Daniel Grassl | Page 10 | Golden Skate

Daniel Grassl

elektra blue

mother of skaters
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Country
Italy
i wish him the two skates he can be proud of. whatever choices he makes i'll support him no matter what.
 

elektra blue

mother of skaters
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Country
Italy
this season is almost over, i hope he can get more love next season especially from himself. i hope he can improve everything he has to improve and i hope people stop being harsh to him for his choices. are they questionable, yes they are; do i believe they're good choices? based just on Eteri's trackrecords with men (even if she wasn't who she is), no. but Daniel didn't commit treason or something, i wish people stop coming at him
 

Alex Fedorov

Medalist
Joined
Nov 12, 2021
Country
Russia
Interview of Daniel Grassl:


How do you feel after the free program?

- I feel good. I was very happy with my performance because I fought. Of course, the scores were not very high, but everything is in order. Now step by step everything will get better. I am already happy that I competed at this World Championship, as it was difficult for me from a psychological point of view. I wasn't even sure if it was worth going. But now I'm really glad that I'm here in Japan, that I was able to show two good performances. There remains the World Team Championship, which I look forward to, but I'm already looking forward to the new season and new programs. I have a whole summer to prepare. I am sure that with all the work that I am doing next season will be better.

- What did the coaches say after the performance?

They were happy to see that I was fighting. Of course, all the work now is aimed at improving me, on those things that need to be worked on, for example, on the lutz. They were also a little upset about the score, but we can't do anything about it, just work even harder. Next time I have to skate so that the judges have no doubts. We will continue to work, I have only been with Eteri for two months. Everything is only getting better, and I am immensely happy.

- The judges noted a lot of under-rotations on your jumps. Do you agree with this? Do you feel yourself when the jump is under-rotated?

- Yes, I feel it. As for the judges, I landed a quad lutz, got a quarter turn underrotation, and some gave me -2 or -3 for the jump. This is one of the things that lowered my score. On the first axel that I managed to land, I got an underrotation, and on the second one, which I couldn’t land cleanly, there was no underrotation. But I didn’t think about it that much, only about enjoying from my skate, from the World Championship. I didn't care what points I got, what place I took, I just wanted to become more confident in myself. This season, I lost it a little. I also did two quads in the free program again. The last time this happened was at Skate America. Quite a lot of time has passed. Next season I want to do three or more, we'll see.

-Did you get your confidence back?

- Yes, it worked. My goal was to land the jumps. I knew that if I landed them, even if not all of them were good, after a while I could make them more clean. In training, I already jumped them more cleanly, but in competitions I was nervous - I felt pressure, restrained myself and did not give out everything I was capable of. I'll work on it next season. I want to not give the judges a reason to doubt my jumps.

-Some people say it was hot at the rink. Has this become a problem for you?

-Yes, it was very hot. Especially in training. But I like it when the ice rink is warm.

-What are you going to work on first?

- First, on the programs for the next season. I want them to be very good. This year it was difficult to skate as I didn't have much time to work separately with Jason Brown on the short and Benoit Richaud on the free. It was hard. So I'm looking forward to new programs. Also, of course, I want to work on jumping technique, on how to perform it more clearly.

-How do you like working with Jason Brown?

- This year I wanted to experiment in everything - in changing coaches and working with other choreographers. I wanted to feel something new. I thought about Jason - he is one of my favorite skaters, I really wanted to work with him. He helped me a lot - I watched a lot how he skates, how the best skate. We worked on artistry and emotion, as well as on hand movements.

- What was it like for you to compete with your choreographer at the World Championships?

- In the short program, Jason skated before me, so I looked and thought: "Here is the choreographer of my short program." This is a funny, but interesting, exciting episode. He congratulated me and said that he liked the way I skated, the way I interpreted the program.

- Have you thought about choreographers for the next season yet?

- I think that Eteri will decide with whom to work on the programs for the next season.

- What general conclusions about the past season can you draw? There were difficult moments, and good ones - for example, the first victory for Italy in men's single skating at the Grand Prix stage.

- In general, I'm happy with the season that was. Of course, this is not the best season. But after participating in the Olympic Games, it is difficult to continue, to find motivation. This was missing at the beginning of the season. But I am happy that I managed to show some of my best performances at the Grand Prix in Sheffield and win. It was important for me because I could become the first Italian to win such a tournament and qualify for the final. That performance worked. Then it was necessary to look further for motivation, there were difficult times. But now I understand what I want, so I'm waiting for when I can focus on the next season. This year I wanted to experiment, to understand where I want to go before the Olympic Games in Milan. The goal is to get a medal at the Olympics. It's a dream.

- So it's all about motivation after the Games?

- Yes, because participation in the Olympics has always been my goal, but here I achieved it. The skates were good. After that, motivation dropped. I went to the World Championships, showed an excellent short and then realized that I was very tired psychologically. I needed a rest, but I went to a show in Japan. Motivation became less and less. The Olympic Games are a motivation in itself, and then it becomes difficult. Perhaps I needed such bad performance to find my motivation again, to tell myself: “Next season I will skate better.” Now my goal is to return everything, I feel quite comfortable in achieving this.

