#this was hard for me to watch because I also wanted shoma to win but I think Adam needed it more and it ended up being a deserved win

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

Shoma's press con on his retirement 14/05/2024

Japanese transcript (not sure if it's full though) of Shoma's 1 hour retirement press con. I put a machine translation with Google lense on each paragraph. Beware that it's not a word for word translation but only for getting the gist of Shoma's words!

livedoor news

@livedoornews

[Shoma Uno's retirement press conference] The most vivid memory I have is ``the sight of coach Stéphane Lambiel when he won his first world championship.''

Q.When was the moment when you decided to end your career with this season?

It was about two years ago that I started thinking about retiring.

However, since then, I have had a hard time imagining myself retiring, so of course I have been working hard on skating with all my might, but I have had many experiences since then, and I am now where I am now.

It's already time to decide on a clear time.

However, regarding when I told my coach, right after the All Japan Championships ended, I told Coach Stefan that I was thinking of retiring as an active athlete at the next tournament.

Q. What did you gain or feel because you experienced the big stage?

I've never been someone who was good at standing up in front of people and talking like this, or performing on a big stage.

Once you experience something on a big stage, you become less nervous about everything than you were then.

I've had a lot of experiences on big stages, but even if it's not a big stage at all, there are parts of my life that make me nervous.

My biggest thought is that when I look back on it, I think it was a precious experience, a precious treasure that I only get to have now.

Q. No matter how many times I think about it, I think it's a good memory.

I think seeing Stefan's joy after winning his first World Championship is a very memorable and vivid memory for me as well.

[Shoma Uno's retirement press conference] "I'm looking forward to figure skating as he continues to reach a high level."

Q. You have been able to express yourself even among players with large physiques.

I have never felt at a disadvantage in figure skating because of my short height.

I'm really glad I chose figure skating.

First of all, with my height of 157 cm, there are not many other sports where I can excel, so I am truly blessed to have started figure skating.

I don't think I ever had such negative feelings.

Q. Do you have a message for your juniors who are competing against rising players such as [Ilia] Malinin?

I skated an old program at an ice show the other day, so I had the opportunity to watch videos of old competitions.

When I looked at my own videos, I realized that I had really evolved in terms of expression compared to before.

I'm looking forward to the future of figure skating, which will continue to rise to a higher and higher level, and all the juniors in Japan are really good kids. First of all, we get along very well. Of course I want everyone to have a good result, but I also hope that at least one athlete who has the most fun and embodies the kind of skating that they are aiming for can emerge.

Q. What do you think about when you are skating?

When I was little, I had a very introverted personality and couldn't speak in front of people.

I don't think my parents thought I would be able to stand on the ice alone and perform in front of so many people.

On the other hand, because I'm the only one there, people can really see the world I create and the way I express myself.

Even here, I'm very grateful to have a place where everyone listens to what I say sincerely and reports on it, and I think that's why it's a place where it's easy to express my true colors. Because I think so.

I don't think I'm the type of person who can communicate much, so I think the competition and environment suited me very well.

Also, when it comes to skating, which I would like to do in the future, I want to give it my all.

I also want to be able to create a program that I find enjoyable every day, and show it to everyone in a way that brings out my own emotions.I don't feel like I have to do this first, but I want to. I'm excited about the possibility of creating some great programs in the future that emerge from this feeling.

Q.What is the driving force behind skating?

To be honest, I don't know.

I've loved games since I was very young, so at first I just wanted to play games and work hard at skating.

However, as I continued skating every day, I gradually became attracted to the appeal of skating and the idea that I could compete at the top of the world. I think it's really important to have a place to devote all your time to, including your hobbies.

No matter how depressed you are, being able to put your all into something is extremely valuable.

Although it may be tiring at times.

However, I believe that the time I spent facing this wholeheartedly will be an asset for me in the future, and I think that this experience will be something I can continue to utilize in my life. Masu.

___

Feimeicheng did a translation on her Instagram Account so you can check for translation discrepancies.

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[shomagravity]

“He works hard for the sake of other people” || Bits from the interview with Uno Shoma’s ex-coach, Higuchi Mihoko

"I've known Shoma ever since he started skating casually at the rink when he was small." "I asked my assistant at the time to ask his mom if he was in any classes anywhere. It turned out that he was just coming to the skating rink for fun, and didn't  decide what to do yet.” About why she asked if he was taking any classes: "He was just so cute!" "Also there was a sparkle. He had something that caught my eye." Which seems to be 'sense'. "You can call it sensitivity. A sense for skating, for jumping, having everything that you need for figure skating. That's what I mean." "Honestly I didn't know what would happen until he made it to Seniors. He couldn't land jumps, and he couldn't make it to the podium although he was a top skater among the other athletes who couldn't land jumps." "But he really loved skating, and he practiced to the point I would wonder how he could skate this much." About Shoma leaving them; "It seems that Yamada Machiko sensei recommended it to him for a while but rather than saying 'It's better if you go', I used to say ‘Why not ask various choreographers to work with you?’, 'Should we learn jumps from a different coach?'” "That's because I wanted him to broaden his horizons even more. However he didn't have any interest in that. Even about working with another choreographer, he would only say ‘maybe if it's an Exhibition program'. " About the time Shoma didn't have any coach and started getting bad results: "I couldn't watch it."  "I didn't think about asking him to come back. Because there'd be no point of it if he just came back. I wanted to watch over him, while cheering him on." After Shoma began working with Stephane; "I thought he picked a good place. I thought Stephane would work well with Shoma. He was really teaching with utmost effort in Team Japan Training Camp, and you can be at ease around him." "Besides he can dance and skate, aside from jumps. Isn't he one of the best, even now? That's how good he is." About Shoma's bronze medal in Olympics and gold medal in Worlds; "I watched Worlds in real time on TV. Without realizing, I was sitting up straight and shouting 'Do your best!'" "He had a great expression on his face and since his body looked even in better shape than it was in Olympics, so I thought he could actually do it. I thought "Finally!" when he became the champion." About the factors of Shoma's success this season; "When he was with me, he'd never say things like 'I want to aim for the gold medal' or 'I want to be the champion'. Because he's the type who just wants to make the performance his own." "However, winning the silver medal at Pyeongchang changed his perspective and I think without realizing, he began to push himself further." "I think Kagiyama Yuma had a big presence in that. I think he realized he needed to figure out what he wanted to do, with Hanyu Yuzuru at the top and his juniors coming up, he knew he had no choice but to do his best." Shoma's personality also played a part in his success; "Back when he was with me, if he made a mistake, he'd apologize after he came back by saying "I'm sorry, I couldn't show a good performance. I apologize. On the contrary, if I felt happy, he'd say he's happy because I was." "He was the type who wouldn't really be pleased because he's so strict with himself, but he'd say he's glad if his coach his happy. During the World Championship in 2018, he was hurt in his leg and honestly he was in a condition where he should have withdrawn."  "However he was worried about the spots for Japan (for the next year's Worlds) and after his performance was over, he asked 'The spots are okay, right?'" "Shoma works hard for other people's sake. He cares about his surroundings. Oh that's right, he's considerate to the point where he'd intentionally lose to younger kids at the rink in fake playful competitions." "He probably had a strong desire to perform in a way that would make Stephane happy, because he's really grateful to him." Source: https://jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/69889 Tweets: https://twitter.com/shomagravity/status/1519567613713657857

[sugar-petals]

Can u introduce yuzuru to us the caro way?👀

so you want to know about the one and only. ♡😌

yuzuru hanyū (25) of sendai, japan: the most beautiful ice prince with a heart of gold.

….an artist clearly not of this world, he’s been sent to us from another realm. 19 world records, two olympics won, dubbed the greatest figure skater of all time. and the most precious bean on top of that.

but let’s start from the beginning, shall we ♥︎

so, want to spot yuzu on the ice? use this checklist. slender silhouette, an even slimmer waist, feather-like outfits (he sketches those himself; the fandom lovingly calls him swanyu), soft blushy face. he has great androgyny.

outside of performances, you see him either with a deer’s gaze or the brightest, biggest eye smile. also, he’s usually found sitting with his wife: 

which is the ice 😄 these two are together forever. you can discern yuzu from a mile away by how he treats his working ground. 

there is a purity to him. you’d not guess that this is one of the most ardent athletes if you didn’t see what’s around his neck after competitions. the guy’s cuteness is as compelling as his skating technique.

look for it: yuzu’s face is super suave and rosy up close, even after his most energetic performances. some men are handsome, others pretty, he is both. 

even acoustically, he’s hard to miss. applause is all around, and he’s highly expressive. if you see a crying young man getting the high score, that’s yuzuru hanyu. you’ve not seen more beautiful happy tears.

and score reactions, anyway:

so, aye loves, the rumors are true. a cutie-pie off the ice, animated, a real unabashed meme — yuzu is easy-going, talkative. cheery, cheeky, one of a kind. his facial expressions are a league of their own.

if you thought this is the sort of guy who watches cat videos, you are correct 😄

yuz-uwu hanyu, everybody:

his undoubtedly feline behaviour is often unexpected, it stands out with its adorableness, too. a sweetheart par excellence. 

and, how else could it be: vice versa, the big beast on the rink. he’s cutesy, dorky, very well-spoken in daily life, but when it comes to skating, his seriousness escalates. you blink once and suddenly hanyu is a bedazzling, strutting lion :’D his performances stun with confident elegance.

he becomes full of ardor, drama, and focus. you’d never suspect so much fire burns in him. a showman and ambition icon, hands down. 

his skating is dynamic, perfected, and emotional. if you want to see art and the extra mile, tune in when hanyu competes.

the downside is; more light, more shadow. it leaves him crawling on the ice afterwards. yuzu performs so hard, it’s worrying.

he delivers it all. you won’t believe it:

this guy is an asthmatic.

the symptoms aren’t as bad as they used to be, but there are still regular attacks. he said that he’ll never take it as an excuse and often recalls how he started skating because of it. he’s a badass, extremely inspiring. yuzuru defies all limits, including gravity. his jumps have legendary status. 

off the rink, you guessed it: he turns into a wholly different person. 

it all dissolves completely when he’s dorking around again. 

don’t let it deceive you, he’s the no other option than first place type. he could not be any more decorated with titles, he achieved the grand slam in all competitions as of 2020. and still, king of sportsmanship hanyu is respectful and smiley towards all colleagues and never lets anyone feel left out. especially when it comes to his juniors (e.g. yuma kagiyama, 16, below) which says a lot about him.

he bows in every direction before an audience, too. lower than a 90° angle, even. this is more polite than any existing formality in japan.

talk about audience: i introduced fellow japanese skater shoma uno last week, who’s more uncomfortable with social contact and aggression. yuzu, extrovert he is: the exact opposite. he withers away with no people and competition. he’s befriended rivals, had crises over not having someone who could challenge him. when a competitor retires, he’s the one crying in their arms (e.g. with team mate and bff javier fernandez from spain below).

beside his competitive spirit and princely wow factor, hanyu is popular for his winnie pooh tissue box that he caresses, squeezes, and carries everywhere. he loves good luck charms & rituals, pooh is the most important one.

fans throw pooh plushies on the ice after his performances because of it. since it’s gotten so intense, yuzu recently started cleaning them up himself on top of the flower girls for the upcoming skater who could get delayed otherwise. (more about what happens with the piles of plushies later.)

