This photo of a house in Melvindale was posted on Facebook. The house belongs to Jessica Smith's aunt, Pam Caudell and is fully decorated to show her support of her niece.

Jessica Smith, a Melvindale resident, is the top U.S. Speedskater heading into the Sochi Olympics.

MELVINDALE — Earlier this month Jessica Smith secured her spot as the top U.S. short track speed skater by winning all three events at the Olympic trials.

While that weekend was one of complete joy for her family, it also has put them through a lot of stress in figuring out how to get to Sochi, Russia to watch her compete.

The trip is expected to cost about $40,000 for her parents, Rick and Reina, and younger brother Travis to spend the three weeks at the games. The hotel room costs $8,000 per person, and airfare is another $2,000 each. Then there are costs related to tickets to each event, food and any other expenses that pop up.

Several local groups have popped up to help raise the funds for the Smith family to travel with their daughter.

Play Atlantis, 19400 Allen Road, is donating 20 percent of all proceeds made by the arcade Friday. The arcade includes indoor and outdoor mini golf, go-karts and several rooms full of video games and other attractions to entertain children of all ages.

The Melvindale American Legion post #472 Ladies Auxiliary is hosting a spaghetti dinner Sunday from 12:30 to 6 p.m. the cost is $10 per person with all of the proceeds going to the trip fund. The post is located at 17011 Raupp Street.

Another  fundraiser is set for Saturday at the Melvindale Ice Arena. From 4 until 10 p.m. the arena staff is asking for a $10 donation at the door. Gift baskets and other items will be raffled off with the money also going to the Smith family.

Other fundraisers scheduled in the area. Several bars, including Mel Bar, 17993 Allen Road; The Melvindale Moose Lodge, 1911 Allen Road; Break Time Bar and Grill, 17151 Allen Road; and Quit N’Time 3353 Fort Street in Wyandotte are all selling “Team Jessica,” “Melvindale Supports,” or “Michigan Supports” placards for donations of $1 or more.

There are also two web-based business’ giving portions of sales. One is a Thirty-One party (mythirtyone.com/forms/frm_event_my_events.aspx) and the other is a site called Origami Owl (http://julierauser.origamiowl.com/parties/JulieRauser166521/how-to-build.ashx). Thirty-One sells home and office trinkets among other small items, Origami Owl is a custom jewelry maker.

Anyone that wants to give directly to the family can do so at Youcaring.com/other/olympic-dreams-come-true-/122826.

The Downriver region will be well represented in Sochi, Russia when the speed skating portion of the games get underway.

Melvindale native Jessica Smith was the top qualifier for all three short track events, and Woodhaven resident Jilleanne Rookard won the 3000-meter long track event to qualify for her second Olympiad.

The Favorite

Smith was a favorite to make the team in the 1500-meter event, posting the top time among all American skaters during the fall World Cup competitions. She owns the U.S. record for the 500-meter event.

No one expected her to be as dominant as she was during the trials, though. Smith won both time trial events, and then five of the six races on the weekend. She swept two races each in the 500 and 1500 distances, and won one of the two 1000-meter races. She was second in the other 1000 race.

“Olympic trials are officially over. It has been a long weekend and I couldn’t be happier,” Smith posted on her Facebook page. “I have earned a spot in every distance at the games and I am extremely excited to represent the Stars and Stripes.

“Thank you to my family, friends, and everyone that has been a part of this journey. All of your support and kind words have been nothing but inspiration. My dream of becoming an Olympian is finally a reality. Thank you for believing in me. This is just one step before the final stop. Sochi, here I come.”

Smith had fallen just short of qualifying for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. She was an alternate, but did not get to compete.

Smith paved her road to Sochi with the support of many friends and family that were able to fly to Utah to support her in person.

Rick Smith, Jessica’s father, said that in addition to her mother, Reina, three sisters, a brother, her fiancé and two nieces all made the trip. Rick was unable to go, instead he stayed at the family home in Melvindale surrounded by large groups of friends and family all weekend.

“She’s basically by herself out there all the time,” Rick said. “The group from home to watch her compete kind of boosted her up.”

The moment he saw his daughter cross the finish line on TV, securing her spot in the Olympics, is one that Rick won’t ever forget.

“It was like winning the World Series,” he said “My stomach has been flipping for two weeks prior to these trials.”

