Kathy Matousek enters the Skate Canada BC Hall of Fame in the Athlete Category. Kathy was born in 1964 in Prague, Czech Republic. She started skating at the age of 5 but soon after her family immigrated to Canada. She continued her skating lessons in New Westminster but once she caught the competitive skating bug Kathy began taking from the popular and well respected Austrian coach Edy Rada at the North Shore Winter Club.
It was while training as a single skater under Edy Rada that Kathy began to experience pair skating and had several young partners who were not as serious as her. It was only when she partnered with Brad Starchuk an older and stronger boy did she discover her love of pair skating.
As with many partnerships in skating much depends on the stage of growth and maturity of each partner as to how long it lasts. In Kathy's early serious competitive days as a pair skater there were a few partners that helped her to learn and grow in such a demanding discipline. After Brad there was Bill O'Neil a very solid partner and then came Eric Thompson who had excellent body lines, strong single skating skills and was excellent in lifts and throws.
During these developing years in BC there was a National Pair School in Ontario that was actively pursuing Kathy to relocate and train with them. Kathy's mother Helen and her coach at the time Linda Brauckmann resisted for years a move until she was old enough to handle being away from home. However, the time did eventually come where Kathy moved back east and began the next stage of serious training. She tried out with Mark Rowson, Lyndon Johnston and Lloyd Eisler. All three went on to International, World and or Olympic careers. Kathy settled on Lloyd Eisler a tall and very strong single and pair skater.
Kathy and Lloyd competed in 3 World Championships and the 1984 Winter Olympic games in Sarejvo. It was also in 1984 that Kathy and Lloyd won the Canadian Senior Pair Championship. Folloinw the 1984 Olympics where they placed 8th they moved up 3 spots at the World Championships in Ottawa.
It was in 1985 at the World Championships in Japan where they reached the World Podium taking home the Bronze. After retiring Kathy opened a Pair Skating School in BC for a number of years but eventually entered the real estate business with husband Vince.
It is our great pleasure to welcome into the Skate Canada BC Hall of Fame Kathy Matousek.
Watch Kathy's induction story and ceremony video by clicking on the video window on the right side of this page.
