Local ice dancer carries family torch at Olympics 34 years after his mother

Name: Local ice dancer carries family torch at Olympics 34 years after his mother
Uploaded: 2022-02-03T18:50:39-08:00
Description: Edmonds-native Jean-Luc Baker follows in his mother's footsteps as an Olympic Ice Dancer in Beijing.

Local ice dancer carries family torch at Olympics 34 years after his mother

Edmonds-native Jean-Luc Baker follows in his mother's footsteps as an Olympic Ice Dancer in Beijing.

"We got some memorabilia from the 1988 Olympics here," Sharon Baker showed us.

It was 34 years ago in Calgary, where Sharon represented Great Britain in the sport of ice dancing.

"I think that I always idolized the fact that she was so successful," her son, Jean-Luc, said.

That’s now a two-way street – with her son, Jean-Luc, representing the United States in the same sport.

"I’m now officially the husband of an Olympian, and the father of an Olympian," said Steve Baker, who was also once a competitive pairs skater.

Not bad for the family of three from Edmonds, whose newest Olympian, Jean-Luc, with his partner, Kaitlin Hawayek, finished third at the national championships, earning the final Olympic spot.

"It was surreal, honestly," Jean-Luc told us. "The way we finished our free dance at our national championships was such a big high for us. I mean, when you’re an athlete, and you’re training so hard, I mean, we train for hours and hours a day for four minutes for just a small amount of time."

Said Sharon: "I’m just so proud. It’s just an amazing – I don’t think it’s actually hit us yet – until we get to see him when he comes home again – that’s going to be really special."

Especially after the sacrifices made. Steve and Sharon coached Jean-Luc in the Seattle area until he was 18, when he moved to Detroit to train full time. He and Kaitlin have been training in Montreal since 2018, but their many awards and recognitions are prominently displayed at the Baker home, alongside those of the previous generation.

"We never really talked too much about her Olympic experience," Jean-Luc said. "She told me like small moments here and there. But I know that throughout my career, she never really wanted to influence me. She – my parents - had been really driven towards trying to let me be my own person and allow me to kind of follow the path that I want to take."

It was a path that was, in fact, never supposed to happen, since Jean-Luc was born with a club foot.

"When he was first born, the doctor said to us, his exact words were ‘This child will never play sports, and he’ll always have to walk with a brace on his leg,'" Steve Baker said.

Added Jean-Luc: "It was just a kind of a thing that I would trip over a lot. Because when you try to run and one’s perpendicular to the other, it doesn’t work that great."

Now 28 years old, he’ll be marching into the Olympic Stadium part of Team USA, despite his left foot being two sizes smaller than his right.

"My friends call me Nemo sometimes, just because of the small fin thing, but (laughs) it is what it is."