Rick, Reina and their son, Travis, will all be traveling to Sochi to watch Jessica compete. The trip is expected to cost up to $40,000 for the three weeks the games run.

The hotel room costs $8,000 per person, and airfare is another $2,000 each. Then there are costs related to tickets to each event, food and any other expenses that pop up.

For the Smiths, living on the modest wages of Rick’s truck driving and Reina’s skills as a barber, the cost is way more than they can afford.

“They said that Sochi is the most expensive Olympics ever,” Rick said. “We just happen to be going to that one.”

A site was set up to help the Smiths bear the financial burden. Anyone wishing to help out can donate at Youcaring.com/other/olympic-dreams-come-true-/122826.

“We’re not looking for a handout,” Rick said. “We’ve saved for a long time to be able to do this, but at the same time this is getting into the type of money you put away for retirement. The opening ceremony is on my birthday even.”

The Surprise

Rookard was a bit of a shock to make the team, after nearly quitting the sport about a year ago.

Tragedy in her personal life shortly before the 2010 games left Rookard in a state of depression that slowly got the best of her. Eventually she left Team USA just before the World Championships last year.

The tragedy was losing her mother, Claire, to cancer.

Rookard was away from the sport about four months, and then moved to Norway to train with 1976 Olympic champion Peter Mueller.

“To have some ultra-fast females, it’s really inspiring and motivating and it gets your nerves up,” Rookyard said.

Rookard won her 3000-meter race in 4:09.66, nearly four seconds ahead of her closest competition. She placed 12th in the 2010 Olympics in the same event. She was 24th in the 1500 meter at those games, but will not be competing at that distance again.

Winning an Olympic medal has always been the dream for Melvindale native Jessica Smith.

The sport she grew up competing in, inline skating, never was added to the roster of events for the winter or summer games.

Now at 30 years old, and after switching to short track speed skating, her time is now.

Smith will be competing in the United States Olympic Short Track Trials the first weekend of January, with the goal of making the team and heading to Sochi, Russia, for the XXII Olympic Winter Games set for March 7-16.

Smith is in a great position to make the team, having qualified for the fall World Cup team as the top skater in the 1,500 meters and owning the United States record in the 500 meters.

She has won three medals competing at the World Championships since 2009 and also has brought home 12 World Cup metals since her switch to skating on ice.

In her first shot at the Olympics, she fell just one spot short of making the team, finishing as the top alternate for the 2010 team that competed in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Olympic team trials will be held in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the U.S. Speedskating team maintains its training facility.

Success is no stranger

Smith started roller skating when she was just 9 months old and was competing by the time she was 2.

By age 12 she was on the U.S. Inline Speedskating Junior World team, as the top performer. She was the youngest world champion ever, winning her first gold while still 12 years old.

“They’ve changed the age requirement to 13 now, so no one can break that record,” she told The News-Herald last year.

At 15, she had already accomplished more than most athletes could ever think of.

She had 14 Junior World titles, so she decided to move up to the senior team a full year before she had to.

Once again she managed to claim the top spot on the team and went on to win 16 more world titles by the time she was 24.

She also won a gold medal and two silver medals at the 2007 Pan American Games in Colombia.

She was one of just two women selected to represent America in the games.

*First published in The News-Herald Newspapers in Dec. 2013.

World Champion?

Check, 30 times over.

Pan American Champion?

Check.

Olympic Champion?

Not yet.

Melvindale’s Jessica Lynn Smith, 28, has done everything except win an Olympic medal. That’s because her sport — inline skating — is not yet an Olympic sport.

That fact caused her to make the switch from inline to ice skating five seasons ago.

Smith is currently a member of the US World Cup short track speedskating team that is competing in several events in Europe over the next few months.



The team is on the ice for the 2012 World Allround Speedskating Championships which run through tomorrow in Moscow, Russia.

Her first season training on ice skates Smith made the United States National team as a distance skater. After one season she switched to speed skating, and became an instant success, once again making the national team.

She was an Olympic alternate in 2010, and is looking for a spot on the team in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Smith started roller skating when she was just nine months old and was competing by the time she was two.

By age 12 she was on the U.S. Inline Speedskating Junior World team, as the top performer. She was the youngest world champion ever, winning her first gold while still 12-years old.

“They’ve changed the age requirement to 13 now, so no one can break that record,” she said.