so, the burning question is. 

what made yuzuru hanyu emerge so outstanding an entertainer? how does someone causing so much uproar become like that? it’s not just what kind of appearance he was given, although he really looks his part to a T. you don’t have to be an insider to see it right away.

like literally to a fault. and you can tell the way his blades sound on the ice is different. it’s soft even if he does the most hardcore quadruple jumps. i think it’s because his drive to do this is a higher one, hanyu has an altered relationship with the ice. where his devotion comes from has a more severe reason so, massive trigger warning. 

this is no exaggeration: yuzuru is considered a hero to the japanese. a survivor of the earthquake 2011, he narrowly escaped the collapsing rink in his hometown on that very day. he’s often talked about how the ice shattered underneath his feet and it was the moment that defined his life forever. he could have been dead by the age of 16. his motivation has been set ever since. this man is compelled by something bigger, that’s why you hear it and you feel it. he wants to skate not just for himself but others and seize every day. 

much of his copious charity work — that’s where all the pooh plushies go — went to mend the consequences of the tsunami ever since, he’s looked upon as a great hope in japan. the minister gave him the people’s honor award in 2018. 

now you know why yuzuru has such a fanbase and treats the ice as sacred, you see it in every gesture. his manners are without a single flaw, he helps staff repair the ice after performances. 

you might think it’s odd, but he honors the ground. he’s invested in the integrity of it. that’s why he’s the best skater. it’s gratitude and the will to live fully.

he hates to fall on the ice, he hates to damage it. alongside his feathery weight, that’s why the sound he makes while gliding along is so tender. 

i think that’s also why hanyu’s signature element is the ina bauer. it doesn’t rely on brutal force, instead this element slides across the rink like a swan. yeah, oh my god.

it’s his most well-known dramatic move. the way he surrenders into it. 

hanyu’s back arch and perfect split allow him to do elements no other male skaters can. his biellmann spin, for instance. i know, it’s ridiculous.

and those are just two elements of dozens and dozens. hanyu is a kinetic wizard. i highly rec this record-breaking delivery of his olympic program. in front of his home crowd! he’s just… mind-boggling. i live for his smiles here.

exceptional skater, exceptional mentor: it’s time we look at another puzzle piece that made yuzu the way he is. the masterful brian orser is hanyu’s beloved coach. missing gold by just one mistake at the olympics 1988, brian is now committed to give others what he couldn’t have— successfully so.

orser took the ice prince to gold twice, this hasn’t happened in 66 years. brian is the nicest and most supportive pooh carrier and yuzu’s utmost rock. hanyu’s talent rests safely in these hands.

he gets strict about punctuality lmao! but other than that, his guidance is gentle. canadian he is, brian’s courteousness mixes well with yuzu’s politeness. their bond is strong. as. hell. 

brian picked up yuzu from rock bottom several times. most fateful being hanyu’s accident with a fellow skater during competition warm-ups nov 2014. they collided at a high speed, it was unspeakably nasty. yuzu got knocked out for half a minute and had grave breathing problems but still decided to skate on with what later turned out as an almost-concussion. brian was the most worried ice dad in the world that day.

yuzu cried and crouched and bled like mad and my heart has been broken ever since. i hope he never suffers like that again. promise me you don’t search up the video, it’s a harrowing watch like a stab to the chest. sadly enough, hanyu’s body has still been a notorious wreck, esp. ankle issues regularly give him a hard time 😔

it hurts like a bitch with every jump landing but he takes meds and still manages to win, god knows how. sometimes even with crutches on the podium. at his worst, he’s still the best, it’s a tragedy.

he’s been recovering, or always is, but he pushes himself through injuries. his ambition and perfectionism are boundless. the cause is more important to him than his well-being. this is not an easy guy to stan once you see how he sacrifices and self-destructs. so, it’s good someone protects him. 

mostly from himself because nobody has profoundly surpassed hanyu. he has let himself no choice than to contest himself. not even health, only age can stop yuzu. i think that brian understands this ‘curse of a genius’ effect. his mere presence can make hanyu say these rare words:

his two other coaches contribute to that. tracy wilson (left) has proven to understand his playful side the best while ghislain briand (right) helps yuzuru deal with his fears. so you got 3 people taking care of the golden boy. brian once said: “he is very sheltered” and you can see it’s true.

yuzu eased into learning english and communicates well with his coaches. like with everything, he studies hard and often forces himself to speak during interviews to practice. his skills are astounding. his speaking voice is also very soothing, very amicably low and high alike. yuzu is highly intelligent. he always says something eloquent and interesting.

now, privately, hanyu is very much like you’d expect someone so devoted to skating would be like. he doesn’t go out, has no social media, can’t eat nor sleep very well. no cameras allowed during practice. it figures he is attached to winnie pooh, think about it. in the cartoon, pooh is someone who sleeps, eats, and engages with friends plenty. 

these are the things hanyu can’t do, doesn’t have time/energy/incentive for. he is barred from balance in life but can at least admire this little carefree plushie for it. especially because pooh represents eating lots while yuzuru doesn’t have a good relationship with food (he says it doesn’t go well with jumps etc.), hanyu lives vicariously through him. 

what’s more, you have to see how he throws himself onto others and never wants to let go, yuzuru is extremely cuddly. 

to the degree that mere social customs can’t meet how much he really needs. so, what else can he resort to, he loves mascots and plushies. it’s how the tale goes in japan generally, tough work ethic, high responsibility, high pressure, so people turn to cute fluffy things.

he always fondles pooh’s head, even pretends he’s come to life so he has someone to snuggle with. i think that his isolated lifestyle doesn’t help. so, he gets his affection at least there, you can see how happy it makes him. and again: he does this all for charity.

that’s why fellow skaters are so important to hanyu. it really brings out his social spirit and comforts him best, it’s so wholesome. i’ve not seen someone react so relieved to being embraced, like he’s not been touched for months. skating this, skating that. at the end of the day, hanyu wants love.

as he once said, what motivates him is to express himself in the first place. hanyu is a romantic. it’s written all over him. it reflects in his music choices, his elegant motion, how he designs his outfits:

… and how thoughtfully he talks about marriage. he has big plans for starting a family and coaching after he retires. i won’t be the only one squeezing lucky charm pooh in my imagination so it turns out well for him. please make this heart of gold heal and see all his wishes come true ♡🐻

[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 :)).

[teamchampery]

Interview with Koshiro in Spur

Thank you to Tsurara on Golden Skate for the translation and permission to repost!

Koshiro Shimada, Marching Forward

Captured by the lyrics about leaving one’s old self behind

At an airport on January 4th, 2019, the junior skater had a beaming smile on his face.

At Japan Nationals last December, he competed with senior skaters and placed 3rd after SP and skated the following day’s FS in the last group. Drawing a number for the last skater, the competition went dramatic and he placed 5th overall.

“I placed 3rd at Junior Grand Prix Final in early December, and I was aiming to be in the last group for Nationals. But when that actually happened, I found out that I actually wasn’t mentally ready yet. As I skated with Daisuke Takahashi and Shoma Uno, I saw that the quality of their skating was high and my coarseness stood out. I accept that as my homework. Since I had successful quads at the warm-up and my condition was good too, I realized that the process of having extensive practices that would make me feel 100% confident was important.”

When he was looking for a place to practice after his former coach’s relocation, Stephane Lambiel in Switzerland told him that he could be of help and he moved to Europe alone. He relocated (his home rink) in July, 2017.

“There are many great coaches there, and we could communicate even though I couldn’t understand English. I was sure that I could build even better relationships with them if I made enough efforts. I was injured at 2017-18 season and I could only participate in 2 competitions. Especially when I decided to withdraw from Japan Junior, I was very unhealthy (mentally), feeling lost and didn’t know what I wanted to do next. Then, Stephane said to me, "I’m just cheering for you, and while determining what’s needed for you in order to aim high up, I’ll be following you,"* and gave me a long hug for tens of seconds. I noticed my tears just spontaneously falling down.”

Note: What Stephane supposedly said there is just my translation from Spur's summarized interpretation for the article from Koshiro's interpretation and interview responses. Please be warned that it may not match with what Stephane actually said.

When he was struggling with his injury, there was a number he was planning to use for an exhibition program: “Adios”, which he used for this season’s SP instead.

“I liked Nathan Chen’s "Nemesis", his SP number during 2017-18 season, and I was listening to Benjamin Clementine’s album. "Adios" is one of the songs in it. The lyrics about leaving one’s old self behind, it just fit me perfectly at that time, and I asked Stephane to change it for SP. I keep in mind to be conscious of advancing forward strongly while skating, and that consciousness appears to have helped me doing successful jumps. I’m glad I met this song this season.”

Training under Stéphane has made his objectives clearer this season.

“First of all, I am aiming for Beijing Olympics in 3 years. Right now, I’m just barely managing my daily practices, but my motivation for it is becoming stronger. I’m also interested in being a choreographer in the future. Stephane always searches music on Spotify. That included, there are so many things I can learn from him. The other day, we watched the movie, "Bohemian Rhapsody" and he said, "we want to use Queen’s song, don't we?" I personally like "Who wants to live forever".”

Costumes

- FS uses a mature number that he had never done before, so red and black as base colors.

- Vivid red for the SP costume, to represent cuts/wounds. His slender proportion helps his performance to look sharp on the ice.

Q&A

Q　You grew taller.

A　Yes, indeed. Since I had a very relaxed time during New Years days, maybe I got taller again. Not sure if it's jumps that's affecting my height, but I get 2 to 3 cm shorter after practicing.

Q　Are you in any way particular about your costumes?

A　I’m emotionally involved with my SP “Adios”, and the image of it in my head is cuts/wounds. As for FS “Winter in Buenos Aires”, it was my first challenge to do such a mature piece, so I discussed it with Stéphane too to decide. Oh, but I told him 'No Way' to a zebra costume beforehand. (laugh)

Q　What is Stéphane like at ordinary times?

A　When we shared a room in Canada, he cleaned up the room, saying, “I’m cleaning it because I like to.” It was quite humbling, but I had a very comfortable time thanks to him, to the point that I see why everyone calls him “Mom”, no questions asked. (laugh) Lately I can speak out my own opinions too, and our relationship might have changed a little bit, from 'the sensei I admire/worship’ to 'my coach’, perhaps?

Q　Any ideas for something special, like the pair program by Stéphane and Deniss?

A　Truth be told, Stéphane says he already has an image of three of us skating together in his head. But, to do that, I need to achieve some good results and win the right to skate together with them. So I’m trying hard. We three have about the same height now, but you know what, Deniss’ body has got exceptionally beautiful curves!

Q　Is Deniss your rival? Or best friend?

A　I hope to become his (proper) rival some time soon, because you need one in the rural environment. On our day-off, we go to climb a mountain together. He really has a variety of hobbies, and bakes cakes every day. Stéphane sometimes warns him, saying “You’re baking too many/much!” (laugh)

[rika-kihira]

“It was good that I did not give up the 3A”– Confidence gained from winning the Grand Prix Final

Original interview here. Thanks to @nanoka12 for the translation!!!

16-year-old Rika Kihira-senshu who achieved a splendid victory at the Grand Prix Final. Defeating the best in the world in her Senior debut season, successfully landing the 3A, setting a new world record in the SP, it was a sensational victory. She spoke about her thoughts towards skating on the morning after the competition, while the strong emotions have yet to cool.

