Miki Ando ready to fight for an Olympic spot

Your very first international competition was in Zagreb. You were in the the Novice category, weren’t you?

Yes. I remember the city, the ice rink, the hotel...It was nice to go there again, I had so many good memories.

 

What did you work on between Ice Challenge and Golden Spin?

I couldn't train a lot because I got injured right before the free skating in Graz. This is not my most important competition: Nationals are.

I didn't want to get worse, so I treated my foot, I taped it everyday in order to let it heal faster. I tried to skate with the music more than before. Now the Short Program is way better than before, but in the Free Skating it is still difficult for me to think of the jumps and the spins. I want the Long Program to flow naturally with the music. My triple-triple and Lutz jumps have improved as well.

 

Are you planning to attempt your triple-triple combination at Nationals?

Yes

 

In the Long Program?

In the Short. I think the Short Program is more important than the Long. If I do the triple-triple in the Long Program then I cannot repeat the same jump in the second half of the program, and thus I cannot gain more points. But if I put it in the short, I can earn more points.

 

So do you think the triple-triple is what you need for qualifying to the Olympic Games?

I think that for me enjoying my skating is more important than the jumps.

Regarding the Olympic Games, I am not on the National Team now, so I have to be on the Japanese Team first: otherwise I cannot go to the Olympic Games at all. Therefore it's up to Japanese Federation. What they are going to think and what they are going to say.

 

What was the Federation's opinion when they learned that you were coming back to competitive figure skating?

They didn't say anything. They only said that I was not on the Japanese team and that therefore I could not go at competitions wearing the Japanese jacket.

 

You have been invited to Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, then Ice Challenge in Graz and now Golden Spin in Zagreb by the respective Federations. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to compete. I do not think this has happened many times, that an athlete was given the chance to come back by being invited to so may competitions. What do you think about that?

For Nebelhorn Trophy I knew I had the chance to go there, but the Japanese Federation was not saying anything about my presence there, so I was giving up because it's up to the Japanese Federation to say whether we can go to competitions or not. That's why I was already preparing for sectionals in November. If they didn't want me to go there, I could not go.

 

But they did not say anything, so you could go.

Yes, they just sent me a letter saying that the German Federation had invited me to Nebelhorn Trophy. At the time I was preparing for sectionals – which were ten days after Nebelhorn - then I received the invitation. Preparing for that event was hard because I had prepared to compete later in the season. I was surprised indeed, and I feel thankful because they gave me a chance to compete internationally again. It is amazing and great to me. I just want to say thank you to those three Federations for their invitations.

 

Do you have plans after Nationals? I know you were doing shows before starting training to compete again, are you going to skate in shows in the upcoming months?

Yes, I have a show in Italy on December 29th. Then I'll have shows in Japan as well.

 

Talking about the Olympic games, who do you think is going to be on the podium? There is going to be a battle between Mao Asada and Yu Na Kim.

I don't really care about the results, I just want to work hard and skate really good, then I'll be happy regardless of the result. Otherwise other people cannot feel our emotions and enjoy our skating.

 

You have decided that Walter Rizzo is your coach. What is it like working with him?

You know, when I was working with Nikolai he was coaching alongside him, so I already knew how he was as a coach. In 2011 - when I won the World Championships - he helped me so much with my emotions, because that competition was psychologically very tough for me.

He is really fun to work with. Even when I am sad he knows how to makes me laugh, smile. During competitions, he tries to trust me and believe in me. He always says “You are on the ice by yourself but I am there by your side. Just skate, have fun and enjoy that moment”. I love working with him.

 

Is he coming to Japan with you after Golden Spin?

Yes, a couple of days after the competition he'll come to Japan to train me.

 

You are a mum now, and there are not many mums who came back to compete again, in figure skating. How do you feel you have changed since the birth of your daughter?

She gives me good energy, both off the ice and on the ice. I don't know if my skating is different from the outside, because I cannot see myself when I am skating (laughs).

But at the beginning it was so tough to come back skating. I felt so heavy in my spins, I couldn't do even doubles. I thought I could do everything easily but I couldn't. So when I was coming back home after training I was thinking “Ok Miki, you cannot do it, it's too tough for you, just give up”. But then I would see my daughter, she was always there smiling for me, and then I changed my mind every time. I had to show to my daughter that I could do it, that people thought I couldn't do it, but that I did. I love her so much and now I really enjoy my new life. Of course I changed, but I think just off-ice, as a person, not as a skater.