Twirling Between Harvard and Olympic Skating

The exhiliration of the Olympic Games really hit Paul Wylie in February 1988 when he skated out onto the ice during the United States Figure Skating team's first practice in the Calgary Saddledome.

Wylie had skated competitively for over a decade, but no amount of preparation could have gotten him ready for such a moment. The 20,000-seat Saddledome was by far the largest arena that the then-Harvard junior had ever skated in. As Wylie bent down his head at center ice to form the starting position of his routine, he saw the familiar pattern of colored Olympic rings embedded in the ice.

"It was both exhilarating and petrifying at the same time," Wiley said.

Just a few days later, Wylie-- one of only three male figure skaters to represent the United States in individual competition in Calgary--skated in front of a television audience of 500 million to a tenth-place finish at the Olympic Games.

Even at Harvard, where such excellence on an international level can seem normal at times, Wylie skated an extremely unlikely path. While Harvard does enable hockey players and swimmers to cultivate Olympic-level talent through the channels of varsity competition, it affords no such opportunity to figure skaters.

Figure skating is a sport which demands a rigorous, regimented practice schedule--not something that can easily be balanced with the demands of Harvard academics. In addition, the healthy mental attitude necessary to match the intensity of this sport would seem easily thwarted by the stress which most Harvard students know all too well.

But Wylie seems to have struck a perfect balance--a symbiosis of sorts--between a Harvard education and prominence in figure skating to the mutual benefit of both strenuous disciplines. After a two-year hiatus between high school and college, Wylie made the decision to matriculate in Cambridge in 1986.

"I really found out I wanted to get back to school," Wylie says. "I felt that I'd be better off if I had this other part of my life. My results have proven that."

Wylie's long list of impressive accomplishments begins in 1981, when he was named Junior World Champion, denoting him as the best under-16 figure skater in the world. During his Harvard tenure, Wylie has twice been a silver medalist at nationals (1988, 1990), twice a bronze medalist (1989, 1991), and a three-time member of the United States World team (1988, 1990, 1991).

But of his many achievements, the Olympic experience was by far the sweetest. Wylie's somewhat unexpected naming to the U.S. squad satisfied a lifelong desire to participate in the prestigious competition.

"That has been my dream since I was a kid," Wylie says. "It was one of those things that I didn't think I could live with myself if I didn't get it. That was a very scary feeling."

The Harvard Obstacle

In the world of American competitive figure skating, the decision to attend college was a decision that really only Wylie and women's Olympic medalist Debi Thomas--who is an under-graduate at Stanford--have made.

"I didn't come to Harvard to become a professional figure skater," he continues. "I came to Harvard to extend my opportunities beyond skating."

It has not been easy to maintain the discipline of figure skating in the atmosphere of Cambridge. The constant interruptions of training and travelling to competitions has forced Wiley to take nine regular semesters and three summer school sessions to achieve his diploma. At twenty-six, he is old relative to a typical undergraduate.

Every year, Nationals takes place just after first-semester exams, and Worlds amidst the heat of second-semester midterms. In 1988, Wylie returned from Olympic tryouts to take a Governments 30 exam. This year, Wylie partially blames his rough run at the World Championships on the fact that he had to leave for Munich the same day that he was taking a Japanese language midterm.

The day-to-day demands are even worse. During training, Wylie must travel 40 minutes each way to Acton, Mass. for practices that are often four hours long. In addition, the "Eat-To-Win" diet has proven difficult to keep up in the Eliot House dining hall.

At times, there has been the danger of burning out. In 1990, in the aftermath of the Olympic experience, Wylie was about to quit figure skating for good because his results had plateaued and he wanted to get more involved in the school environment.

"After the Olympics, there seemed to be nothing I could do for another four years that would mean the same to me," Wylie says.

The amazing thing is that Wylie has managed a lot of school involvement despite his time-consuming skating career. He has played a large role in the organization of the annual Evening for Champions skating benefit for the Jimmy Fund for cancer research, which this year raised $145,000. Each year, Wylie has used his connections to attract such luminaries as Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, and Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner to Bright Center.

In 1988, Wylie made a made-for-TV movie with a fellow Harvard classmate called "Breaking the Ice" that dealt with adolescent isolation. The program focused on a figure skater-- played by Wylie--who wanted to switch allegiances to hockey in order to gain popularity and friends.

While Wylie insists the movie was not a life story, there is a shade of truth in the fact that at Harvard, Wylie in little-known compared to the virtual celebrities on the Crimson hockey team. This year, Harvard Athletic Director Bill Cleary awarded Wylie an honorary varsity letter for his contributions to Harvard athletics.

It is tough to match Wylie in person to the world-class athlete that he is. His small 5-ft. 4-in., 123-lb. frame is far from imposing. His modest, friendly personality does not seem fitting for someone who wears an Olympic ring on his right hand. All in all, Wylie refuses to be singled out for his accomplishments.

"The thing that's great about Harvard is that everyone has something that they're very good at. I'm not singled out at all," Wylie says. "It's a community of excellent performers in many different fields."

"He gets a few more phone calls and a little more mail than us, but besides that he's a very normal roommate," Al Wolf says. "The only thing that's been really different is watching his on TV and saying, 'Hey that's my roommate.'"

Wylie could make a living for a long time off his talents on the ice, but he has different aspirations. At Harvard, Wylie is a government concentrator with an interest in eventually attending Harvard Business School.

For now, however, Wylie wants to make another run at the Olympics. Tryouts for Albertville take place in Orlando, Florida in January. Immediately following graduation, Wylie will begin training on Cape Cod, although he hopes to get a part-time business job as well.

"You never know if you'll make the Olympics," Wylie says. "There are no guarantees for me at all."