Niki Wories | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Niki Wories

sallycinnamon

Medalist
Joined
Feb 20, 2014
I'd like to know as well, because it seems from her social media that she's already started to prepare for the next season. I'm not even sure what was the reason of her WD from Worlds. :confused:
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
Better late than never (and thanks again Doris for pointing out this thread to me), Niki has had some bad seasons due to injuries but was back on track this year. She went to Europeans but did not do so well there. After that she had a very good skate at the Challenge Cup (her Free was excellent) and the was assigned to go to Worlds for the first time in many years. And then Corona happened. She's regularly posting on instagram, and it seems she's okay.
 

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
Although recently there has been a little information about Niki in the Dutch Figure Skating thread, the Dutch Skating website has published part one of an extensive interview with her: https://www.schaatsen.nl/nieuws/202...an-betekenen-voor-een-ander-is-dat-waardevol/.

The introduction to the interview also includes two big instagram posts by Niki - in English. So, even if you can't understand Dutch and you're interested in Niki's experiences and feelings about her career, please click on the link to read those. The interview itself (in summary) is about the injuries she has suffered, the role of social media and both the good and the bad of them. She wishes to help other figure skaters coping with similar things as she has coped and copes with. It's actually about helping others mentally if at all possible by not just posting the glamour of it all. She recently has suffered another injury (that's why she had to WD from Denis Ten Memorial) and was a bit depressed by that: "another one'. She still loves the sport to a great degree, and still intends to fight to qualify for the OG (there is a Dutch spot in women's). However, she also focuses on 'the road towards' and not just on any medals (although of course she is training for those). She also makes some remarks about the part that is out of your control because it is a judged sport.

Part 2 will be published a day later.
 
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ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
Part 2 of the interview has now also been published. You can find it here: https://www.schaatsen.nl/nieuws/202...ealistisch-is-of-niet-dat-bepaal-ik-zelf-wel/.

Another summary (and this time there are no parts in the article for non-Dutch readers to look up, so I'll try to include a bit more)):

The Dutch Olympic Committee has determined that Niki (or another Dutch Figure Skater other than Lindsay van Zundert - who captured the OG spot at Worlds - but there is no other at this level) must attain 186 points twice in competition this season to be appointed as the skater who will eventually go to the OG. The first competition where she can do that is the upcoming NRW trophy. This is going to be difficult for her as she has never got any more points than 160 in any (international) competition. She acknowledges that nothing is impossible and that she is still going to try. However, getting another injury right after her return to Canada (where she trains and is coached) obviously was not a great help. She is now skating with a tightly taped ankle because she doesn't wish to stay too long off the ice. She likes to compete and wants to be in the race for this Olympic spot. She is really positive about the fact that there is a bit of rivalry within the Netherlands and also that there is a good atmosphere among the skaters. There is some talk about the fact that Niki has to attain so many points (and Lindsay does not have to do that because she has ridden well enough at Worlds) but Niki absolutely refuses to go into any discussion about this additional requirement with regard to her rival. She does however feel that it is a bit unfair to put such high demands on any skater who has already sacrificed quite a bit to push herself in such a sport, even if realistically it will be near impossible to get a medal [additional remark: the Olympic Committee seems to expect such high standards as the Netherlands is dominant in long track speed skating and also is quite good in Short track speed skating]. She is going to try.

She does not yet know whether she will continue her career for a long time. Financially it will be difficult to continue and she would like to stay with her current coach in Canada. However, there is going to be a central centre for the development of Figure Skating in The Netherlands next year, and who knows? There might be a coach there with whom there is a 'click' so she won't need to be in Canada all the time, it might be worthwhile to continue as the financial burden will be less. Also, the condition of her body also plays a part. Mentally, she's still very young.
 
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