Essay About Figure Skating

By Yeo Chia Hui

Cutting a fine figure on the rink, Julian Yee glided smoothly across the ice before he executed a perfect jump shot. Much like his earlier pirouette, as well as the other acrobatic stunts he pulled, his smile remained in place.

And this, according to him, is the most challenging aspect when it comes to figure skating.

“What we do is very tough, but we need to make it look effortless,” says the 19-year-old.

A national figure skater who has made Malaysia proud on countless occasions, Yee, currently ranked 52 in the International Skating Union World Standings, is one step away from the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea －all he needs is to put in a good performance at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships,

Why did you do this?

Figure skating is a winter sport, and thus it’s still new and unknown to many Malaysians. As such, I do not receive sufficient funds from the authorities nor do we have the proper facilities and training here. In order to step up my game for Olympics, I need the guidance and expertise of experienced coaches overseas, and this is beyond my parents’ means. I do not want financial constraints to hinder my goal in promoting this sport and putting Malaysia on the figure skating map, hence I decided to seek support from the public.

You said that you “do not have the luxury of proper facilities and guidance.” Can you elaborate on this?

In Malaysia, we only have two-and-a-half rink, so when I train here, I have to practice amidst the people who are skating recreationally. The limited rink also means that ice time is scarce － either early in the morning or late at night. And since we only have one Olympic size rink, which opened last year, it’s not really conducive to prep for competitions. Moreover, I’ve come to the point where I’ve surpassed the experience and level of my coach here, so I have to train alone on a trial-and-error concept.