The win at Richmond, which has slower ice than many ovals because of its location at sea level, buoyed Nesbitt’s confidence. The slower ice plays to her strength as a strong finisher in the 1,000-m, where many of her competitors tend to fade. The home ice advantage also gives her a mental edge, she says. “That’s the difference between being a world champion and not,” she says. “It doesn’t mean you’re stronger or fitter than someone, a lot of it is a mental game.”
Nesbitt has had an equally strong start to this year’s World Cup season, but she is cool to suggestions she is the new Cindy Klassen, as one interviewer put it. For one thing, Nesbitt will likely race in just three Olympic events compared to Klassen’s five in Turin. And then, the old Cindy Klassen—just 30, actually—may be battling back from double knee surgery, but she remains a contender. “I don’t know how she’s going to come back,” says Nesbitt. “I’ll just leave that as a question mark.” Kristina Groves, another teammate, and Friesinger are also dangerous competition, especially in the 1,500-m. “I hope they’re shaking in their boots,” she says with a laugh.
Her success on the ice is not without sacrifice. She’s unhappy with her slow progress toward her undergraduate degree in geography. “That academic life seems really appealing to me,” she says. Even at 24 she’s feeling like the old woman in class. “People are always talking about how university is the greatest time of their lives, [where] they’ve met their lifelong friends and all this,” she says. “Sometimes I’m thinking I’ve lost that opportunity, but I have other opportunities.”
She and her family place a high premium on post-secondary education—something that winter athletes especially often neglect because their competition season conflicts with the school year. Nesbitt says it took a great weight off her when her parents advised her that school can wait while she seizes this moment to shine athletically. “It bothers me that she doesn’t have time to take more courses,” concedes her father, the professor. “But you can only skate at this level when you’re young. Whatever you’re doing, do it well. And she’s doing that.”
Besides, her brother has a head start toward a Ph.D. She’s not about to let that stand uncontested.
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