With her lightning-fast time at the 300, 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters, 8-year-old Estonian Inger Markus is one of the world's best skaters for her age group.

"It's pretty awesome to be the fastest in the world. Now, when we went to [training] camp, everyone was asking me what my name was, and how old I was," said Inger.

Inger first started skating when she was 4 years old.

"She is a small girl and really wanted to beat the bigger girls. So, I said that if you want to beat the big girls, you have to have really good technique," said Inger's father and speed skating coach Mart Markus.

"Now she has somehow figured out this really nice technique on her own. Skating is something that is hard to teach, you just have to learn it," he said.

"She always wants to be faster, and always wants to be better. Even when her legs are bruised from scuffing her boots, she always wants to finish. I'd say that's her special quality," said her skating coach Tuuli Vaher.

"She's never had a problem with losing. She says she's a bit nervous or tense, but then she just goes for it. She's so happy all the time, even when she loses and it goes badly, she's still happy," said Inger's mother, Jane.

"In general, children are perhaps taught things that are too easy at the beginning. A child can learn difficult things very quickly. My aim was for Inger to learn the technique for cornering by the age of 8. But now she hasn't just learned the technique, she's really good at it," said her father Mart, who himself still holds the Estonian national record for the men's 10,000 meters.

"In the beginning, she had no choice, because she had to come to training with her dad, but now she does have the choice. When the season is over, she knows that in March, when there are no more (skating) camps, she will be able to go dancing instead, for example," said Mart.

"When I was 4 years old, I didn't like skating very much, I didn't really want to go to training, but now I'm starting to like going it. I like the speed, I don't want to do other things because I'm already pretty fast," said Inger.

Despite her early success, Inger's parents say there is no pressure on her to conquer the world.

"After all, it's a hobby and it has to be fun. When she first started going to training in kindergarten, we had to motivate her a bit with cookies, but now she has such a great group of friends there that she wants to go on her own. If she can't go for a whole day, there's a problem. She has too much energy," said Mart.

"We are only now beginning to realize that something big might happen. It depends on how much she wants to do it. We want it to happen without any coercion," said Jane.

"Skating is great, you make new friends, instead of just sitting at home and doing nothing. In the meantime you can go to training, you can make your parents proud and your friends proud – it's brilliant," said Inger. "I'd like to become a world champion, but that's quite difficult. I'm proud of myself for being so fast. I can't even believe I'm so fast myself," she added.

---

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!