An Interview with Olympic Ice Dancer Olivia Smart
Thank you so much to Olivia for agreeing to chat with me. She is preparing for her second Olympics representing the Spain. ice. She will this week compete alongside her partner Tim Dieck at the Cup Of China Grand Prix. Dancing On Ice winner, proud dog mom and now adding podcaster to her resume. Check it out on her YouTube channel @oliviasmartx
Why did you decide to keep Dune or do Dune part two?
Dune part two came very unplanned, actually. Tim and I had an idea and a program; everything planned for an Olympic season free dance. We came back from Worlds from a nice break, and we started cutting music for this new concept that we have that wasn't Dune Two. And we were both really excited and very sold on it. When we brought it to the ice, everyone was on board. Everyone was happy.
It was actually music, it was music that we had told the coaches a couple of years ago we wanted to skate to so they knew we wanted to do it this season. We were playing on the ice and they're like it's really good. They were, they were on board, but there was always something. They were being a little bit passive, and I'm like, okay, unsure. Like, why the excitement isn't there? We’re finally skating this music that we wanted to for a while
Then it's our coach, Romain, where we were playing some music with him. He's like, I really like it. And we're like, great. And he's like, but not for what you think. We’re like, what? He’s like, I think you should do Dune Two. And we're like, ah, okay, sure thinking, he's joking. But then the week later, we're in another lesson with him and we're trying elements again on this new music. Then he's like, no, no, seriously, I think you should do Dune Two.
We’re like, wait, you weren't joking. Okay, tell us more. Please give us your explanation on why you think we should do Dune Two. Of course, we trust our coaches hugely. They’re our guiding source. Well, he sold us on the reasonings as to why, The main reasoning was the trajectory and the build that we built with Dune One. Not so much, even just in the results that the program brought us, but the following, the fans and the storyline that came with it.
We left Boston from Worlds, and people were asking us if we could keep the program for the Olympic season. It was as soon as Romain told me we can please everybody, in a way, by keeping Dune, but doing Dune Two. Doing something completely different but it is still Dune. So you're pleasing the people that want you to keep the program and do Dune still, but you're also pleasing people that want to see a new program.
I was like, okay, I really like that concept because yes of course, I perform and I compete for placements and to exceed that but I live to perform for the crowd and to entertain people. I want to give them what they wanna watch so I do carefully listen and see what people say online because I want to please people in that way. We thought it would be a great balance of giving the fans and the crowd what they wanna see but while doing something different as well
Just the trajectory of it being the Olympic season as well, from last season to this year, it's a really important year. I think just the journey of what the program and the music still has to give us, because there's so much music from both movies and it's a cool continuation of our story as well. If it wasn't an Olympic season, I don't think we would have done it. It's mainly because it's the Olympic season, the trajectory that we got further from this program, pre-olympic season, like you wanna see that journey then to the Olympics
It’s a risk because you're ultimately comparing it to version one. But it also could be a risk, reward sort of deal, but that's a risk we're willing to take. It also would have been a risk doing something completely brand new also because Dune was great. So it's a lose lose situation. You've got to see what's the best option for us, and we're happy with how it's going so far.
It was really tricky to kind of separate what Dune One was to Dune Two and make something new yet has those nuances from last season. It’s been a great process so far, and it's only gonna grow throughout the season and hopefully show a continuation of Tim and I’s journey but also the Dune story as well which is what we're trying to portray
What was the music you were gonna do, if you don't mind me asking?
Olivia: We really wanted to do The Matrix. We wanted to do The Matrix for a couple of years now. We actually were gonna do it last season. Then Dune came on the radar, and I was like, actually, I think I wanna do this, and then we save the Matrix for the Olympic season. But that ship has sailed for this season. We'll see if it gets to come around another year. It's music I have wanted to skate to for years. Tim also, but separately, this was before we started skating together. Maybe one day
What about your rhythm dance? How did you decide on the music for that?
