SPOKANE, Wash. — Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett and Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig won’t just be the United States’ pairs teams at the Olympics. They’ll be NBC’s reality TV series.
They have all the elements of a ratings bonanza. Now pay attention and try to get this straight: They all train together in Ellenton, Fla. Barrett dates Evora, on the opposing team but with the same coach, and Ladwig is married with a newborn baby. Denney?
She’s 16.
All you need is Britney Spears on skates, throw in some paparazzi photographs and a drug scandal, and move over, “American Idol.”
You can forget scandals, however. These four are as pure and sweet as Florida orange juice. Just try to get your hands around this concept: Denney-Barrett is trying to beat the brains out of Evora-Ladwig before Barrett and Evora run off in the night.
“It has been a process,” said Evora, 25. “We’ve learned our boundaries for each other, when to be there for each other and when not to be. Like any relationship, you’re going to have your quarrels and your fights, but at the end we’re together.
“I always believe personal is personal and business is business.”
But if two pairs skaters are in love, wouldn’t they love to skate together? Not necessarily. The emotional dynamics of pairs skating and ice dancing are unlike any other sport. Some teams, such as veteran pairs Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, who are engaged, feel their emotion is more obvious on the ice.
Then again . . .
“I’d rather keep it businesslike,” said Barrett, 25. “I’ve seen partnerships end badly because they were dating and then they separated. It was too much.”
Piped in Denney, Barrett’s partner: “And I’m 16! There’s only so much you can do there. He’s a great buddy and all, but . . .”
The 29-year-old Ladwig, meanwhile, is a former volunteer for the 2002 Olympics who still keeps his volunteer uniform under his bed. All week, he has carried his participation medal, taking it out every day to stare at it. His wife just received her interior design degree and is bartending in a restaurant in Bradenton, Fla.
All the while, they balance the life of parenthood.
“The teamwork my wife and I have is equal or paramount to what Amanda and I have,” Ladwig said.
They all are longshots for Olympic medals. Emmys? That might be another story.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
