To persevere or to give up? That is the question. At this stage of my life, that question feels almost the same as Shakespeare’s famous to be or not to be. Yet for me, the answer is simple. In the spirit of sport—determined, resilient, unwilling to surrender.
PERSEVERE.💖💙
Artistic roller skating is a sport in which even remarkable achievements on the world stage—achievements that are recognized and respected within the skating community—remain largely invisible to major media outlets and, consequently, to sponsors. It has been an undeniable fact ever since the days when I was a competitive skater myself.
And yet, every time I am confronted with this “fact,” something inside me screams that it should not be this way. There is clearly a moral and social compass within me that could not care less about the harsh logic of capitalism and sensationalism. It is loud, persistent, and deeply rooted because many of the challenges I have faced throughout my life have revolved around this very sense of injustice.
Let me explain.
“This non-Olympic individual sport simply doesn’t interest anyone.” That’s what people tell me. “Accept it.” But once again—I don’t believe it has to be this way. With every cell in my body, and because of my own experiences in this sport, I believe it is wrong that it is this way.
- © Raniero Corbelletti Photographie
Artistic Roller Skating as an Elite Sport
Yes. A sport. An art form. A unique blend of physical ability, mental strength, and emotional expression.
Daily sacrifices. Pushing the limits of exhaustion, discipline, organization, determination, and work ethic under all kinds of unexpected and often unfavorable conditions. To the very edge.
Watching a world-class artistic roller skater perform her or his program at the highest level is beautiful. Every movement appears effortless, as if it simply emerged on its own. Everything looks so easy, so graceful, so natural — like a masterpiece hanging on the wall of an elegant home.
Because of that, we rarely stop to ask what it actually took to create such a performance.
What had to be sacrificed. How much had to be invested. How many people contributed, advised, supported, and believed.
What that young girl—or boy—had to endure, learn, and overcome emotionally in order to compress their soul and years of knowledge into four minutes, or often even less. To control every muscle and every centimeter of their body. To remain focused, precise, fast, brave, and determined throughout. To resist self-doubt under immense pressure and expectations. To surrender to the music, maintain facial expression, and refuse to bow to fear.
An example: Fourth in the World Cup. Yet invisible.
Did you know that Slovenia is home to several extraordinary artistic roller skaters who compete at the highest levels of freestyle skating, and who—just like Aliana—remain almost entirely invisible to the wider public?
Not because their achievements are any less remarkable. Not because their dedication is any smaller. Not because their sport demands less.
But because artistic roller skating is not football. It is not basketball. It is not athletics, the queen of sports. It is not the glittering world of gymnastics. Nor is it figure skating, despite sharing so much of its DNA. Roller skating simply does not enjoy the same spotlight, media coverage, or public recognition.
And yet it contains pieces of all those sports—and something uniquely its own.
The tragedy is not that people dislike it. The tragedy is that most people never get the chance to truly see it.
Society, its norms, ideologies, and the media that help shape public perception create their own stars, following their own priorities and narratives—ones that are not always fair, objective, or deserved. And somewhere beyond that spotlight stand athletes like Aliana and many other remarkable Slovenian artistic roller skaters, quietly achieving extraordinary things while remaining unseen.
Because among those media produced stars, there is sadly no room for Aliana and other athletes from our sport in Slovenia.
As a small example: this May, Aliana competed in a regional athletics competition. Without any athletics-specific preparation whatsoever, she finished an impressive eighth place in the 600-meter race👊😍, competing mostly against much older girls who actually train athletics. That fact alone speaks volumes about the extraordinary physical conditioning required for freestyle artistic roller skating. Sometimes even physiotherapists are left speechless when they test the physical capabilities of artistic roller skaters.
- © Raniero Corbelletti Photographie
The Feelings That Follow Achievements Society Considers Unimportant
As a former 7-time national champion and 4th in Europe in this sport, and as the current coach of not only my exceptional daughter, but also other excellent skaters, I can say that these feelings are difficult to describe. At first comes excitement. Your soul whispers that you have accomplished something great, while your mind and ego quietly acknowledge that you’ve achieved something admirable.
Then, slowly, emptiness arrives. Along with exhaustion. Meaninglessness. Hopelessness. Because you know you gave everything you had. And yet you return to the daily struggle of simply surviving. Not because your achievement wasn’t meaningful. But because the thing you dedicate yourself to is neither popular nor widely recognized—even though your heart cannot understand why. Artistic roller skating is a sport of incredible depth and complexity.
A great talent for freestyle skating is not born often in Slovenia. Even rarer is a child willing to devote themselves entirely to a sport that, at least for now, does not even lead to the Olympic Games. And rarer still is a child whose parents, family, and club can provide the complete financial, material, physical, and emotional support necessary for true success.
Our Aliana is an undeniable talent and a fighter. For the love of this sport, she will cross a thousand boundaries—and then a few more. And myself with her.
How many times have we wanted to quit? How many times have we cried uncontrollably at the rink? Been angry, disappointed, frustrated, sick, injured, in pain, freezing, exhausted, drained, and completely hopeless? How many times could we no longer see a way forward? We don’t count.
And how many times did we get back up? We don’t count that either. But every single time.
Because willpower and love do not choose. They simply exist.💖💙
Where We Stand Today?
Still here. Still fighting for our dreams. Still hoping that someone will truly notice our efforts. Really notice them. Perhaps someone for whom accumulating wealth and attracting attention are not life’s highest priorities. Someone with a generous heart and the willingness to help financially simply because they can. Someone who sees that support like this is genuinely deserved. Someone who believes, as we do, that it is worth standing against established stereotypes and helping shape a world that goes beyond sensationalism and entrenched beliefs.
