Loena Hendrickx: “Competitions in figure skating is on 70% mental. You can be good in training, but you have to do it in those 4 minutes.”
Translation of Loena Hendrickx’s comments after winning silver at the Grand Prix Final.
original source: sporza.be dd. 13th December 2023
Here’s a translation of Loena Hendrickx’s comments for Sporza after winning silver at the Grand Prix Final.
“The Friday before I left (to Grand Prix Final), something happened to my back. I spent the whole weekend with a backache. Fortunately, my physiotherapist could come to Beijing with me. The adrenaline makes the pain disappear. From the moment I started the competition, I knew that full focus would be on my program. Then the pain disappears for a while, but the next day it was even worse,” said Loena.
About having two Belgian female skaters in the Finals Hendrickx said, “It is indeed very special. Because in Belgium, it’s not obvious to go figure skating. Before I achieved real results, people didn’t even know what figure skating was about.”
Skating in Belgium is not easy. “So many ice rinks are disappearing in Belgium. I have no idea why. I think it becomes too expensive. I lost my home rink 7 years ago. I trained in the Netherlands for 5 years.”
Answering the question, whether figure skating is a tough sport, Loena mentioned, “All professional sports are tough. It’s especially a mental sport. You need to have everything under control physically, but a competition really consists of 70 percent mental. You can be good in training, but you have to perform in those 4 minutes.”
What makes the sport so stressful? “When you see how thin a blade is, every millimeter you miss can be fatal. You have to be musical, flexible, super explosive in terms of muscles… That combination makes it a wonderfully enjoyable sport.”
Answering the question, how long does she want to keep competing, Hendrickx said, “Because it is so demanding on your body, you are in your mid-20s, late 20s among the oldest in the circuit. The sport is dominated by 18-year-olds. Everything still happens automatically: you are still in your robot phase and just do it. As you get older, you start thinking about everything. That makes it much more difficult. The training also becomes more intense. If you look internationally, you are at your best between 16 and 20.”
“We train between 25 and 30 hours a week, without counting related things like physio, a mental coach… You are fully engaged in it.”
What would she like to achieve before her retirement? “My biggest goal is to make it to the Olympics for the third time. And hopefully, I can do better than the last time.”
Related topics: grand prix final, Loena Hendrickx
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