Kamila Valieva: “The most common myth about figure skating is that it is a sport for 15-year-olds and very thin girls.”
Kamila Valieva about music for the programs, useful habits that sports teach, training and competitions.
source: Blueprint
Kamila Valieva: For me, figure skating is my life’s work, my unconditional love. It made me a famous person, gave me a huge number of meetings with very interesting people, and helped me make some dreams come true. In a word, for me, figure skating is an art.
So far, I have not chosen the music for my programs myself. Most likely, this option will be opened in the future. While the music is selected for me by coaches. I fully trust Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze and Daniil Markovich Gleikhengauz. But if I do not like the music proposed, then I talk about it, and they listen to me. Still, it’s me, after all, who will skate the program the whole season, so the music and the idea of the program should be close and understandable to me.
Sport forms many useful habits. It teaches you how to use your free time productively and how to develop will, diligence, and sociability. Athletes are able to quickly and effectively learn new skills and apply them where needed. It was sports that taught me self-discipline, concentration, and to finish everything I started. It also taught me how to speak in public, which is difficult.
I really like spins, and among the jumps is a quadruple toe loop. It seems to me that this is a landmark jump for me. When I first started jumping, it was a difficult element that gave me a chance to win competitions. Now it is an element that again gives me hope for victories.
I started to work on it on a harness and then without helping devices. Not only coaches helped me master it, but also figure skater Alexei Erokhov—at that moment, he was skating in the group of Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze. And for the first time, I jumped a quadruple toe loop on my birthday.
During training, it is easier for me to concentrate. But during the competitions, I probably have not yet learned to concentrate one hundred percent, but I strive for this. Listening to music through headphones helps. When I was little, the presence of my mother on the stands helped. I did not want to upset her, and I tried very hard. When I matured, it became interesting to learn new elements; it helped me work hard. And of course, the atmosphere on the ice is inspiring. When everyone around you is working, you want to comply. Now it helps to realize that without this hard, sometimes exhausting work, there will be no good performances, which means that the chances of success are decreasing.
Many people think that athletes are superstitious. I have no special rituals before going on the ice. I just need to arrive at the rink on time, warm up and stretch well, and try to focus on my program and performance.
The most common myth about figure skating is that it is a sport for 15-year-olds and very thin girls.
In figure skating, I am inspired by the music and the story itself, which I need to tell the audience. And if in general, then places, events, and people around.
The most difficult thing in sports is to be able to endure.
My biggest dream is for my mother to always be happy.
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