Mone Chiba: “Finishing this Worlds, I realized that quads aren’t everything. There are plenty of areas besides quads where I lack. At the same time, I strongly feel that having elements like quads and triple axel can make me even stronger.”
Mone Chiba about winning bronze at the 2025 World Championships.
original source: Nikkansports dd. March 29th 2025 by Daisuke Fujizuka / Nikkansports dd. March 31st 2025 by Daisuke Fujizuka
Mone Chiba shared her emotions about winning bronze medal at the 2025 World Championships. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on Nikkansports.
“To be honest, the frustration is stronger. Landing everything and making it onto the podium — that result itself makes me really happy. I didn’t expect to make the podium at all, so I’m truly thrilled about that. However, in terms of today’s performance, I’m frustrated about things like the under-rotation calls on the salchow and my triple combination jump. On the bright side, I earned four levels on all elements, so that’s good. Even while feeling nervous, I tried to maintain speed in the transitions, which I think contributed to the jumps being executed reasonably well. In the end, despite being extremely nervous, I managed to complete the program, and I think that’s the achievement I can take away from today,” Chiba said.
“I was as nervous as I was during last year’s World Championships free skate and last year’s Nationals. I realized again that when I’m nervous, it really shows in my salchow. As for the loop jump, I’ve always tended to make mistakes when I’m nervous, but today I managed to stay calm and land it properly, so I feel good about that.”
Speaking about the atmosphere in the arena, Mone mentioned: “Today, the cheers felt incredibly loud — it felt like they were ringing in my head. That, in turn, made me even more nervous. Honestly, for the entire four minutes of my performance, I had to fight off the negative feelings and “devil’s whispers,” like voices of a doubt in my head. So I can’t confidently say that it felt amazing to skate today.”
Answering a question what did she mean by “devil’s whispers”, she told: “Those voices of doubt the ones that creep in during a performance telling you things like, “You’re nervous, you’re going to make a mistake.” It’s like there’s a little devil in your head trying to shake your confidence.”
In the conversation with a journalist the day after the free program Mone Chiba told: “Yesterday, I mentioned that I still couldn’t quite believe I had placed third. Now that it’s starting to sink in, I’ve been reflecting on my performance and feel that overall, I managed to handle the transitions and other details carefully. However, I was so stiff from nerves, and I felt like I was constantly being driven by that anxiety throughout the performance, which makes me feel pretty regretful. Then there’s the salchow and the lutz, which cost me points. I spent yesterday treating it like a review session and reflecting on those areas for improvement.”
The interviewer asked her “Does feeling regret about placing third at Worlds mean you’ve reached a higher level?” and she responded: “I think so. From the start of this season, I’ve gradually been able to deliver performances I’m more satisfied with, and because of that, feeling disappointed about placing third is a sign of growth for me. I can already see the next steps I need to take, and it feels like I’m mentally prepared to push forward into next season.”
Speaking about nerves, Mone told: “The level of nervousness was no different from last year’s World Championships, but this time, I relied on how my training had prepared me. Ultimately, the key strength is mental resilience and the ability to enjoy the moment, even in such high-stress situations. Moving forward, I think it’s important to focus not only on building strength in practice but also on building strength during competitions. I want to become the kind of skater who can balance both mental toughness in practice and in competition at a high level. That kind of steadiness leads to consistent strength. I’ll focus on maintaining that mindset as I approach competitions in the future.”
When asked about technical aspects she would like to work on, Chiba said: “The off-season is starting now. April will be a busy month, but starting in May, I’ll enter a preparation period for the next season, which will also be a time for me to adjust my condition. Just as I did in May and June of last year, I’d like to focus on leveling up so that I can achieve consistent results from the beginning of the season. Regarding quad jumps, I held back a bit in preparing for Worlds. Now that the competition is over, I want to fully challenge myself in training and seriously work on them.
Finishing this World Championships, I came to realize that quads aren’t everything. There are plenty of areas besides quads where I lack, and I understand now that those areas are important opportunities for growth. At the same time, I strongly feel that incorporating elements like quads and the triple axel can make me even stronger.”
Related topics: Mone Chiba, world championship
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