Wakaba Higuchi: “I’ve never been able to deliver both a solid short and free program at Nationals. That’s my main goal right now.”
Wakaba Higuchi about start of the season.
original source: Nikkansports dd. 21st September 2024 by Kengo Abe
Wakaba Higuchi (23) finished first in her third SP of the season at the Tokyo Championships with a score of 67.07 points. She improved by about five points from the 62.06 points she earned at the Tokyo Summer competition earlier this month. Here’s a translation of her comments.
“I felt like I was able to perform as I practiced. Compared to the summer event, I was able to go into this competition in better overall condition,” she said.
Entering her second season back after a break, she reflects, “I feel like my body is in better shape than it was during Beijing, and I’ve been able to train well.” Her focus is on giving 120% in practice. She’s been doing more full-run-through practices than usual, maintaining her performance until the end, even when mistakes occur. “In competitions, I can probably only show about 80 to 90% of my capacity,” she admitted.
She isn’t setting any long-term goals but is currently focused on achieving results at the Japan National Championships at the end of the year. “I’ve never been able to deliver both a solid short and free program at Nationals. That’s my main goal right now,” Wakaba said. “If I can show the parts where I skate with confidence, it will lead to good results and resonate with the people around me.” she added.
Related topics: Wakaba Higuchi
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