Their Olympic Moment

Jackie Mercurio and her family have been in Italy since last week, enjoying figure skating and USA hockey games

By Mark E. Vogler

Getting to attend the XXV Winter Olympic Games in Milano, Italy, over the past week was a childhood dream come true for Jackie Harris Mercurio. Joining Mercurio on the vacation trip were her husband, Scott, and her seven-year-old daughter, Pia.

“Going to watch an Olympic Games was my bucket list adventure and I was super excited to share it with Pia,” Mercurio wrote in a text message to The Saugus Advocate this week.

“It’s been on my bucket list since I was a little girl, and my parents gave me the opportunity to travel the world for my own skating! One of my trips to Switzerland I had the opportunity to visit the Olympic Museum in Lucerne with my coach that had lost her coaches and skating family in the 1961 plane crash,” she said. “This really sparked my interest in sports history. Then I went on to graduate college with a degree in Sports Marketing where I had a passion for sports history, mostly for figure skating and hockey.”

Mercurio, a lifelong figure skater who has spent more than two decades coaching skating, was accompanied by a small group of skating coaches that she works with.

“We are having an absolutely amazing trip filled with lots of figure skating events and USA hockey games,” Mercurio said.

The Mercurios arrived in Italy shortly after the opening ceremonies last week and planned to fly back home last night.

Mercurio figured the Olympics Games dream trip would be a great experience for her daughter, whom she described as “a budding competitive figure skater that represents the North Shore Skating Club in North Reading.”

“She attends Our Lady of the Assumption in Lynnfield as a first grader. She has been competing since 3-years old and started skating at 18 months!”

The Mercurios planned to attend a Quarter-Final Game for Men’s Hockey on Wednesday (Feb. 18). The USA team was scheduled to play Sweden. With a victory, the Americans would advance to the semi-finals today. The Men’s Goal Medal Game is scheduled for Sunday (Feb. 22) morning, with the closing ceremonies scheduled for Sunday afternoon.