#JacksonFamily Interviews ft Brooklee Han
The #JacksonFamily is a large family of skaters wearing Jackson product. Whether it be Matrix Blades, Ultima Blades, Jackson Skates or GAM Skates, skaters are encouraged to tag #JacksonFamily in their social posts and be a part of the largest skating family, from recreational to elite! Innovation, Development and most importantly FUN are the core fundamentals of #JacksonFamily.
In our interview series, we go behind the scenes and talk with some of our skaters to get to know them a little bit better!
Today’s interview features Brooklee Han, 2014 Australian National Champion and a competitor at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Thanks for taking the time to chat with us! Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you came from, how long you’ve been skating, training grounds, coach etc.
I was born in Massachusetts and lived in Connecticut for about 16 years. I trained in the Hartford area for about 9 years, until last September when I made the decision to change coaches. I am currently living in Bedford, Texas and training at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Euless, TX with Darlene and Peter Cain.
Skating for Australia has to be awesome! Where is your favorite place to visit down under?
Australia is a beautiful country and there are so many great places to visit! Sydney is a great city that is always fun to visit. The Opera house and Harbor Bridge are gorgeous and if you are lucky you can get great views of both when flying in to the Sydney Airport. Melbourne is another great city with a lot of interesting history. The city has a really cool vibe and a lot of great little shops and boutiques. My favorite places to explore are the Block Arcade and the Shot Tower Mall. If you are up for a drive I would totally recommend going to see the Great Ocean Road and exploring the Mornington Peninsula, which are both a few hours outside Melbourne.
Can you confirm you have seen a kangaroo in person!?
Yes! My aunt and uncle and cousins live in Hahndorf, South Australia on a small farm. Several years ago my cousin Charlotte and I were out in the fields with the cattle and there were a bunch of kangaroos out in one of the neighboring pastures. At my grandparents house in the Adelaide hills there are often koalas sitting in the eucalyptus trees in the yard, which is pretty cool too!
That’s too cool. Bucket list items for me! So you were a member of the 2014 Olympic team, can you tell us a little about that experience? The venue, the atmosphere, the memories?
Competing at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi was a surreal experience. Like any skater I had dreamed of competing at the Olympics since I was little and to finally see my dream come to fruition was amazing! The venue I competed in was called the Iceberg Skating Palace. It was a beautiful rink with great warm-up facilities for us to use. I also loved the fact that all of the venues in the costal cluster were really close together and close to the athlete village. This made it easy for us to explore the Olympic park and watch some of the other sports.
I have so many great memories from Sochi. I was lucky enough to be able to walk in both the opening and closing ceremonies, both of which were major highlights of my Olympic experience. It was so exciting to walk into the arena with all of my teammates. However, my favorite memory from the games is probably when I was about to step on the ice for my 6-minute warm-up before the short program. My friend Isadora Williams, who skates for Brazil, skated right after me and we were standing at the door ready to step on the ice. We both looked at each other and she said, “Oh my god, we made it.” That was really the moment when it hit me that I was about to compete at the Olympics. We both wished each other luck and then got on the ice. It was such a small moment, but moments like this, I think, are what the Olympics is really all about.
So with another Olympic year at hand, is training any different now that you’ve been through it? Or do you try to stay the path? Keep a particular regimen?
Even before the end of last season, my coaches and I created a plan for this coming season. We have stuck to the plan so far and it has been working pretty well. The changes I have made in my training I would have made even if it was not an Olympic season. I know that if I spend the whole season fixated on the Olympics I will not achieve any of my goals, so I really want to just take this season one event at a time.
So Olympics aside, what can we look forward to this season? New programs? New elements?
This season I have decided to keep my Por Una Cabeza Long Program choreographed by Evgeni Nemirovski. We just put it together last October so I didn’t even have it a whole season. We have changed some of the elements around in the program, but I think it still flows really well. My short program this season is new. It is to I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables, sung by Susan Boyle and it was choreographed by Evgeni Nemirovski, too. I absolutely LOVE this program! I think it is really going to be a special program for me. Other than that my coaches and I have been really working on improving the quality and consistency of all my jumps as well as increasing the technical difficulty of my programs.
⚡️Lightning Round ⚡️
Aisle or Window: If it is a long flight then definitely the Aisle so I can get up whenever I want
Coffee or tea: Tea
Spirit animal: Horse
Favorite Color: Blue
Figure skatings class clown: Alex Krasnozhon …is there any other answer?
What does #JacksonFamily mean to you?: Jackson Ultima is so much more than just a skate company. Everyone involved in the company is so supportive of all the skaters both on and off the ice. To me, #JacksonFamily means having a great support system.
Brooklee’s Equipment: Elite Supreme Boots
