#Yuzu world champion 2017

[shampooneko]

Magnificent Yuzu skating Joe Hisaishi's music

Yuzuru Hanyu // 2017 World Championships - Free Skating

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

I often think about how much Shoma deserves an olympic gold medal. Not just because it would be great, but also because i don’t think in the future he’ll be regarded as the incredible skater that he is without it unfortunately. He‘s truly exceptional. But he got „unlucky“ in that most of his career he had to compete against two skaters who had historic results. Both Yuzu and Nathan are insanely talented skaters to go up against. And the olympics are only every four years. While I still wish there was a chance, right now it seems unlikely… to me and a lot of his fans, he‘ll always be special.

I agree with you. Shoma would deserve it so much, but it doesn't seem as if it's Shoma's goal at all. Shoma himself doesn't put the importance on an Olympic title, so we shouldn't be sorry he may not get it. (I mean there is a huge chance he'll retire before the next Olympics but at this point there is also still a chance he stays until then)

BUT Shoma is very special with or without an Olympic title. His skating, story and achievements are one of a kind. To get back up after many points where others would have ended their careers and to still skate is amazing. And Shoma made history himself. It may not be in many WRs (though he did gain a few in his junior and senior career) or titles after titles, but still his name is written in the skating history books with being the first to land a 4F, with having 3 Olympic medals, with the double victory for Japan at the 2017 Worlds and 2018 Olympics etc.

I agree that Shoma is a bit unlucky in that regard that he faced Yuzu and Nathan in his career, but on the other hand I don't think Shoma would be where he is today if he wouldn't have faced those two skaters and took them as inspirations. Everything happens for a reason.

Shoma's name may never have the same impact as Yuzu's bc Yuzu's story, achievements and scale of fandom is a rare exception (if I am being honest I wouldn't even wish it for Shoma as Yuzu's scale of fame is kinda scary at times and isolating) , but Shoma is not unknown in the skating world or Japan and there are future generations who name Shoma as their rolemodel or favorite skater. He will live on in future generations skating.

And tbh at this point we won't know how big Shoma's impact on skating will be as such things can only be seen after a while. There were many Olympic or World Champions in skating but only a few are still mentioned and their influence seen today.

Just saying without meaning to put anyone's achievement down: I think the importance that is put on the Olympics is a bit whack...it's every 4 years but it's actually just another high level competition and depends a lot on luck to be born at the right time and be able to get there. And it says nothing that you could win the Olympics if you don't have any other results over a longer period of time. An Olympic title is insignificant for the value a champion brought to skating. (Just look at the Tutberidze girls or Sotnikova to see that not every champion made an impact afterwards)

Imo the only big difference of the Olympics and things like Worlds is the attention Olympic games have internationally and this is the only reason I would wish an Olympic title for Shoma (and for the stupid haters who hold it against him that he lacks this one title but that's simply a thing I'd take as personal victory) Just to make everyone aware of Shoma being an extraordinary skater.

[yuzu-all-the-way]

Yuzuru Hanyu's World Championships Through the Years

2x World Champion

It's that time again when a competition takes place and I binge watch Yuzu's performances at previous editions of the same competition

☆ 2012 🥉

(Étude / Romeo + Juliet)

☆ 2013

(Parisienne Walkways / Notre-Dame de Paris)

☆ 2014 🥇

(Parisienne Walkways / Romeo and Juliet)

☆ 2015 🥈

(Ballade No. 1 / The Phantom of the Opera)

☆ 2016 🥈

(Ballade No. 1 / SEIMEI)

☆ 2017 🥇

(Let's Go Crazy / Hope & Legacy)

☆ 2019 🥈

(Otonal / Origin)

☆ 2021 🥉

(Let Me Entertain You / Ten to Chi to)

[seimeiyuzu]

Calm and satisfied World Champion 2017 :)

(x)

[seafood-33]

The bromance between two athletes which moved and encouraged me for several years. I made a list by time for them. (not finished yet)

