Mike Cunningham - official Olympic skate sharpener

[Query]

Mike Cunningham - official Olympic skate sharpener

Mike Cunningham, a skate fitter/sharpener, who runs Skaters Paradise, in Maryland,
has been appointed the official Olympic skate sharpener for the upcoming competition
in Sochi. I'm pretty sure that this is just for the figure skaters, not hockey and
speed skaters. I also assume, but do not know, that he was appointed to the
position by the ISU. He has previously been the official sharpener at a
number of high profile national and international figure skating skating
events, and he has provided his services on a routine basis to a number
Olympic competitors, from many countries, though I don't know whether that
is true of the current Olympic competitors. One of the most important duties
of the official sharpener has traditionally been to sit rink-side and do
emergency repairs to skates on which the blade has come loose, or on which
the edge was knocked down. AFAIK, it is a volunteer position.

I didn't speak to him directly about this, but know someone who did, so this is
all third hand. According to my friend, the current word is that Mike will not get a
rink-side seat, due to security concerns, and will therefore be unable to do
emergency repairs, but he will train team captains (on the U.S. team??) to use
screws and screwdrivers to replace or re-tighten screws. If my friend is correct,
there will be no one officially available to do emergency edge repairs. Mike will
have some sort of off-site facility to do work, but, given that mid-program
emergency repairs are required to be completed in a few minutes, that's not
ideal.

Perhaps this argues for the idea that skaters should learn to do some things
for themselves.

And it shows just how cautious the authorities are being about security at Sochi. I hope
they let the skaters use blades on their skates! 

Anyway, for those of you who know Mike and who use Skater's Paradise, it's an interesting
footnote. Alas, Skater's Paradise is closed through the end of February.

[axelwylie]

Very cool! Mike has sharpened my skates before and I plan on making an appointment to see him at the end of April. I need new blades. 

[Loops]

Awesome for Mike!!!!!  I can't think of a bigger compliment, or testament to his life's dedication.  But I would be surprised if this were his first time at the Olympics.....Back in the 80's he was already helping out when ice shows came to town, and on the USFSA's radar, and iir helping out when big competitions were at least "local".  I remember him talking about working at Nationals...before they were even in Baltimore ('89-ish).

When his store was in Alexandria, he sold and maintained lots of hockey skates, so I would easily believe that he's working with the hockey team too.

If what you heard, Query is true, I am disappointed that he can't be rinkside.  Seems like during comps/warmups he'd really need to be there, just in case.  I like that security is that strong, but it doesn't seem logical, if he's effectively part of the Olympic team. That should come with a security clearance.

In any case, congratulations to Mike.  He really is fantastic, and deserves this.