A Letter from J.R. to the AIM family:  WATCH VIDEO OF J.R.  

 First and foremost, I would like to say thank you yet again for another wonderful year of sponsorship. My family and I are very proud to be a part of the AIM family, and feel very honored to represent such a wonderful company. Without your help, I might not be in the position that I’m in today. I feel blessed that you continue to support me and my quest for the Olympics.

I would like to fill all of you in on this past year, and all of the successful events that occured. In September of 2008, I competed at American Cup 1 in Minnesota and made my very first World Cup Short Track Team allowing me to compete in the first four World Cups located in Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Beijing and Nagano. This was one of many large steps I took last year in my skating career. In the first four World Cups, I raced against the fastest skaters from many countries in the world. I found myself overwhelmed at first, but once I became used to the crowds, the results started coming in. I made an “A” final (the top final) at my first World Cup in Salt Lake City. We also took the silver medal in the men’s relay. At World Cup 2 in Vancouver, I made another A final and took 4th place. This was the test event for the Olympics, which happen at the same stadium we skated at for this World Cup. We took the crown in the men’s relay at this event which was very fun, because the stadium was filled and the crowd went wild!

I then took my first trip to Asia for World Cups 3 and 4. Our first stop was Beijing. I got to visit the Great Wall and the Olympic Village, where I saw the bird’s nest and the water cube which were the main venues at the 2008 Summer Olympics. The next stop was Nagano, which is a small town in the North of Japan and is full of culture and history. I got to see one of the first Buddhist temples, which was massive! No real great results came during these races, but I attained some much-needed race experience that I would need towards the end of the year.

After World Cups 3 and 4, I had US Championships two weeks later, which would decide the team for World Cups 5 and 6 and World Championships/Team Championships. I skated an awesome meet and wound up qualifying myself for those meets in 2nd place overall. I traveled to Junior Worlds after that in Sherbrooke, Canada, to skate probably one of the best meets all year. I broke two Junior World records and finished 3rd overall to beat my previous best finish the year before of 5th overall. I wasn’t very pleased with my standings at this meet and still wanted to improve a lot more.

As the season progressed, I became more accustomed to the ice and the training, and I continued to push on and become a stronger and better skater. I finished out the second half of the season very well as I earned my first World Cup gold medal at World Cup 6 in Dresden, Germany. I also had a 2nd place overall finish at my first World Championships, which would mark my most successful meet of the whole year. I came out of that meet with five medals including the overall silver and the relay gold.
I had a lot of fun at this meet and consider it my favorite meet of my skating career.

Having a very successful year, I still contribute my accomplishments to the very foundations of my skating career. AIM has continued to keep me the most healthy out of all the athletes and in top nutritional shape all year round. I love knowing that I have some sort of extra boost that I can show during my races.

With success comes struggle. As I prepared for the next season, which would be the most important season of my life, I faced new challenges. The summer training went very well, and I felt strong going into the new season. The first days of Olympic Trials in Marquette, Michigan, went well as I secured my spot in the 1,500 meters after just three days of competition. Going into the last day, I just had to finish the races, and I would have guaranteed my spots in all three distances, but something went terribly wrong. Going into the last lap of the 500 meter semifinal, I lost my footing and slid into the boards at full speed. Instead of hitting the boards parallel, I hit strange, causing me to cut my left thigh with my right blade. I am now in rehab, and I am trying very hard to make a come back and skate in the 2010 Olympics.

With the help of AIM’s awesome nutrition, I am glad to say that the recovery process will be much faster than it would normally be.
I am taking AIM products in greater quantity than I ever have knowing that I will be able to get back on the ice much sooner. I thank each and every one of you who has helped me through my years of struggle in this sport, and I couldn’t ask for better friends. The AIM Companies™ is truly my most supportive sponsor, and once again we are all a big family AIMing for better health.

Thank you and God Bless!

  Sincerely,