I do not want to spend the rest of my life hearing that nothing can be done because this sport is unpopular. That no sane person would invest in it or in its talents. That everything depends solely on parents, grandparents, coaches, clubs, and a little bit of luck.
Personally, I have given—and would continue to give—everything to help build the success, growth, and visibility of this small and largely unknown sport. I dream of a day when an emergency room doctor won’t write that an athlete was injured performing a somersault after being told they are an artistic roller skater who fell attempting a flip jump—and then stare back in confusion. Which, of course, is nothing wrong with, because that’s just how it is (currently).
- © Raniero Corbelletti Photographie
Volunteer Work and a Hobby That Is So Much More Than That
In Slovenia, most artistic roller skating coaches work on a voluntary or semi-voluntary basis, alongside full-time jobs and family responsibilities. We do it because we love it—not because it offers a realistic career path that would allow us to earn a decent living in proportion to the time, effort, expertise, and countless mandatory and optional educational courses we invest in it.
The reality is that elite artistic roller skating is a sport whose demands are comparable to those of the most prestigious Olympic disciplines. This applies to training frequency, equipment requirements, access to suitable facilities, additional conditioning programs, injury prevention and rehabilitation, travel to national and international competitions, seminars, coaching education, and continuous professional development.
Of course, it is possible to approach the sport recreationally, as we often say, “on the side.” But in that case, it is unrealistic to expect international success from athletes or to contribute effectively to the growth, development, and promotion of the sport itself.
Artistic roller skating as a high-performance sport cannot exist solely as a hobby. Even less can it rely entirely on volunteer work. Yet that is precisely what it largely is in Slovenia today. As a result, people like me—a coach and a mother who gives everything to this sport—find ourselves facing a profound life question:
Should we continue, or should we give up?
I often wonder how many talented roller skaters have already disappeared from our sport simply because they lacked the necessary financial support. In some parts of the world, artistic roller skating enjoys significantly greater popularity, recognition, and visibility—not only within the sporting community but also among the general public. And yet, even there, life as an elite athlete in our sport is far from easy.
At the same time, I want to emphasize how grateful 💞🙏 I am that artistic roller skating in Slovenia has a recognized place at all, even if it is still relatively unknown to the wider public. I am grateful that we have the Slovenian Roller Skating Federation, which enables our athletes to compete at the highest European and World-level events. I am grateful that coaching education programs exist. And I am grateful that there are other truly dedicated people who, like me, nurture and support this beautiful sport with all their heart and to the best of their abilities.
Because there is another reality as well: in many countries, artistic roller skaters do not yet exist at all.
- © Raniero Corbelletti Photographie
And now I return to the challenges I mentioned earlier.🫶💪
How much is talent truly worth on its own? And how much is it worth when combined with dedication, perseverance, and hard work? In any field. Have popularity, sensationalism, promotion, money, and profit become the only things that truly matter?
Does anything matter anymore beyond visibility and money?
We all know the answer, yet most people choose not to speak it aloud. I do, however, hold on to one conviction: not everyone fits into the same mould. There are exceptions. There are people who bring light where others see only limits. There is hope. There is courage to think differently. And it is precisely that light, that hope, that difference, which I continue to seek with all my heart.
And so, despite everything, our dreams and ambitions remain exactly the same:
To belong among the best in the world.
Still, I increasingly wonder whether a day will come when we will have to settle for mediocrity and abandon dreams of high placements at European and World Championships. Because the financial, physical, emotional, and time demands are becoming overwhelming. Deep down, our entire family knows one thing: We would never forgive ourselves if we did not help Aliana pursue her talent as far as it can take her. I already know that I never would.
When talent, work ethic, and love for a sport come together, mediocrity becomes impossible to accept.
Because it feels as though your dreams are dying. And with them, a part of your soul. A part of your purpose. A part of who you are. I know this because I have lived it myself. Once, for precisely these reasons, I suppressed everything that made me who I was. I refuse to do that again. Today, even if it took me longer than it should have, I know who I am and what I stand for. Aliana discovered her purpose much earlier. And when I see the commitment, organization, discipline, and determination with which she pursues her goals, my heart swells with pride. Not only mine. Our entire family feels the same. We all want to help her succeed.
Choosing Hope
Despite everything, we still allow ourselves to hope. We still make plans. Because you never know—tomorrow might bring something new. I have never been the type to throw in the towel. And I am not about to start now. If we have come this far, perhaps we can go one step further?
Because artistic roller skaters deserve it. We deserve financial, material, and emotional support from those who are able to offer it. We deserve recognition for who we are:
Brave and resilient athletes.❤🛼💪👏
I truly believe that when you commit yourself wholeheartedly to a goal, life can provide exactly what you need. That is why I sincerely believe that brighter and clearer horizons can open for artistic roller skating as well.❤
Not everything is set in stone. Not everything is black and white. There are nuances. There are possibilities. There are people capable of changing deeply rooted beliefs—if only we continue to speak about them long enough and loudly enough. There are countless good, intelligent, open-minded people in this world. And there is enough money on this planet for everyone. Not only for the elites created by social narratives and amplified by their most powerful messenger—the media.
As we say in Slovenia:
“Words cost nothing.”
Thank you for reading.💞🙏
And thank you for sharing this story and helping us find the kind, broad-minded souls we need so much. ❤
- © Raniero Corbelletti Photographie
In the video you can see Aliana’s long program, which brought her 4th place at the World Cup in Germany. The video was posted on the Youtube channel by @edits.love_patinaje. More info available at povezavo.
Songs compilation of the coreography by me:
1.)Once Upon a Dream by Lana Del Rey (from Maleficient, Disney)
2.)Game of Survival by Ruelle.
