Takahiko KOZUKA (JPN)

“Me 10 years from now huh… I’ll be almost 34? I’ll probably still be a student. I see myself still in school continuing with my studies. Since I’ve been dedicating myself to skating this year and next year, my studies have been going to waste (laughs). But the year after that, I’ll be focusing on school to graduate from my master’s program. That’s my goal so far. After that, I’ll continue on into a doctoral program, it might be too much, but what else should I do? I’ve always been a student (laughs). I’d like to continue doing more skating-related research.

Another possibility… I’m not sure how it’s gonna happen, but I would like to see what it’s like to have a job with the federation. There’s only so much you can do when you’re a skater, but perhaps if someone who understands skating well has some influence within the federation, I think more skaters can be assigned to competitions. Someone who understands what skaters are going through and want to change how things are currently run. Maybe one of my skater friends can do it. Ah, or maybe me (laughs). Maybe if I become a professor at Chukyo University, and I have some time, I can also work for the federation ……but who knows. I may not even be a professor!

But when my competitive skating days end, I hope I can find something else out there for me. So for now I’m going to give skating my all.”