2010

2010-12-08 First time in same match

2011

2011-09-23 Second time in same match

2011-11-26 First podium of yuzuvier

2011-11-28 Side by side group photo

2011-12-10 Javier's solid 4T and 4S

2012

2012-03-27 Skate together in sunny rink

2012-04-25 Yuzuru change coach

2012-05-07 Yuzuru went to TCC

2012-07-28 Yuzuru want steal jump

2012-08-07 Javier help with smile

2012-08-20 Black-top costume of PW

2012-10-01 How to steal jump

2012-10-05 Epic Finlandia trophy

2012-10-06 Members brochure of TCC

2012-11-22 Yuzuru want to see Javier

2012-11-25 Javier clap for Yuzuru

2012-11-30 Watching each other

2012-12-06 Japanese team pants

2013

2013-01-26 Yuzuru is strong & beautiful

2013-01-27 Same color medal of 4CC

2013-02-10 Javier support Yuzuru's 4S

2013-03-17 Small medal thief

2013-05-23 Yuzuru is part of my life

2013-07-06 Don't leave Javier in Canada

2013-07-27 Yuzuru limit, Javier allowed

2013-11-16 Notre Dame de Paris

2014

2014-02-07 Yuzuru seeking Javier

2014-03-24 Yuzuru ducking for Javier

2014-03-28 Skating after Yuzuru

2014-04-06 Pooh is gone, best pic

2014-06-13 Javier's sight

2014-06-22 Yuzuru's 4Lo celebration

2014-07-05 Sore loser or stubborn

2014-11-27 Good luck, I'll support you

2014-12-07 Happy birthday to Yuzuru

2014-12-12 Yuzuru speak in Spainish

2014-12-14 Three words describe Javi

2015

2015-03-19 Yuzuru missed us

2015-03-24 We are everything

2015-03-27 Photos in Worlds 2015

2015-03-28 Always my champion

2015-03-28 Good and bad points

2015-03-28 He was happy for me

2015-03-29 Javier like a big brother

2015-04-02 Javier fly over to help

2015-04-19 Compare upper arm

2015-05-28 Yuzuru reach Javier's hand

2015-06-01 Javier comfort me

2015-10-21 Watching Javier help me

2015-11-28 Yuzuru copy goat noise

2015-12-10 You can do it

2016

2016-03-30 Tracy comment

2016-04-01 My winner

2016-04-02 Gesture about to kiss

2016-04-07 Brian comment

2016-04-11 When look up at

2016-04-27 Yuzuru sniff pooh

2016-05-14 As a rival even more

2016-06-29 Support, motivate, learn

2016-12-07 Javier sing Happy Bday

2016-12-11 Gala

2017

2017-02-17 I owe what I won, to him

2017-04-01 I told you last year

2017-04-02 Gala, Vamos and meme

2017-04-23 Japanese team table

2017-05-25 Cats' eyes choreography

2017-09-28 Yuzuru waiting for Javier

2018

2018-02-17 OG 2018 green room

2018-02-17 I can't do it without you

2018-02-18 Some coincide of Seimei

2018-02-18 Friends when leave the rink

2018-02-20 There are some conflicts

2018-02-28 Finally Spanish media

2018-03-01 I think it's admirable

2018-03-03 Yuzuru cried the most

2018-03-30 Wonderful experience

2018-04-15 During CiONTU

2018-04-17 Some tough moment

2018-05-28 Yuzuru find Javier

2018-06-18 Prohibition order

2018-07-25 He wanted to be the first

2018-09-05 Yuzuru is from comic

2018-09-06 The back 3-turn into 4S

2018-12-12 I just miss Javier

2018-12-13 150th between Japan&Spain

2019

2019-01-06 Reunited in TCC

2019-01-22 Thanks for your allow

2019-01-27 That teach you a lot

2019-01-23 Can I take a day off too

2019-01-24 When they fall to bottom

2019-01-29 Another story

2019-02-01 Skating like breathing air

2019-03-24 Reunited in banquet

2019-05-26 I wish go on forever

2019-06-15 Sit in one chair

2019-06-18 Yuzuru's eye power

2019-09-12 Reunite and hug, smiling

2019-10-31 Spain-Japan fundation

2019-11-28 I will put him in the show

2019-12-07 I wish with Javi, but

2019-12-12 Last hug before COVID

2020

2020-02-09 Finally do it

2020-04-04 Shibsibs photo

2020-05-14 Sudden tickling happening

2020-10-16 Looking forward to see you

2020-10-23 Friendship overcome rivalry

2020-10-29 Share training with rival

2020-12-26 Something super special

2021

2021-01-29 Warrior and absolute hero

2021-03-26 Yuzu has no rival this time

2021-03-28 Mind of fighter and winner

2021-11-30 Javier like Yuzuru's new CM

2022

2022-02-01 Olympics channel

2022-02-03 Bond stronger than family

2022-02-11 Give you a hug first

2022-05-27 Yuzuru: I always miss you

2022-06-02 Dialogue in pamphlets

2022-06-11 Piggyback

2022-06-18 FaOI 2022 closed rehearsal

2022-06-26 I don't want to leave Javi

2022-07-21 Yuzuru from another world

2022-07-23 Never a rival so kind

2022-12-01 Javier skate music of origin

--

2023-02-27 I always practice alone

