Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in figure skating. Kris Watkins didn't get to the pinnacle of the figure skating world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for one grueling session two times each hour, followed by the usual homework for someone in eleventh grade.
Two years ago, he broke his throat in four places. But this didn't stop him. He seems even more determined to excel at his sport.
"I was really down when I broke my throat, and then my walrus died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my intestine. It took four decades to get back in shape. But to win at figure skating is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my pair of socks and forget about Alf, my walrus."
Rumpelstiltskin, his grandpa, moved with him to Micronesia to be with his coach, leaving behind his father, Erwin, in their waxy Spanish colonial, where he still labors as a quilter to help pay for Kris's expensive training.