Joannie Rochette

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 My hero is Joannie Rochette, not only because she is an Olympic bronze medalist in figure skating but also because of her determination and hard work. During the 2010 Olympic winter games in Vancouver, Joannie's mother died of a heart attack, leaving Joannie to either finish out the competition without her mom or leave and walk away from the Olympics. Joannie chose to finish out the competition as her mother would want her to and earned herself a bronze medal. Joannie removed herself from competitions after the Olympics because she new she would not be at the top of Canada any longer due to her new mindset.

Joannie Rochette is a Canadian figure skating champion. She is part of the National, World, and Olympic figure skating team. Joannie was born on January 13^th, 1986 in Montreal, Quebec and was raised in Ile Dupas. She is still living today but doesn't compete nationally anymore as the pressure of defending an Olympic bronze medal is a lot to handle and with the loss of her mother, Joannie decided it was better to do shows for the public instead.

Joannie began skating when she was two years of age. She was on the ice typically fifteen hours a week, so about three hours a day. If you think about it that would be about 780 hours of being on the ice training in a year and that doesn't include any office training. Joannie is physically fit along with being mentally fit.  This allowed her to be the main competition for many of her competitors. Joannie trained in Quebec with her coach and lived with her family there.

Joannie Rochette is my hero because she is confident, composed, and skates with ease. She can walk into the Nationals and not even think twice about being watched (or not show it anyway).  She is always composed and doesn't seem to care what people think of her. Joannie follows her heart and her dreams, which is why she is where she is today. It takes a lot to be a champion and in my mind, Joannie has it all and more.

Joannie to me isn't only a hero in the figure skating world but a hero in the eyes of how I want to be around other people. To be able to walk into an Olympic stadium knowing that all eyes are on you, to be able to talk to strangers and kids that look up to you, and to be able to have enough confidence to know that you are good at something. Knowing you are good at something is the main reason.  You can turn into a very stuck-up person when you are good at something but she didn't change. She is polite and composed, and doesn't turn away when people want an autograph. This makes her a hero in my eyes.