It was a classic quote of much-debated origin — “Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts” — that concluded the ice dance team’s reflective Facebook post, a season wrap-up tradition begun in the wake of a devastating Canadian Nationals, where an element error meant the difference between a podium position and lost championship assignments.
Since that first commentary in 2013, the two can count three years more of partnership — both on and off the ice — two national bronze medals (added to 2011’s first) and Worlds berths, and a cherished status as 2014 Olympians. And in 2016 they could count another disappointing national championships — and a most recent addition to the Facebook chronicle.
For Alexandra Paul and Mitch Islam, their competitive career from an early stage has been neither marathon nor sprint, but something more like obstacle course. Such a history of calamities can create pause. After the season’s disappointments — beginning with low marks and injury, culminating in a free dance lift error and fourth-place outcome at January’s Nationals — both twentysomethings momentarily contemplated retirement, Islam “probably the most seriously” to date.
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