Setting aside the mistake on the first attempt, successfully landing the 3A The improvement in her component scores also become a factor behind her victory

Q: Looking back at this competition once again, how do you feel?

A: As my target this year was that I wanted to end all my competitions with a smile, I was truly very happy. I was able to end it with a smile.

Q: Firstly, you successfully landed the 3A in your SP for the first time this season and set a new world record.

A: I was extremely surprised when I saw the score. As it was a score I did not imagine. My feelings were that finally I was able to do the jump as I imagined. I was able to smoothly combine the feel of the ice and my own image of the jump.

Q: Your FS gained momentum as it moved into the second half.

A: Even though I made a mistake on the first 3A, after that I was able to set that aside and focus, and following that it gradually became a performance more and more like myself. As there was a gap (of about 40 minutes) after the 6-minute warm-up, it felt like for the first 3A I could not get the exact timing as my body had cooled. But as I understood the reason for the mistake, I did not become anxious from it and was able to land my second 3A while maintaining my focus.

Q: You set a new personal best in the FS and achieved a complete victory.

A: Because I always perform badly if I am concerned with the placements before I skate, so although I did not think about it before the FS, after my performance thoughts of  “Can I win? As expected I want to win” appeared in my mind. When I was waiting for the scores I could only pray. I was happy that I scored above 150 points. Even though there was one mistake on the 3A, as this was a score attained by the other parts (of the FS) being evaluated well, my emotions steadily became those of happiness.

Q: Your high PCS was also a key factor behind your victory.

A: As the PCS cannot improve unless there is stability with the jumps, there is the solid sense that with stable performances this season the PCS has gone up. Also, as even during training I practice the choreography and skating skills a lot, I think the fruits of that training has finally taken form. I think it was good that I trained without forgetting to also practice the other parts outside of the jumps.

Q: What were the areas in which you defeated PyeongChang Olympic gold medalist Alina Zagitova?

A: Zagitova-senshu has scored even higher previously, I think for her the scores this time were not good scores. I think she will give better performances after this. For myself too, I think it will become important going forward that regardless of how nervous I am I skate my SP and FS well.

In her kindergarten years “I wanted to be number 1 in everything” During 5th grade of elementary school “I will devote my life to skating”

Q: You achieved an amazing victory on the world stage at the age of 16, what kind of steps did you take on your skating path until this point?

A: I started skating when I was 3 years old, when I went to the skating rink with my elder sister and mother. I fell countless times, got up and then fell again. My sister was better, which frustrated me and I continued to try; this is what I heard from my mother. When I was in the upper grade of kindergarten I was enrolled in the skating class at the rink in Namba (Naniwa Ice Skating). My elder sister was in the elementary school kids class, I was in the toddler class and I disliked this so I said “I quit!” and they made a special exception to place me in the elementary school kids class, and since then I have practiced every day wanting to catch up with my elder sister.

Q: You went to a famous kindergarten for your early education, and even there it seemed you worked hard every day.

A: I aimed to be number 1 in everything. Not just gymnastics, but in reading, writing, mathematics. Though there were various different subjects, I worked hard to be number 1 in all of them. For mathematics, once I finished a set of drills I received the next set. There was an adorable kid I was friendly with and competing with that kid, I steadily completed more and more mathematics drills, and while I was in kindergarten I had practiced until I could do calculations with 3-digit numbers. To the extent that when I entered elementary school, I thought “Why are we doing such simple things?”

Q: In everything you competed while enjoying it.

A: No, I did not think it was enjoyable. As it was a kindergarten that pitted us against each other in a rather strict sense. But I liked challenging everything and anything, and as I am more of the type of person who has courage, even for difficult things, these were days in which I worked hard while telling myself “If it is me I can do it”.

Q: When did you decide to pursue skating seriously?

A: Around the time when I was in the 5th grade of elementary school. It was the period when I started to practice triple jumps. To pursue skating seriously, and to devote my life to skating, I had already decided this.

Q: That is an amazing resolve! Did you join Coach Mie Hamada’s team around this time?

A: When I went to watch a particular competition, there was a sensei who was very supportive of the competing skaters while watching the competition. To the extent that she also jumped when the skaters jumped. I thought it would be nice to have a sensei like that, and when I asked my father “Who is that sensei?” he helped me to research and found out that “She is a coach who has developed many good skaters”, and we sent an email asking her to coach me.

Q: How was Team Hamada after you really joined?

A: As there are many top skaters like (Satoko) Miyahara-san, there was a lot I could watch and learn. During the time when I was still unable to do triple jumps, although everyday was tough, as there were many good skaters present I had something to aim for and that was good. Also compared to the rink in Namba, the training conditions at Kansai University’s rink were better, there were fewer people and I could focus and do jumps. It was also great that I received a lot of attention during lessons.

Q: You mastered triples in a very short span of time, and started to challenge the 3A.

A: As I had become able to jump the 2A effortlessly, as Hamada-sensei told me “You can do it if you try” I tried (the 3A). At the first lesson she said “That looks good”, and I became able to do it after practicing everyday. As it is not something everyone can do, I wanted to make it my weapon.

Q: There are very few ladies who have successfully landed the 3A, who did you take reference from?

A: Although in terms of frequency I watched videos of my own attempts the most, I certainly watched Mao Asada-san’s videos as a reference. As the way she jumps makes it very easy to understand the timing. Also when we practice together, I watched many of Takahito Mura-san’s and Shoma Uno-kun’s 3As. As when I watched the male skaters they have a fixed posture immediately before the jump, and as my own position still easily becomes crooked, I think this was also linked to the improved success rate.

Q: What about Midori Ito-san’s videos?

A: Midori-san’s jump is too big, it is too difficult for me and conversely it becomes such that the image does not well up in my mind! I think if I tried to jump such a huge jump, I would fly out with a tremendous amount of momentum, my rotational axis will become weird and that would be the end. There is too much power.

2 years of struggle after the first time she successfully landed the 3A in competition.

“I came to understand myself, and grasped the method to control my emotions”

Q: You first landed the 3A successfully in competition 2 years ago. After that it was a continuous struggle.

A: In terms of technique, I could do it in practice well ahead (of the competition). It had more height than my other triples, and there was also flow upon landing. But once I was in competition I was unable to perform it consistently.

Q: What is the number 1 reason for the rise in the rate of success this season?

A: It is mentality. I came to understand myself. “At such a time I become anxious and cannot jump it”–I experienced such failures many times, and as I came to understand the mental condition that makes me feel “This is something I definitely cannot do”, I make it such that my mental condition does not become like that. It feels like I have grasped the way to control my emotions in competition.

Q: In concrete terms what were these failures?

A: There were many times in which at the moment I strike my opening pose in competition, I would suddenly become nervous and lose focus. Strange thoughts like “Ah, right now I am in a competition” would enter my mind, and I would think about things that are better not thought of such as “I worked hard for this competition”. I would become in a condition in which I am unable to focus on my performance, do my jumps in that same condition, and make mistakes.

Q: What are some examples of the steps you take to deal with this?

A: Before the competition I take a good look all around the venue, say to myself “Henceforth I will be competing here~”, and have an image of myself standing on the ice. It is a feeling like making myself accustomed to the atmosphere of the venue. Making myself accustomed to nervousness so that when I strike the starting pose I do not suddenly think “It’s competition time!” and become surprised.

Q: Successfully, your 3A has become a weapon this season .

A: There were also times when I lost confidence as I made more mistakes than other skaters due to including the difficult element of the 3A. I thought of myself as weak. But as I do not want to have thoughts like “It was better not to do the 3A”, despite the numerous repeated failures, I continue to jump it. As I thought I definitely want to make those struggles worthwhile this season, I think it was good that I continued.

For Japanese Nationals, “To end this year with a smile” The 3A and also quadruple jumps going towards the Beijing Olympics

Q: The Japanese Nationals at the end of the year are coming up soon. What kind of performances are you aiming for?

A: To clean up and make ready my SP and FS with perfect performances. As it is an important competition that will bring the year 2018 to a close, and many people who support me will also be there, I want to firmly draw out my ability and end with a smile.

Q: Even though it is still early, expectations towards the Beijing Olympics in 2022 are rising.

A: I started skating when I was small, and from the time I learnt that the Olympics is the final battle that takes place once in four years I have thought “If I can win the Olympics”.  Although practice starts from the early morning, I cut down my hours of sleep and worked hard.

Q: What kind of jumps do you think would be necessary for the Beijing Olympics?

A: I think two 3As, and also quads will be necessary. As I do not know what kind of era will also come upon the Ladies discipline, I want to practice. As unless I steadily move forward, I do not have the confidence that I am able to achieve big goals (in the form of the gold medal).

Q: How far do you think you have come on the path towards the gold medal?

A: I am still at only around 10%. There is slightly more than 3 years to go. As I still cannot even easily perform my jumps without mistakes, whether I am able to do so when I am under great pressure remains an area to work on. From now on as I think I will come to feel pressure, I think how I complete and finish this work over these 3 years is important. Please support me.

[redgreenbluesforloco]

Friends+ Interview with Shoma

Friends＋α 2018-19 with Shizuka Arakawa and Shoma Uno - 9/24/2018

disclaimer/notes: This is in transcript format to make it easier to read but it has NOT been transcribed and translated word for word. Since it’s a 48min interview translated by ear, a lot of it has been summarized or paraphrased. My Japanese isn’t totally fluent either, so there may be some mistakes and/or omissions. Oh and I just realized I still haven’t fixed the inconsistent use of lol and [laugh] throughout this and I’m too tired to do it right now so pls forgive ;;

Intro

Shizuka: Last time you said you wore the outfit they prepared for you. How about today?

Shoma: I woke up 30 minutes ago and this was the outfit that was laid out for me.

Shizuka: So, same as last time.

About off-season activities after the Olympics

Shoma: I’ve done ice shows, then training camp and then more ice shows. I think I did more of them last year. I thought it was a bit much last year [laugh], so this year I took the liberty of doing fewer shows.

Shizuka: Do you like ice shows?

Shoma: To be honest, I like competitions better. But on shows like The Ice, I got to skate last for the first time, and it felt like I had a bigger role to play. I used to just show up and do my part without thinking too much. Now I think more about the bigger picture: I’ve had to think more carefully about what I can do to contribute to the show and make the audience happy. I feel a stronger sense of responsibility now. Being the first one to come out and the last one to skate feels like a big deal. It was the first time in an ice show that I felt so strongly that I couldn’t make any mistakes. That was a good experience and honestly it was fun, too.

The Birth of Shoko-chan

Shoma: When I heard we were doing cosplay for the jump contest, I thought it was going to be too much time in the spotlight and I didn’t want it, to be honest. I would rather lose soon and just focus on performing. But the last event was going to be in Nagoya and Oda-kun said, “What are we gonna do if Shoma doesn’t win.” I also thought it’d be good jump practice. The cosplay had to be something funny, so for the 1st day I was Luigi. I thought I was gonna be Luigi the next time too, but Kazuki-kun, Kaori-chan and Marin-chan told me that was boring. Then I ended up being a blue power ranger [laugh].

Shizuka: Was that your idea?

Shoma: That was chosen for me, too. Everyone who was younger than me was like “put this on,” and I was like “okay” [laugh]. Then at the last event I got into it as well, and when we were deciding what to do I gave my input as well, “let’s do crossdressing.” I asked Marin-chan and Kaori-chan for help with the makeup.

