D'Amato: Speedskater Reutter's comeback about her happiness

Athletes attempt comebacks for a variety of reasons, and sometimes not the right ones.

For short-track speedskater Katherine Reutter, it certainly wasn’t about the money. You can count on one hand the number of American speedskaters who have made a handsome living from their sport.

It wasn’t about the medals, either. Reutter won silver and gold at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games and had 42 podium finishes in international competitions. She didn’t need another hunk of metal around her neck to validate her career.

No, for Reutter, it was about something much more pure: her happiness.

Nothing she had done since retiring four years ago in the wake of a series of debilitating injuries and surgeries had replaced the joy she felt on the ice. Her job as a coach with the Academy of Skating Excellence at the Pettit National Ice Center was rewarding in many ways, but it didn’t fill that emotional void.

She didn’t need competition as much as she needed the challenge of pushing her skate blades down into the ice to create speed, the adrenaline rush of being in a pack of skaters jockeying for position as they flew around the 111-meter oval, the thrill of the chase.

“It had a lot to do with happiness, honestly,” said Reutter, a native of Champaign, Ill. “I would skate occasionally with the (ASE) team and I would just notice how happy I was when I was skating. And people would come up to me at the Pettit and say, ‘Man, when you are out here on the long track, you just glow. You have so much fun. Your smile is so infectious. You should really consider skating again.’ ”

Last May, Reutter decided to give it a try. When her three-year contract to coach at the Pettit Center was up, she threw herself into a comeback. A few months later, at 28 and five years removed from her last international race, she made the U.S. team for the fall World Cups.

“It was really validating that I was on the right path and I was doing the right thing,” she said.

Hoping just to crack the top 16 in her individual races, she made three “A” finals, finishing fifth in the 1,500 meters in Calgary and fifth in the 1,000 and sixth in the 1,500 in Salt Lake City.

“Way better than the top 16 I was hoping for,” she said.

Reutter can’t train the way she once did. She’s had multiple surgeries on her hips and has facet joint arthritis and two herniated disks in her back. Her support team includes athletic trainers, physical therapists and two chiropractors.

“When I was 18 I could maybe do 100 laps at 95% (effort),” she said. “Now, it’s like, ‘Do I really need to do 100? No. And do they really need to be 95%? Probably not.’ So I’d say my volume and intensity have been greatly reduced.”

The other thing is that Reutter is living and training in Milwaukee, which is somewhat controversial. The rest of the national team trains at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, Utah, and there’s something to be said about being surrounded by the best of the best in a training environment.

“A lot of skaters and coaches are like, ‘Why aren’t you out here? Why aren’t you with us, using our ice time, our coaches, our trainers?’ ” Reutter said. “I have no problem with the way things are run in Salt Lake, but this is my team. This is my family. This is my home.

“As much as I needed a change from coaching, I have adored my time at the Pettit. My fiancé (Milwaukee Junior Admirals coach Mark Adamek) and I want to stay in Milwaukee as long as possible.”

A sponsor who asked to remain anonymous is covering her training expenses, since she gets no financial help from U.S. Speedskating. She managed to save some money over the last three years and has a part-time job to pay the bills.

A concussion from a recent fall on the ice at the Pettit Center kept Reutter out of a World Cup this weekend and she won’t return to competition until the World Championships, March 10-12 in the Netherlands.

Her long-term goal is to make the U.S. team for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. She’d like to find her way to the Olympic podium again, of course, but if it doesn’t happen she’ll walk away with no regrets.

“The question is, will I get back to 100% before the Games or will I still be putting the pieces together?” she said. “Either way is fine.”

When Reutter was the nation’s preeminent short-tracker and among the best in the world, it was all about her. Her reps. Her sets. Her times. It was all about standing above and apart from the rest.

Being away from the competitive side of the sport has given her a new perspective. She is much more willing to help a struggling teammate, quicker to throw an arm around a shoulder, to invite another skater to warm up with her.

“I’m a way better teammate, way more encouraging and positive,” Reutter said. “If I don’t have any medals at the end of 2018, I will know that I made a difference to people in my life, whether they’re on my relay team in Salt Lake or my training partners here, my fiancé, my family, my friends. I’m very aware of the people around me and how I can be a positive influence on them.”

That’s as good as gold. Maybe better.