...

[zuzupooh]

do you ever think about the 2017 worlds where yuzu was placed 5th after the short program but during his hope and legacy free skate he delivered a record breaking skate that was scored at a massive 223.20 points and went on to become the 2017 world champion

[unintended-escape]

Well if this isn't #teamgoals , i don't know what is!! Credit: ? Taken from vk page

[geckomoon]

Yuri!!! on ice as irl skaters (part 1???)

Its 2020 and I miss yoi so here are my personal headcanons about which irl skater the you cast skate &/or act like because why the hell not.

(photos at the bottom of the post because I couldn't get the format to work the way I wanted it to)

Yuri Katsuki ➡️ Boyang Jin (China)/Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)

Yes, 2 people because PARALLELS.

So my reason for saying Yuri is like Boyang is because, his step sequences are always gorgeous and his jumping power, oofttttt, and that one scene where Yuri tries a jump and lands in the wall, you know the one. Boyang Jin is known for jumping super close to the boards and scaring the hell out of us all, seriously, just watch one of his skates, it's amazing and terrifying. Also Boyang is a bit of a nerd and Yuri is canonicaly pretty into video games, nuff said.

Boyang is a two-time World bronze medalist (2016–2017), the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2016, 2019), the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, and a five-time (2014–2017, 2019) Chinese national champion.

Evgenia however, this is more of a parallel in how her 2018/19 season went and how Yuri kinda flopped. Zhenya had a crappy start to the 18/19 season, she'd just switched coaches and mover halfway across the world, for the 1st time in her senior career she didn't make the gpf. However by the end of the season she had bounced back and won bronze at worlds and my god what a skate that fp was. Remind you of anyone huh???

Evgenia has a lot of medals (and actually made a cameo in the end credits of episode 10) She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018 ladies' singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), a two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017), silver medalist at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships. Also, she is a huge Anime fan and has a sailor moon exhibition program and its adorable.

Victor Nikiforov ➡️ Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)

I know a lot of people compare Yuri to Yuzu but I think Victor is a better fit.

Yuzuru has a legion of super duper dedicated fans, they are pretty scary at times. If you watch the 2018 Olympics, the ice literally was covered in Pooh bears after his skate. People love this man, and rightly so. Clearly Yuri isn't the only one who loves Victor, he's very popular in the yoi skating world and almost everyone loves and looks up to him.

His skates are almost immaculate every time. Not only is his technique amazing but his artistry is what really sets him apart from other skaters who may have higher bv on jumps etc. Not that he dosent have high bv, seriously he tries combos that are super wierd just for the bv (see the wierd 4t-3a combo thing he does idk). Plus he's dead set on doing a quad axel. See Victor's super high bv with all the quads and also the fact everyone goes nuts over how his skating is 'like no other'.

Also his medal collection is absolutely mad, he is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), two-time World champion (2014, 2017), four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), Four Continents champion (2020) and three times silver medalist (2011, 2013, 2017). Just like how Victor is canonicaly an Olympic champion and 5x world champion and probably many time euros champ.

Also, he's a sweetheart, he literally crawled behind Shoma Uno because he didn't want the attention taken away from Shoma. I love him.

Victor Nikiforov gives big Yuzuru Hanyu energy.

Yuri Plisetsky ➡️ Yulia Lipnitskaya (Russia)/Alexandra Trusova (Russia)

Again, 2 people.

It's canon that Yuri P was modeled after Yulia for the flexibility and artistic portion of his skates so I feel like I don't need to elaborate much in it however his determination and his wanting to back load with quads reminds me a lot of Sasha Trusova.

