[metaslider id=”9547″]Third to compete, she skated out in front of thousands of people for her one-minute warm up. Once that ended, she got into position and the music began.
Senior Yasmin Siraj competed in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at TD Garden, the qualifier for the U.S. Olympic team, on Jan. 9 and 11.
Although her 16th-place overall finish was not high enough to qualify for the Olympic Games in Sochi, Siraj had said beforehand that qualifying was not the only goal.
“This being Olympic-qualifiers is a bonus; it’s not like my end-all, be-all,” she had said. “Really, my goal here is just to show off my hard work and enjoy myself. Whatever happens, happens.”
As she prepared for the first competition on Thursday, Jan. 9, her emotions started to shift.
“I was super excited the week before and up until the day before, and I was also excited hours before the competition,” Siraj said. “But I was a little bit too tense right before. But, oh well, you can’t change that now.”
Thursday night’s round was a three-minute short program. Her first element was a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, which she said was the most challenging move in her program because it required vaulting into a second jump right after landing the first. She was not able to perform one of the triple toe loops as well as her second element, a single loop.
Despite successfully performing the rest of the elements, she finished 21st out of 21 that night. She said that it wasn’t how she compared to other people that disappointed her, but rather her technical performance because that was in her control.
“It was more disappointing that I didn’t skate my best,” she said.
Siraj said that by the second competition on Saturday, Jan. 11, she had a renewed outlook.
“I just went in wanting to have a good time and really soak in every moment,” she said.
Siraj said her favorite element from Saturday’s long program was the triple lutz, a backward jump, because it has a lot of height and speed to it. Successfully completing all of her elements, she placed 13th out of 21 for the day.
Now that that competition season is over, Siraj said she is considering what type of future she wants in skating. She said that her main question is not what level of team she wants to make, but rather how much time she wants to put into skating after graduating from high school.
“I really want to get the full benefit of college,” she said.
However, she said that she feels like all of her options include skating.
“If I really didn’t feel like doing anything with skating, I could just teach some on the side,” she said.
For now, not winning the competition has little bearing on Siraj’s feelings about skating.
“This is a sport that I love to do, and there’s lots of other things to look forward to,” she said. “Life doesn’t stop here.”
Watch video of Siraj skating below.
[su_youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXTPXRI-bXY”]
Aaron Sege can be contacted at [email protected].
