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Erle
the Pearl
Erle Harstad |
February 17, 2008
Article & Photo © J.
Barry Mittan
Although Norway produced one of the world's most
famous skater and its first superstar, Sonia Henie,
there have been few competitors from the country
on the international scene for many years. Erle Harstad,
a 17-year-old from Baerum, shows promise. She won
the Mladost Trophy in Zagreb in 2007 and returned
to the city in January 2008 to participate in the
European Championships, finishing 30th.
"It was fun and exciting," Harstad said
of the European Championships. "I liked watching
the other skaters, especially Carolina Kostner. And
the Finns were all beautiful skaters. The 2007-08
Norwegian senior ladies champion was at Junior Worlds
in 2006, placing 23rd in the qualifying round.
Harstad started skating when
she was six. "I
have two sisters, five and six years older," she
related. "They were skating and I was always
in the rink so I wanted to skate too. Both of them
stopped so I'm the only skater in my family now."
She was eleven when she first
landed a triple jump, a triple toe loop. "I'm up to a triple loop
now," she said. "My triple flip is pretty
close. I'm working on the triple toe-triple toe but
I haven't done it in competition yet. I'm trying
to get higher levels on my other jumps."
In her 2007-08 short program, Harstad included a
triple toe-double toe, triple salchow and double
axel. For the long, she does triple toe-double toe-double
toe, triple salchow-double toe, and double axel-double
toe combinations.
Of the Code of Points," Harstad said. "It
helps me absolutely. Now you know much more what
you should do to be better. I keep up with the rules
as best as I can."
Berit Steigedal coaches Harstad who trains for
two hours a day, six days a week on ice and another
four to five hours a week off ice. She trains in
Asker, Norway during the winter and in Oberstdorf,
Germany and Tonsberg, Norway. "I have been with my coach
since the beginning," she said. "From May
until August, there is no ice in Norway so I have
to go someplace else to train. For the last three
years, I've gone to Oberstdorf in the summer for
a few weeks to work with the coaches there. I met
my choreographer there two years ago."
Stanick Jeannette has choreographed
her programs since the 2006-07 season. "My short program
is new, but the long program I've had for two years," Harstad
said. "My coach found the music for the short
program ("Havana", a Latin medley). I Like
this kind of music and do it better than anything
else. I also like blues, but not classical music."
She is using "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
for the long. "I heard the music at Junior Worlds," she
explained. "The girl from China was using it.
I liked it very much and thought I could do well
with it." Off ice, she said, "I like every
kind of music that I can dance to. I like to go to
the disco and dance."
Harstad also likes to hang
out with friends and go snow skiing in the mountains. "I like classical
movies and ones with a happy ending," she said. "I
also have a pet rabbit that lives in my back yard."
Harstad is in her second year
of high school. "I
like mathematics and biology," she said. "I
want to go to university and study physical therapy
or something like that."
"I hope to skate for a long time," she
said, "as long as it can be fun and I can improve
every year. I have the most fun when I'm jumping
and when I get a new jump it makes me really happy."
