Carolina Kostner: “What those around Yuma can do to support him is to avoid making judgments about a person’s worth based solely on results.”
Carolina Kostner about working with Yuma Kagiyama.
original source: sportiva.shueisha.co.jp dd April 5th by Noguchi Yoshie
In the interview posted on Web Sportiva, Carolina Kostner spoke about her work with Yuma Kagiyama and shared her thoughts on his performances this season. Here’s a translation.
“Q: For Kagiyama, this season was marked by ups and downs but also brought many medals. How do you reflect on the season as a whole?
Carolina Kostner: It was a season filled with moments for learning. There were several competitions where he couldn’t perform to his full potential, considering his innate abilities. However, I believe those experiences were necessary lessons for the upcoming Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
Q: What kind of lessons do you think they were?
Carolina Kostner: In a season where everything goes smoothly and the results are consistently good, there isn’t much to learn. For example, even if there’s a lingering sense of unease deep in your heart during practice, when things go well, you tend to overlook those feelings. You move forward without addressing the underlying issues, and when it comes to an important competition, those feelings can surface and affect the results.
So in that sense, the fact that Yuma’s unease visibly showed in some competitions this season wasn’t a bad thing.
Of course, when an athlete delivers a disappointing performance, it’s hard to immediately draw any lessons from it on that same day. However, after a period of disappointment, the time for learning comes. Leading up to the World Championships, Yuma took the initiative to think carefully and make his own plans. He’s not the kind of skater who practices just because he’s told to. This gives him the ability to calmly analyze what went well and what didn’t. I believe that having experienced challenges during the season before the Olympics is ultimately a good thing.
Q: At the World Championships, Kagiyama achieved a personal best this season in the short program, but there were mistakes in the free skate. How do you reflect on the competition overall?
Carolina Kostner: After the free skate, Yuma was feeling down. However, if you step back and look at the competition as a whole, he delivered an outstanding performance in the short program, put himself in the race for the gold medal, and made it onto the podium. On top of that, he secured three Olympic spots for Japan. He fulfilled his role as the Japanese national champion perfectly. There’s no reason to criticize him. The only words I have for him are, “You did a great job.”
Q: At the 2018 World Championships in Milan, which marked your final competitive performance, you were in first place after the short program but finished fourth overall. That must have been a firsthand reminder of the difficulties of figure skating. Did you share any of that experience with Kagiyama?
Carolina Kostner: On the evening of the free skate, I told him, “When you go through an experience like this — delivering a disappointing performance — no matter what words others say to you, they won’t ease how you feel.” Back in Milan, no words or actions from anyone eased the feelings I had. I was disappointed and unhappy, and those emotions didn’t disappear. For that reason, I didn’t say any comforting words to Yuma either. To move forward, you have to live through those feelings of disappointment and frustration, and then personally figure out what went wrong.
Q: After such an outstanding short program, what do you think caused the mistakes in the free skate? Do you believe there were any mental changes in Kagiyama?
Carolina Kostner: I’m not certain about the cause right now, but I believe it was probably something very minor. The week we spent in Boston felt incredibly long, and various things happened that had a psychological impact as time went on. For instance, in the short program, he performed so well directly after Ilia Malinin’s perfect program, which shows that he could handle the pressure. This shows the incredible mental strength Yuma has.
Between the short program and the free skate, there wasn’t any sudden event that could have drastically shaken his confidence. However, I wholeheartedly believe that Yuma is a very strong skater, and I can feel his resolve as the Japanese national champion. That much is undeniable.
Q: So you feel that becoming the Japanese national champion has strengthened his resolve?
Carolina Kostner: Yes. He takes great pride in having won the Japanese Nationals, and there’s no way that title could have placed a negative burden on him. It means a great deal to him. That title also represents something larger: both he and his father, Coach Masakazu Kagiyama, are now national champions. Yuma once told me, “My goal is to win the national championship more times than my father did.” So it’s clear that Yuma feels pride in becoming the champion. I don’t think his dip in form after the New Year is related to his championship title. It’s simply that competition is inherently difficult — nothing more, nothing less.
Q: This season, Kagiyama mentioned that he sometimes finds himself “thinking negatively.” Did you notice this when watching him from the sidelines?
Carolina Kostner: During daily practice, I don’t think he’s particularly hard on himself. However, he may be letting the results of competitions weigh on him. Even though he puts in practice every day and gets to the point where he can perform error-free programs during training, he sometimes struggles to deliver that in competitions. In those moments, it’s hard for anyone to simply say, “It’s totally fine,” and brush it off. To deal with that sense of disappointment, he needs to find a way to shift his mindset to a more positive one.
What those around him can do to support him is to avoid making judgments about a person’s worth based solely on results. It’s important to be mindful of the words we use, so he doesn’t grow into someone overly fixated on results at all costs.
Well, ultimately, if I were to say something extreme, skating is just a sport. It’s just figure skating — it’s not the end of the world. No matter how discouraged one may feel, the sun will rise again in the morning. If he can learn this lesson through his skating career, he can carry a more relaxed approach to life moving forward.
Q: During regular practices, does he sometimes get negative, or are his training sessions usually positive and constructive?
Carolina Kostner: Leading up to this World Championships, his preparation period went very well, and his mindset was consistently positive. He gave off the vibe of someone who absolutely loves skating and can’t get enough of it. Of course, there were occasional days where his jumps weren’t in sync. On those days, it was usually because he was tired, so we would adjust or revisit the training schedule.
Q: Are there moments where Kagiyama practices too much, and you have to step in and stop him?
Carolina Kostner: When he’s clearly too fatigued, we’ve had conversations where I’ve told him, “That’s enough for today.” That said, Coach Masakazu’s team has a very organized and precise plan, so Kagiyama mostly sticks to that schedule. Generally, he practices six days a week and takes one day off.
Q: Kagiyama started living on his own this season. Do you feel that this has positively contributed to his sense of independence?
Carolina Kostner: Starting a new life and adopting a new way of living is challenging for anyone. By living on his own, I think Yuma is gradually becoming an adult. He’s coming to understand that he can’t remain a child forever, and that he can’t stay stagnant at any given moment in life. He’s learning to face each difficulty, rise again after falling, and take responsibility for himself. With longer stretches of time spent alone, I believe he’s had more opportunities to reflect on aspects of life that require responsibility.
Q: After achieving a bronze medal at this season’s World Championships, what kind of approach do you want to take for next season?
Carolina Kostner: Honestly, this sport has its ups and downs — sometimes things go well, and other times they don’t. If you focus too much on the results, you lose sight of the truth. Last year, Yuma earned a silver medal at the World Championships, while this year he earned bronze. But that doesn’t mean he’s regressed. The quality of his skating, the quality of his jumps, and everything he does during practice have been improving consistently. Compared to a few years ago, his growth is incomparable.
This season, his abilities simply weren’t fully reflected in the results. There’s no need to make major changes to his strategy. If he continues with the same dedication and hard work as before, his skating will become something even more extraordinary. Training and results require different approaches. For practice, dedication and effort are key. But to achieve results, you need to take accountability for your actions.
This is something Yuma learned throughout the course of this season. We will continue to watch over him and support him until the moment arrives when all of his efforts bear fruit.”
Related topics: Carolina Kostner, Yuma Kagiyama
Wow such a detailed analysis by Carolina. I totally agree with her by the way. He definitely shouldn’t be over fixated on results or think his worth depends on it.
Another thing is that Carolina or his coaches share a lot of things about him, feelings and impression and etc. I hope he’s comfortable with that. All of this interviews do get public, after all.