ST. LOUIS – A professor at Saint Louis University is surprising countless colleagues this month after finding out about her history Olympic past.
Pauline Lee is in her fifth year as an associate professor in the department of theology at SLU, teaching Chinese religion and philosophy. But 30 years ago her focus was on the ice.
“I think it’s the ‘what? Are you serious? How did I not know this?!’ I get that response often," said Lee.
The reactions shouldn't be too shocking. It's not every day you meet an Olympian during casual conversation.
“It’s been really fun to talk about it and reminisce about it and feel this nostalgia for it," said Lee.
“A lot of my colleagues don’t know either because it happened so long ago. It’s not something I go around talking about.”
'It' being her appearance in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
“I skated to Samson and Delilah," said Lee.
The Mankato, Minnesota native started skating at age five simply because her baby sitter took her to the rink. She started competing by age eight.
“When I was 13 or 14 the head of the Olympic Association in Taiwan saw me skate," said Lee. That's when she received an incredible opportunity, the chance to represent Taiwan.
Lee and her family have dual-citizenship. Knowing she would never qualify for the Olympics in the ultra-competitive U.S. landscape, she was honored to accept Taiwan's invite.
“I didn’t even realize it but I was training with the very best. The United States was at the very top of figure skating at the time.”
Finally, after years of training, she left Stanford in the middle of her freshman year to compete at the Calgary Games. Her favorite moment was during the opening ceremonies.
“And the first thing I do is I look up and I see my mom waving at me, in this huge stadium I happen to see her, so that was very exciting.”
Now she's amazed at how figure skating as evolved.
“They do jumps I never saw when I was skating.”
And she tunes in to watch every four years, especially because she knows exactly what competitors are going through while on the world's biggest stage.
“There’s nothing going on in your head. You’re just thinking about your performance," said Lee. "You don’t feel nervous once the music starts.”
“Whenever it happens every four years I find myself very integrated for a moment, like this past life of mine meets this present life of mine”
Lee didn't medal in the '88 Games but she's still incredibly grateful for the experience to compete and represent her family's native country.
“I feel luckiest for having found ice skating at a very young age," she said.
To this day, Lee is the only female figure skater to represent Taiwan in the Olympics.
“My advice would be to find something you really, really love. And stick with it.”
