I was a competitive skater in my childhood and my early teens. I think it is different for everyone.
I mostly did better at competitions than in training and it was nerve-wrecking. The last practice on home ice and the warm-up would mostly be totally shite and then I mostly managed good performances. I had a couple of meltdowns too, though.
In the beginning I would sometimes be so nervous that I'd even cry before taking the ice. My coach always told me to let it all out before the performance and it worked.
I don't exactly remember my skates because they went by so fast and you are just so concentrated and focused. But I remember being happy and relieved when I skated well.
Since the competitions we went to, were no high-class competitions, we didn't have fans at all apart from our clubmates and parents. But it was nice being cheered on and even nicer when sometimes people from other countries supported you during your skates. I remember the Swedes to be very enthusiastic about every skater at one competition. This really helps.
In the end, I let all of my nervousness on the ice and was always pretty chill when taking exams at school or university which was a great gift because I've seen so many people crumble under pressure and since I was used to it since my childhood, it didn't affect me as much. For that I am surely grateful