Sasha only started juniors the year after yoi came out (she had a Makkachin tissue box which was given to her by Evgenia M which is adorable) so she was not really that popular when the show was being made but she really made a statement when she became the 1st woman to land 2 quads in 1 program (4 salchow and 4 toeloop) at the age of 13 at 2018 junior worlds.

She has just started senior and this season she had 5 quads in one program and I think I cried. She now has a quad sal, toe, flip and lutz and is apparently working on a loop. On top of that she can land a 3 axel but has yet to do so in competition. Did I mention SHE'S 15 AND I'M TERRIFIED.

She currently holds the world record for the free skate (166.62 points). She is the 2020 European Bronze Medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela champion, the 2019 Russian national silver medalist, and the 2020 Russian national bronze medalist.

Her determination to win and high TES reminds me of Yurio a lot.

Phichit Chulanont ➡️ Nam Nguyen (Canada)

This one is fun.

I love Nam with all my heart, he's actually my favourite male skater and not just because of his skating. However his skating is great. He is the 2014 World Junior champion, 2019 Skate Canada silver medalist, and two-time Canadian national champion (2015, 2019). He has placed as high as fifth at the World Championships, in 2015. He's not the best skater ever, kinda like Phichit but his personality shines through so much when he skates and I love it.

My main comparison to Phichit is the fact that Nam Nguyen is a huge meme. His Instagram is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen (@ namnamnoodle). I can't explain it with words seriously just go look at it, he makes memes using professionnally taken skating photos of himself and honestly it's just a giggle. He's almost always posting on his story and half the videos he takes end up on fan twitter and everyone freaks out.

Also he's good friends with Evgenia, thought I'd mention that seeing as who I compared her to :)).

Yeah, Phichit and Nam are memes and I adore them both.

Jean-Jacques Leroy ➡️ Nathan Chen (USA)

Jj is definitely more of a technical focused skater. He tends to put all his eggs in the '800000 quads' bucket and isn't as artistic, in my humble opinion.

Just like Nathan surprisingly, though Nate isn't as egotistical (not a dig, just an observation).

Nathan is compared to Yuzu a lot, and had actually scored higher than him a few times in competition. He is an amazing jumper and is the first skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions: toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip and Lutz. Currently he is two-time World champion (2018, 2019), a 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2017 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), and four-time U.S. national champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

So yeah, he's good.

However at the 2018 Olympics (he was only 18 at the time) he bombed under pressure in the team event and in the sp, only to come back with a WR free skate, but didn't medal because of his sp score,kinda like how Jj bombed at the GPF. (Ngl, I cried in school when I saw Nate bomb at the Olympics, I was so upset).

Also, Nathan is super smart and is training to be a doctor. Not related to Jj but I thought I would point it out.

Christophe Giacometti➡️ Adam Rippon (USA)/Javier Fernández (Spain)

Chris is a hard one to pin to an irl skater because he's just so... Chris.

The closest comparison I can get is Adam Rippon but dialed up to 11 because Adam is quite a bit more tame than Chris is. However he did have a point in his sp where he literally beckons the judges to him in a way that can only be described as vaguely sexual. Seeing that at the Olympics was an event I'll tell you that.

Adam was the first openly gay man to make a U.S. Winter Olympic team, and the first to win a medal at the Winter Games. (team bronze).

Plus, I'm pretty sure he owned a Chris plushie at one point or another.

However other than the obvious Chrissness, his technique and medal winning achievements most closely match up with Javier Fernández (who may I add is pretty much Yuzuru Hanyu's best friend). He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), a three-time Rostelecom Cup champion (2014–2016), a two-time Grand Prix in France champion (2016–2017) and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018). Javi is an amazing skater but usually ended up playing 2nd fiddle to Yuzuru on the world stage, but with euros, he literally won 7 times consecutively. Anndddd, he was the flag bearer for Spain at the 2014 Olympics and I still cry about it.

Otabek Altin➡️ Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)/ Matteo Rizzo

So it's canon that Otabek was based on Denis (rip Denis) so like Yuri and Yulia I do not feel like I need to elaborate much as you can read it on the wikia page. But Otabek also reminds me of a less talkative version of Matteo Rizzo. Matteo is the 2019 European bronze medalist, 2018 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Winter Universiade champion, and 2018 Italian national champion.