Olivia: Rhythm dance was a little trickier, because the concept that we were given by the ISU for the requirements for the rhythm dance this year that the only bullet point was entertaining. We’re like, okay, that's a very broad spectrum; so nineties and entertaining. We’re like, okay, well, good job. There's a lot of great music from the nineties. I think nearly, probably, every ice dancer went through that nineties dance playlist on Spotify. The views went up on that.
This year, it was a little trickier because there's so much music from the nineties. In a way, you are kind of spoiled for choice. There’s too many options but there's also a lot of obvious options that you listen to and you like but think a lot of people are going to skate to this. But then it could turn around be the opposite that everyone thinks that so no one's gonna skate to it.
Tim and I like to think outside the box a little bit like we like to do something that's a little bit more unique to what you might hear in the junior field and senior field. Like I said, a lot of the music is very good and very skateable music. But that doesn't mean that that's our first choice. Then, with the entertaining factor, we wanted to choose music that everybody knew.
Last season, we chose a rhythm dance by Janis Joplin, that was known, but not worldwide. So that was our struggle. So this season we are like, hey, we wanna make sure we choose music that you play and everyone's like, oh, I love this song, or l haven't heard the song in a while. With that, like nineties nostalgia as well. Also with Europeans, Olympics and Worlds being in Europe, we wanted to really hit the European crowd a lot more
We loved the song, Let Me Entertain You from the bat, like right away. It was just a hard struggle to find something to suit that song within a three minute cut for the rhythm dance that wouldn't break it up and make it kind of choppy. So it took us a while to find a song that complemented “Let Me Entertain You” without overpowering it. Then I came across the Freedom track, which was by Robbie Williams. I also have this pet peeve of mixing artists. We're doing “Let Me Entertain You” and we're doing like a Robbie Williams look, I wanna do another Robbie Williams track. I don't wanna do a random artist. I did manage to find the Robbie Williams’ cover of Freedom by George Michael. It fit the style right away. Sounds like Robbie Williams. So it matched well, and it just gave us that strong opening to the program that we needed, without overpowering the like second half of the program being, Let Me Entertain You
Do you make your own music mix or who makes them?
No, I am not that powerful. I'm not that skillful. We have somebody that we work with. His name's Hugo. He actually works with I'd say at least 80% of the figure skating world. He's like the dark horse behind the scenes. He does all of our music cuts and compositions. He also works with somebody called Carl.If you need a piece of music composed like something made to kind of fill in a gap from two pieces, he has somebody that will make that for him.
He’s got the full setup of mixing, mastering music. I think, for the rhythm dance, like only in September, we're on like version 20 of our rhythm dance cuts. I know people have exceeded that. Hugo has very, very good patience for doing these cuts. But he works with everybody all around the world. He’s the best at what he does. It pays off because everybody goes to him.
What has it been like building your partnership with Tim compared to when you previously skated with Adrian and you went to the Olympics with him? What is it like now building a new team?
Well when I look back at building my partnership with Adrian. One, it feels so long ago. I feel like a different person. I've gone through many different books and stories since then. It is so different in ways, because one, I'm definitely a different skater and person than I was when I started skating with Adrian.
When I started skating with Adrian, I was star struck. I was newish to the senior circuit. I knew Sarah. I knew Adrian and them skating together. I kind of felt like the underdog a bit. But people saw potential in me. I really was at a place in my career where I was like, okay, I gotta do this, or I'm not doing this. To find a partner is really difficult in the senior circuit.
My journey with Adrian was kind of, it felt like my first introduction to senior ice dance properly, even though it wasn't as I had a partner prior to that. I learned a lot with my partnership with Adrian, just knowing how to be a professional athlete, how to handle pressure. My first experience of trying to make an Olympic Games was not making the Olympic Games in 2018. The heartbreak, the outcome and then the come back from that, and then training again another four years to then make the Olympics in 2022.