-You said that this is an experimental season for you. How is this experiment going anyway?

- There were many difficulties when moving to Moscow. And the decision itself was not easy. After the national championship, I was very upset, a lot of things happened in Italy. I had to find a place to continue my career before it was too late. This is the best season to do this. I changed coaches in the middle of the season, which was a little risky - new coaches, new environment, new everything. It takes time to get used to. But I needed to do it now, as things weren't going very well. The president of my club in Italy told me about the possibility of working with Eteri. We met in Boston but didn't really want to go to Moscow at first because of the whole situation. But the president of the club pushed me to this decision. I took a risk and it motivated me a lot. In the same place, girls jump quads and all that. This is great. After two months of training with Eteri, it has already become much better, so I'm waiting for what will happen next season.

- How long did it take you to decide to go to Eteri?

- I always had a dream to train with her, two years ago. But I didn’t have the opportunity - there were various problems, for example, a pandemic and all that. But Eteri knew about my dream. It took me a while to decide. But since I was very sad after the Italian championship, I thought that the only thing that can motivate me is a new environment, a place where a lot of quads jump.

-How did your family and friends react to this decision?

-They supported me because they knew my whole story. I trained with them so they understood how I feel every day. Everyone supported me, including my family, as it was the best decision for me.

- Training in Moscow is very different from what you had before?

- Of course, this is a completely different system. It is very difficult from a psychological point of view to train there also because I don’t have a lot of friends yet. The system is different, but it helps a lot in work. In training, it's like a competition every time. I'm very nervous, but it's good for me. At tournaments, I get too nervous, I make mistakes that I don’t make in training. Often we warm up for six minutes and then show our programs one at a time, as if it were a simulation of real competition. We do a lot of skating pieces of programs or whole sets to increase our endurance.

-Was it different in Italy or in the USA?

- I skated my programs in training, but not so many times. In Italy, the training lasted 40-50 minutes, and in Russia - 1 hour 30 minutes. It was a little hard to get used to, but it's ok, it's better now.

- With whom do you skate in training in the same group?

-With Nika Egadze, Maurice Kvitelashvili, Adelia Petrosyan, Kamila Valieva and Sofya Akatieva. And with Arseny Fedotov.

-Do they motivate you, challenge you to some extent?

- Certainly. They jump a lot of quads, very persistent and stubborn. Motivates when we skate our entire programs.

- At the European Championships, you said that you feel pressure. Are you still experiencing this?

- Already better. There are always difficulties, different thoughts that flash through my head. But after the European Championship, I became stronger in this regard.

— How do you like life in Moscow?

-In fact, I have hardly been outside. Sometimes I feel very lonely, I have few friends. Usually I study. My life is usually just an apartment and a skating rink, when I come home I try to study or call my friends.

-We talked about it after the short program, and some figure skating fans asked if they could meet you somewhere and show you around the city.

- Yes, sure. (Laughs) It's very nice, thank you. I would like to explore Moscow, I love traveling and discovering new places.

- Returning to figure skating, what are your goals for the next season?

- The main goal is to do two quads in the short program. I've been trying to do this for three seasons now. But so far I've only had one, because that way I feel more confident and don't feel as much pressure. Now we must try to do it, even if there are mistakes at the beginning. And in the free program there are three or four quads, as I said. I also want to work on artistry.

- You also said that you felt more pressure because Eteri was at the World Championships. Why?

- I still have to get used to the fact that Eteri is nearby. But I think it will get better. She tries to calm me down and all that. I'm nervous because she always has the best athletes, so I also want to do well. But in training everything is fine, I feel calm.
 

elektra blue

mother of skaters
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Country
Italy
- In general, I'm happy with the season that was. Of course, this is not the best season. But after participating in the Olympic Games, it is difficult to continue, to find motivation. This was missing at the beginning of the season. But I am happy that I managed to show some of my best performances at the Grand Prix in Sheffield and win. It was important for me because I could become the first Italian to win such a tournament and qualify for the final. That performance worked. Then it was necessary to look further for motivation, there were difficult times. But now I understand what I want, so I'm waiting for when I can focus on the next season. This year I wanted to experiment, to understand where I want to go before the Olympic Games in Milan. The goal is to get a medal at the Olympics. It's a dream.
i'm not crying, you're crying

crying-cry.gif


also i know he's going yo skate a nice SoS d'un terrien en detresse next year :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: (or Cathedral, or Carmina Burana, or Mozart l'Opera Rock).
i'm happy to see him motivated and so positive!
 

elektra blue

mother of skaters
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Country
Italy
How far he has come...@elektra blue
Couldn't resist posting this cutie that I found in JGP St Gervais


Here some fun with 10 years old Daniel
mama's cute little mushroom :biggrin: and a cow
 

elektra blue

mother of skaters
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Country
Italy
so France and Japan. if things stay as they are now it's going to be tough
 
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