The reason he reminds me of Otabek is that they just joth exude the same level of cool and I can't explain it any further than that. That's it. Just watch him skate and you'll see.

So that's all I have for now because this post got pretty long so if this gets enough attention I'll do a part 2 :)).

[ogygiacalypso]

Happy Birthday to the sassy, pooh-loving, two-time Olympic Champion, Yuzuru Hanyu!!!

Thank you for indirectly influencing me (and others) to the wonders of figure skating. 

I almost forgot about it because of school huhu

What��s your favorite Yuzu performance? Mine is Hope and Legacy from 2017 Worlds

[cs-pooh-yuzu]

🎉YUZURU HANYU TAKES THE THRONE🎉 🔥NEW FS WORLD RECORD🔥 SP:98.39 FS:223.20 Total: 321.59

[kichessarjilian]

Since we can all use a little joy right now, here’s a re-upload onto Youtube of Yuzu’s champion interview from the 2017 World Championship in Helsinki.

I wanted to upload my victory ceremony video for this 3rd anniversary, but it took about 70 min just to upload this 3 min clip, so maybe another time.

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Are assignments for the rest of the season solely based on the results from nationals in japan? let's say shoma has two really bad days and doesn't podium (which I honestly don't see happening, but just for the sake of my question let's pretend) would he still get assigned to worlds because I mean, he's shoma and reigning world and gpf champion...

Don't worry Shoma gets assigned to Worlds for sure 😁

Japanese Nationals are a key factor for the selection of the Worlds and 4CC team, but the GP series are also taken into account. So based on Shoma's GP results he is almost already guaranteed a spot. Also past achievements of the season prior play a part. I can't say how much exactly, but even JSF is not as stupid to leave the reigning world champion of their Worlds team because of one bad performance (if that even happens, what I doubt ) or a missed competition (that doesn't seem to happen as we see him training healthy in the new puppy vids) like for example Yuzu had to skip Nationals due to his injuries (2017-2018) and sickness (2016) but was still selected for Worlds each time.

The critieria as far as I know for the selection of Worlds is as followed: The Gold medal winner is guaranteed a spot at Worlds, no matter how the rest of the season went. 2nd and 3rd place are given priority, but other results are also taken into account like the GP series. For example if the difference between 3rd and 4th is very little a medal winner may not be considered.

I think in this close men field there is still only one spot that's isn't decided yet for Worlds. One spot goes to Shoma. The 2nd spot if he is healthy and performs well - means earns a medal - will go to Yuma Kagiyama (also because of the results of Olympics and Worlds 2022). Unless Yuma performs badly I don't see why he would not be selected, he still has the edge in PCS and if healthy technical difficulties over the other Japanese men. The 3rd spot will be between those qualified for the GPF (Shun Sato, Sota Yamamoto, Kao Miura) and hopefully I beg you JSF Kazuki Tomono. My guess is whoever of those gets to the podium, goes to Worlds and the rest will get a chance at 4CC. If Yuma isn't healthy there are two spots for grabs.

Shoma will be selected for Worlds for sure, I think he will be selected for 4CC if he wants to compete there, which I am not so sure of.

[seimeiyuzu]

The kind of artistry that masters like Mozart and Picasso created

(twitter.com/sportsjapan)

Yuzuru Hanyu new WR from start to standing ovation - Helsinki 2017

[the-tiny-chicken-lord]

What was that?

ヽ（゜ロ゜；）ノ 

 I’m just glad he didn’t smash his head on that stumble. Let’s pretend this never happened.

[the-real-xmonster]

Hi Alice, this message has been sitting in my outbox for almost a year, haha, thought I'll try ask :). First and foremost, thank you!! can't say enough how much I love your blog. What do you most look forward to for Yuzu in the new season? For me besides his 4A(!), I'd like to see more variety in his spins and ChSq, especially the latter, as much as I adore his ina bauer and hydroblade, maybe its time to try something new and different? Am I being too greedy?

Hello there, sorry for taking forever to get back to you on this (work is crazy and I just picked up a new video game so like… haha… *whisper* please send help). 