I learned so much in that time period, but it went by so fast. Whereas with Tim, it's going by really slow. But so much has happened, like with Tim, we've only been skating together for a short time. This will only be our third season together, so not even three years. I'm like, wait, so much has happened. I got my second Grand Prix medal. I got my first with Adrian, but I got my second Grand Prix medal. I have a World Small medal. I won my first challenger. In three years, I’m shocked myself.
The build with Tim has been, it's been a bit well, we call it the accelerated program, because we're both older veteran ice dances in the senior circuit. So we know. And we knew starting this partnership, it would be very difficult to be starting from scratch, but we're both used to already being up there. So we called it the accelerated program. We really had to put our heads together, put our heads down, and just make this our focus in the healthiest and smartest way possible by one just doing this for and knowing that we're doing what we're doing because we love it. And we wanted to come back.
We didn't come back hoping to win medals, to do, to make money, to do anything like that. We came back clearly because we love the sport and we missed it. We didn't wanna miss out on this opportunity to continue while we can at this age, in this stage in our life. I think just the reason as to why we came back was a big part in our success so far, and means the gratitude into it all, like, I think, just the different ways of approaching a career. One with Adrian was learning so much but with Tim I already know a lot. Its just using those skills I've learned in the past to accelerate this second part of my journey in my career with Tim in the smartest and best way possible. So far it’s paying off. I also used the team of people around me exceptionally. Over the past three years. I have not done this alone.
When did you and Tim realize that you can work as a team and feel like you were going to be a good team?
Well, so in the beginning of Tim and I’s partnership, Tim, when I wasn't, when I was looking for a partner, well, I wasn't actually looking for a partner.
This was prior to me joining Dancing on Ice so I was not looking for a partner. I was just kind of floating and deciding what I wanted to do with my career. Tim contacted me and asked if I wanted to have a tryout. I unfortunately declined, because I was like, I'm not in a place to do this right now. It's only been like five months since Adrian retired.I wasn't sure what I was doing with my career at the time. So the first step of Tim and I actually interacting in that way was me declining a try out.
Tim then told me at a later date, when we were skating together, when I told him no, he said that he was gonna take everything in his willpower to make sure we skate together. So he actually came to Montreal to have a trial with somebody else while he was here. He caught the coaches eye and they were like, look, maybe you should have a try with him just to, like, try and not have any regrets. And I was like, okay, sure I can.
I just signed my Dancing on Ice contract two weeks ago, so I don't know how this is gonna work if it does go well. Unfortunately, but fortunately, we did one stroking exercise together, and I was like, oh, wow, this feels not terrible. It actually feels quite good which is very rare for that feeling. In that spark that kind of hit right away, from that moment, I was like, okay, I got myself into a pickle.
But I'd say the moment we really gelled as a team, of course, our first season together, we had a lot of fun building programs, getting to know each other, really like matching our skill set. It was very difficult, but it was very fun. Our first season was a bit of a blur for myself, but I'd say the moment I knew Tim and I were the right team and the right people together was after Nebelhorn trophy last season. We had not a great competition at Nebelhorn that season. We were coming off not a great skate from the season prior at the World Championships in Montreal.
There was just a lot of negative feelings, a lot of doubt, a lot of just, I would say, like, emotions around not succeeding and not having the feeling of why we came back to skating, like, feel the right way. Then I'd say it was after Nebelhorn trophy, where we came back from that competition beat. We were emotionally, physically beat. We were like, why are we doing this? Like, we love this sport, and this is making me not love this sport. We had lots of conversations, and it was that moment and those training weeks from Nebelhorn to Skate America. We were like, look like we really want to do this. We want to put it all in like, we can do this.
We know our worth. We know our skill set and let's just enjoy this while we can. I think it's just a shift in the joy of our skating again and the way we carried ourselves as athletes Just putting your heads to everyone being like, okay, we wanna do this, like, we wanna go out there.We wanna entertain people. We don’t want to embarrass ourselves. We wanna do this on the big stage. The outcome from Skate America, I think it was a month after Nebelhorn was a success. It was the big step up in our career and what kicked off our trajectory as a team. Of course, that moment was the best because it was a confidence moment for us as well.
