum brought her here for a professional career.

Who was your partner in Moscow?

Aleksandr Epifanov.

But we didn't get anywhere.

Competing for sixth place in a Russian Cup series,

it's not something...

At the time,

Katya did not have a Russian partner

who could take her to the podium.

It all depends on finding a partner

with whom you can become successful.

Andrey Khekalo supported me during challenging times.

When you are a teenager, you are happy one minute,

and the next minute, you want to jump off the balcony.

Australian coaches is...

it's a completely different world, skating here.

Most of them don't know what they're doing at all.