Kailani Craine started her competitive career from her first competition which was held at the local rink (the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium) in Newcastle, NSW Australia. After a few competitions at home, she began to travel to Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne to compete and later to prestigious events across Europe, Asia, and North America including the Olympic Games.
She lives in Newcastle, NSW Australia and train for six days a week at the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium. She also trains at the Toyota Centre in El Segundo, California USA.
She is the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy champion, the 2016 CS Warsaw Cup silver medalist, the 2015 Toruń Cup silver medalist, and a six-time Australian national champion (2014–2019). She has competed in the final segment at eight ISU Championships and competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Women Fitness President Ms. Namita Nayyar catches up with an exceptionally talented Kailani Craine, Australian figure skater, she is 12 times Australian national champion and 2018 Winter Olympian, here she talks about her workout, diet, beauty secrets and success story.
Namita Nayyar:
You are the 12X Australian National Figure Skating Champion. Walk us through your spectacular journey and share what appeals to you most about the sport?
Kailani Craine:
I’m incredibly lucky to be able to do what I do, I feel like the most special thing about my sport is that it really is so athletic, but we have to make it look graceful and easy! When I started skating it really wasn’t to be competitive, it was just for fun because I enjoyed it a lot- and now here we are!
One thing led to another and I would always work on a new jump or spin and then work towards harder and harder competitions until I realised that competing at the 2018 Olympics would be my goal.
Full Interview is Continued on Next Page
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2021 Women Fitness
Namita Nayyar:
“Since an early age, my number one goal was to compete at the Olympic Winter Games. For an athlete the Olympics is the absolute pinnacle, it’s the ultimate and highest level you can reach.” You made your Olympic debut at the Pyeongchang 2018 Games in the women’s individual event at just 19 years-old. From the experiences you’ve collected from there, how is your preparation for the next Olympics going?
Kailani Craine:
Competing at the 2018 Olympics was literally a dream come true, whenever I think about it I honestly start to cry! It really was the only thing that I wanted in life and it was the only thing I ever thought of. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve drawn the Olympic Rings, for at least 2 years leading up to the Games I drew them every day! It’s crazy to think that the option of not qualifying ever crossed my mind for years.
I 110% believed that I would be going it was like it was a matter of life and death for me, I think I even said in an interview at the Qualifying competition in Germany that someone would have to kill me for me to not go!
The amount of lessons I have learnt from that year is insane, I definitely believe experience in this sport counts for everything, knowing how to adjust for certain situations- basically being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Even though the pandemic has affected everyone’s training and competition schedule, I believe in myself that I can get through anything which will be key leading into Beijing.
Namita Nayyar:
Introduce us to a day in your life.
Kailani Craine:
A typical day in my life differs with where I’m training! When I am in Australia I feel very busy which I like, I usually coach in the mornings and then get all of my errands done, and then I train in the afternoons and then follow up with more coaching at night! When I go home I get my workout and stretching in, and then it’s my relax time.
When I train in Los Angeles however, I start training on the ice at 11am and finish later in the afternoon, which leaves me plenty of time to fit my workout in. Even though the training is harder in LA, I feel like my life there feels more relaxed because I only have myself to worry about.
Namita Nayyar:
Five exercises that comprise your workout routine that you may like to share? The therapy you undertake to prevent injury or overcome it?
Kailani Craine:
Thankfully (knock on wood) I have never had an injury, but of course to prevent I will always listen to my body. I feel like I am smarter in that way as I’ve gotten older, when I was younger I would kind of ignore the warning signs my body would give me when I was in pain which of course made the situation worse!
As for exercises I love going on walks, especially at the beach, I love skipping, anything core related, resistance bands are another great way to make bodyweight exercises a lot harder, and my new favourite thing to do is HIIT!
Namita Nayyar:
Do you take some special diet that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit? Two supplements that are key essential.
Kailani Craine:
I actually don’t follow a really strict diet. I’ve found the biggest issues I’ve had is fitting enough protein in so my muscles can properly recover. So naturally protein powders have become an important part in my diet.
Also I’ve actually realised more about my health from being off training due to the pandemic. I realised that I wasn’t getting enough iron in my diet because I wasn’t eating as much as I usually do in normal circumstances when I train, so I’ve incorporated more leafy greens into smoothies I make and also iron supplements.