I'd say it's that time between Nebelhorn and Skate America, where I was like, this is where Tim and Olivia have meshed. To have a team mesh so well in two years, it can happen, but it's not the same as these teams that have been together for 09-10 plus years. So, like I said, we were on an accelerated program, but it felt like, in that month between those two events, we managed to, we did it. It feels like we're still, to this day, building that relationship, that trust, that bond, and hopefully it only gets bigger and better from here.
Why did you decide to continue representing Spain?
We decided to continue representing Spain because well we did weigh out both countries. Both factors were Tim being German, me representing Spain already. Great Britain was out of the question, because I haven't represented Great Britain in forever. Where we were in our careers, We needed a quick turnover. We were like, okay, we wanna compete like, soon. Also, the Olympics are in two seasons, or three seasons at the time. I was like, we don't have long and we know passports, legal reasons, like all those things take time.
So we had to weigh our options. We did a lot of research and a lot of conversations on both German and Spanish passport citizenship situation. For the timeline that we had and for where we wanted to put our focus into skating, Spain was the easiest and best option for us.We knew they could help Tim get citizenship and a passport through myself, because I have full citizenship and passport from Adrian. That was not a guarantee but it was possible.The German side was a lot more difficult. They were not certain. Having certainty for us was quite important in this aspect, because it's a big stress to carry and. I also was very familiar with Spain.
I have had an extremely positive experience with the Federation of the last couple of years and skating with Adrian. So I was like, I believe this is the right path for us. Tim trusted me. He met the team. He met the federation, and he felt the family energy right away. He felt the support and the community from them. I don't think it's something they really have in Germany so much. It's really sport driven base. Well, Germans are very, like, on it.
it’s like you're comparing Germans who are so strict scheduling wise, like, really on it to Spain, who's like, oh, it's, siesta time. very different energies. They welcomed Tim with open arms and the support he felt right away. He was really on board with making that transition with me. I was also open to transitioning to representing Germany. It, like I just said, it wasn't as certain in terms of passport and citizenship for the games.
You speak Spanish, right?
A little bit. I do speak and I can read very well. I just get very shy. when it comes to, like, interviews and talking, I make a lot of mistakes, which is, apparently everyone's told me, you know, it's fine. It's fine. So I am still to this day practicing and studying. Tim is also working with a tutor and studying himself. We're both this season, especially pushing each other to speak Spanish more and converse with at least like our federation and our team. In Bratislava, we were only allowed to speak in Spanish to our team leader, which was great because we need that practice. We need that everyday, like your face to face with someone, and you can speak, because here, where we're Montreal we don't get that practice. Consistency helps a lot, of course.
So whenever we send emails to anyone from the Federation, we're all in Spanish, we're, we're really trying. I've definitely learned from my experience representing Spain that one day if I do have kids.My kids are learning their languages young, because there's something about the mature brain that I'm like, why is this so much harder for me now?
When training in Montreal, do you mostly train in English? I know they also speak French
Yes. So we mainly train in English. All the coaches are bilingual. But there will be some people that will speak to me in French. I think I've been here for that long now, that, like, when you're in person of the language, you kind of get accustomed to it. There's certain phrases like Quebec phrases that I do know now. So sometimes Sam, our off ice dance choreographer, will speak to me in French. I'll be like, why? Okay? And I'll say, why? Like? And I'll respond as if I'm fluent in Québécois. I'm not, but we do understand little things, but mainly fully in English. If a coach does look at me and speak to me in French, I don't understand. I'll be like, English, please. But no, they're, they're very aware of that.
What is it like training in Montreal? Many of the top ice dance teams train there. What is like getting to train with them?
