Townsman, 1992-01, Page 9around, thrown on the ice by Isabelle's
brother in competitions past. It is sort
of a good luck charm and•is now
packed and also ready for the
Olympics.
And who do you figure came up to
console Lloyd after his fall in the
short program of the Nationals? It was
the then leader, Ladret, coached by
Eisler's former coach, Leitch. Ladret
and Eisler have been skating against
each other for seven or eight years
now and skating is something of a big
happy family at the upper levels of
competition, particularly in pairs. "I
love to win and I like to beat people
but I like to beat people when they
skate their best and when I skate my
best because that's a true indication of
talent," Eisler says. "When people fall
or miss things ... well anybody can
beat anybody when they don't skate
well. That's no great feat. What com-
petition is all about is going out there
and being able to put in your best per-
formance at the right time."
It is also about friendship, even with
Russians. Lloyd says there is one
Soviet pair he's been friends with
since 1978 and they often socialize
together, go to dinner or sightsee,
Eisler and Brasseur showed off their dramatic new uniforms earlier this year in
Europe.
although it takes more time to forge
friendships in the international sphere.
Old partners are not forgotten either.
Lloyd says he and Lorri Barth,
formerly Baier, are still very close
friends: "We've always kept in touch
since the day she quit in 1982. At
least once a month we call each other
and I spent some time at her place in
the summer. I was over to see her at
Christmas."
"Competitiveness" is a word that
keeps coming up when people
describe Eisler, be they friends,
family, coaches or scribes. But it can
be difficult to be competitive in a
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