Namita Nayyar:
Having to train constantly in extreme weather conditions, how do you take care of your skin and hair?
Kailani Craine:
This is such a good question because I have struggled for so long with my skin, especially when travelling. I actually put some snippets in of a few photos of what my skin was like in one of my YouTube videos. My skin used to be oily, but now it is incredibly dry especially around my chin.
This used to go back and forth depending on which country I was in, I tried so many products but I think I was just putting too many products on my face which was making it break out even worse- and a lot of it was definitely hormonal too. I just keep this in mind for when I travel; usually our competitions are in cold countries so I have to prepare my face for being dry- hydration is key!
Namita Nayyar:
Who has been your greatest influence and motivator in your success in the field of your career? Quote you live by
Kailani Craine:
My family and coaches have obviously always been by my side and have been pushing me my entire career, they have never given up on me which has really taught me to not give up on myself. A lot of skaters have also been my inspiration, when I went on my first overseas training trip Evan Lysacek was training at the same rink for the 2010 Olympic Games, he ended up winning gold and if you saw how hard he worked you would understand why there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to win.
I have been skating for around 13 years now and to this day I have never come across another skater that has worked harder than Evan. His work ethic is something that I will always admire and seeing that has definitely shaped me as a skater.
On top of being the hardest worker, he was also the kindest person- a true Champion that I will always look up to. I have so many favourite quotes but here are two that I love! “Champions believe in themselves, even when no one else does” and “You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take”.
Namita Nayyar:
In the current pandemic situation, how are you training while staying at home?
Kailani Craine:
It took a bit to adjust. I was actually in Los Angeles training when our World Championships got cancelled literally 3 days before I was supposed to leave for the competition. It was a shock because figure skating competitions almost never get cancelled especially Championship events.
I was really disappointed because I had worked so hard to be in the perfect shape and I felt really confident in myself which was something I didn’t feel at this time last year. Of course I understand that health comes first and the right decision was made.
After that our Olympic team said I had to fly back to Australia, I was supposed to get new choreography after World’s and this was the first year in my whole career that I was organised to get new routines in April- usually I get them in June/July.
So I felt really deflated when I came home to Australia, I didn’t really know what I was supposed to be doing because we usually earn a break from the stress of Worlds, it’s like all this adrenaline was built up and I had nowhere to put it!
I had to completely quarantine myself immediately when I got home from the USA so I was just kind of hanging around on my own and I didn’t know how to keep myself motivated. It only took me about a week to snap out of it and find my motivation again, now I get to work out in the mornings which I never did before and it has made me feel amazing! This has been a great reflection time.
Namita Nayyar:
Advice and motivational words to the inspiring and upcoming athletes who all are your fans? Five tips to work upon their skills.
Kailani Craine:
“Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”. I absolutely love that quote because it is so relatable to me, I never was talented in figure skating at all. I was never flexible, I was super shy, I didn’t perform, and I didn’t have any jump height or natural technique!
I had to really work hard at all of those things for a very long time, but you just take one thing at a time and tick it off one by one. Stay present and remember nothing beats hard work!
Namita Nayyar:
“I love performing and I love being a figure skater!” Apart from skating, what other activities do you enjoy the most?
Kailani Craine:
I really just love being active in any way! I love trying out new workout classes especially when I’m in LA because there are so many good places. Going on walks at the beach are really fun especially in Newcastle where I live I think we have the best beaches! I also love to cook, and also I love to make YouTube videos! As we know I’m obsessed with my sport so I love to coach other figure skaters and share my knowledge.
Namita Nayyar:
Social media has gained significance nowadays, how do you use it to influence your audience?
Kailani Craine:
I think these days on social media I am really trying to show who I really am and my real personality. I feel like the only down side to social media is that sometimes every person you look at on their looks like they just walked off a runway, when in reality I’m sitting here in my sweatpants with no makeup on thinking “why don’t I look like that?”
So I’m trying to show people that I am a completely regular human being and you can feel amazing just being you, you don’t have to be someone you’re not- just be you!
Kailani Craine Social Media Presence
- Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/kailanicraine/
- Twitter : https://twitter.com/kailanicraine
- Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/kailanicraineaustralia/
- YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/247Sk8ing
- Kailani Craine Official Website : http://www.kailanicraine.com/
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2021 Women Fitness