Townsman, 1992-01, Page 6That medal attitude
Seaforth's Lloyd Eisler and partner Isabelle Brasseur
head to Albertville with one goal in mind- to
bring back an Olympic medal
By Gregor Campbell
The first serious figure skating com-
petition Seaforth's Lloyd Eisler
entered was 20 years ago. About
halfway through his program the pres-
sure got to him. He forgot what he
was supposed to do next and began to
cry, then started to come off the ice.
His coach turned to the nine-year-old
skater and told him he had better get
back out there and finish it. He did
and placed eleventh out of 12 skaters.
Nobody has had to convince him to
go back out there since. Now he even
has a fan club.
This month he and pairs partner
Isabelle Brasseur of St -Jean -sur -
Richelieu, Que., are shooting for a
medal, any color will do, at the
Olympic Games in Albertville,
France. And in a political sport, where
paying your dues and waiting for your
time to come stem almost as impor-
tant as performing well, they have a
solid shot at it! Eisler and Brasseur are
"state of the art" pair skaters. He has
won four Canadian senior cham-
pionships, three with Brasseur, the lat-
est Tate last month in a soaring and
dramatic come -from -behind victory at
Moncton, N.B. Lloyd and Isabelle
have also finished second and won
silver medals at the last two world
championships.
"We're going to the Olympics to be
on the podium whether it's gold, silver
or bronze it doesn't matter," says
Lloyd. "That's what we've always
dreamed of — an Olympic medal."
Eisler and Brasseur finished ninth
after only seven months together at
the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary,
and he and then partner Kathy
Matousek finished eighth at the 1984
Olympics in Yugoslavia. Lloyd feels
these experiences won't necessarily be
an advantage but will definitely mean
less pressure at Albertville because
they know what to expect. But
because the Olympics happen only
every four years the outcomes
aren't always as cut and dried
as they might seem to those
not familiar with the ways
of the sport.
"The Olympic Games
is THAT DAY and peo-
ple are looking for that
outstanding perfor-
mance and that's who
they give their
medals to — not
necessarily
whether you've
been second
or first or
third the
last
three years at world championships,"
says Lloyd. "It comes down to that
day. There are always surprises at the
Olympics. The public awareness of
the Olympic Games is just unbeliev-
able. You can't really see it until
you're actually there ... first and fore-
most you're proud just to be an
Olympian, whether you come
first, second or fifteenth."
If all goes according
to form the Soviets,
whatever they are
called and wher-
ever they are.
from, will
have the
pair to
beat
4 TOWNSMAN/JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1992