Wakaba Higuchi: “I threw away all the rules I had set for myself and adopted an attitude of ‘well, it will work out somehow’ and all the things I had been nervous about just didn’t matter anymore.”
Wakaba Higuchi about Four Continent Championships and her new attitude to sports.
original source: sportiva.shueisha.co.jp dd Feb 24th by Synn Yinha
In the interview posted on Web Sportiva, Wakaba Higuchi spoke about Four Continents Championships where she finished 5th. Here’s a translation.
She started the competitions in seventh place after the short program with a total of 65.10 points. In the post-performance interview Higuchi shared:
“I was very nervous today, it was completely different from practice, and a different kind of tension from the Grand Prix,” she recalled. “I think I’ve been able to perform much larger and easier compared to the early season, but today I knew I was nervous, which made my movements tend to be smaller, though I believe I’ve improved from before.
“The mistake on the triple Lutz was frustrating because it wasn’t something that happened often in practice. However, it was good that I could add a combination with the triple toe loop after being penalized for underrotation on the triple flip in the second half. I feel particularly frustrated about the jumps where I made mistakes; I think I could have scored an additional five or six points, so that one mistake really stings. I hope to perform a skate where I can achieve level four on all elements and gain positive GOEs.”
Despite the mistakes in jumps, she managed to score 130.06 points in the free skate and accepted the results with composure.
“For the free skate, I wasn’t doing very well in the six-minute warm-up, but I managed to pull everything together during the performance, and the axis on my jumps wasn’t bad. However, I think I lacked a bit of speed. With only one month left until the World Championships, I don’t plan to make major changes to the program, but I need to perform high-quality elements that can earn positive GOEs on all aspects, otherwise, I don’t think I can push the total score from 210 to 215 points.
This Four Continents Championships was the first major competition in a while, and I participated hoping to gain confidence for the World Championships. (Through this experience) I want to gain the confidence that I can deliver in major competitions what I have practiced.”
Speaking about a break she took after the Beijing Olympics in 2022, Wakaba shared that it helped her to rediscover the fun in skating and allowed her to break free from the rigid constraints she had imposed on herself.
“I became indifferent to everything (laughs), and all the things I had been nervous about just didn’t matter anymore. I stopped being fussy, including my routine of always eating certain foods, doing certain things, or putting on my shoes starting from one side. I threw away all the rules I had set for myself and adopted an attitude of ‘well, it will work out somehow.’
Before, I used to overthink things like, ‘I can’t perform if someone is standing there,’ and I was really quite nervous. But that’s gone now. It’s more like, depending on the situation, I adjust and change myself accordingly. I think this change started about two years ago when I returned to competitions.”
Related topics: Four Continents Championships, Wakaba Higuchi
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