The 17-year-old impressed during Thursday’s short program in his EC debut and qualified for the freestyle, i.e. the final itself, on Saturday afternoon. But then the nervousness took over and the Norwegian favorite had a nightmare start with a crash and a fall at the Metro arena in Espoo Finland. – It goes very quickly. I feel in the air that I am wrong. “Oh, my God, no,” I think, and am disappointed for half a second. But then I try to forget it completely, says the figure skater to news. With a total score of 137.62, she eventually finished in 22nd place. Wonder Woman Strikes Back To the theme of Wonder Woman, Gomez gracefully skated onto the ice. But as in any superhero story, the protagonist ran into problems. The first obstacle came already in the first jump, and the miracle woman fell. – The first time I came a little far behind, it was difficult to save. It is always difficult to start the race with a fall. But you get points for each element. So I tried to think ahead and save points after the fall, says Gomez. After the difficult opening, she fought her way back in the second difficult element – which sat perfectly. – I am very proud that I managed to land the second difficult jump well. The first two jumps are the most difficult for me, says the 17-year-old. But then things went wrong again, and Gomez had another scary encounter with the ice on the third jump. – It was even stupider. That there was another fall. That element was a little lighter so it was harder to miss. In the second case, I didn’t get enough explosiveness. You only have to think about one element at a time. What has happened has happened and I can either let it ruin it or I can fight on for the rest of the race, she explains. She chose the latter option. The smile returned and the 17-year-old offered top-level pirouettes for the rest of the freestyle. – I am not completely satisfied, because the warm-up and training went much better. But it’s my first EC, so it’s natural that I’m a little more nervous, says Gomez. FIGHTED BACK: After two falls, Mia Caroline impressed Risa Gomez with flawless pirouettes. Photo: DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP Pirouettes at the highest level Viaplay’s UK commentator Chris Howarth praised Gomez for a good effort and praised her for coming back from a disappointing start. – The highlight for me was the pirouettes. They were all level four, the highest level. The one thing she can really work on is speed, he said after Gomez’s freestyle. Gomez appreciates the feedback: – It’s nice to hear that they were all at level four. That I put them correctly. I agree that I need to improve my pace and speed in general during the race. It will probably help me more in the jumps as well. Gomez takes the experience from the EC with him and looks ahead. – I always want to improve and run as well as possible, she says EC DEBUTANT: Mia Caroline Risa Gomez Photo: DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP Goals for the World Cup in March Next weekend is the Nordic Championships and Gomez has the plan ready: – I want to try to get on the podium. – Then there are two or three competitions before I will hopefully be selected for the senior WC in March. I will find out for sure in a month’s time, says an excited Gomez. Before Christmas, Gomez met the World Cup requirement, and set as many as three new Norwegian records, with the highest score in the short run, free run and overall in the competition in Budapest. So far, no other Norwegian figure skaters have completed the WC requirement. The 17-year-old is the third Norwegian figure skater of all time to have passed the WC requirement after the International Skating Federation introduced point requirements, and everything indicates that she will be Norway’s representative in the WC in Japan in March.
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Nightmare start for Mia Caroline Risa Gomez in the EC final in figure skating – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
