Valentina: “It feels really exciting. I think this whole week our throws have been really good, so we were really confident about it. Overall, the performance was good. Our jumps have been fairly good — I mean, not perfect, but considering they weren’t perfect, the score we got is so crazy and so exciting.”
Max: “I think it’s a redemption from Skate America for us. Honestly, the last time we were over here in Zagreb, it was hard and not as good. But today, I think Valentina really brought it home.”
On landing both throws — Valentina: “For sure, it’s a personal victory. Honestly, I don’t even think about the scores or anything, just about personal goals. Just trusting myself, and it’s good.”
“Alexa Knierim once said, when she was asked what she’d say to people who wrote her off, ‘I bought everybody new pens and wrote our name back in.’ So I feel like this week has been a personal victory, just putting ourselves back out there and getting ourselves in the conversation.”
Max: “I agree with her. Last season was a heartbreak for me and the team, that I couldn’t skate. The last six, six and a half months have been some of the hardest training days in my life. A feeling like that… it’s going to affect me as a bigger skater.”
On skating to The Lion King:
Max: “It’s funny, I didn’t want to skate to it, because I was like, it’s so childhood and kind of overused.”
Valentina: “It took us seven months to convince him. And like 20 edits.”
Max: “Yeah after 20 edits, I found this one where it doesn’t sound so much like The Lion King, but it ends like it. And it still doesn’t have too much Lion King in it. It was perfect.”
“And then coming up with the costume idea — not being too generic, more subtle — I think it really sells this program. It’s such a good vehicle for us.”
