"Beijing is a dream come true," says Polish figure skater Kurakova

(Photo/Xinhua)

WARSAW, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian-Polish figure skater Ekaterina Kurakova, who has booked a ticket for the Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing, expressed her happiness in Tuesday's interview for Polish media as "the greatest dream come true."

The 19-year-old is believed to be a great hope of Polish figure skating. On Saturday Kurakova secured her spot in the Olympic event after she took second place at the Challenge Series in Oberstdorf, Germany. At the Winter Olympics Kurakova will be the first Poland representative in women's single skating since 2010.

"My dreams have come true, probably for the first time in my life. Although I don't fully believe it yet. After returning from the competition in Oberstdorf, I hid the medal for the second place in the wardrobe. When I woke up the next night, I quickly ran to see if she was really there. And it turned out it wasn't a dream," Kurakova said in a Tuesday interview for Polish outlet Onet Sport.

The figure skater decided to change her sports citizenship after "she didn't get a real chance in Russia."

"Poland has given me a great opportunity for which I'm very grateful. I'm very happy about it, I feel better than ever. After all, for two years I couldn't skate, and now I have a ticket for the Olympics in Beijing. I knew that Poland would be a good choice because I felt that they really needed me here. And that's probably the most important thing to feel needed," the athlete added.

Kurakova also talked about her expectations for the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

"I don't set myself specific goals for Beijing, because then I only get unnecessarily nervous. I will go out on the ice to do a job. For now I only focus on my performance," Kurakova concluded.