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Photos reprinted with permission from Gary and Theresa Ryan
Kathie:
Thank you Gary and Theresa, for agreeing
to be the topic of our special "Romance on Skates" story for
Valentine's Day 2004. How did the two of you first meet?
Theresa:
Gary and I first met in Chile at the 1999 World Championships. We have
both seen each other and watched each other skate at Worlds
since 1996 in Italy but never met. Desly Hill (Theresais
best friend and Garyis coach) introduced us. It was after
the marathon in Chile - I was very upset because I didnit win.
Desly came up with Gary and wanted me to demonstrate exercises
for him. I never looked up or at him just demonstrated and
finished putting my skates away (angrily). Then at the banquet
that night for the finish of Worlds, Gary came up and asked me
to dance. I told him no lets just sit and talk (everyone knows
I donit dance). But he never let up and finally got me on the
dance floor. (I guess Desly was talking with my mom and dad
and saw us dancing and said, "She must really like him").
That night we just said good night and got on our separate team
buses back to our hotels. We exchanged emails and wrote to
each other until I went to Australia and Gary moved to Perth
to train with Desly, thatis were I would be staying. I got
there in December but we never went on our first date until
January 17, 2000.
Kathie:
Can you tell us something about Gary's background?
Theresa:
Gary is from Canberra, A.C.T. Australia (the capital
of Australia). He started skating in 1990 and has been
the Australian National Champion in Senior since 1995
in the sprints. He has been a member of the Australian
World Team since 1996 and also top 6 in the World every
year since then. He has also coached/managed a professional
team in Europe the past 3 years and will be coaching/managing
the Verducci International team this year.
Kathie:
When did you and Gary start getting to kno9w each other?
Theresa:
Desly and I were repainting her house that she just bought.
We were going to try to do the whole thing over the weekend.
We needed all the help we could get and Gary offered to help.
However, he ended up painting only one corner over and over
while Desly and I finished the house. Itis amazing he even
painted the wall, he wasnit even looking where he was painting,
he was only staring at me. We tease him about this all the time
and Desly even brought it up in her speech at the wedding.
Kathie:
Did you fall in love right away, or did it take a while?
Theresa:
We fell in love on our first date on January 17, 2000. We had
dinner and then talked on the beach for hours and watched the sunset.
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The Wedding
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Related Links
February 2004 Interview - Main Menu
Bio of Theresa Cliff Ryan
Bio of Gary Ryan
Index to All Skaters by Country
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