Shizuka: So you didn’t dislike it?

Shoma: [laugh] well…

Shizuka: You get used to things quickly.

SHoma: Yeah. That day rather than thinking it was embarrassing I thought it seemed like fun lol.

Shizuka: So you had fun.

Shoma: I had a lot of fun.

Collab with Stephane Shoma: That was a great opportunity for me. Stephane-san is very good at steps and I was afraid I wasn’t gonna be able to keep up. But I wanted to do a good job. To be honest, I didn’t know I was going to be doing my version of winter until the day of the event.

Shizuka: Really?! I’m sure we had talked about it. You knew there was a collaboration, right?

Shoma: I heard I was gonna be doing a collaboration but.…

Shizuka: Well, then! that means you were going to do it, no?

Shoma: LOL

Shizuka: You weren’t listening.

Shoma: No…I really panicked.

Shizuka: So you hadn’t practiced.

Shoma: I hadn’t practiced it since Worlds.

Shizuka: What? [disapprovingly] Huh.

Shoma: So I managed to focus on practicing on my own as soon as I arrived. But since I did that program for a year, my body still remembered it and the fact that I hadn’t done it for a while helped me realize what adjustments I could make. It was tricky doing the steps together and there was a lot of twizzles in the opposite direction. But it was fun to figure it out like that and I was happy I could do that kind of program.

Shizuka: I’ve thought for a long time Stéphane is a standout professional skater among all the pro-skaters I’ve seen. And for you to skate along side him…I think both of you seemed encouraged by one another and it was a sight to see.

Shoma: I was really nervous. I’m usually never nervous for the opening and finale, but this time I got through it despite being a bit nervous. From the moment I stood up, it was like I was going to a competition. Because Stephane-san is a really incredible person…and since we’re doing the program together, it’s even more important not to make mistakes than when I’m performing alone. I didn’t want to fall behind and I had to get the rhythm just right, so I was very focused.

Shizuka: You two do not have the same style, and it’s not that you “more or less matched each other” and made it work while still flaunting your individual styles…I mean, I thought your individuality became a plus rather than a hindrance. In the synchronized step sequence you two did at the end, you were both skating with such confidence. I loved that part when you came to the corner. I was watching from that corner and I thought, “Wow, those two look really cool.”

Shoma: [giggles]

Shizuka: So at what time during the program were you able to relax?

Shoma: As I was doing all the steps and going into the final spins, I had some confidence.

Shizuka: Right, you had that look of “it’s gone well today.” I liked that look on the two of you.

Shoma: We didn’t really decide on a precise number of steps, so I would look at Stephane and try to figure out just before, ‘oh today must be 8. Today must be 6.’ lol

Shizuka: Well, Stephane is an artist after all.

Shoma: I got it wrong and ended it early in practice once, so I told myself to remember to be careful around that part [laugh]. And I’m also very bad at doing twizzles in the other direction.

Shizuka: Everyone is, but Stephane is different, right? He’s basically equally good in either direction. When making the program for someone, he’ll add things whether you’re good at them or not.

Shoma: He sure put in a lot of them…

Shizuka: Before Dai-chan had also thought, “ah he’s adding too much of them” [laugh].  But I think he made you do it because he knew you could.

Shoma: I think he knew I was bad at doing them in the other direction…

Shizuka: But he thinks you’ll be able to figure it out. He probably evaluated you and figured you could do it. Meanwhile he asks me which direction I prefer [laugh].

Shoma: He probably thinks I should be challenging myself more.

Shizuka: It turned out great.

Shoma: Yes. I want to do more collaborations next year with lots of different people.

Shizuka: I’ll have to think of something stimulating for you then.

How were things backstage?

Shizuka: It was quite calm this year wasn’t it?

Shoma: Yes. But Stephane wasn’t dressed yet 3 minutes before the performance.

Shizuka: But that’s just Stephane.

Shoma: It’s always like that right?

Shizuka: He has that kind of authority. There’s such a thing as Stephane Time. He starts putting his boots on right when it’s go time [laugh].

Shoma: I kept worrying, “is he going to make it??” And then while I was doing my part of the performance I’d see Stephane coming in and it was such a relief lol

Shizuka: You must’ve been worried you were going to end up alone. You’d have to do his part, too!

Chicago this season

Shoma: It’s not that I go to Chicago to learn jumps: I have objectives like building up my stamina, getting [mentally] ready for the new season. I hate going abroad [laugh], so going to Chicago is a way to transition out of the off-season and get into the competitive mindset again.   When it comes to jumps, I’ve benefitted from a lot of advice and opinions from many different people, but the main part of the process has always been practicing on my own. When I was little, I’d get impatient waiting for the teachers who were helping Kanako and I would practice by myself. I’d try to figure it out by myself a lot, and little by little I’d get the hang of a new jump.

Shizuka: Does it feel like the joy you get leveling up in a game, like you learn a jump and ‘dah-dah-dah-dah’? [nintendo level-up sound effect, I think?]

Shoma: [laugh] No, I think it’s a bit different with jumps.

Shizuka: Ah, I apologize [laugh].

Shoma: No, no, no! I just mean, it’s kind of like, all of a sudden, it clicks. It’s not like you learn it because you became stronger, it’s just sudden. In games, you don’t level up suddenly, you get gradually get closer and closer. I think it’s different in that sense.

Shizuka: Ah, I see.

Shoma: I think leveling up is more similar to spins and interpretation.

Shizuka: So is it like finding an item?

Shoma: Yeah, it’s like finding a rare item! Like, “oh, here it is” lol. When it comes to being able to jump, I think that part of it comes from just random confidence, like thinking “it feels like I can do it.” When you do have that confidence for whatever reason, you just do it. Of course, first it takes a lot of hard work to get to that point, but that’s how I feel I was able to grasp the 3A.

Shizuka: Right now, what are the jumps that you feel you have to work on a bit more?

Shoma: Quad toe and quad flip. When I’m doing a lot of other jumps, the success rate of those 2 aren’t good and I feel like they become unstable. I’d like to do the toe-loop as consistently as I can do the axel. And as for the flip, I’d like for it to stop feeling so difficult in my mind. If I can think of it as a simpler jump…I’d like to lessen the intensity of my feelings about it this season.

About Daisuke’s Comeback

Shizuka: When you were a kid, you must have had opportunities to see the competitions he was in live or on TV?

Shoma: No, I didn’t. It was only once at Nationals when I got to see him perform Phantom of the Opera live. That was the first time I ever watched someone perform and thought, “I wanna be like him.” I think some people must have watched it even more times, but I watched the video like 3 or 4 times.

Shizuka: That’s not a lot lol. But in your case that’s a lot, right, and it seems like it was a big deal in your life as a skater.

Shoma: I don’t watch things more than once lol. That was the only time.

Shizuka: So when you heard that the only one you watched more than once, the one that had such an influence on you, was coming back to competition, what did you think?

Shoma: I was busy with a job somewhere and my manager came and said, “you know…” and that was most shocked I’ve been this whole year. I was so shocked. ‘Coming back to compete…you mean, to compete?’ For me this is a time when everything’s changed so much, so I tried to imagine if it was me in his place. I don’t think I could have come back. I’ve never retired so I can’t understand how he feels. But I think the fact that he could make the decision to come back is really amazing. At first I was just so shocked. But when I thought about it more calmly, it must be a matter of putting his feelings into action.

Shizuka: When you think about competing with this skater you’ve always looked up to, how do you feel?

Shoma: I still can’t picture it. It was only once that I was in the same competition as Daisuke Takahashi-san, only once that we skated at the same place and at the same time. Even then it didn’t really feel like we were in the same competition because he was on a different level. So I still have not experienced competing with him.

Shizuka: Not in the sense of being able to put up a fight.

SHoma: RIght. So I can’t even begin to imagine.

Shizuka: But now that you’re an olympic medalist, are you looking forward to getting that chance?

Shoma: I just can’t imagine it.

Shizuka: Your paths are going to be different, Daisuke’s going to regionals and then sectionals, so if you 2 were to meet it would be at Nationals. Or are you participating in Western Japan Championships (sectionals)?

Shoma: No, I’m just going with the towel to support him, like this [mimics].

Shizuka: Ah the pink one, right? lol.

Shoma: Hahaha. Yeah, I’m just a member of the audience.

Shizuka: This is the only time you’ve wanted to watch anything. You don’t go to watch competitions, right?

Shoma: No. I’ll go to Western Japan sectionals…

Shizuka: I want to see you waving that towel.

Shoma: lol

Shizuka: I wonder if he’ll like that.

Shoma: I want to see how it will turn out with Takahashi-san as a competitor.

Have you talked to Daisuke about it?

Shoma: No. We often chat a bit in ice shows but not about skating. I don’t really talk to people about skating outside of interviews.

Off-season stuff

Shoma: I was very focused on gaming this off-season. I was trying my hardest. I thought, wow the world is very big and there are a lot of strong people out there. As a skater I’m competing on an upper level, so I kept thinking a lot about how the top gamers managed to get to the top levels.

Shizuka: How does a standard day go for you?

Shoma: I wake up, then I sleep on the car on my way to the rink. I sleep until the last second before I start practice. Then I eat while playing games and go back to practice. I play games on my way home, then I eat and game some more before I go to sleep. It’s split in 3 parts: sleeping, skating and gaming. I think it’s 8 hours each. I game too much and forget to talk to my parents and reply to friends and stuff…so no one invites me to do anything anymore [laugh]. I really do the same things every day. When I have to talk to people, it’s kind of troublesome because I have nothing to talk about. The topics are really limited.

Shizuka: Don’t you watch TV?

Shoma: No…I don’t even need to have one at home.

Shizuka: So you must get lost talking to people sometimes.

Shoma: Yeah, I do, so I just nod and go “hmm.” I’m learning by listening [laugh].

Shizuka: Has anything changed since you became 20?

Shoma: Not really.

Shizuka: Do you drink alcohol now?

Shoma: Sometimes. Mostly on my own [laugh].  

Shizuka: You just stay home?

Shoma: Yeah, I’m not the type to leave the house. I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want walk around the house at night by myself.

Shizuka: [laughs] You’re like a grandpa.

Shoma: Sometimes I think about what I’ll do when I stop skating. I think I want to live a very slow, calm life lol.

Shizuka: It seems like you already are lol.

Shoma: I do like exercising. I have one day off a week, and if I just stay home the next day I can’t move well at practice, so I go out once. I have friends from university like Matsuda Yura, Takeuchi Kotaro, Nitaya Rin-chan and others. So I go bowling or something with them once a week. It’s the only time I’ll go out each week [laugh].

Shizuka: [laugh] You’re like a mole who won’t leave the burrow.

How he spends his time

Shoma: I hate not having anything to do. If I have time, I want to use it for something. That’s why I game whenever I have free time. I can’t just not do anything so it’s like, I have to game. Whenever I’m free, I just game, so I seriously wonder what other people do in their free time [laugh].  You must be very busy being a mom, right?

Shizuka: Yeah, nowadays I’m busy raising my kids, but when I was competing I had lots of free time. I liked drinking with friends at home. I liked talking to friends.

Shoma: I’m really bad at talking. I had to do a lot of interviews, so now I can talk at least this much, but I used to be terrible at it and I’m still not very good. So it’s more comfortable drinking alone at home rather than with a bunch of people. I like Cassius orange, Smirnoff and Peach Long...

