Chiba Mone: “It was the self-belief”

Two weeks after the Final, Chiba was back on the ice in Tokyo, at the Japanese nationals.

Her two Grand Prix wins this season, at Finlandia Trophy and Skate Canada, put her in good standing as far as Olympic qualification chances went, but stranger things have happened. Another meltdown like the one in Nagoya could make selection a headache for her national federation – and a nightmare for Chiba herself.

As she took position in the centre of the rink, Chiba, who is rarely shaken by her resolve and discipline, looked unusually nervous.

But she managed to hang on through both programs without any glaring mistakes, securing bronze and being named as one of three women selected, alongside three-time world champion Sakamoto Kaori and rising 17-year-old star Nakai Ami. It was anything but a career performance, but she did enough to realise a life-long dream.

Don’t let the disarming smile and wry sense of humour fool you, Chiba is a fighter at heart. When she speaks of her determination, the teeth clench, the eyes sharpen like that of a tiger. Kind of like Hanyu in a way. There is the no-matter-what tone to her that he had.

And Chiba will bring an intensity similar to what Hanyu brought when he became the first man to win back-to-back Olympic golds in 66 years at PyoengChang 2018. She will need it, with the women’s singles event being closer than it has in recent memory and there for the taking for several – Chiba amongst them.

“I have to give it my 100 per cent in every way,” said Chiba, who will springboard off this week’s Four Continents in Beijing to Milano. “Otherwise, I won’t know where I stand in the pecking order, how much I improved or what I learned.

“Going all in will be my motto. It will be my first Olympics. Everything I experience there will be a first. While I will be looking up to and soaking up from Kaori and [pairs Miura Riku/Kihara Ryuichi], I have to be able to hold my own as member of Team Japan.

“I can say now that I did it, but the past year truly has been full of ups and downs. I won two Grand Prix competitions, and then I was humbled in the Final.

“At the nationals, it came down to how badly I wanted to go to the Olympics. That’s what got me all the way through the free program. I stuck it out to the end and believed in myself.

“At the end of the day, it was the self-belief that led me to where I am.”