Nina Pinzarrone: “I think everyone felt the stress and adrenaline today. There was a lot more tension in the air in the locker room. Perhaps that was because of the pressure for the Olympic spots.”
Nina Pinzarrone about her short program at the 2025 World Championships.
original source: Sporza dd. March 26th / Sporza dd. March 27th
Nina Pinzarrone spoke about her performance in the short program at the 2025 World Championships as well as extra pressure of gaining spots for the Olympics. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Sporza.
With Loena Hendrickx recovering from ankle surgery and Jade Hovine unable to qualify, Nina Pinzarrone is the sole Belgian competitor at the World Championships. Her goal is a top-10 finish. Achieving this would not only secure her spot in the Winter Olympics but also ensure Hendrickx’s participation in the Olympic qualification evenet in China.
“It’s realistic if she skates at her best,” estimates her coach Ans Bocklandt, “but I don’t want to put that pressure on her.”
“She knows she can secure Olympic spots, but she mustn’t think about that while on the ice. That’s how we’ve prepared for these Championships — Nina shouldn’t focus on her placement, but rather on executing her elements.”
Pinzarrone shares the same mindset. “Everyone feels extra stress here over the Olympic spots, but I won’t dwell on it. If I deliver my best performance, the placement and points will follow naturally.”
Still, Pinzarrone dreams of competing at the Winter Olympics in Milan, her father’s home country. “That would be amazing,” she blushes. “A lot of family would want to come and watch.”
Last year at Worlds, Pinzarrone dealt with a sudden nosebleed. This year, she has a doctor on hand to resolve such issues swiftly, as well as to manage her foot pain, which bothered her leading into the European Championships.
“Last week, I started feeling pressure pain in my foot again. I’ve had a few injections, and now I don’t feel anything anymore,” Pinzarrone assured.
Nina Pinzarrone is currently on the 8th place after the short program. “I was pretty happy,” she told. “I made a small mistake on my second jump, but I tried to cover it as well as I could.”
“Most people probably didn’t even notice that my landing wasn’t perfect. I also didn’t lose too many points because of it. I’m already looking forward to skating again on Friday.”
Pinzarrone admitted to feeling some stress ahead of the program: “I think everyone felt the stress and adrenaline today. There was a lot more tension in the air in the locker room. Perhaps that was because of the pressure for the Olympic spots.”
“I tried to think about it as little as possible and reminded myself that it’s the same for everyone. The stress could’ve been worse, but it went away during my performance.”
“The person who can push aside the Olympic thoughts the most will perform the best. That thought adds so much extra stress, and it can completely ruin your performance.”
“During the performance, I stayed focused and didn’t think about it at all. I also know that if I personally am satisfied with how I skate, the points and quota spots will come naturally.”
The environment likely played a role as well. “There were 19,000 people in a sold-out arena. That’s not something I experience every day — it’s really quite impressive,” Pinzarrone said.
“On the one hand, I feel like I need to make all those people appreciate what I’m doing. On the other hand, it gives me confidence that they’re cheering you on. It’s not always a negative thing.”
As for the pain in her foot, she said “Yesterday during practice, I felt it a bit, but today during the performance, I didn’t feel anything. I received another injection after yesterday’s practice, and it worked overnight. I had this pain during the European Championships as well, so I knew I wouldn’t feel it during the performance due to the adrenaline.”
How is she preparing for Friday’s free skate? “I’m glad there’s a day in between. That way, I don’t have to deal with stress two days in a row. On Thursday, I want to do everything during practice, so I can head into the competition with full confidence.”
“With the training I’ve already done, I don’t think it will be an issue. I just need to do what I did today: trust in my training and not think about everything else.”
Related topics: Nina Pinzarrone, world championship
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