EDMONDS, Wash. — Ice dancer Jean-Luc Baker is keeping a family tradition alive. His mom, Sharon Baker, skated at the 1988 Winter Olympics for Great Britain. Now, it is Jean Luc Baker's turn.
In 2018, he and partner Kaitlin Hawayek were the first alternates for the 2018 games in South Korea. But thanks to finishing third at the U.S. Championships, Jean Luc Baker and Hawayek are now competing at their first Winter Olympics.
"We are so thrilled,” said Jean-Luc Baker. “It comes in waves. Sometimes it's like, oh wow. Then we're like, it happened, we’re a part of this team, and it's something we've been working so, so hard for, and now it's a reality.”
Jean-Luc Baker's love for ice dancing started early, but his road to stardom didn't start promising.
“His foot was all twisted around and when he was first born,” said Stephen Baker, Jean-Luc Baker’s father. “The doctor who delivered him said, ‘This child will never play sports. He will always have to wear a brace on his leg.’”
His parents were devastated. Their son was born with a clubbed foot, but there was some hope.
“This young doctor straight out of med school said, ‘I'd like to try something with him.’ And we said, ‘We'll try anything,’" recalled Stephen Baker.
Jean-Luc Baker's leg was in a cast for months, but the treatment was working.
"We persevered with it,” said Jean-Luc's mother, Sharon Baker. “It wasn't easy, you know. I used to cry every time when he used to have those strappings taken off. Not funny at all.”
Jean-Luc Baker moved to Edmonds from England when he was 3 years old. By the time he turned 5 his foot was fine, and he started playing sports. He wasn't great on the ice, but he was hooked after his parents put him in his first ice show.
"He just loved the attention and being in the spotlight," said Sharon Baker.
Jean-Luc Baker started going to the Lynnwood Ice Center and Olympic View Arena a lot. His parents were and still are coaches there.
"Skating is a very artistic sport," said Stephen Baker. "You have to skate from your heart and not from your head. And if you're told to do put this arm here or there, it's never organic, it's just someone else's moves, and so we try to encourage the kids to all have fun."
Their son was having fun and getting good. In 2014, the Kamiak High School alum won a World Junior Championship.
"Just a huge, huge support system in Seattle,” said Jean-Luc Baker. “From school teachers to coaches, to all of the people at my old rink, to the Seattle Skating Club [and] all the local rinks. I mean, they have been such a huge attribute to my whole career. They are all part of my family at that point. The skating world is so small that we all consider each other family for the most part. So yeah, Seattle is where it's home for me.”
But Jean-Luc Backer wanted to spread his wings and moved away when he was 18. The destination was Michigan, where he surrounded himself with more quality skaters. And that’s where he met Hawayek.
"Jean-Luc has been my best friend for the last 10 years,” said Hawayek. “We've gone through every single step of this journey together, and it's really, really special to be able to share this with him. I wouldn't want to share it with anyone else.”
They've created an unbreakable bond on and off the ice. One of the keys to their success is making the work fun.
"Jean-Luc and I, from the moment we started skating together, we've always had the core value of ours being that skating is a choice of ours and that should not impose a certain amount of pressure or seriousness,” said Hawayek. “And while we take our work incredibly seriously, we also want to enjoy every moment, and for us, that comes through humor and laughter and just having a lot of joy in our lives.”
Jean-Luc Baker has been eager to compete against the best, and his parents were always there with sound advice.
"If you wanted to know, the one thing it takes is patience,” said Stephen Baker. “You've got to be patient because there's ice on the ground. It's slippery, and things don't always go how you think they're gonna go, how you plan them. So be patient, take the knocks, get up, and just keep slogging on.”
And patience paid off. Making the Olympics is a huge honor, and now it's Jean-Luc Baker’s turn in the spotlight.
"It's just a huge achievement, and since he got selected from the team, I've been telling people that I'm the husband and father of Olympians," said Stephen Baker.