Peggy Fleming Jenkins and Paul George

00:00 I'm Peggy Fleming. I'm 71 years old. Today's date is Saturday, November 2nd 2019. And the location is in Colorado Springs and we're celebrating the Olympic reunions here and my partner that I'm going to be speaking to is Paul George and he's a fellow skater and and a friend and a supporter of figure skating for many years. I competed in two Olympic Games in 1964. When I was 15 years old. I ended up a sixth-place and then 1968 when I was 19. I won the games in Grenoble and my life changed forever.

00:48 I'm Paul George at my age is 78 today's date is Saturday, November 2nd 2019. We're in Colorado Springs is Peggy said for the Olympic reunions at the Glorious Broadmoor Hotel glorious member of the sport of figure skating is she says Olympic champion, but more than that a great Ambassador for the sport and we've known each other for many many years.

01:18 And I'm from the West Coast you're from the east coast and I've never really talked to you about. Why did you start skating and how how did you first step on the ice hockey player and figure learning to skate would be the way to do that didn't turn out that way. I ended up going to learn to skate class. It was a coach named Willie Frank Gore come from here to come from Australia to the United States after the second world war and he had me jumping over barrels had me doing a lot of fun things and I realize that might be fun to little more so I started jumping and spinning and got involved and how did it evolve to figure skating is right next right? Next door was a bunch of figure skaters. People were out doing more complex. Let's go how how old were you I was about 10 probably a little late to start 10 or 11. I was like 9 years old when I started so that was a little late.

02:18 And I love baseball. I love surfing with my dad and I love playing golf and baseball was my favorite thing, but I couldn't conceal and I climb trees. Did you claim Charlie actually climb trees out of tree houses that was married that from different people that people that climb trees or more competitive and I didn't ever know that before. So a lot of people don't like to naturally climb trees, so I didn't worry about that till I got to the top.

02:55 But my father was an ex-marine and I think I was like four or five years old and we lived in the Santa Cruz mountains and we had the redwood trees. We had a Cathedral of redwood trees that we put a picnic table in and I decided to climb the tree because all the branches were just perfectly aligned up and I climb to the top and I yell down to my data. I don't know how tall this tree was, but it was really big and I looked down and I went. Oh, I don't think I can do this and he said I can't go up and get you you got up there. You've got to get down take one step at a time. And you know what that started in me was that self-confidence that if he thought I could do it then I could do it. So he was sort of my mentor when it came to you trying new sports and I skated roller skated up and down the sidewalks and

03:55 Like the clicking from all the little seemed in the sidewalk and they were clunky and they were heavy and one day he took all of us girls. I had three other sisters and we all went to the skating rink and I are the youngest and I was number two before I tried harder, I guess notice me, but I think that's also competitive to I think when your number to you know, you always wanted to get attention and I wanted near my parents are like