Well, I've been here for twelve years now, and I'm not the first team that was here. I moved here with Adrian, who was already here, and we were already a bigger school then, for what I was used to, as I used to train alone in New Jersey prior. When I moved here, I was like, oh my God, there's 16, five teams on the ice.This is huge. Well, now we're over what 20 teams, and it's crazy what they've built here. It’s a very fun environment, because you're coming into the rink everyday, and you're seeing different faces. Our schedule changes daily, so different skaters skate at different times. It's refreshing in that way, because it's not, it doesn't feel like a complete routine in a way. There are so many teams here that you kind of lose track of who's here, who's where, who's competing this week.
I don't know how the coaches do it, that's why they have a good team behind them to help keep track of things. It is good. There's a lot of teams here that I've been training and competing with for years who are close friends of mine now. Being on the ice with them really motivates me. It helps me. It pushes me. I enjoy seeing what people are doing and producing because it gives you that little fire. We're like, okay, like, I can go do this. I understand the aspect behind, like a way out of the team and out of IAM. That is, like, how do they have so many teams?
Honestly, I don't know how they do it either. They schedule it themselves in a really good way. I just tried to focus on what Tim and I have to do here at the school, and not so much about what everybody else does. It's very impressive what they've built with so many teams. And, gosh, like 2018 Olympics, I was training with Tessa and Scott and Gabi and Guillaume and Maddie and Zach, and now that cycle has completely changed. I'm training with Maddie and Evan, Lilah and Lewis. All these top teams that have changed over the years. It’s really inspiring as well to see these top teams and your competitors on the ice every day.
I'd say my favorite part is going to competitions though, with people like of course, I love my partner. I love Tim. I love traveling with Tim. But it is nice to go to the airport with your training mates, so your friends and, like, sit and have dinner together before you take a plane. Like, those moments are quite special. I'd say it's a little different now, cause I'd say the ice dance world, even itself, has changed, that the relationships are there.
But everyone, when they're on the ice, is just so driven, their eyes are set, focused on what they need to do in that hour and a half session. In the summer, it's different. But like nowadays, there's no outside distractions. Everyone's just focusing with their coach or their phone and their camera. You don't pay too much attention to it anymore.
Hannah: I think it's really cool like the community you know you've built like I-I know matty designed your costumes and then even outside of the ice academy of montreal you know you let Alysa lu where one of Your costumes so i think that's Just A really cool you know community aspect
The skating community is really small, but big in a way. Everyone's really tightly knit. I think it's the fact that we all go through these highs and lows and these adrenaline moments together, that even if you don't know somebody like you're gonna know them just from the experience that you just had competing on the world stage together or next to each other at least
How often do you train? How many hours a week?
We train Monday to Friday. weekends off. We're on the ice for between three to four hours a day. Then each individual on each team is different. They do off ice extra every day or every other day. But it’s between three to four hours on the ice every Monday to Friday.
Do you feel like you have to fight for ice time with how many teams there are?
No the coaches schedule everybody with their allocated amount of time and around your schedule as well. So everybody's different but each team gets the same amount of ice time. It depends on what you need and what you pay for with coaching time but the ice time is the same
Hannah: I know you have a dog, you're in a relationship, friends. How do you balance everything?
Oh oof. Well, I've been struggling with that a little bit more this year. I used to be the biggest social butterfly. I used to be the life of the party. But I can say that I do feel like I've gotten older over the past two years. This summer especially I tried to do, I would find myself spending my summer evenings, or my summer in general, with my dog and my significant other. I'm like, my God, and I have friends reach out. I would go and see friends every now and then. It's just that I've become a bit more of a homebody. I really enjoy my space and preserving my energy. So the balance is not there right now, but the people that I know and love and who are my friends. I have made sure to tell them, it's nothing personal.
