From Salchows to Chopin: Get to know Yasmin Siraj

At 14 years old and 4-foot-10, Yasmin Siraj is the youngest, and smallest senior ladies competitor at the upcoming U.S. Nationals. But don't worry about missing her - with a full arsenal of triples and impressive speed, Siraj is sure to stand out.

How do you think competing as a senior at Nationals will be different from the junior level?

That I'm on the ice with some of the people that I have watched on TV or aspire to be. I have pretty good focus in general, so I think I'll be fine, so it will be just more amazing than anything.

You are the 2010 U.S. junior silver medalist. What did you want to improve upon before making your senior National debut this year?

I really worked hard on maturing my level of skating to bring it up to the senior level and skating faster and having bigger jumps and faster spins. Trying to get the whole package to a higher level.

For someone 4-foot-10, you already skate very fast! How do you do it?

In general I like to skate fast. I love the speed you can have when you're skating, but also just pushing myself everyday to go a little faster. Even if I'm tired, keep pushing.

You made your international debut on the Junior Grand Prix this season.  What did you learn from that experience?

It was such an amazing experience to be able to go to two Junior Grand Prix's and the Final my first year on that track. I met a lot of new people from all over the world and I learned a lot. Things are different when you compete internationally because you have to get used to the jet lag and a new country with new people, new language, but I love to travel, so it was perfect.

You made a trip to the Great Wall while in Beijing for the Final. What was that like?

It was so amazing to be on top of history. It was also really cool because we had just finished our unit on Ancient China in history class so I knew exactly what I was seeing and the history behind it. It was really cool to relate what I've been learning at school to my skating travels.

With the junior and senior Grand Prix Finals held together, did you enjoy watching the senior ladies?

It was amazing to see how they composed themselves for this competition and to be right there with the best of the best, right there in front of me, and being able to watch them and meet some of them.

Who did you meet?

I met Miki Ando, Carolina Kostner, Rachael Flatt and Alissa Czisny and Akiko Suzuki. Of the guys, I met Daisuke [Takahashi] - which was - I really wanted to [meet him] for a while.

What do you admire about Daisuke Takahashi?

He really has that whole package. He skates so fast and it's effortless. He jumps so high, but you don't see that he's trying so hard. It flows. Everything is perfect. I just love his skating.

In addition to skating, you are also an accomplished pianist. When did you start playing?

When I was five I wanted to start, but my fingers weren't developed enough so I had to wait another year until I was six. All three of us, my brother, my sister and I, play piano. We practice two hours everyday. All three of us had solo performances at Carnegie Hall last year. We're competitive pianists.

What is your favorite piece to play?

I really like ‘Gondoliera' by Lizst. That was a nice piece. I played ‘Fantasie Impromptu' [by Chopin] two years ago and as I was competing with it in piano I also used that music for my short program in skating. It was very cool that I could be competing in two different things with the same piece of music.

Finally, I read you wanted to land a triple Axel?

Yes, I really really do. Not just land it. I want to land it of course, but the idea of practicing triple Axels and jumping that high and rotating that fast is just...pleasure.