Shizuka: You like sweet drinks, huh! I like Piña Colada.

Shoma: Pina…Cola…da?

Shizuka: Yeah, it’s a pineapple drink, feels very tropical. I don’t think you’re into ‘tropical’ though lol Skaters usually want to take a vacation somewhere with a warm climate where you can go to the beach, don’t you like the beach?

Shoma: I haven’t been in a while. Sometimes I think it’d be nice to go alone to a place where no one’s around, with beautiful natural scenery.

Shizuka: Alone?

Shoma: Yeah, definitely alone lol. I’d first cool off, get refreshed. I don’t think it fits my image but…

Shizuka: You want to try it right.

Shoma: I want to go alone, but I think that person over there would probably say no [looking off-camera, to his manager, presumably?].

While doing a pose for the “friends plus” promo thing, producer asks him, “Could you do it one more time with more energy?” Shoma: “[laughs bitterly] that had plenty of energy though…”

Things he likes in his programs, either in the SP or FS

Shoma: In the SP, my favorite part is the step sequence where I do some steps, spin on one knee, then get up, dance and go back into the steps. And I like the music, the way the guitar melody [in the beginning] changes into a tango-like melody during that part [the stsq]. I like the contrast.

Shizuka: It feels like something new to you?

Shoma: Yes, I’ve been challenging so many new things this year, now I don’t really get that feeling of it being a ‘new thing.’ I just find something to enjoy in it.

Shizuka: You’ve been having fun with it?

Shoma: Yes.

Shizuka: I like the bit before the 3A where you brush your hair up. I thought that looked cool and very new.

Shoma: I got it when I was training in Canada. When I was training there, I got some choreography advice too, and the coach there came up with it.

Shizuka: Who was it?

[silence while Shoma gives her a look like, ‘uh oh, I’m not gonna know this.’ Shoma’s manager says Marie France]

Shizuka: Ah, Marie France, the ice dancer?

Shoma: My hair got very long and it would get in my face, so I kept brushing it back during practice. And she said, we should add that, it’ll look cool. I thought it was a joke at first lol.  But then we really put it in the program…

Shizuka: I thought it looked very cool. It’s not like, “I’m gonna jump an Axel now!!” There’s a very casual elegance about it. It’s very impressive to be able express that through choreography.

Shoma: I quite like it too, but there’s also a concern that, “if I’m acting cool, now I better not make a mistake.” [both laugh]

Shizuka: I think it looks very cool. I want to see it again.

Shoma: [giggles]

About costumes

Shoma: I’ve had a lot of them so far. What I don’t like is frills and pink.

Shizuka: Have you decided on the costumes?

Shoma: I dunno. Every year I have like four and I don’t know which one is the real – I mean, which one I’ll be wearing in competitions.

Shizuka: Who decides?

Shoma: Mostly it’s my mom. If there’s something that can be fixed or improved, she’ll do it by hand. And if she thinks it can’t be fixed by hand, then we make a new one. It happens a lot. I just hate trying it on/getting measurements taken. I’m fine with anything, but I just have to stand there like this [mimics] for such a long time – I hate that.  

Working with Shae-Lynn

Shoma: Shae-Lynn-san has a lot of experience with uptempo programs and I wanted to try that. I thought that experience would also be useful for my competitive programs. The movements were very fast. She said it was just a matter of moving my body lightly, but it was really difficult, and then the next day my body was stiff and I could barely move. My neck, too, my entire body.  At first I had doubts if I could really pull it off, and to be honest I performed with some embarrassment. But the more I did it on ice shows, the more I liked it, and now it’s a program I really like performing.

Shizuka: Do you get embarrassed often?

Shoma: I get embarrassed when I feel like I’m not doing something well. I don’t like to show people something that I haven’t mastered yet. It’s been that way for a long time, even with people who know me. I don’t want to show something half-done.

Shizuka: You’re a perfectionist then.

Shoma: I guess. But lately I’ve been feeling less embarrassment.

Shizuka: How do you set your goals as a competitor?

Shoma: I don’t really…do that. I mean, I don’t see it as setting goals. I just ask myself what I want to do at that moment, make a decision and then aim for the closest objective. Right now, I think about the next competition and what I have to do to get ready, then I practice. This might be a bad way to explain it, but in games, I’m always thinking of how to get my character to the next level…and sometimes I wonder what am I doing it for – it’s not like there’s a final objective [laugh] but I still just want to get to the next level and keep improving, because I don’t like to lose.

Shizuka: Since you became an Olympic medalist and a World medalist I think the expectations surrounding you as you start the season are higher. But as for you yourself, what kind of results are you going to be aiming for?

Shoma:  Last season I kept coming in 2nd all the time. That’s not all bad, but of course I want to come in 1st. I want to practice so I can win and live up to those expectations. But even though the rules have changed, I want to keep being myself and also show people that I have grown. First I just want to do well at practice without thinking only of results.   

---

[morosemariposa]

2019 Lombardia Trophy

We’re going back to Bergamo, Italy for the annual Lombardia Trophy.

LADIES’ SP The second Challenger Series competition this season begins with the Ladies’ SP. This wasn’t a great start to the competition. Many music choices didn’t fit the program elements, skaters are a little rusty and getting back into the competitive mindset. Overall a lackluster short program, but it’s the start of the season so I’m not expecting skaters to perform at 100%. For a lot of them this is the first time performing their new programs for a crowd so nerves are bound to set in.

Young You - I personally don’t like the Romeo+Juliet voice over inserts in a Romeo and Juliet program. Whenever a skater does a R&J program I’m always hoping for Sergei Prokofiev’s beautiful composition to the ballet to start and all I get is the Leonardo DiCaprio movie version. It’s rare that a famous classical piece of music becomes obscure in figure skating but I feel that Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet has become that. The actual program itself is not extraordinary, the movements could’ve belonged to any piece of music.

Wakaba Hugichi - Same situation with Young You. Wakaba’s program to Sia’s Bird Set Free could’ve been a program to any other choice of music. Sia’s music is incredibly emotional and her voice is equally as incredible. When performing a program to a song that’s emotional with a voice just as emotional you have to bring that emotion and put it into the performance. Wakaba’s Skyfall had the potential to fail but it succeeded. Adele just like Sia has an amazing voice and Wakaba was able to perform the program perfectly. Bird Set Free is just at the beginning stages. It has the potential to be good. I’m definitely keeping track of the trajectory of this program.

Anna Shcherbakova - The program music to Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, I like but the program itself I’m not in like or love with it yet. I could be when performed exceptionally which I have no doubt that Anna will do this season. She usually interprets music well, when she’s on, she is on and I look forward to her senior debut season.

LADIES’ FP The Ladies’ competition ends the day after the short with the free program. It was pretty boring and lackluster. The medalists all did enough to deserve their medals but none of them had performances that I would watch on repeat. It’s their first competition of the season but hopefully none of them perform like this again this season.

Sofia Samodurova - El Tango de Roxanne. I don’t have anything to say except that I wish this music would retire.

Wakaba Higuchi - Classical Spanish flamenco. Yes, I love it. The only critique I would give it is that if your going to do a flamenco you’ve got to sell it and Wakaba struggled throughout the program. I don’t like the choreography but I can see some promise for it to be well executed in future performances.

Young You - All the music cuts don’t blend well with the program. The performance doesn't match the music and it’s lacking in any emotion.

Anna shcherbakova - Just like with her short program I don’t like the free program much. She committed to the performance and hit music notes with well choreographic elements but I felt it was a little empty at some parts.

MEN’S SP The Men’s SP begins and GASP! no Shoma Uno! For the last three years Shoma has competed and won this competition but this year Lombardia Trophy will have a new Men’s Champion. I was excited for this line up of men because some of them I really want to see succeed this season.

Boyang Jin - First glance I like the costume. It’s minimal but effective, the gold accents on the top match his gold blades. I love it. The music I don’t love and the performance isn’t there for me. I’m glad that Boyang had a good first performance of the season and hopefully he can continue that momentum. Boyang is usually a skater who does better at the second half of the season but maybe he can be consistent all season. Congrats Boyang, first man to get over 100 points in the short program this season. People will talk shit but who cares. Points don’t matter performance does. I don’t think his performance deserved it personally but hey I’m not judging.

Dmitri Aliev - DIMA! Dmitri is one of those skaters who I would watch on repeat if his programs didn’t have any jumps. He performs his music 100% all the time. He feels the emotion of the music and puts that into his skating and I love it. If he was consistent in his jumps like he is in performance and interpretation he would be one of the top men in the field. My favorite part was the breath intake. I hope we get the chance to see this program at its full potential because I like the music and it can be one of my favorite men’s short programs this season. Also how is Dima not first in PCS!

Kazuki Tomono - This was hard to watch. I understand that it’s the beginning of the season and usually a skaters first out is not great but this was a lot. The jumps were a mess, spins traveled, but the performance energy was there. So not all bad. I can see the bright spots. When elements fail, never give up the performance. If Kazuki executes this program with all the elements intact then I could enjoy it but for now I’m just going to be nervous the next time he does it. P.S. there was a woman sitting in the front that was on her phone through most of Kazuki’s performance and it was distracting for me to see and rude on her part. Put the phone down and give the skater your undivided attention and respect.

MEN’S FP The Men’s competition ends with the free program being two days after the short. With a free day in between the skaters were aloud time to clear their heads from a disappointing short program or try and keep their momentum strong from a good short program.

Kazuki Tomono - Moulin Rouge has to be the most tired warhorse program in the sport. Why do skaters even bother with it, it’s not like they’re going to do something new and groundbreaking. I’m tired of seeing them and I want it to retire. That’s the only time I’ll say something about the music now onto the program itself. Kazuki had a better outing in the free than the short but not by long shot. The jumps are still escaping him but he’s not letting go of the performance despite the jumps not being his friend. I hope to see it fully formed.

Dmitri Aliev - DIMA! That was much better than the short. Not a perfect program but there are bright spots. If he implements every element well then I know I could love the program. Disturbed’s Sound of Silence is a haunting cover of the original Simon & Garfunkel song and I love it. Grand and epic is the song and Dima needs to match that with an equally epic performance and I think he could do that. He emotes music well and with maybe even an easier layout he could achieve personal success. Yay!! Silver Medal!! 

Boyang Jin - The music and program as a whole isn’t there for me. I don’t know what the narrative of the program is suppose to be. It’s whatever to me, he did enough to win and I hope Boyang succeeds this season much better than last season.

Matteo Rizzo - The music, I love. The program elements were done well enough to earn him a bronze medal here and moving forward I think he really needs to get the quad toeloop under his control. Once he’s able to get two of them in competition then he should be able to do well. The men’s discipline is volatile and they really benefit from doing their elements well consistently. Who cares how many quads they have just do one type or two great and you’ll be golden. The performance was okay, some music beats weren’t hit right but that should get better as season progresses.

That puts an end to this years Lombardia Trophy. It was a pretty boring competition, but honestly Challenger Series competitions are usually uneventful. This makes me want the Grand Prix Series to start already.

[judithsupportsteamchampery]

Why you’ve made my winter!

- by Judith Dombrowski

My personal Team Champéry season review

This is dedicated to figure skater Deniss Vasiljevs, coach and figure skater Stéphane Lambiel and their manager Christopher Trevisan!