It's a very big season for me, and I just need to put my energy where my priority is this year. Everyone understands. everyone's on board. But the balance is tricky. We make sure that myself and my significant other, we get to go and do exciting things and fun things every now and then. We're not just like, rink home, rink home. Having a dog also really helps, because it gets you out of the house gets you to go on dog walks and do fun things with her
I've definitely become a bit more of a home body, enjoying my family time. We also moved into a new apartment. Are new, literally, new year's Eve, the beginning of this year. We fell in love with the apartment. So I think that helped me become a homebody as well. Little things like, I no longer go out to get coffee. I make them at home. So I deal I'm like, that's a big difference for me.
With the Olympics being during Covid, is there anything that you feel like you missed out on there. Are you looking forward to having more of a complete Olympic experience?
Because 2022 was my first Olympics, I had, luckily for me, I had no expectations. I had no feeling or idea what the Olympics was like, and felt like only from the television and pictures. Adrian, on the other hand, for him, it was not the best Olympics, because he experienced, sochi, prior to that, which was a full, proper Olympics with crowd, people can mingle socialing etc. So for me, the COVID Olympics in Beijing was perfect.
It was just as special. It was, of course, weird seeing people wearing the hazmat suits, everything around the Games, because we were specifically in China as well, where Covid came from.
Once you were in the village and saw all the athletes together, it really didn't take away that magical feeling for me. We were so driven and had zoned in for that game just qualifying, that once I was there, kind of felt like a relief. Of course, though then the competition hits and the pressure hits. But I'd say it was a really, really special, special Olympics for me, because well results wise, but then also telling ourselves, we experience the only winter Olympic Games during a pandemic. I'm like, that's pretty unique. Like someone to tell your kids when you're older. I know it's very weird, but I'm like, it's just a unique experience that you can't really explain to anybody else. But that's with the Olympics in general. You can't explain or appreciate what the Olympics is unless you experience it yourself.
So I'm excited as well, because I'll get to experience that proper Olympic feeling, technically, for the first time next year as well. Even though it's my second games, it will feel like a first in a way. I think the biggest part of it for me was actually helping my mom and dad buy tickets for the Olympics like a month ago online. I was like, wow, I'm actually buying it. I'm actually gonna see you guys in the crowd at the Olympics. That is the weirdest part for me having my parents in the crowd at the Olympics. I'm like, it's gonna feel weird, cause I'm not used to that. That’s the normal
The biggest thing I'm excited for is the crowd. Like I said, earlier in a question, I perform for the crowd. I like to entertain people. That's why I do what I do. Doing that not to a crowd in Beijing was a little different, so I'm excited to do that to a crowd and my family and friends in italy
What has been your favorite or best memory so far with skating?
Oh good question. I would definitely say the Olympic games. The opening ceremony that excitement was a big, big one, and also something I've dreamed of my whole career. I couldn't, I actually never thought I would come true. I'd say that moment a hundred percent
But then a close second, that would be the ending of our free dance at the World Championships in Boston last season. Just finishing the program, knowing that we just did the best we could on the biggest stage of the year. And then looking out in the US of all places, and we represent Spain, and looking out and people stood on their feet. I was like, what? I had to tap Tim and be like, Tim, look, look around, because both of us were just gobsmacked with what we've just done, and were able to produce with so much pressure
But I think just looking around and seeing the crowd on their feet and having that standing ovation as a Spanish ice dance team in I think we're in like, seven or six place after the rhythm dance like, that is, was crazy for me and one of the best memories. So I'd say there's two top ones there that they compete very closely together. But of course, the Boston World one is so recent that it still hits home thinking and talking about it.
Do you and Tim have any idea what you want to do for a gala?
We do. We actually need to start working on that this week and the next couple weeks, up to our first grand prix, because we were lucky that in Bratislava , we didn't have a gala because we weren't prepared for that then. We do have one planned. I won't say what it is just yet, but you'll see it for the first time in China.
Do you prefer the rhythm or the free dance?
