“Sometimes you need to set aside your pride and make steady progress.” Rinka Wanatabe on winning silver at Skate America and not attempting triple axel here
Rinka Watanabe on winning silver at Skate America.
original source: Nikkansports / Nikkansports
Rinka Watanabe (22), score the total of 195.22 points and finish second, winning silver medal at the first event of Grand Prix series Skate America. Here’s a translation her comments posted on Nikkansports.
Regarding the Free Skate, which she described as satisfying, the challenge was how much she could “believe in herself” amidst the heated battle for the top spots. Although she made some small mistakes in her jumps and was unable to improve her scores, to which she commented “I do feel like they [scores] didn’t increase as much as I hoped. I really wanted to hit the 130-point range [for the free program], but given the strict judging, I feel good about how I performed, and I think I have shown solid results at this competition after a month since the Lombardia Trophy.”
“I really wanted to make it to the podium,” she told and added that while focusing on the quality of her performances, her current focus is “more on gaining experience and increasing my options rather than just chasing results.”
Her next event is the Cup of China. She expressed determination, saying, “Since I need to finish first or second in China to make it to the Final, I’m going to continue training hard and give my best. With another month until the China competition, I aim to focus on successfully landing the axel and continue working hard.”
Rink also commented on her today’s content which didn’t include triple axel, “It was a tough decision. I had a lot of doubts, but sometimes you need to set aside your pride. As I mentioned yesterday, achieving a result can bring you closer to challenging yourself in other competitions. So, I thought that this time it was a competition where I should put my pride aside and make steady progress, which is why I didn’t attempt the axel.”
Related topics: grand prix, Rinka Watanabe, Skate America
Leave a Reply