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WATERSKI MagazineShe is a world-record holder recently featured in one of the world's most popular sports magazines and a plum in the sports agency business. But it would be blatantly wrong to call Malorie Bacon the hottest thing going in women's barefooting. She is not a woman. The Dublin, Ohio, product is 7 years old.
Forget for a moment that the girl who could be America's next Jennifer Calleri still waits for the crossing guard on her way to school. Malorie Bacon is a red-blooded barefooter. Inspired by Charity Merriman's Frosted Flakes commercial two years ago, Malorie claimed right then and there she was going to foot. A surprising announcement to mom and dad, who at that time could barely get Malorie up on two skis.
“We took her down to Mike Seipel's, and she was up within five minutes,” says Tiffany Bacon, Malorie's mother. “Then she came back and barefooted the length of the Scioto River, about 2 miles. What was most surprising is that it didn't hurt her feet.”
The iron girl still hasn't so much as winced – not even when she taught herself tumbles and one foots while mom and dad (non-footers) helplessly watched, or during a photo shoot for Sports Illustrated for Kids last fall when she braved 50-degree temperatures and 25-mph winds for nearly four hours. The reward for that courageous stint was a feature in which Malorie was named one of the top six young athletes of 1998 (she was the youngest of the six). It capped a year in which the girl nicknamed “Mouse” because of her affinity for Mickey and Minnie broke the girls 1 (10 and under) records in slalom and tricks, climbed the podium at Barefoot Nationals and signed on with an agent.
“She was out here with her family, and we just saw her barefooting,” says Steve Gasser of Icon Sports Agency in Sandy, Utah.
We'll be seeing more of Malorie this season. In May, she's scheduled to appear on Rosie O'Donnell and teach the host to barefoot. She'll also try to land a spot on the U.S. team for Junior Worlds. Word is, Malorie is automatic over the jump ramp and has been trying flips in training.
Yes, Malorie Bacon is a died-in-the-neoprene footer. She gets up at 6 a.m. for a dawn pass, and she feels a rush in front of cameras. Oh yeah, and she still hasn't even tried to get up on a slalom. Is that a problem?