At 15 she had already accomplished more than most athletes could ever think of.

She had 14 Junior World titles, so she decided to move up to the senior team a full year before she had to.

Once again she managed to claim the top spot on the team, and went on to win 16 more world titles by the time she was 24.

She also won a gold medal and two silver medals at the 2007 Pan American Games in Columbia.

She was one of just two women selected to represent America in the games.

In 2005 she was invited to join the WHiP — Wheels to ice program, a program that was sponsored by U.S. Speedskating.

She qualified for the National Championships in her first two seasons in the program and was asked to join the national training team in Utah within her first year in the program.

The WHiP program required skaters to compete in both inline and ice skating.

Success wasn’t easy

Though she was wildly successful in inline, and quickly gained success after her changeover, it wasn’t easy.

“Ice skating is very demanding from a technical standpoint,” she said. “My technique is completely off from inline, and it’s hard to break those habits.”

Her coaches with the US Speedskating team say that her success can be directly attributed to her hard work and dedication to improving.

“Her work ethic and desire to improve are great assets to her success,” said Coach Jae Su Chun. “She works very hard in her training sessions to overcome her inline habits.”

Chun also said that her success, while immediate is not surprising.

“She has worked hard for it, so it's not unexpected. And she has a lot of potential for even greater success,” he said.

A tough transition

Switching from the track to the ice has been become popular in the last two decades since it first became an Olympic sport in 1992.

KC Boutiette was the first skater to transition from the track to the ice when she competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

In 2002 Derek Parra, Joey Cheek and Jennifer Rodriguez all made the switch and won five medals in Salt Lake City.

In 2006 Cheek won two more medals. Chad Hedrick and Apolo Anton Ohno won two gold and six total medals in the 2010 games in Torino.

In all 65 percent of team USA’s ice skating medals have been won by former inline champions over the last four Olympiads.

That doesn’t mean that the sports are anywhere close to being the same.

The two sports look similar to the layman, but require completely different training and techniques.

“Though they are similar sports, the technique required to be successful in inline is different than the skating technique in short track,” said Chun. “She is working to overcome her inline habits to improve her short track technique.”

Key differences

Some key differences in the two sports are as simple as the types of skates.

Ice skates are much more form fitting, while inline skates tend to go slightly higher up the shin.

Inline skates have heel brakes, while ice skates have toe picks to help a skater stop.

The obvious difference is racing surface, inline skating is done on black top, which is much rougher than the smooth ice which is resurfaced frequently for speedskaters.

The sports require slightly different muscle groups, which makes all weight training and conditioning drill required to be different.

Some of the other differences are in the skill set needed.

Inline skaters are more pack skaters, using team mates to improve their position on the course.

Speedskaters do not skate in teams, and thus have to have more endurance to help cut through the wind resistance.

Iceskating requires the athlete to get into a lower position and requires much more precise body movement. Inline skaters have more room for error.

Family tradition

Both of Smith’s parents were world class roller skaters in their day.

Rick Smith qualified for the national tournament as both an individual and as a member of relay teams, while Reina also competed as a member of relay teams at the national level.

“It’s in our blood,” said Reina Smith. “I met her father at the track, and from there it’s history.”

Both of her parents medaled at the national level, but neither went on to compete past that.

“The world level competitions were just starting back then and neither of us went on to them,” said Reina Smith.

A quick study

Rick Smith said that it was his wife’s idea to start her out skating so young, but that he wasn’t adverse to it.

“It was her (Reina’s) idea that skating would teach Jessica balance and coordination,” he said.

Reina had a slightly different reasoning for why she started Jessica so young.

“I didn’t start until (about seven years old) but I really love the sport and wanted to give her the best chance to succeed,” she said.

Once they got her started, she never wanted to stop.

“She never asked to skip a practice, or to quit like a lot of kids do when they are in their early teens after starting out young,” said Rick Smith. “She’s such a hard worker, all of this is all on her.”

Looking for help

According to her parents, Jessica is still looking for sponsors to help make her Olympic dream come true.

“It’s very hard to do this on your own,” said Rick Smith. “It takes so much time for practice and traveling that she can’t work a regular job.”

Because of the economy she has struggled to keep sponsors in recent years, and is always looking for extra help.

*This story was first published in The News-Herald Newspapers in February 2012.