I've been informed by one of my Swedish-speaking pals that the journalist uses a lot of idiomatic expressions, which is why I got stuck in a few places. No doubt the language in the article is beautiful for those can read it, but it's hell for a beginner to translate!
Page 42 (continued):
Kristoffer, who participated in international competitions, knew he was moving hopelessly against the wind. The Russians had been drilled since they were old enough to stand in a pair of skates. Similarly, the Americans and the Japanese had access to their own rinks which were fully customized for figure skating. Kristoffer had to settle for ice sessions that the Landvetter hockey club did not use.
Another problem was that he was so lonely. When he began competing at the senior Swedish Championships, he only had one opponent, which meant that the results never became official and no medals were awarded. At the Swedish Nationals, there were only two possible placements: first or last.
Kristoffer used to come first.
- I could miss the community one might get in other sports. But I travel to the USA or Moscow for training camps sometimes, and then of course you get to meet other figure skaters. I'm probably the kind of person who doesn't suffer much from being alone.
Although he was the best in Sweden, he had poor awareness of the best skaters, those who competed at the World Championships, Olympics and the major Grand Prix events. Since he started figure skating, he had deliberately made sure to keep a distance from the sport.
- When the last of the other guys left, I was shocked. We had trained together for so many years, and suddenly he was no longer there. I knew of course that it was odd to get involved with figure skating. I skated a lot, but I was determined not to be identified too much as a figure skater. I skated on hockey blades for a long time. Maybe I distanced myself from it to avoid being bullied, I don't know. It's strange that I began doing a sport where you compete and show off because I was really shy. I understood that others thought it was ridiculous and geeky. I thought so, too. Sometimes we had exercises where we could express ourselves, play theatre. I felt so deeply ashamed that it physically hurt. But hockey could not measure up to figure skating, where everything was free and one can skate with such speed.
Oh, poor Koffe. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with the sport. It's heartbreaking for me to read that he agreed with the general public's perception that figure skating is "ridiculous and geeky", though strangely enough this didn't discourage him from continuing. He could've very easily quit when he had no other friend to practice with, yet he still stuck to it. Considering that there were no role models in the sport he could look up to, the fact that he was able to get this far is truly amazing!
Page 42 (continued):
Kristoffer, who participated in international competitions, knew he was moving hopelessly against the wind. The Russians had been drilled since they were old enough to stand in a pair of skates. Similarly, the Americans and the Japanese had access to their own rinks which were fully customized for figure skating. Kristoffer had to settle for ice sessions that the Landvetter hockey club did not use.
Another problem was that he was so lonely. When he began competing at the senior Swedish Championships, he only had one opponent, which meant that the results never became official and no medals were awarded. At the Swedish Nationals, there were only two possible placements: first or last.
Kristoffer used to come first.
- I could miss the community one might get in other sports. But I travel to the USA or Moscow for training camps sometimes, and then of course you get to meet other figure skaters. I'm probably the kind of person who doesn't suffer much from being alone.
Although he was the best in Sweden, he had poor awareness of the best skaters, those who competed at the World Championships, Olympics and the major Grand Prix events. Since he started figure skating, he had deliberately made sure to keep a distance from the sport.
- When the last of the other guys left, I was shocked. We had trained together for so many years, and suddenly he was no longer there. I knew of course that it was odd to get involved with figure skating. I skated a lot, but I was determined not to be identified too much as a figure skater. I skated on hockey blades for a long time. Maybe I distanced myself from it to avoid being bullied, I don't know. It's strange that I began doing a sport where you compete and show off because I was really shy. I understood that others thought it was ridiculous and geeky. I thought so, too. Sometimes we had exercises where we could express ourselves, play theatre. I felt so deeply ashamed that it physically hurt. But hockey could not measure up to figure skating, where everything was free and one can skate with such speed.
Oh, poor Koffe. He seems to have a love/hate relationship with the sport. It's heartbreaking for me to read that he agreed with the general public's perception that figure skating is "ridiculous and geeky", though strangely enough this didn't discourage him from continuing. He could've very easily quit when he had no other friend to practice with, yet he still stuck to it. Considering that there were no role models in the sport he could look up to, the fact that he was able to get this far is truly amazing!