The Benoni figure skater again showed why she is the best senior woman skater in the country.
She had a resounding win, by more than 30 points ahead of runner-up Nadia Geldenhuys, at the South African National Figure Skating Championships, held at the Grove Ice Rink, in Pretoria, from May 18 to 21.
Having claimed the national title on five previous occasions, the skater knew exactly what to do at the championships.
“I wanted to achieve a personal best on South African ice, something I did manage to achieve internationally, in Croatia, a season ago,” the figure skater said.
“I knew that if I put in a good performance I would win, as I am trying to align myself with international skaters.”
Marais has battled with a bone oedema (bone stress) in her lower back and said she still experienced pain when she trained for the championships.
When asked whether it is advisable to compete with such an injury, she said: “Definitely not, however, if the world’s athletes did not fight through their injuries then sport would be pretty boring.”
The season is now over until September, and Marais’s goals for the new season are to qualify for the University Olympics, to be held in Spain, and the 2015 World Figure Skating Championships.