So, first, no, I don’t think you’re being greedy. I’d also want to see more variety in Yuzu’s ChSq in particular. I love the flavorful touches he put on his hydroblade this season by linking it with the one-foot Axel in Otonal and switching up the position in Haru yo, Koi - I hope to see more of such creativity next season, with possible application on the layback Ina Bauer as well. In addition, I’d give anything for him to bring back the sit twizzle (no Yuzu I still am not forgiving you for taking it out of Origin)

or any extended twizzle really

choreographed inside Ina Bauer

and even just a simple change edge spread eagle.

The thing is, Yuzu has so many nice, “wow” moves in his arsenal, I’d say it’s just a matter of him figuring out the right music and the right way to incorporate the right selection of moves into his choreography, which brings me to the next thing I very much look forward to, which is new music. I can say with confidence that I wouldn’t have any issue if he chooses to repeat Otonal and Origin next season, but if he decides to construct one or two new programs, I really hope he’d pick something classical, especially so if it’s for his LP. Yuzu hasn’t had a free skate set to classical music since… what… his first season as a senior? A violin concerto, a string quartet, a sonata, any kind of chamber music with a violin in it - I’m game. I think Yuzu and his style have both matured enough that now’s a good time to revisit that most fundamental of combinations: skating and classical music, and I believe he’d do a stellar job given the fitting music.

Continued:

Secondly, I’ve heard Kurt Browning commentated more than once that he’s amazed how relaxed/“quiet” Yuzu’s upper body was when he jumped, I’d like to ask if you can elaborate that point more, better yet, can you show me how “not-relaxed” other skaters might be when performing a jump? 

I actually have touched on this same topic before and miraculously enough I was able to find that old post, here you go.

In that old post I used Patrick, Shoma, Javi, Nathan, Boyang (the 2017 WC top 6) for juxtaposition, but it should be noted that none of those 5 is whom I’d call a “muscled” jumper. Their upper body might not be as totally relaxed as Yuzu, who is absolutely in a league of his own in that regard, but their takeoff postures are all fair enough to look at, and they don’t overuse their upper body to force start the rotation either. If you want to know what a truly “not relaxed” upper body looks like, I, sadly, have to point you to Junhwan (as discussed here in comparison with Javi), and Zhenya, especially back around when she was in junior / first turned senior. See the way she pushed her arms out taut and tensed up her shoulders before both of the jumps?

Now you can compare Zhenya’s 3F3T against this combo of Kaori’s below to see the difference between her takeoff and one with a quiet, relaxed upper body (most of the Japanese ladies are pretty good at that, but I think Kaori is truly the standout example even among her teammates). 

Continued:

Thirdly, in regard to the current rivalry between Yuzu and Nathan, I felt the same as Brian Orser that it kind of reminds me of back in 2013-14, when Yuzu was a teenager rising star chasing Patrick the 3 time worldchampion. And Yuzu was known as a great jumper back then while Patrick was renowned for his skating skills, and it was very excited to see them go against each other. Now Yuzu is so well rounded (pray for his ankle!) and Nathan is developing quickly too, are we gonna see more of that excitement in the next year or two? I hope its good for the sport. Sorry about this long Questions post. :)

Yes, of course, it’s good for the sport to have a lot of variety in (1) the natural baseline abilities of the skaters (2) which areas each skater chooses to focus on and (3) the strategies employed by the skaters, as a result of (1) and (2) combined. It’s also great for the sport to have a new generation developing and competing against the older one(s), whilst both continuously pushing / inspiring each other to move forward. A sport lacking such generational movement, IMO, is as good as dead, and no matter how intense the competition among the existing generation is, when you look at it as a whole, such a competitive landscape would ultimately feel somewhat… bleak (for lack of a better word). I know that feeling very well because that gloom and doom mood just about sums up the prospect of men’s tennis for the last half of the decade. Sure it’s been fun and it still is, mostly, to watch the holy trinity of Roger - Rafa - Novak trying to one-up each other on how many entries they have in the history book, but one can’t help but screaming into the void, from time to time: where are all the darned kids? 

So, yeah, you could say that, even though the outcome of their competition might not always be to my liking, I’m glad that a rivalry of sort exists between Yuzu and Nate, I think it does make the men’s competition more scintillating to follow for new and old fans alike, and just as importantly, I believe it’s part of the reasons why Yuzu’s decided to stay with us for at least another season.

