Alex is one of our students in Year 11D. If you meet him on the corridor, he looks like an ordinary guy with a broad smile. You wouldn’t guess that apart from his studies he works hard to pursue his career in figure skating under the leadership of his mother - his coach. He has trained since he was 6. Now he is skating with his partner Jana. The couple has won the National Junior Championship; therefore, they were nominated to take part in the Youth Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck where they represented the Czech Republic.

Alex explains: “The experience was very similar to proper Olympics. We had a huge opening ceremony with all the countries walking in and the fire being lit. We wore our national outfits. We stayed in an Olympic village and even had the delight of going through x-rays and metal detectors J.” When asked what the most interesting moment from the Olympics was, he says: “My most memorable experience was going onto the ice and having such a large crowd cheering for you. I have skated at Grand Prix last season but there were a lot more people who came to see the Olympics to support the athletes! Our supporters came in with a huge Czech flag. Everybody was cheering for us and we felt we just wanted to skate. I wasn’t even nervous. It was just to skate to please the crowd….just for the fun of it as that is what ice skating is about!”

How is Alex managing both the studies and the demanding trainings and competitions? “It is hard, but I manage. When I was at the Olympics, my teachers uploaded materials on Moodle (the school’s virtual learning environment) and I followed it in order not to fall behind so much. Also, I just had my mock exams for the IGCSE, so I used Moodle a lot as the teachers often upload revision guides. I was getting a lot of stuff through Moodle to revise.”

Unfortunately, because of Alex’s injury, his next step is an operation…after that, much more training and learning. Alex, we wish you the best of luck with your operation - keep going!