Interview Jennifer Rodriguez, Former Olympian Skater

Interview ex-Olympian JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ, speed skater

Armando F Sanchez interview with ex-Olympian JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ, speed skater, two Bronze medals, 2002 Salt Lake City. The interview was conducted in 2014.

Jennifer Rodriguez is a Cuban-American speed skater. She started as a roller skater and won multiple championships and placing second and third at world championships. She started skating on ice in 1996 in order to participate in the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympics. She won two bronze Olympic medals in Salt Lake City in 2002.

Armando F Sanchez: What were you like when you were a child?

Jennifer Rodriguez: I started roller-skating when I was 4 years old. Before I did that I guess I was always super involved in sports. When I was a little younger, I guess around 2 or 3, I was involved in gymnastics for a short while. I loved it but I discovered roller-skating. My parents made me choose between both of them, I picked roller-skating. From all the little pictures I see of myself when I was that age I notice I am getting into things. I don't want to say I was in the hospital a lot back then but I seem to always have bumps and bruises on me. I remember having a stitch on my finger, bruises on my head and scrapes all over my body. Back then there were glass soda bottles and as I would reach for them, they would fall and glass would chatter all around me. I would get small cuts everywhere. I seemed to have scars all over me from the trouble I got myself into. I guess I was like a little monkey moving around, I really enjoyed being outdoors. I was never one to just sit down and play video games all day. I always wanted to be outside, be active and playing with the boys. I was quite a tomboy, I was never interested in dolls. I always thought my brother's toys were a lot cooler than mine. I loved the Transformers and GI Joes, dolls just didn't do anything for me. Back then I was also really, really shy. I cannot even explain how shy I was. It was really hard for me to talk to anyone I was not comfortable with. Now I am a lot more open, I can do interviews with no problem. Now speaking in front of people is not a problem. When I was young it would send me to tears, I would get stomach pains and get the shakes. It was a terrifying feeling for a long time. It was not until I built my self-confidence and had to do more public speaking that I overcame that problem. I always liked competing. My brother and I were always playing games outside, climbing trees and swimming in the pool. We had a pool in our back yard and it seemed I was in there all day. Looking back I always remember doing something active and when I was not skating, I was either in the pool or doing some other physical activity. I always seemed to be getting hurt or doing something stupid. I remember once trying to throw a rock over the fence, but instead it hit the fence and bounced back and hit me on the forehead and there was blood gushing everywhere. I think back then my Mom was pregnant with my little brother and we go rushing to the hospital. I had a lot of small accidents like that, I guess overall it made me tough.

Sanchez: You apparently started to skate and competing at a very young age. Some people might say that because you were spending all your time practicing and competing that you may have never had a normal childhood and not allowed to grow like most kids do today. Do you think you missed your childhood?

Rodriguez: Well, let's ask, what is normal? What can you really call normal? I guess I did not have the typical childhood like others and sometimes I do feel like I missed out on a few things but what I have gained in the end is so much more than what I may have missed. The things I can say I have missed I perhaps could not have done anyway. I was not allowed to go to sleepover parties since I had to wake up the next morning to go to practice.

My parents always instilled these ideas in me of hard work. My parents put all their money into my skating, so if they were going to pay for it, by God I was going to see it all the way through. I was not allowed to do it half-ways, it was all the way or nothing. Thus, I became very dedicated and I learned that I had to make choices and sacrifices very early in life. I had to pick. If I had said, "no," Mom I really want to go to a sleep over party and I want to do this or do that outside skating, she would probably have said yes but most likely I would not have been skating back then nor would I have been as good as I was. So, I think yes, maybe I did miss out on a few things especially in high school.