When Yvonne Dolen was 80, she was involved in a car accident and suffered a severe concussion. The doctor ordered her to hang her skates on a nail and consider her sports career over. Today, 86-year-old Yvonne, as before, goes on the ice and participates in competitions.
"When I'm in a bad mood, I look at my peers with their oxygen bags, put on my skates and smile."
In her free time from competitions, Yvonne Doulen works as a children's figure skating coach. The main thing that she teaches her wards is to be herself without looking back at others. "The one who walks with the support of others will never have an easy walk."
When doctors after the accident forbade her to ride, Yvonne took this ban, in her own words, "like a red rag bull." She continued training as soon as she was physically able to skate again, and made only one concession to the doctors: she refused axels (jumps one and a half turns).
Yvonne became a skater over 70 years ago, but she has never enjoyed skating as much as she does now. “It's very important for me to just stand on the ice,” she explains modestly. Modestly - because Yvonne Doulen is not "just standing on the ice." She performs turns, steps, spins, and it is for this that she gets applause from the audience and the jury at every competition.
Every day Yvonne Doulen devotes about an hour to training. She is sure that the secret of her health is in these workouts, in the use of vitamins and in the fact that she is really doing what she loves.
“If you like skating, go out on the ice and try your best. But if you're not comfortable at the rink, do something else."
