Hi, everyone! I’ve decided that I shouldn’t break the practice of writing something for you. During the time spent here in Torino I’ve already taken a walk through the center of the city, drawn the last starting number and skated my short program after a manner.
Well, first things first. We got to the center by a common city bus. It took us quite a while, about 20 minutes. There are a lot of old buildings, churches and other places of interest in the center of Torino. We took a stroll around the square and then through a mall, but didn’t linger there, because the prices were sky-high. We saw lots of coffee-bars with tables standing right on the sidewalks – no wonder, the weather is so fine!) At the end of our walk we dropped in a couple of shoe-shops, where Alla Yakovlevna bought herself a pair of boots. It was a shame we couldn’t walk a bit longer, but I had a practice later that day.
Speaking of practices, first three days before the competitions I practiced at the training rink. The ice there was just terrible and by no means smooth. I was very glad to learn from Sergey Voronov that at the main arena ice is much better. The road to the training rink takes 13-15 minutes by bus, to the main arena it’s a 7 minutes’ ride or an 11 minutes’ walk. On the Thursday morning I first went to the draw and then took another bus from the main arena to the training rink, where I had my practice. When my turn to draw came, there wasn’t many numbers left. I was calm as usual. At first I fingered one number, then decided to take another, drew it out... and saw that it was 55. I bet all the girls gave a sigh of relief! For about ten minutes I couldn’t grasp that I was to skate last. Then I tried not to think about it, and to get mentally ready to skate well.
I have to tell you straight off that I didn’t skate well. I woke up in a very good mood, and the practice was good, too. Then I had enough time to have rest. So, nothing augured ill. But the thought of the number 55 kept on going around in my head. I think it was the thing that spoiled everything. I was going to the competitions feeling fine, until I realized that I had left my headphones in the hotel. I usually put them on to distract my attention from other girls’ programs. So, I decided that in such fine weather I could as well jog and limber outdoors, where there was nothing to hear and nobody to see. There wasn’t much time left, but I got limbered up and even took a little rest, because after the warm-up on the ice I would have time to take off my skates and limber a little bit more. I was among the first to get ready for the warm-up, and everything was OK during it, except for my Lutz. I managed to do it one time, but then fell twice. Thus my warm-up ended, and I began waiting for my turn to come to the ice. While I was waiting I had enough time to relax, to get limbered, and to relax once again. Then I just didn’t know what to do. So, I sat down and closed my eyes. When the time came to put on my skates, I quickly laced them and went to the entrance to the ice. The skater that performed before me was Julia Sebestyen. I saw that her coach was very glad, because Julia had skated well. On coming out to the ice I once again ‘felt’ the main jumps and approached Alla Yakovlevna. By that time the speaker began to announce Julia’s score, but I didn’t hear it. I was listening only to my coach’s words, though I can’t remember now what she told me. I remember only that her smile was broader than mine)
So, I started skating. The first element was the 3F-2T combination. And for some reason that I cannot understand I did the flip, which I usually can do in my sleep, so violently that I couldn’t hold up and fell to all fours) I understood at once that I would have to do the combination with my Lutz, and after an unexpectedly good Lutz did a clumsy toeloop. For the rest of the program I was trying to hide my low spirits behind a smile. And immediately after the music stopped I began to think back about how on Earth I could trip over on that flip... Alla Yakovlevna explained my mistake to me in the K&C. She was encouraging me while we were waiting for my score to appear and after that, too. Of course, I got very upset. I wanted to skate none the worse than in Vancouver. But I couldn’t. I was in no mood for giving interviews, so Alla Yakovlevna had to do it instead of me. Meanwhile, I was sitting in the changing room, crying. I didn’t go to the draw. Then Ksenia came up, pitied me and said that she had drawn a good FS starting number for me. I was glad to learn that I would skate second in my group.
Well, since I’ve mentioned free skating, I must say that today I will skate my free program for you only! Cheer for me!) |
