Blog > September 22, 2006

For the first time in over three weeks, I finally have time to sit down and write. I've been going non-stop ever since coming home from Hungary, consumed with school, and of course, skating.

I was pretty nervous before I left, thinking that the competition would be scary and intimidating. As soon as I saw the rink, I immediately felt at ease and was able to focus on skating. Let's face it; I'm not the biggest and most brawny Junior man, which is what I thought the other skaters might be like. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I fit right in.

We arrived on a Tuesday and I was initially thrilled that the SP wasn't until Saturday. I had plenty of time to adjust to the time change and new surroundings. We had free time in-between practices to walk the streets of the quaint city of Budapest, with its interesting architecture, full of history.

As the week went on, however, and I watched everyone else compete, I just wanted to get out there and skate in front of the enthusiastic Hungarian crowd. The ladies were completely done before the men's SP got started. Finally Saturday rolled around, and it was time to put on my "game face".

My short program went perfectly, and I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. I skated to my full potential and even managed to rise to first place! I really got into the music, and let my body take care of everything else. At the end of the event, I was in first and Stephan Carriere was second with the Japanese skater trailing shortly behind.

On the day of my long, I knew I would skate well because I knew what I was capable of. Once again, I didn't disappoint myself. Although I didn't receive full credit for three of my jumps, I still landed everything, and enjoyed entertaining the audience with my animated program. I skated last in the final warm-up and had a long time to wait. I've never waited 40 minutes before from the ending of warm-up, so it was a bit of a shock, but I thought I handled it very well. My coach, Ted, agreed. All in all, competing at my first Junior Grand Prix was an extremely rewarding experience, especially finishing 3rd, not too shabby!

What did I learn? Before I left for Hungary, I knew it would be very fun and that I would skate great, but I didn't know how much I would grow as a person. Somewhere in between meeting new friends, and enjoying the wonderful city of Budapest, I learned to be proud of myself and to not be ashamed of being myself. It's a very hard task to watch a competitor complete a skill that your aren't quite capable of, yet! It's normal to feel somewhat jealous. Seeing triple axels left and right and even a few quads could cause depression! But, my coach helped me appreciate what I could do well, and realize just what I was capable of - MY personal best! And that's exactly what I did.

I hope that skaters read this, and feel motivated to achieve their personal best, not let what others do intimidate them, but motivate them. Realize the great things you have accomplished thus far. I know this is just the beginning for me, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

~Eliot