My very special thanks to my mother Beate. Without you nothing of this would have been possible. I can say with my whole heart that you are the best mother I ever could have imagined.

Also special thanks to:

Anastasia, Charlie, Estephanía, Jelena, Laia, Maria R., Maria T., Marina, P., Susanne, Szilvia

You all have become amazing and true friends. I love you with my whole heart!

And to everyone else whom I met because of Team Champéry this winter, either personally or via the internet. We are the best fan community I can imagine.

On March 2nd 2019, after I had been able to take THAT picture, that picture thousands of skating fans dream of, that picture I would never ever had imagined to happen, I turned around and thanked both of you: “Thank you so much for everything!“, I said. Then I looked at you, Deniss, and said: “You’ve really made my winter! Thanks!“ You looked flattered and surprised but didn’t respond anything. But you, Stéph, said something like: “Wow, you are really so positive!“ It was the second time you said that that afternoon and I do understand why you said it in this situation: For the two of you it definitely hadn’t been the winter you’ve dreamed of. It must have been a hard winter full of worries, concerns and disappointments. It seemed to surprise you, Stéph, why you’ve made somebody’s winter even though so much seemed to have gone wrong for you.

So I am writing this blog post / article / review to explain to the two of you and to everyone interested, why this sentence was incredibly true. Why I actually couldn’t have thanked you in a more accurate way. Beware, this might gonna be long. I usually fail saying things short and there has been really a lot going on this winter relating to the two of you. I will also miss out some moments because it has just been too much.

When to start? Should it be the moment when we decided to go to Grenoble? The moment I started to be your fan, Deniss? Should I go back to Worlds 2005 when I had my first big crush on that handsome Swiss figure skater? This would turn into a novel so lets start right at the beginning… of… this winter:

October

“Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I am free earlier than expected today. So if you’d like we can meet earlier?“

“I am sorry I fear I won’t be able to come over before 18.30? Hope that’s still alright?“, I replied to a good friend of mine on WhatsApp.

“Haha, yea, sure, thought you have holidays…“

“Well, yea“, … she was a really good friend so I could be honest, “but my Mom doesn’t. She’s only free from 3pm and we’ll have to watch a movie together this afternoon. This is like the only possibility before next weekend. Will explain you later!“

“Okayyyy…!“

It was a Wednesday afternoon in early October during my autumn holidays and I spent the week in South Germany with my mother and tried to meet up with as many old friends as possible. It was also the week before Japan Open, the first time you, Deniss, were supposed to skate your new free program. And it finally had leaked that you would be skating to the soundtrack of the movie “Last Samurai“. So to totally understand the program my mother and I watched the movie together, listened to the music very precisely, discussed about the plot, read and learned about the history of the samurai on Wikipedia.

We liked and appreciated the theme and that music choice right away. As we did with the whole program when it had finally been uploaded. Despite technical difficulties we saw the efforts and the great thoughts behind the choreography of this program right away and were really looking forward to see this program grow and bloom over the season.

It was different with the Short Program. When “Papa was a rolling stone“ was posted first, I listened to the song in the car and it left me quite puzzled… How was that supposed to be the song of a skating program? And those lyrics? Well… I liked the beat and the rhythm of the song from the beginning and I put all my trust in your good taste and I wasn’t going to be disappointed.

The figure skating season was speeding up: The first Grand Prix was coming along together with a small competition called “Minsk Ice Star“ - the warm up contest for you, Deniss. I spent that weekend in the Netherlands where a friend celebrated her birthday. The moment I remember best of these days is myself walking up and down at the beach streaming the free program in bad quality on my phone screaming and jumping up and down at every landed jump. This weekend brought the first fully rotated and landed Quad in competition for you, Deniss, and the first gold medal of the season. For me this weekend made me like and appreciate the short program and I “met“ my “soulmate“ because of this competition:

Until then I hadn’t been too active about figure skating on social media, because most of my followers on Instagram were my real life friends who didn’t care about this sport at all. There was no official livestream of Minsk Ice Star. But I found some Russian girls via Instagram who were in the arena and were so kind to stream the practices and the competition. That’s how I met my today very very good and close friend Maria. We started texting since then, we went through this winter together, kept each other updated all the time and finally went to Innsbruck together. But that happened many moments and stories later.

November

NHK Trophy was after all the only competition this entire season I didn’t manage to follow live. Despite all efforts I didn’t make it home from work in time for the SP, and I also missed the LP the next day because of my tennis practice. I did come home when Shoma Uno was about to start his Free Skate performance but of course he skated deep in the second group. I clicked on “pause“ and scrolled back to start watching the competition from the beginning. There had been a number though in the left upper corner of my screen I couldn’t have avoided seeing: The leading skater at the moment Shoma started to skate had the technical score of 70 points. 70 Points! DAMN! That was…. low. Very low for that moment in the competition. And 70… that was a number you, Deniss, were likely to score. My heart started racing. Could it be possible? If you were the leader at that moment you were… about to win a medal.

“It was hard to see how excited you still were!“, my Mom told me on the phone an hour later when I was full of disappointment. She had been able to watch everything live and knew that it unfortunately hadn’t been you, Deniss, who had scored those 70 points, it had been Matteo Rizzo. I felt really sorry for you, missing that opportunity. “Keep your head up, keep your heart strong…“, I kept listening on repeat during that weekend and I wished you could also hear that motivating song by Ben Howard. The next competition was going to be better. I was sure! And the next competition was: IdF in Grenoble. THE competition. Our competition. Where my mother and I would go to see and support you live. The weekend I had been waiting for since the end of June when the assignments came out. And now it was not even two weeks away…The Sunday after NHK I spent in the kitchen baking my gifts for the two of you: The lion and the ladybug as German gingerbread. I am not the most artistically talented person, and I didn’t honestly expect this project to be successful, especially drawing a lion with chocolate and sugar icing on a piece of cookie seemed like a far too motivated project for me. But I did it, every millimeter drawn with concentration and passion. And succeeded: I had baked a lion and a ladybug gingerbread. The presents were ready, the flags had arrived and got inked, all tickets were printed, we were ready to go.

You probably all remember a weekend or an event you once desperately had been waiting for. And then the moment when it is really happening. So you can probably imagine how I felt: I see myself as if it was yesterday walking from the parking lot in Mainz to the station where I had to take the train to Frankfurt airport, feeling like I was flying: It was real, yes, it was. I was on my way to Grenoble, I had everything prepared, I had gotten the extra day off at school, I had the gifts and the banners in my bag, I had your program music in my ears, I was so so ready for it!

I had high expectations for this weekend just as you probably had as well, Deniss. Unfortunately yours weren’t totally fulfilled again especially in the long program. Mine instead were outreached by far:

That moment, when I saw the two of you live right ahead of me in practice. The moment you really nailed your SP, how I was screaming and celebrating of relief. The moment I was able to give you the gifts after the second practice. The moment when you walked around proudly showing my baked lion to other fans. All those moments of wonderful and magical performances by your fellow skaters, all those people I had been admiring in front of the TV screen for years: Evgenia Medvedeva, Rika Kihira, Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, Nathan Chen, Jason Brown and Dimitri Aliev just to name a few…

And that moment, Saturday 24th of November, 6 pm during the Ice Dance medal ceremony when I checked on my emails and my heart skipped for sure more than one beat: Email by Christopher Trevisan: “Sorry for the short notice, if you are still interested you can have a fan meeting with Deniss tomorrow morning either at 10 or 11 o’clock. Let me know if you are still interested.“ If I was interested? Hell, YES. But: Our bus to the airport was booked tomorrow at 10 o’clock from the main station in Grenoble. Our flight home was leaving Lyon at 2 pm. I was in shock, excited and concerned at the same time. It was hard to think straight.

I will never forget the night from November 24th to November 25th in my entire life. So many insecurities: When exactly? Where? Who will come? How will we get home? Take the train instead of flying? Take a taxi to the airport? Skip the whole fan meeting myself?

Charlie, my mother and I were sitting together until far after midnight without having any solutions. The three of us mainly discussed the question: Where? There was no nice café that had opened Sunday morning just around the corner…

We noticed that the only space we had available on this short notice were our own hotel rooms. Probably our entire hotel woke up by us laughing loudly about the joke: “Imagine, when I come home, I will be able to say: There was Stéphane Lambiel… in my hotel room!“ We weren’t sure back then if you’d accompany Deniss, Stéph.

Sometime during the night after sleeping for a few hours I was able to calm down and think more straight again. I checked the Lufthansa App and found out that it was actually possible to change our booking to a flight that flew to Frankfurt four hours later than our original one. I got the idea to ask in our hotel if there was a possibility to hold the meeting in a free conference room or another silent place. It was all coming together. We got a space in our hotel, we had people who messaged they would come to the meeting, we had the time to sit down and think about some questions that I wanted to ask you, Deniss. You came, you had quite some time, you were incredibly nice and the two of us got more and more relaxed while the interview / meeting went on and I had the feeling that I could continue talking with you forever. You are such an interesting, intelligent, nice, humble and funny person. Before Grenoble I had liked you mostly because of your beautiful and amazing skating, after Grenoble I knew where this was coming from. Before Grenoble I had been amazed by you, after Grenoble I was totally enchanted.

December

I was on endorphins for the next weeks straight. That weekend had been far better and beyond all my expectations.

But at the same time I was afraid: Was it ever going to be that perfect again? Should I maybe keep this one perfect weekend as one magic memory and not let it get destroyed maybe by disappointments coming in the near future? Would I maybe expect too much from future events? I told around: “That weekend was perfect. I will not go again this season. Next season again!“

What a luck I hadn’t been able to resist. Because my heart, longing to see the two of you again, won over my anxious head.

Christmas time came, I followed the Grand Prix Final together with my Mom, we got up in the middle of the night to cheer for Koshiro, we were worried when you, Deniss, withdrew from a competition in Zagreb, were relieved when it was announced that it wasn’t an injury. And we decided that it was finally about time to see you skate live as well, Stéph! So we ordered our tickets for Art on Ice in Davos in February. And with booking those tickets my plan not to go anymore this season had already faded away. I spent hours on the internet searching for possibilities to make it to Minsk for the European Championships. Meanwhile I knew many fans via social media and almost all of them were about to be in Minsk to support you, Deniss. I wanted to be part of it really  badly. As a teacher though it is hard to get days off apart from the public holidays. Flights for the weekend only costed a fortune. It seemed impossible. My frustration grew. I am a person who fights really hard if she really wants something and usually tries everything to make it happen.

January

New years eve came along, together with a very nice and enthusiastic video of the two of you: “We hope to see you in Bellinzona for Music on Ice!“, you said, Stéph. And after countless times watching this lovely video and a sleepless and crazy night from the 1st to the 2nd of January my decision was made: Instead of the impossible mission going to Minsk, I would to go to Music on Ice in Bellinzona. I was going to take a train from my hometown Osnabrück in the Northwest of Germany on Friday afternoon to Stuttgart in the South of Germany. The next morning I was going to take the earliest train to continue traveling all the way to Switzerland where I would arrive in Bellinzona on January 12th at 11 am. I would go to the show on Saturday night and early Sunday morning I was going to take the train back, 10 hours all the way up to Osnabrück where I would arrive at 6 pm, ready to go back to school on Monday morning. But going to the show wasn’t the only plan I had. With help of the amazing Jelena from Daugavpils who runs the official Fan Club on Facebook we activated fans from all over the world to send me pictures with good luck wishes for you for Europeans. I was overwhelmed by the positive responses on the project. I received exactly 50 pictures, most of them amazingly creative.