I think I prefer the free dance, the free dance nowadays. I feel a bit more, well funny and no pun intended, free when I get to skate the free dance. The rhythm dance is so technically based now that you can have fun and dance it and perform it but you have to get some turns called in order to do well or get a decent score. So it's hard to really put your brain into so many different baskets for the rhythm dance. So, like, okay, you need to dance. You need to entertain, but you also need to get your turns. But you also need to think about the pattern, and you also need to think about performing. So there's so many different aspects to think about, which is normal and what we do but with the rules changing every year, with the rhyme dance requirements and stuff, it's hard to get into it, because by the time you get into it, you're like, oh, season done
Whereas is the free dance, You can the, I think, just like the expansion of having that freedom on elements and certain things makes a big difference. Especially with Dune, I feel like I can fully go into character. With the programs that we've done in the past with the free dance like with my Zorro program, I really like going into characters and portraying them.
Who did you look up to? When you were a young ice dancer, who were your favorites?
So young ice dancer, I was never a big ice dance fan. I never used to watch ice dance. I was a freestyle skater. My idol when I was a young skater was Sasha Cohen. I wanted to be like Sasha cohen. I want to be Sasha cohen. Then I had ice dance try out cause I was doing solo dance for fun. Then I transitioned to ice dance. But I never watched it. I tell Jean-Luc and tell friends this I never watched ice dance never. My coach at the time when i started ice dance, her partner was a Evgeni Platov, so i watched few of his videos but i was never a massive ice dance fan.
I never watched Tessa and Scott, Meryl and Charlie, I never spent the time. I will say, the one ice dance team that I was a bit of, like, fan girl with, and I had watched their program once or twice, was Nathalie and Fabian, their Mummy program, I remember watching that a couple of times. Then meeting them at Europeans in Sheffield and being star struck. So if there was a team, I would have to say I looked up to you or fan girled over, it would be Nathalie and Fabian
Do you have any advice for young skaters, especially if they're gonna try ice dance or for young skaters and ice dancers in general?
For young skaters and ice dancers in general, but I think young skaters I'd say my biggest advice is to be true to yourself. Find your unique flair, your unique identity in this sport that is painted to be an old fashioned judged sport. The figure skating world is changing and it will continue to change. I think my biggest advice would be to find your unique self within this sport, whether that's through the music you skate to, the way you look, the way you skate, the elements you do, what you wear, like find your niche, and if you're confident in it, everybody will be on board with you.
Do you have a favorite animal or character or something you like to get as a stuffie?
Oh, good question. I'm not picky on stuffies but I am trying to think now. Okay, this sounds weird, not an animal, but stuffy. I'm a big collector of food, not food in general, but I have a tomato candle. I have an egg candle. I have a burger candle. So, I love, like, food things like someone I remember once threw me on an egg pillow, and I loved it so much, just like random things like that, I'd say. But then any animals. I'm a huge animal fan like any animal
Tell me about Linda
Linda is thriving. She has the best life possible to say, we adopted her a year ago now, and where she was before coming to us, that girl's life has upgraded humongously. She currently is lying and sleeping in the sunshine, and she's great. She's become a fan favorite. Also, I always get messages like, we wanna see more Linda. And I'm like, my God the amount of things I could make of content with her is like, endless. She's the funniest character.
Every single day she greets us at the door with a different item in her mouth, whether that's one of our toys, whether she picks up one of our shoes, or she picks up like a hat from the spare bedroom closet, like she greats us with something new in her mouth. Every single day, I've told myself I wanna keep, I wanna like, take a video every time I come home, I do forget sometimes but I'm in, the making of it because it is so funny. The other Day I left a basket of clean laundry on the floor, and she greets me with two pairs of tube socks in her mouth, like that. You can't make this up, but it's just funny to see. But no, she, she's great. Thank you for asking
If you could do any program that is not yours, what would you choose to skate to?
I love the music from Ghost. The music from Ghost is gorgeous. It gets me in my feels. It’s like beautiful skating music. I know the Georgian girl is skating to it this season. I watched her program specifically from China because she's skating to ghost. We also have an ice dance team here, Vanessa and Anton that are skating to it. Every time it comes on, I love it. I don't think it's a piece of music I would skate to one day, but I love watching teams or skaters skate to that music.
