INTERVIEW w/ Cristina ROTUNNO
"it went wrong"
Cristina ROTUNNO (ITA)
ID: 20911000960
Speed Slalom Women's World #2
Nb of Comps in 2013: 7
Total score: 1673
Best-4: 1157
Chloé Seyrès for WorldSlalomSeries.com
2013 Top-5s Interview Series
Collected January 2014
After a whole year of World #1 at the Speed Slalom World Ranking, from September 2012 to September 2013, Cristina Rotunno is destitute from the throne by the very one she had ousted after a 22-month reign, her team mate Barbara Bossi. With a Best-4 of 1147, she is only 143 points away from the top.
Winner of the European Championships and of the XMasters Award at Senigallia both times in front of Barbara Bossi, 2nd at the Hannover Inline Games behind the latter, 3rd at Busto Battle, and 4th at the Worlds, she comfortably hangs on to the second place of the world ranking.
INTERVIEW
C.S. What do you think of your overall performances all through the season?
C.R. Surely I can not compare this year to last year, but in the overall I think it went wrong. The best period was in July, especially with the Battle of Senigallia and the European Championship, and the worst was after August.
C.S. Last year you said you could feel the Asian girls improving but you were not sure if you had to fear them or not. This year at the Worlds, both you and Barbara, the two leaders of the world ranking for ages, were defeated by Asians...
C.R. In my opinion, the Asian girls have definitely improved, but they still haven't reached our speed. Barbara and me were defeated because of precision, probably due (speaking for myself) to a total lack of concentration. And I was not prepared as I should have been, because of some preparation problems in the preceding months.
"the Asian girls have definitely improved,
but they still haven't reached our speed"
C.S. Can you name one girl speed slalomer who is rising and who impressed you this season?
C.R. The nominate for me would be Lily Granjon, because she has really improved a lot this year!
C.S. What is the 2013 performance you are the proudest of?
C.R. The European Championship was my best performance, and I'm all the more proud as I could keep the title I had won the year before.
C.S. A regret?
C.R. I really wanted to be the best at the PSWC and at the World Championship... I find more satisfaction in winning big competitions, or the most important competitions of the year than being #1 at the world ranking. When you win, you can say that you are the champion, whereas the ranking is a point calculation. Obviously both rankings and titles are important, but I'm more into titles.
"I could keep the European title"
C.S. What are your objectives for 2014?
C.R. My objectives for next season are definitely doing better, keeping the European title and regaining the World title. But that's an objective that many skaters have in sight, and I should definitely work better than last year in order to achieve it.