Going for the Gold: Alissa Czisny

The "Going for the Gold" series kicked off our One-Year-Countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We will feature a different 2010 U.S. Olympic or Paralympic hopeful each week with a vodcast on the first and second Friday of every month.

Figure skater Alissa Czisny earned an unsuspected first-place finish at the U.S. National Championships this past January. In her home state of Ohio, she managed to come out on top over her toughest competitors vying for Vancouver.

At 21 years old, Czisny is a good five years older than Rachael Flatt and Caroline Zhang, who finished second and third at Nationals respectively. If anything, her age only has helped her in her Olympic quest. She is a more seasoned skater, and she probably wants her trip to the 2010 Games just a little bit more than her younger contenders.

After disappointing results in her 2007-2008 season, Czisny almost decided to hang up her ice skates. In the three competitions she competed in that season, she placed no higher than sixth, finishing ninth at Nationals. It was quite a turnaround from her bronze-medal finish at Nationals in 2006-2007.

The Bowling Green, Ohio, native did a little soul searching and decided to continue in her pursuit of Olympic gold. Czisny came back this season with renewed energy and a clearer focus.

In September, Czisny secured the top spot at the Nebelhorn Trophy, and approximately one month later she collected a bronze at the Skate Canada event in Ottawa. In November she placed fourth at the Cup of Russia in Moscow and took ninth at the Four Continents Championships in Vancouver in February.

Czisny--who has a twin sister, Amber--took up an interest in figure skating when she was 1 and a half years old. Her mother left her twin daughters with a babysitter while she attended skating lessons, but the girls soon tired of being left behind. Eventually Alissa and Amber were brought along to the lessons, and the rest, as they say, is history. Both girls ended up pursuing competitive skating at national and international levels.

Despite having a schedule jam-packed with workouts, practice, traveling and competitions, Czisny still found time to be a full-time student at Bowling Green State University. She took full course loads of online classes for most of her semesters, and she even attended her commencement two weeks ago.

While at BGSU, Czisny studied international studies, Russian and French. In 2006 she received the Outstanding Sophomore of the Year Award for International Studies and the First Year Russian Student Award. She also consistently made the dean's list.

The BGSU graduate works as hard on the ice as she does in school. If Czisny can maintain the zeal she entered the season with, she might be able to one-up her challengers and attain a spot to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

CLICK HERE for Alissa Czisny's bio.

Tags: Alissa Czisny, Going for the Gold