Do you watch any other sports?
Olivia: I do not do not. Does Dancing With the Stars count? It’s dance. I started watching Dancing With the Stars again this season so that that I watch, but not really many other sports. I used to watch a lot of football, like English football, soccer. still do, actually, when the season’s on, and Premier League plays. Other than that, not so much.
I am actually a part of a fantasy football league. Somehow got involved in that through Jean-Luc and my close friend Nathan. I don't know what I'm doing. I think I'm losing but I'm somehow a part of it. You have to make a team name, like a personal name for yourself or your team. everyone's choosing funny names. My name is Lisan Al Gaib. I felt like it suited me
What are your favorite elements to do?
Favorite elements? I'd say step sequence in the free. I like skating together. I'm not a massive fan of skating separately. I'm like, I do ice dance for a reason. I want a partner. I'd say step sequences in the free dance and I really enjoy doing lifts
You and Tim have really good slides. I like your new slide in the new Dune where you glare at the camera.
I remember my choreographer having us try it. At first I was like, that's really boring. Like, that's really simple. But musically, it made sense. Then he had us slide down into the splits. And I was like, what? And I remember Tim being like, excuse me, what? you want me to do what?
But then when we did it for a choreographer, he was like, oh my God, that's great, yes. And we're like, huh, you what? I remember saying to Tim don't worry, I don't think it's gonna stay. It matched the music great and it stayed and now people love it. So if you see Tim warming up the splits off ice you know why
Your shoulders must also be so strong. I saw in your free where you almost go up on him almost do a backflip from over him
We were trying to come up with a new choreography lift which last season's choreography lift was one of the highlights of our program. So that was another thing. We’re doing Dune Two, is like how we take these elements and make them better cause the expectation is high. So with this choreo lift, we work to our off ice lift coach, and he showed us this crazy video of these two circus artists doing this lift off ice. It was the most impressive thing I've ever seen.
I remember being like, I what are you talking about? I can't do that. That's no. And then he's like, just try it. Let's just see, like, if you try it, and it's literally feels impossible, then no.mI did it first time and was like, wow, that actually wasn't terrible, and could be very cool and different and unique. The reason why I can do it is because I have a strong gymnastics background. doing the bars like you, you always hang like this. With your shoulders literally rotated the wrong way. So my shoulder flexibility from gymnastics showed in this lift. it does take a lot of strength work off ice treatment, making sure my shoulders stay healthy and intact for it. The one we did in Bratislava was not the best one we've done. It's at the three minute mark or three and a half minute mark in our free dance. We hope that we can build our stamina so the lift is better. Hopefully it pays off.
Do you have anything else you want people to know about you?
Honestly, I think I put a lot of myself out on my social media page, enough, but, l’d say the only thing I want people to know in terms of, like, skating fan base, is that I’m not anybody's enemy. I love this sport and I love the people that are involved in it. I only want what's best for people and the people watching. I only want them to be entertained. I only want them to be entertained by what we do. I hope to just continue pushing this sport in the right direction and inspiring younger athletes and younger skaters to be their true selves in what they do and push the boundaries a little bit more
I understand the appeal for drama through our sport, that's totally fine. People love reality TV for a reason so people want the drama, which I completely get. Honestly, I do the same myself. I watch Love Island for a reason. I understand the making of and the talk of the drama within our sport. That's kind of what makes things exciting as well. But I'd say it's the part where people put words into our mouth so people make up stories that are not true.
That’s one thing but we try not to take those things too, too personally, but it is a competition. In the end, it's a judged sport. People have their opinions and their ideas of what could happen and what can be. That's also what makes it exciting, not just for us, but for them as well, like they're the ones at home waiting for that day to watch us compete at this competition. So if it's entertaining for them in their own way, then absolutely, why not? I'm on board with it