Whether she is waltzing across an ice rink or just eating an ice cream, eight-year-old Russian figure skater Amira Mohammad Abdul Moati is as enchanting as girls her age come.
And after leaving the UAE three years ago to harness her talent in Russia, Amira has returned to the country of her birth to compete in this weekend's UAE annual figure skating championship at Al Nasr Leisureland.
As eager as Amira is to square off against the UAE's best amateur figure skaters her age, she is also delighted to be reunited with mother Larissa Zaplatinskaia. The two have been reduced to seeing each other on occasional visits ever since Larissa who is based in Abu Dhabi, sent her daughter to an Olympic School in Chelyabinsk in 2005. Albeit a hard decision, it is one Larissa believes Amira is benefiting from.
"She started figure skating in Abu Dhabi when she was three and a half. Then we shifted to Dubai where she practised for a year before she went off to Russia. I asked her at that time which country she liked more and I let it be her decision. But I wanted her to have the chance to grow up in her homeland as I did. The only thing is she misses her mother. If I stayed over there I'm sure her performances would be a lot better. But she likes it better over there," said Larissa.
It was not the first time Amira dealt with separation as her mother and her Egyptian father split when she was just a nine-month-old baby. But Amira, who is in Dubai for a month, only has pleasant memories of her early childhood in the UAE.
"I remember my first time on ice, starting to skate and travelling to school every day," she said.
For now, she is preparing intensely for the two-day event which begins tomorrow. "Right now, I want to get a gold medal because I haven't experienced it yet," she said.
If that happens, the joy for both will only last till Amira has to return to Russia. "It is very hard for me," Larissa said. "But we both have put in so much effort that we don't want to drop out now. We hope to be together one day. But for now, I have to stay here to earn money for the both of us."
