Press conference Ladies

By Helga Dobor
Photos © Titanilla Bőd

Carolina Kostner (ITA)

I am very, very happy with my gold medal. It has been a tough week. Now I can party!

You won your second European Champion title!

It was a new situation for me. It wasn’t an easy last year, but I always want to go forward, not backward, and so I wanted to win again. It has been a hard week to stay concentrated!

What do you expect from the Worlds?

My performance was not the best, but I feel confident for the World’s. I will work really hard for the World Championships and I’m actually looking forward to them. I think I can keep up with the best of the world.

You’ve struggled for your triple Lutz in both your program.

I like the Lutz! It’s one of my favourite jumps. Because I missed it yesterday I really wanted to do it today, but when it came, I was just like “oooopps”. The Lutz is going well in practice and now I screwed it up in competition enough so that I’ll do it next time.

Will you add new elements for Worlds?

I love technical stuff and I love to train. I love to be able to do new stuff. Maybe I’ll have another triple-triple combination for Worlds, but this is probably more for next year. It’s also a problem of your health. You need to be healthy in order to train difficult jumps, otherwise the risk of injury is high. But it’s fun and it’s my passion.

Sarah Meier (SUI)

I am very happy that I won the silver medal. Last year I was a little disappointed with my silver. This year I realized that it is harder to win a second medal. Everybody was stronger than last year, and it’s hard to win any medal. I knew that everyone had skated really well. I gave 100 percent in my program, and I just made an error on the triple flip. I’m especially proud of my two triple Salchows after missing it in the short program. I was very nervous.

This competition gives me confidence and I hope to improve my placement from World’s last year, where I was seventh.

Laura Lepistö (FIN)

I think this season has been very good for me. One month ago I won the National Championships and I was very happy that I could come here. This is my first time at European Championships. I knew that with good performances I had a chance to be on the podium but I didn’t expect it. I’m very speechless now.

You watched the last skater, Júlia Sebestyén on TV, how was that?

I saw that Júlia started very well and I already thought I would be fourth. I crossed my fingers. I’m happy that it went this way and I was the one who was lucky.

What are your goals for the Worlds?

It will be my first World Championships, so of course is to get more experience. Being on the podium here gives a lot of self-confidence. I will train hard and try to be in a very good shape.

Do you have idols in skating?

Of course I had idols when I was younger. I looked up to the Finnish girls, Susanna Pöykiö and also Kiira Korpi. It’s very funny that I am now competing against them. Also, I looked up to American skaters. I think they skate very beautifully and with good quality.