When I entered the train on Friday afternoon, January 11th 2019, I felt the company of all those 50 people. I was nervous because I hadn’t heard of Chris yet, whom I had messaged with the idea of the project and had asked for an opportunity to give you the album personally.

But the sun was shining, I had motivating music in my ears, the train was riding further and further South and I felt the support of all of my friends and of my mom, who unfortunately couldn’t accompany me this weekend, so the nervousness turned into major excitement.

In Bellinzona I also wasn’t alone at all: I teamed up with two friends that I had both met in Grenoble. After our arrival we checked out the ice rink and sat down on a bench nearby the arena. The girls went through your album, Deniss, when suddenly my phone vibrated and I saw the message: Christopher Trevisan had written: “Hey Judith, can you be at the rink at 15.00?”

Have you ever been waiting for a message to come in for five consecutive days? Do you know that feeling that whenever you get a message you have that slight hope inside you that it could be the one you are waiting for and you get disappointed over and over again? And then the releasing moment comes? And you know my temper, right? Then you can maybe imagine how I screamed and jumped up and down when seeing that message. Did you maybe even hear that scream from somewhere far away that afternoon? Quite possible since Bellinzona isn’t that big and my joy was… LOUD! My two friends shared my joy and enthusiasm but not as loud. We had an “appointment”! I messaged all of my good friends right away: “Appointment at 3 pm!” I was so happy and excited. I carried the hopes and wishes of 50 people in my bag and now I knew I wouldn’t disappoint them.

That moment on the bench had only been the beginning of a day that again turned out so much better than all my expectations:

Hearing you say: “So nice to see you again!”, and being really thankful for the book. Being able to watch all three hours of show rehearsal, including the two of you practicing throw jumps.  Recording an successfully landed throw jump for all my friends and many other fans. Seeing you, Stéph, skate live for the first time in my life. You, that man that had carried me through my teenage years with all your wonderful programs. Finally seeing you perform in person was magical. Seeing that wonderful and touching duet of the two of you. I had tears of joy in my eyes. And that moment after the show when you, Deniss, were walking beneath us and you turned around and came back thanking me for the album: “Thanks for the book. It’s fantastic!” These six words meant so much to me and to all those who had participated. My heart was full of joy and my body full of dancing endorphins again. It didn’t matter at all that the train ride the next day didn’t last ten but twelve hours. I was the happiest and luckiest girl on the planet.

Thanks to my amazing two girls who were my company during these crazy 21 hours I have spent in Bellinzona. Wouldn’t have been the same without those two and we do have an appointment at our “Appointment Bench” next year.

Still… after the Bellinzona - Fun it was getting serious! Europeans were on their way and it felt like the most important competition for you this season, Deniss. The season hadn’t gone as planed yet for sure… plus: Skating really well there would give you the chance to medal. Even though I had been in Bellinzona it was really hard for me to follow the action in Minsk from home. But that week showed me what great friends I had got to know because of you, Deniss. Those girls, who kept me updated the entire week, and never forgot about me were my personal heros. Some special mentions: Jelena, who waved at me through the TV stream during the Ladies Short program. That was so hilarious and made my day. Szilvia, whom I would have loved to share that horrible hostel with. Maybe with the two of us that place would have been less spooky? And thanks to her for sending birthday wishes to my mom during the live stream of your fan meeting, Stéph. Marina, for telling me the “they-only-want-me”- story right after it had happened and for asking Brian Joubert about his inspiration for the tiger jacket. And my amazing girl Maria. Thanks for just everything. I felt with her and like her at every moment during the entire week. I shared her excitement, her fears, worries, tears and joy. And I am proud and thankful to all of the girls who organized both fan meetings and streamed it for us at home. You’ve got the most amazing fans, I really hope you know that both.

Deniss? We all know you gave your best! You wanted it so much and we know you actually are able to do everything you had planed. That makes the outcome of this competition so sad. Thanks for keeping your smile for us fans, thanks for still performing amazingly. Thanks for that intense gala-program. “Iron“ is now one of my personal top 5 programs of all times.

And Stéph? Your week must have been nerve-wracking and cruel. Thanks for being there for your students, giving them strength and confidence. Thanks for trying everything you could to support Deniss and Emmi and still staying that nice and friendly to us fans. The pressure must have been immense. Maria summed it up so perfectly as an Instagram caption, so I will quote her here: “Thanks for being in the world!”

February

During Euros you were so nice to confirm that Team Champéry would keep its tradition and would come to the Cup of Tyrol in Innsbruck, Stéph. The planing for us attending and supporting you at that event started the moment Europeans were over. That Sunday still after watching the Gala my mother and I booked the last available cheap apartment in the city centre of Innsbruck. All February long we were busy planing that trip but hadn’t there been another appointment in February? My second 10 hour long train ride was scheduled from February 15th to February 17th. Osnabrück - Davos and back. Art on Ice was about to happen. I imagined that trip to maybe be a little less exciting. I expected to watch the show, see you perform two wonderful programs and was also looking forward to see James Blunt live again after more than 10 years. Back in 2006 James Blunts concert had been the first concert I had ever visited, so it was going to be a bit nostalgic… But… probably no surprise anymore: Also this trip turned out to be so much better than expected.

The afternoon in Davos was beautiful already, the sun was shining brightly and we had an amazing walk through the snowy landscape. We managed to sneak in to watch the practice again and: I  got the opportunity to talk to you, Stéph. It was short and since totally unexpected I also didn’t really know what to say but it was extremely special for me. And I could take a selfie with you. A picture I had wanted to have ever since my teenage years. I am not the type of person who collects pictures with celebrities. I think asking for a picture is such an unreal and awkward situation. But I really longed for that picture with you, Stéph. With the guy I used to tell all of my friends about, who all didn’t know you, because figure skating is not too popular in Germany. With the guy I had admired ever since my teenage years. With the guy that is in my opinion the most passionate and elegant skater ever. With the guy that touched me to tears and overwhelmed my emotions when skating to the song Goodbye my Lover some hours later. With the guy who gave his second last performance at Art on Ice ever that night.

I read your post about quitting Art on Ice when my train had almost reached Osnabrück again. I felt incredibly sad and incredibly blessed at the same time: I had still been able to see your magic. Art on Ice will miss you incredibly, Stéph. But you surely made the right decision for yourself and we as fans will support you and keep loving you no matter what projects will come for you in the future.

I had two more weeks until the crazy road trip to Innsbruck was about to happen but well… there was one weekend in between. And I found the perfect place to go for that weekend: Barcelona, Spain.

You have already heard some names of great people I got to know because of you two, but I haven’t told you about Laia yet what is a shame because, Deniss, you would certainly like Laia as much as I like her: She’s an artist, she draws amazingly. She’s a baker and an excellent cook. She’s a bit of a philosopher. She is a big Star Wars fan. She’s incredibly funny and sarcastic but at the same time a bit shy and introverted. And she is a big fan of the two of you. Even though you know the story how Laia and I met already, Deniss, I think it’s worth telling it here again: Laia was also at the Grand Prix in Grenoble. I didn’t know her back then. And we also didn’t meet at the event itself. But she was the girl who took the picture of you holding my baked gingerbread lion. I discovered that picture on Instagram some weeks later. We started to chat, and we chatted even more. I talked with her for hours because, Deniss, in many ways she seems like a female version of you.

So at that last weekend in February I took a plane to Barcelona to finally meet her in person. She showed me some skating tricks on the ice and I showed her that the mediterranean sea is not too cold to swim in in February. She introduced me to traditional Catalan food and I brought her some Swiss Chocolate I had bought in Davos.

And she gave me the most precious gift I ever received from anyone: An amazing drawing of you, Deniss, skating to “Iron“. You have seen it in Innsbruck yourself and I am quite sure you will remember it.

So that weekend was another amazing experience thanks to the two of you.

March

“Good morning everyone”, I told my Instagram followers totally excited at the morning of February 28th, “my last big journey of the figure skating season is about to start. I will drive to work first and then I will drive from my school via Frankfurt airport and Munich airport all the way to Innsbruck. It will be a really long journey but I will pick up some amazing girls on the way. And I actually can’t wait to see Deniss and Stéph tomorrow.”

The Cup of Tyrol in Innsbruck was the smallest event I visited this season but it highlighted up everything that had happened before. At the beginning of the season my mom and I had been alone. The trip to Innsbruck ended with seven good friends from five different countries sitting together in a small apartment, laughing and celebrating you, ourselves and life.

Marina had flown to Frankfurt from Kyiv and Szilvia from Budapest. Maria had come from Chelyabinsk, Russia, to Munich. I met both, Marina and Maria for the first time in real life and that alone was really special. Suddenly sitting with those three girls together in my small car, singing along to Britney Spears songs was unreal and amazing enough. But of course we were here to support you, Deniss.

All three of you, Chris included, seemed quite surprised to see us around. Cup of Tyrol was such a small competition. Why should anyone go there? Well, we were and we weren’t the only ones, even though probably the loudest ones. Here are again some very special moments picked from many special moments:

Imitating your car karaoke to Britney’s Toxic on our way to Innsbruck with Marina and Szilvia.

Stepping out of our apartment early Friday morning in Innsbruck and seeing this city in all of its beauty: The river, the colorful houses and the mountains in the beautiful morning sun.

Watching you skate a nice and clean short program after some struggles during practice.

Chris laughing loudly about our designed shirt for you, Deniss: “I am not coaching Stéph!” Do you wear it from time to time? If you don’t I am sure Chris would…

Giving you my self knitted hat in Latvia colors.

Showing you Laias drawing and you complimenting her amazing “shade work”.

You, Stéph, telling us that we were just about to hang up our “Team Champéry banner” mirror converted. Oh dear…

Suffering with every quad attempt. Cheering for every jump that seemed “okay” somehow- especially for underrotated quads…sorry Stéph, but that’s what fans are there for.

Crying with Matilda after her Free Program. It was hard to see this but those moments belong to the sport just as tears of joy at another time. Please, Stéph, tell Matilda, that she is a very beautiful skater. She is very graceful and a joy to watch on the ice and we all hope to see her shining on the ice sometime again.

Calling ourselves to be the “Crazy Rabbit Crew” after constantly eating carrots and joking about what to throw on the ice. Carrots, maybe?

Watching your little extra show on the ice after you won the title, Deniss.

Joking with you, Stéph about our petition to bring Britney Spears to Art on Ice.

And for me, personally, receiving the compliment from you, Stéph, of being such a positive person. I am aware that you, the first time you said it, thought that my positivity was even a bit too much when we discussed the success of your Quad attempts, Deniss, but when we all said goodbye I had the honest feeling that you liked me, Stéph. And that means more than a lot to me!

And of course THAT picture. Yes, again a celebrity picture. But what a special one. Standing in the middle of both of you. In the middle of the two people who made my winter. You didn’t understand it back then, right?

I am sure you understand it now!

