“I feel like I shouldn’t be satisfied with today’s performance. Somehow today, from the beginning to the end, my legs wouldn’t stop shaking, and I was unusually very nervous.” Kaori Sakamoto on her SP at Skate Canada
Kaori Sakamoto on her performance in the short program at Skate Canada.
original source: Nikkansports / Nikkansports dd. 26th October 2024 by Daisuke Fujizuka
Kaori Sakamoto (24) marked 74.97 points and took a leading start in the short program at Skate Canada 2024. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Nikkansports.
“I wondered, “What was the content like?” I clearly knew that the combination of triple-triple jumps wasn’t completely there. It happened to work out today, which is good, but it wasn’t really settling in practice, and the fact that it happened today feels a bit iffy. I want to make it flawless in practice so that I can carry that over to the actual performance. I feel like I shouldn’t be satisfied with today’s performance,” she told.
Kaori also admitted that “The score was higher than I expected,” she revealed a gap between her own perception and the results. Before performing, she mentioned that her legs were trembling as if it had been a long while since she felt so. She reflected critically, “If I had been satisfied with my practice, I wouldn’t be so nervous. Nervousness indicates there are elements of uncertainty. Somehow today, from the beginning to the end, my legs wouldn’t stop shaking, and I was unusually very nervous, but it turned out to be a good experience.”
Kaori also told that it wasn’t only about this morning practice. “Not specifically in the morning, but since I have been practicing in Japan, the short program’s triple-triple has been a bit of a problem. Normally I can do it in practice, but right before the triple-triple, I find myself thinking, ‘Ah, it’s coming up,’ which makes me tense up. As I compete more, I hope to gain confidence to perform it smoothly.”
She also told about the challenge of performing a tango program. “When trying to keep up with the music, my movements tend to drag on. But with tango, you need to be quick and sharp with changing facial expressions and choreography, not flowing, but with sharp reversals. Watching videos of my practice, there are moments I think, ‘That’s gotten better,’ and others where I think, ‘It still flows when I try to fit into the music.’ So it feels like it hasn’t quite fit perfectly yet.”
Related topics: grand prix, Kaori Sakamoto, Skate Canada
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