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Marinaro gives Olympic skates to local club
May 30, 2023 6:01am
A piece of Olympic memorabilia is now on display at the Point Edward Arena.
A pair of black figure skates worn by Michael Marinaro have been gifted to the Point Edward Skating Club by the two time Olympian.
In an interview with Sarnia News Today, Marinaro said he wanted to show his appreciation to the club and community for the support he received during his skating career.
“That’s where I took my first steps on the ice and where my passion for the sport started,” said Marinaro. “So, I just wanted to try to pay that forward to the next generation.”
Just as the display case reads, Marinaro hopes the skates will encourage local athletes to “keep reaching for the stars.”
(Members of the Point Edward Skating Club board accept a pair of skates worn by Michael Marinaro at the Olympics. Submitted photo.)
“These skates were worn at the 2018 Olympics, and they’ve just been collecting dust in my closet,” he said. “So, I figured a better use would be to donate them to the skating club and if one child can see them there displayed and get some inspiration from them… it’s doing a better job then collecting dust in my closet.”
The Sarnia-born figure skater, and his partner Kirsten Moore-Towers, finished in 11th place at the Olympics in PyeongChang.
The community fundraised to fly his family to watch him in Korea, and even purchased a first class ticket for his mother, something Marinaro said he’s forever thankful for.
“My mother broke her pelvis about six months before the games and it was going to be pretty hard for her to get over there, but luckily the community rallied together,” he said.
At the 2022 games in Beijing, Marinaro and Moore-Towers placed 10th in pairs and narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth, with Team Canada in the team figure skating event.
The three-time Canadian pair champions announced last June they were retiring from competitive figure skating.
Marinaro said he’s based in Milton now.
“I am coaching all levels,” he said. “Learn to skate, up to international level Team Canada athletes, as well as still doing some professional skating with my partner Kirsten Moore-Towers. Travelling around to local shows and performing with Stars on Ice.”
Marinaro and Moore-Towers have been known to make appearances at the Point Edward ice shows and carnivals.
His father, Albert Marinaro, said Michael was three years old when he took his first lessons at the rink.
“As he got older he [developed the] dream. He came to me and said ‘Dad, I want to go to the Olympics!’… at nine years old,” Albert recalled. “Of course, being a parent, I said ‘yeah, ok son, whatever.’ [But] he had that determination and you could see something different in him. That this kid is going to work hard at it.”
Trevor Taylor of Zurora Design Studios said he was given the skates and asked to design something.
“I was truly honoured to be able to work with the Marinaro family to help gift the skates to the Point Edward Skating Club,” said Taylor. “It’s not everyday that a piece of Olympic history shows up at your door to work with.”
