“I’ve become sensitive to muscle. Almost like a bodybuilder.” Mone Chiba about increasing her muscular strength
Mone Chiba on his performance at the NHK Trophy 2024.
original source: Nikkansports dd. 10th November 2024 by Matsumoto Wataru / Nikkansports dd. 8th November 2024 by Iioka Daiki
Mone Chiba (19) who won last season’s Four Continents Championships, sterted her GP series at the NHK Trophy and won silver. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Nikkansports.
In the short program, Mone Chiba scored 71,69, surpassing her previous highest score of 71.10 points marked at the 2024 Four Continents Championships.
After her performance, she nodded vigorously in satisfaction and showed a broad smile. True to her promise before the competition to “show an exuberantly bright smile and a cheerful atmosphere,” she laughed and said, “I might momentarily become serious right before my jumps, but otherwise, I was able to give my fullest smile.”
This season she has increased her muscular strength. “Focusing on areas I consider weak, like my core, glutes, and legs,” she has been diligent in her training. “I’ve become sensitive to muscle. Almost like a bodybuilder,” she joked, but she has felt the effectiveness of her increased strength, which helped prolong her air time during jumps, despite struggles with timing.
She also shared about her mindset going into the free program, saying “It’s all too common to have someone come back and outscore in the Free Skate what you’ve done in the SP.” Last season, she placed sixth at Skate America and struggled to ninth at the French Cup for her third outing. “I don’t want to experience last year’s frustrations again. I want to try my hardest to skate flawlessly,” she said.
Mone also spoke about her practices at the NHK Trophy: “I think I managed to practice my jumps well, balanced between the free skate and short program. I emphasized more on skating firmly on the ice, making sure that my edges and feet made close contact with the surface. I believe I was able to maintain good, large skating movements even when performing to music.”
Despite finishing second in the free and overall, she said she felt “not completely satisfied as I haven’t given everything. There are more points of reflection than a sense of achievement.”
As for NHK Trophy itself, she told: “It reminds me of the atmosphere at the Japanese Nationals, which has a similar vibe, and I quite like the atmosphere at Nationals, so I think I will enjoy competing here.”
Her next GP event is the Cup of China, she told, “With this confidence, I want to work hard to bring together a more polished short program and free skate.”
Related topics: grand prix, Mone Chiba, NHK Trophy
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