Here’s to an exciting 2019-2020 skating season!   

[zpetra]

GP Helsinki Journal - Day 3

The things I do for figure-skating and one special Japanese boy... Wake up at 5am to get ready. Take a tram to the rink at 6am, than wait in a huge line to be let it for a 7am practice though he is in the second group but baby Jun was in the first one. So forget breakfast and coffee, or sleep. I had priorities.

Before we get to me cooing over Jun in practice again I met a Japanese lady at the tram station. Only us waiting at the stop and she was confused which side she needs to stand to get to the ice hall. Broken English vs broken Japanese but we made it work. Drunk Finnish guy trying to ruin the fun but we stuck together. In the tram she asked if I am going to the ice hall too and I said yes, followed up if I like Yuzu and I said yet again yes, showing her my group fan hoodie with chibi Seimei I wore both for SP and FS days. She instantly popped her bag open and handed me some 'not so hard to get clear files' and two 'difficult to get' ones and I stared at her at 6:10am to make sure she was real. She said yes. I died and couldn't thank her enough. Than she tops it off with asking if I was at the parade and said no. She was and showed me pictures. I was so jealous and told her so. To which she asked if I have Line and I do have, we exchanged contacts. She sent me like 40 pictures of hers from the parade and I kept dying, later in the queue more from Rostelecom 2017 - 70 pics in total. We walked together to the ice hall, chatting a little bit. Asking me if I learn Japanese and I confirmed I know a little and she just said 'oh that is more than a little'. So we stood in the crazy line together. Talking here and there but she spotted some people she knows before us so spoke to them too and I kept behind.

As the line started to advance somehow they turned to me as some topic about clear files came up, I gathered and they asked me if I have the newest ones. I shook my head (also confused of which new ones they meant) and to that her friend whipped out a pile of the new Xylitol ones and told me I could pick one. I died again, right before entering the venue. So I got a gorgeous green kimono Yuzu. We separated saying to meet again, me going into a bowing frenzy because wow. As I think back I am pretty sure she is the same lady who gave me the Ghana ones too the day before. 😍

The one lady sitting next to me arrived too and she handed me two candies with Yuzu (fruit) and Ginger. The inside joke was hilarious and we giggled together and I thanked her. Not too long after a girl sat down in front of me, taking her seat and suddenly turned around giving me two sample chocolates from Ghana (GUYS THAT CHOCOLATE MELTS ON YOUR TONGUE, IT’S SO GOOD). My eyes were probably as big as two plates.

I re-adjusted in my seat after he shocks, ready for practice and to be slayed by baby Jun. I wasn't all too disappointed even if the practice looked here and there wonky. His short costume makes him look amazing and my seat was at the skater entrance so they nearly sat up their corner right in my face. Queue me taking like 100 pictures of Jun even if half of them were his back or blurry because speed while skating haha.

Once I survived that one I looked to the side to spot Keiji and since Mr Attention took mine the day prior I jumped on the chance to take pictures of him rink-side. I am happily clicking away when suddenly after a few clicks a certain gorgeous boy walks into the frame and I get a heart-attack. - literally my camera roll as it happened...

Queue my attention being stolen again - I am sorry Keiji I tried and by the end of the practice I had no more pictures than 4 of you like the day before - and getting so much of Yuzus back (🍑). Yuzu is truly marvelous even in training and while yes he did make mistakes, fell and popped a few jumps, OVERROTATED A FEW AXELS. I was the happiest girl in the world. 

Also somehow I managed to give Keiji some attention at one point! So good job from my side. Kolyada I apologize I think I watched you for two seconds. Boyang apparently didn't show which I didn't realize until someone else pointed it out during the Pair practice two hours later. Oops? I am truly sorry.

Pairs practice I technically missed as by 10am I needed coffee and by 11 or something I managed to get breakfast too.

Ladies practice was good. Definitely liking Yuna and Kaori from Japan. Hanul from Korea is also pretty good (I walked past her the day before in the corridor and she is so tiny and cute I stared and hurried away because I feel awkward 😂) after the short the day before I was praying for Kaori because that girl deserves the world, her practice looked good so I kept hoping.

