Jamal came, skated and impressed the whole world
Part II
by Helga Dobor &
CĂ©line Oreiller
photos © Dushenka
& Jamal
Othman
'We fit together
perfectly'
 |
You have always had the same
coach, but do you also train with other coaches to get
different advice and a different skating "approach"? |
What can you tell us about your coach, Jacqueline
Kiefer?
Jacqueline is a former figure skater, even a professional
for several years. She toured 5 years with Holiday on Ice.
In 1987 she got her diploma as a Swiss figure skating teacher.
And since last year she’s even Master Coach of the PSA
(Professional Skaters Association of America).
In 1984 she started teaching in Bern and became the
coach of the Swiss top skaters.
As I said, I’ve been with her since I started skating.
It was she who taught me to skate the way I do. But she doesn’t
only coach me on the ice; she also accompanies me to all my
competitions and manages the main part of my career. We’ve
been all over the world together: Germany, France, Italy,
Netherlands, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania,
Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, USA, Canada, China, Japan,
and Russia. In all these countries it was Jacqueline Kiefer
who looked after me on and off the ice, competition or practice,
whatever. We fit together perfectly. We’ve spent a lot
of time together in many different places; but whenever and
wherever we are, I am very happy to be with her, and I’m
extremely grateful. There might be many skaters saying this,
but I know it’s true for me; I have the best coach in
the world!
'Not just a dream'
What are your goals in skating?
Right now I want to become consistent in my triple Axel and
my triple-triple combinations. Then, my goal for the next
season will certainly be to qualify for the Olympic Games
in Torino. I am at the beginning of my senior skating career,
and I want to improve myself continuously, and get up to the
top step by step. I guess I have time, at least until the
Olympics in 2010! Other than that, I always wanted to participate
in all major figure skating championships, like in Euros,
Worlds and the Olympics. I really hope to reach this. I’d
also like to be in the world’s top ten, someone whose
skating will be remembered as long as possible.
Most skaters dream of going to
the Olympics next year. What are the requirements for
you to get sent? |
 |
'Skaters don’t have times for hobbies!'
You are currently a student?
I have exams in June and will be graduating from high school.
Then I’ll take one year off, because it’s the
Olympic season and I want to invest the most I can into my
skating career. After that I might go to University. A first
idea I had was to study law, but I’m not too sure about
that yet. First of all I want to skate and learn languages.
Your French is very good, what other languages do
you speak?
Thanks! German is my native language, and in school we have
to learn French first, and then English. I took Italian for
two years too, I understand quite a lot but I don’t
speak it so well. In August I will start learning Russian
as I’m becoming more and more convinced that this language
is essential for skaters!
And you have been to Malaysia?
Yes, I’ve been there two times already, and I’ll
go again this summer. It’s a beautiful country; tropical
climate that I love anyway, huge and modern cities and paradises
like beaches. It’s a dream! This summer I’ll even
practice train there and skate in exhibitions. I was invited
to skate in Kuala Lumpur, the capital. I’m looking forward;
it’s going to be a great experience!
What do you like about your own country Switzerland?
I love my country! Whenever I’ve been gone and come
home to Switzerland, to Bern, I feel so happy. To know that
you arrive where you’ve spent your whole life, where
you know a huge crowd of people, where everything is familiar
to you, is a great feeling every time. In Switzerland everything
works, everything is on time, everything is clean…I
know these are clichés, but most of it is true anyway.
And compared to abroad it really is a perfectly organised
country, which is somehow reassuring.
I love travelling and I love being abroad, that’s another
great thing about figure skating; but I’m never sad
to return home.
If you could be anyone for 24 hours, who would you
choose to be?
That's a difficult question! There are many people whose lives
must be extraordinary and really worth it to live for 24 hours...
But what would be really cool is to be able to look into other
people’s minds. Well, one who could do that would probably
go crazy very soon, but one could learn different points of
views, and things people don’t dare talking about. This
would be fascinating!
(And in the end the question remained unanswered...)
What is your connection with your fans?
There’s nothing in particular I can tell you, and during
competitions I don’t have that much to do with them.
But signing autographs and smiling for pictures is a nice
part of my work, as it shows that what I do is recognised
and even liked by the people. That motivates me to go on.
How does the reaction of the audience affect you?
It’s always different. When you feel sure about yourself,
when you are in a good shape and when you have confidence
in your strengths, then applause makes you fly. It makes you
feel satisfied with the work you’ve done, and the performance
you are showing at that very moment, because the audience
admits looking at you with joy. Other times a loud audience
can make you nervous and put even more pressure on you. That
happens when you don’t feel like you’re in the
shape you want to be in to perform. It can be difficult to
deal with, but it’s something everyone has to learn.
Overall I think the audience is an important factor in a figure
skating competition and should be the one who we work for,
besides ourselves.
Someone told me that you were a blond and unruly
child, is it true?
I wonder who told you! But yes, it’s true; I had shoulder-long
blond, curly hair.
There are some funny stories my mom tells sometimes. For example,
I went through this phase when I was about four years old,
where I refused to eat anything that wasn’t green. Strange,
I know, and I don’t remember my reason, I probably I
didn’t even have one, ha!
What is your hobby?
My hobby??? You should know better, figure skaters don’t
have times for hobbies! No, it’s not that bad, but I
really don’t have time for a big hobby besides skating.
Whenever I have some free time, I meet friends and go out
to dinner, drink a cup of coffee, or party!
What about computers?
Yes, I use the computer, but it’s more or less just
part of my communication and work equipment. I like to work
with it though. That’s why I manage a part of my website
on my own.
