Gemma
Age: 18
Country: Luxembourg
Spirit Animal: Cat – “They’re adorable and always land on their feet; which I wish I could do :D “
Currently representing Luxembourg in Junior Ladies, Gemma’s skating career began at the age of four and participated in her first competitive event at the age of eight in Belgium.
“When I first got onto the Ice I loved it. My parents allowed me to attend class which is how I ended up here today. My love for skating continued to grow and I continued to train hard to achieve my goals from then onwards.”
She has had the opportunity to attend three Junior Grand events as well as the European Youth Olympic Festival in 2019.
“I have had quite a few coaches for figure skating with my longest being Irina Derbina and Cornélia Picu-Paquier.”
Today, Gemma trains at Coventry Planet Ice with Marina Serova.
Q: Who is someone in your life that inspires you?
“My best-friend motivates me a lot. She always has a positive attitude and makes me feel proud of the small achievements I make which I’m so grateful for!”
Q: Who was your skating role model when you were younger?
“Yuna Kim – her skating was so beautiful and she brought a lot of emotion into her skating which I loved.”
Q: What is your favourite element in skating?
“My favourite element is triple salchow and my least favourite is probably Lutz. This is because of some bad falls with the triple attempts. My motivation to do it is that I can train another element afterwards and that with enough training the falls will get better and it will improve.”
Q: What is your favourite type of off-ice training?
“Off- Ice jumps training has always been my favourite. It’s probably because it’s similar to being on the ice so it’s always a lot of fun!”
Q: Do you have any pre-competition rituals or superstitions?
“For some reason I always need to tie the right skate first before competition otherwise it would make me unlucky.”
“My routine for competition tends to remain constant, with a similar warmup, and preparation routine every time.”
Q: You’re at an event, on the ice, in your starting position, waiting for your music to start… what are you thinking?
“My first thought is to prepare for the first element mentally and to hope the program goes well!”
Q: Do you do any type of visualization or meditation?
“Before I go to bed, I tend to visualize the jumps I had problems with during training. I’ll keep rethinking and trying figure out the mistakes I made and how to improve them. However, this has only started this past year.”
Q: Did you ever endure some type of adversity in your career?
“I have had quite a few problems with ankle injuries during my career. This was due to spraining it while I was young which caused it to weakened. I have needed to take breaks from skating on multiple occasions due to spraining it during training or other activities.”
“There was also a problem with training during covid. I had a break of around 3 months at one point and another break of around 1 month this year. Which has made it hard to improve during this season.”
“I’d recommend to others in a similar situation, to continue with off-ice training in order to stay fit until you regain the ability to step onto the ice again, as it will help you take of where you had left.”
Q: What is your ultimate goal with skating?
“When I was younger my ultimate goal was to attend the Olympics. However, now I just want to see how much I am capable of doing in this sport.”
Q: How did skating prepare you for life?
“A major life lesson I have learned from skating is, that there is always a lesson to learn from when making mistakes and to not give up.”
Q: What do you love most about skating?
“I love the feeling of when I’m in the air while jumping. There’s also that satisfying feeling every time you land something, which I also love! I must say however, that I enjoy everything about this sport!”
Q: What is your favourite memory from skating?
“My favourite skating memory would be going to the European youth Olympics festival as it was an overall amazing experience which I’ll never forget!”
Q: What is something that most people don’t know about you?
“I’m half St Helenian, which is an Island in the South Atlantic Ocean.”
Q: If skating didn’t exist and you could be anything else in the world what would it be?
“Without figure skating I would’ve most likely turned to gymnastics. I used to train it when I was younger and enjoyed it a lot!”
Outside of skating, Gemma also enjoys playing the violin, running and playing table tennis.
Currently in University and studying Biological Sciences, she aspires to one day
work in a laboratory focused in a field and subject that she loves.
Q: Where’s one place you’ve never been but hope to visit?
“I want to visit Japan one day! It seems like a beautiful place and would love to explore the beautiful scenery as well as well as visit some cities!”
Q: What’s your favourite ‘hype up’ song?
“Mr blue sky! I’m not quite sure why but most likely due to it being my favourite song since I was young so it puts me in the zone and in a positive mindset.”
Q: Any advice for young and aspiring skaters?
“Never give up and to keep trying as the hard work will pay off in the end!”
Lastly, what does it mean to you to have a #ChampionshipMindset?
“I guess a championship mindset is that in order to reach your goals, some sacrifices must be made; such as less of social life in order to purely focus on your goal, to keep working hard so you can achieve this and to keep a positive attitude throughout. With every training and competition there is something to learn and to improve upon and to never be satisfied in order to improve!