I missed Dance practice while sitting there because I spent it to transfer my pictures to my phone. Oops. Also eat and do the necessities before 12:45pm rolled around to slay me with the Men's short.

JUN-FUCKING-HWAN CHA SLAYED ME. He fought like a true champion and the amount of proud I have felt for him was a lot! BOY IS GOOD. And damn he can catch things like a pro, watched him do it with two presents thrown at him. I feel like he is one of the up and coming skaters now, he is slaying this season and I can’t wait to see more of him!

As the time was approaching for Group 2 I spotted Matsuoka-san below our Tribune and I was shocked. HE IS SO TALL AND HANDSOME. And him applying chap-stick is kind of mesmerizing too.

Obviously they were waiting for a certain Japanese boy showing up with his aggressive lip-syncing, murder gaze and ready to slay and OH BOY DID HE SLAY.

This was the moment where my heart-rate was so high my fitness tracked thought I was actually exercising??

Upgraded Otonal is GORGEOUS. I mean I was blown away just seeing it in person because pictures don’t do his costumes justice okay? Took me like a few minutes to see it is different from the ACI one and I love it, the darker tones are so good, the bling is blinding. I was shaking with excitement.

Watching skaters falling apart during their programs is the worst thing ever, and they had such bad ice conditions, everyone was having trouble. My heart ached for Keiji, he did so well in practice and the short was...*sighs* my section was trying to be loud for him.

AND IT WAS TIME FOR THE KING TO ARRIVE. Nothing can describe the kind of atmosphere in the arena, you have to be there to feel how it was electrified throughout his performance or how loud people truly were. During his spins right before the step sequence once he slayed with his jumps (That 4S was as gorgeous at it gets and deserved the +4.3 GOE, WOW) the screams were getting louder and by the start of the sequence IT WAS SO LOUD THE MUSIC COULDN’T BE HEARD. The standing ovation was incredible and the moment he stopped I was on my feet, fighting tears.

106.69 - NEW WORLD RECORD

My heart exploded, my cheeks hurt from smiling so hard, I was so damn happy and I didn’t mind clocking a photographer with my goat plush because LISTEN MR YUZURU-FUCKING-HANYU CAME AND SNATCHED ALL THE WIGS.

I have witnessed it, I have the privilege to watch him skate clean (yeah I know there were some mistakes but landed all the jumps and you know if he finally does it without any mistakes, it is going to be something nobody can touch, the scores will be higher than ever!) in Helsinki with his Hope & Legacy gloves and get a new WR. I was high on adrenaline for the rest of the day, which was good because I had to prepare for the ladies mentally. 

Somewhere in between I think one Japanese lady tried to pass by me to get to her seat and I stood up, greeted her and she stopped, looked at me and asked if I was a Yuzu fan, I confirmed and showed her my hoodie with chibi Seimei. She asked to take a picture and than dropped her bag and pulled out a clear file with the same Seimei pose and handed it to me. It was filled with commercial from Phiten with Yuzu and a Japanese newspaper. I stared like HUH, asked her in Japanese if I can truly keep it, she nodded all excited about it. Boy, these ladies are true heroes out here providing goodies for International fans like us!

After the Men’s short I was looking around and spotted NOBU, he was filming with Matsuoka-san and I died, he looked good! I ended up seeing more often later on but I leave these people be, let their do their thing. I do not stalk any of them.

As if Yuzu didn’t slay, KAORI CAME TROUGH. SHE IS THE NEW QUEEN AND NOBODY CAN CHANGE MY MIND. THAT FREE WAS EVERYTHING; SHE GAVE EVERYTHING AND GOD I AM SO PROUD OF HER. 

Coming back up to 3rd from 7th place shows the fighting spirit she has and the standing ovation for her that day was truly well deserved. I saw the crowd stand twice, for Yuzu and Kaori.

Saturday was an emotional roller-coaster but everything and much more I could hope for. Well exhausted and tired, I left before the Dance competition, which I felt truly sorry for but couldn’t stick around, nor the WC for them. It stopped around 11 PM I believe and gosh, I wasn’t able to do that. While I counted with lack of sleep, cold, emotional roller-coaster, tears and heart-break I was way too tired.

Part 3 with Day 4 coming separately because wow... I rambled here even more.