Anna Shcherbakova: “Olympics were the competition where I was the least nervous in my life. We approached every training session so responsibly that by the time of actual performance, I almost didn’t have the emotional energy left to be nervous.”
Anna Shcherbakova shared that she was less nervous at the Olympics than at any other competition, attributing her calm to thorough preparation and a positive mindset.
original source: Sports
Olympic figure skating champion Anna Shcherbakova said that at the victorious 2022 Games, she was less nervous than at any other competition. Here’s a translation of her comments.
“Q: Were you very nervous before your winning skate at the Beijing Olympics?
Anna Shcherbakova: This might be a bit of an unexpected answer, but the Olympics were the competition where I was the least nervous in my life. We approached every training session and every preparatory step so responsibly that by the time the actual performances came, I almost didn’t have the emotional energy left to be nervous or worried. I went out on the ice feeling completely calm, just knowing I needed to go out and do my job precisely.
But of course, that didn’t just happen on its own – it was the result of years of training. When I was a child, I would start getting nervous a week before a competition, waking up in the morning with shaking legs and hands, already thinking about having to go out on the ice – being afraid and wanting to delay the moment as much as possible. And I’ll say that this almost never led to my best performances. When I learned to truly enjoy performing on the ice, to enjoy competitions and the attention, and to approach it all with gratitude.
And when you approach it with the right excitement, inspiration, and the desire of “let me show what I can do as soon as possible,” that always leads to good results.
Q: Were you nervous during school exams?
Anna Shcherbakova: I was lucky that the Olympics happened in the same year as my final exams, so everything hit me at once. Maybe that actually worked in my favor. As they say, the best rest is a change of activity. So I would come home from training and switch off a bit, focusing more on studying for exams – and vice versa, the most important event of my sports career distracted me from the exams. So I managed to balance things a bit. <…>
Honestly, I was always much more nervous at school than on the ice. I still remember writing tests with shaking hands, even if I knew everything by heart – there was always anxiety and nerves.”
Related topics: Anna Scherbakova, Olympic Games
Honestly I would’ve felt the same.
Everything was perfect, thank you Anna.
Forever a legend.