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Stefan Falke / laif
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Alexia Paganini is the great Swiss figure skating hope.
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Stefan Falke / laif
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2.13
The 18-year-old finds perfect training conditions in New York.
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Stefan Falke / laif
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3.13
In the «Playland» in Rye, 45 minutes by car from Manhattan.
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Stefan Falke / laif
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13/13
The 18-year-old in conversation with BLICK reporter Emanuel Gisi.
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“Lexi? Is that you? »Booms through the ice rink. Zamboni driver James has spotted Alexia Paganini (18) and can hardly get his ice machine back. “You were a little girl, four years old, when you told me that you were going to take part in the Olympics. That was here, in this hall, »he says brightly. “And now, look at you!”
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We are in Rye, New York, three quarters of an hour from Manhattan by the sea, opposite Long Island. It is a cold, sunny day, the trees are still full of hoarfrost even at 3 p.m. Here, in the ice rink in the “Playland” amusement park, Paganini once made her first attempts to walk on the ice. The daughter of a Graubünden and a Dutch woman still lives nearby with her family. It is five minutes by car from home. “We went ice skating with Alexia and her two brothers because my husband thought that it was a good preparation for skiing,” says mother Margot. “Alexia was on skates for the first time when I was two.”
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“I’ve been looked at suspiciously”
It certainly helped make Paganini’s Olympia dream come true. Two years ago she was suddenly there, the US-Swiss, who had gone through the US youth programs, started for the USA, then took part in the Swiss championships and the competition ran aground. It was clear to everyone that she would buy the Olympic ticket. “She is as good as me or better than I was then,” said the last great Swiss figure skater Sarah van Berkel (35) after Paganini’s Olympic appearance in South Korea. “In the beginning I was looked at suspiciously,” says Paganini. «They wanted to know who I am, who is coming. And the media all asked the same questions: whether I’m really Swiss, whether I eat raclette, whether I know Heidi. It was a bit strange and it mainly hit my father back then. »
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In the meantime, this is no longer an issue. “I found a lot of friends on the figure skating scene in Switzerland,” she says. And they benefit quite tangibly. Thanks to Paganini’s strong appearances, Switzerland will have a second EM starting place in Graz next week. She was sixth at the European Championships last year. “Now we want to be one or two places better,” says her coach Igor Krokavec before the EM short program is scheduled for next Friday.
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School is only available online
Paganini trains with the Slovakian an hour south of “Playland” in Hackensack, New Jersey. The training center is called “Icehouse”, where the three-time Swiss champion spends eight hours every day. The conditions are unbeatable, there is even a fitness center with a view of one of the four large ice fields. She has not been to school for five years, and she attends high school online.
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“Alexia is getting better and better,” says Krokavec. «She is 18 now and runs like a woman. We try to use that to our advantage. »
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What does that mean? Paganini laughs out loud. “Igor said that?” A short thought. «He is right. I grew physically and emotionally, I feel the music differently. I no longer walk like a sweet girl, but like a woman. I can flirt with the judges now. »
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It’s the easy part. «I worked on it in the summer. Eye contact with the judges, smile, be present. In the meantime, it has fleshed out to me. »
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Top 10 at Olympia? “Realistic”
Paganini says that she has become an expert in false laughter. And laughs. Probably sincere. «It’s funny, my friends sometimes don’t believe me anymore when I smile at them. Or I get a message from them: ‘You showed a great false laugh today.’ But that’s part of this sport. ”
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She also made a leap in terms of technology. “My program has become much more difficult,” she says. “It now includes more jumps, more combinations. I am very happy with my improvements. But the others will of course also get better. »At the European Championships in Graz a personal best should be achieved, then the top 5 are realistic. The big goal, however, remains the same as that which Ice Master James revealed at the age of four in the “Playland” ice rink. The Olympic games. In two years in Beijing an increase compared to 21st place in South Korea is expected. “If she continues like this, I will see her in the top 10,” says coach Krokavec. “It’s realistic.”
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