JENNIFER ITO

Jennifer Ito reflects, “When I first retired from amateur skating and was asked (my favorite) skating title, I would answer 1992 US World Team Member. As the years passed and many lessons learned, a title didn't seem important to me. (Not to mention it's been over ten years, I mean how long must one person hold on to a "title" unless its an Olympic one, really?). To me, my most important title is Mrs.”

When it came to retirement from amateur skating, Jennifer shrugs. “I didn't really decide to retire. It kind of decided for me. It was just time. I was 22, getting a little "old" for competition and my parents were struggling. My parents suggested I try shows for a while and well, the rest is history! I really didn't have any expectations. I just went with the flow of things and before I knew it, 10 years passed. Bottom line is I really love to skate. I loved, over the years, how much more skating could be from "amateur" skating. I only knew "rules and regulations" when I retired, but as a pro I discovered a world without them. Do what ever you want, move however you want and on top of it get paid! How cool is that? Even in bad times I don't think I could ever say that skating has hindered my life. I think I've grown up just like everyone else, as normal as possible. Without skating I would have never met all the people that I have associated with, made friends and most importantly, my husband. I thank my lucky stars that my folks fertilized a seed that was already within me to perform oh so many years ago.”