Of course Innsbruck hadn’t been the end of the season yet: Worlds were yet to come. Far away in Japan. The competition where you wanted to show everyone what you actually could do. In the country that you love so much and where your season had started. The country on which history your free program was built. The Last Samurai. The last dance of the season. It was a hard week for us as fans because it was obviously a hard week for your whole team. I watched the Short Program locked into the music room of my school during our break. Afterwards I had to teach a Music lesson, singing cheerful and happy songs with eight year olds. It was tough. But I can hardly imagine how tough it was for you.

The free program was a huge fight. After everything you had gone through that week, it was even an incredible fight. The score still wasn’t probably what you had dreamed of neither the placement in the end.

But you can be incredibly proud of that fight, Deniss. This whole season was surely a hard learning process. It was a season without a single competition you were completely happy with. After all the hard work you put in every single day it must be horribly frustrating. I got to know you though as a person who is thinking thoroughly about everything. And I got to know you as a person who is able to see this season as a learning process for the future. You never stopped performing no matter what happened to the jumps. All three programs this year were incredibly well choreographed and performed even better. And during that hard and rocky road you made so many people incredibly happy.

Stéph, this winter was surely also a hard one for you. One of the reasons why I like you that much is that you, just as I do myself, put your whole heart and passion into everything you do. I could feel your pain when things didn’t turn out as you wanted them to go for your skaters. It must be so hard to just watch and not being able to actually do something in those moments. I do imagine those intense emotions you had during your last Art on Ice shows. Thanks so much for sharing some of these moments with us.

And equally I want to thank you, Chris: Thank you so much for being there for the whole team whenever you are needed. Thanks for staying calm, positive and objective throughout the season. Thanks for sometimes probably being the connection between the two artists. I am sure it hasn’t always been easy. Thanks for the great cooperation with us fans. You are doing an amazing job in every way.

You as a team managed to go through this season together and I hope with my whole heart that it brought you even closer together. Success, failure, joy and sorrow are so close together in this sport. The future seasons will bring all of that again. And I am looking forward to laugh, cry and celebrate with you again next winter and hopefully many more winters. Until then I will spend time with some of the amazing people I met on the road. Next weekend Szilvia and I will visit Marina in Kyiv. It will be another amazing trip. You are about to make my spring, too!

[skate-catnada]

Team Japan at the 2019 World Championships

Prepare yourselves for a long and possibly incoherent post. I want to talk about Team Japan in their own post separate from my main post about Worlds, because Worlds was in Japan and I think it meant a lot to them to do well. Worlds being in Japan, though, didn’t help them, and I think for quite a few of them it was the worst competition of the year. None of them got the result they were looking for, which was heartbreaking after all of them wanting to do well this season, but all of them worked hard and have things to be proud of. 

Ladies

For ladies, I really wanted all of Rika’s success to culminate here, but ultimately she was less than a point off bronze, which is frustrating. I also wanted Kaori and Satoko to shine, but small mistakes ended up costing them. 

I have to admire them for giving it their all. Rika had two falls on her triple axel, but she landed her 3A3T combination and the rest of her jumps, and her programs are artistically beautiful. I admired that after her short program she was still willing to take the risk of two 3A’s in the long, because Worlds is the biggest competition of the year and the risk is worth it. It’s a brave thing to take that risk. 

Kaori’s short program was amazing, and her free program is so beautiful. It makes me feel like crying when I watch it because it evokes so much emotion, and even when she makes a mistake she still gets that emotion across. She fought hard and had the presence of mind to add an emergency combo to her last jump because of missing the one on the popped flip. I always admire when skaters can think on their feet like that. Despite the mistake, as I said, she delivered a captivating free program well worth watching and one of my favorite performances of the night. 

Satoko is such a captivating performer, perhaps an under-appreciated one. She really becomes her programs, in a way, and pulls everything out of the music and into the performance. And the quality of her spins! Watching Satoko’s spins, especially her layback, is so satisfying because they’re just so good. Like the other two, she fought hard and put everything into her programs, and her performance really came through. A lot of figure skating focuses on technical content, but it isn’t only about that. There’s an artistic element to it that is also important, and Satoko is an incredible artist. 

None of the ladies were out of the top ten, and they all gave amazing performances. No matter the results, they tried their best and each put out a performance that they should be proud of after working so hard all season. I hope they can take pride in their accomplishments, because a season isn’t just Worlds, and a program isn’t just about technical elements. 

Men

For the men, again, I feel like there were such high expectations for the podium, especially on Yuzuru and Shoma. Both of them went into this saying they wanted to win, and most people went into it thinking that no matter what, they would both be on the podium and it was very likely one of them would be on the top. 

That isn’t what happened, but it’s really admirable that Yuzuru came back after recovering from injury for most of the season to give the performances he did and get silver. Not a lot of people can do that. Despite the technical elements of his program being a bit off, he put his heart into both of them and made them shine. His short program, Otoñal, is especially captivating to watch. The step sequence is one of the best I’ve seen this season and I think it worked well not only as a tribute but as something that showcased Yuzuru as well. Yuzuru built on it and made it his own, and in both programs he showed his determination. 

I know this is going to fuel Yuzuru to fight harder (although I really hope he takes some time to rest his ankle.) That’s one of the most admirable things about Yuzuru -- that he fights so hard and that skating is everything to him, and he shows it every time he goes out there to perform. And he’s always trying to bring something new to the sport -- he’s talking about doing the 4A next year. He never gives up and he’s always moving forward. 

Shoma was the real heartbreak for me after he said earlier in the season that he wanted to win rather than succeed with his previous laid back attitude. His wanting to actively improve himself resulted in him being harder on himself, taking a hit to his confidence, and building himself back up, all of which seemed to culminate with his successful fight for Four Continents gold. Worlds was the first competition in a long time that he’s been off the podium (I believe before this he’d podiumed at 23 consecutive competitions) and it’s hard to tell whether or not the pressure he put on himself or the pressure of competing in Japan got to him. Either way, he was extremely harsh about himself afterwards and said he couldn’t compete with the top skaters.

It’s been a really long, up-and-down journey for Shoma this season. I hope he can look back on the successes of this season that he fought hard for, the way he never gave up at Worlds and fought for every element of both his programs from beginning to end, and take some pride in it. He puts everything on the ice and never gives up and always meets challenges head on no matter what and that’s admirable. Shoma is one of the strongest figure skaters out there. I know he’ll fight harder after this. I just hope he can feel confident and satisfied with himself as well.

I know there wasn’t a lot of attention on Keiji, but I really enjoyed his programs, his free program especially. I think the highlight was his gala piece, which was really entertaining and one of the most fun programs of the show. I want to see more of that side of Keiji in competitions -- his gala skates are really good at showing his personality and he has a lot of personality. I’m excited to see what he does next season! 

The gala showed that Team Japan are all able to able to bounce back, and they looked like they were able to enjoy themselves. I’m happy for them and optimistic of what they’ll do in the future and how this will fuel them, because all of them said that they would use this to make themselves stronger. I believe they will and I’m excited to see how they come back next season. 

[fstranslations]

Daisuke Takahashi: “Figure skating has to be the axis of my life.” Press Conference Q&A

Source: Sportsnavi, 2018.07.02. Comments from Daisuke Takahashi’s press conference on his return to competition. Translated by @suzumoriyuiko. Please do not repost without permission.

Daisuke Takahashi, coming back to competition after 4 years, has set Japanese Nationals in December as his current goal. Although he says "I don't think I can win at all" when it comes to competing against Olympic gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu or silver medalist Shoma Uno, he says with hope: "I want to be in the last group at Nationals and be with them during 6 minute practice and official practice."

"I couldn't move on entirely"

- Please tell us why you have made this decision and since when have you been thinking about coming back.

I made the decision that I wanted to come back after Nationals last year (2017). Since I retired 4 years ago, I went to New York, did work for the media, met a lot of people and as I watched people working at the front line* (not sure what he meant), I started to think little by little "is this really what I want to do."

Whether it was skaters fighting for a spot at the Olympics, every person was working hard with their own thoughts and goals. Before I retired, I wanted to compete internationally, but seeing all of them trying their very best to leave something remarkable at Nationals moved me, and also made me think "that's also another way of competing." Until now, I thought I didn't need to compete if I can't win but I realized it's also something remarkable to compete for yourself.

Moreover, I realized during the 4 years that the fact that I couldn't compete at the World Championships after the Sochi Olympics because of an injury was also something that prevented me from moving on entirely to the next step. To do so, I thought it was necessary to compete again until I could move on satisfied. Even I myself am not able to put it all together properly, and the feelings that got me to decide to compete again are complex; I think it will be hard for everyone to understand everything.

To continue skating from now on, I realize it's going to be very hard to skate for more than 10 years. It's probably 5-6 years maximum that I will be able to put on a very good performance. When I realized that, I thought I wanted to regain my own skating and to not be rude to the ones who come watch me at ice shows, I needed to build my body back and compete again in order to skate in such a way. That is also one of the reasons.

- You said Nationals was one of the reasons, but how did you decide definitively, 6 months later? Was there any inner debate before you decided?

Since I decided, I was spending my time only thinking about competing again so I was feeling quite refreshed since then, although I still had worries. Being able to watch amazing skaters at the Olympics and Worlds up close was a good stimulus for me, and for the technique side too, I'm currently practicing quads and watching up close made me learn a lot about how they jump. I had almost no time to skate until March, but I started slowly from April and now I'm spending valuable time.

- Please tell us who exactly you were talking about when you said watching amazing skaters was a good stimulus for you.

Watching everyone was exciting. I spent time thinking it is going to be hard to bring it back to the point where I can compete internationally, the way I am right now. When I started training again, my body wouldn't move the way I wanted it to and it made me worry about whether I could even do this. But slowly, as I started building up my body again, I realized I may be able to do some stuff. I'm sure it will be necessary to have jumps to compete, so for that I am looking at Nathan Chen's jumps very closely.

"I want to do it for myself"

- You also had hard times with injuries before retiring. Even after those hard times, you decided to come back to compete. What kind of feelings do you have about coming back?

First, I thought that figure skating has to be the axis of my life. When living daily life, I thought I needed something solid to be able to be myself. In that way, gaining back my skating is something that will get me moving. It might sound a bit condescending, but until now I think I've been competing to meet expectations and other things like that. But this time, I want to do it for myself, and not for someone else.

- It's currently the generation of quads, and some rules have changed. Is there anything about this timing?

No, it just happened to be at the same time. 7 jumps in 4 minutes. I don't think it's something easy, but it's different from what I've been doing and at the same time that's a good timing to challenge it with a fresh new feeling.

- Tell us about your vision for competing.

For now I'm not even sure I can bring it to the point I can compete, and of course I want to leave results but first I want to head towards Nationals and compete at Kinki Block (Regionals) and West Japan Sectionals.

As for getting on podium at Nationals, I think it will be hard to get there judging from the current situation, but I might see something new as I continue practicing. If I see it, I might make that my goal, or maybe not. I want to think about a bigger goal after Nationals. I only have half a year until Nationals and I have to fill in the big blank of 4 years, so I want to try my very best in the next 6 months.

- What kind of skater do you want to be, finally?

Right now, I'm over 30 and I'm really old in the figure skating world, so it's going to be hard to grow but I want to show that even after 30 you can still grow this much. I hope that I can be a skater who can show that in December, after it's done.

- So you aren't thinking of competing internationally after Nationals?

Yes, right now I am not thinking about competing internationally. With different environments, my feelings my change but I want to see what I can do and grow while still in Japan, not in the World.

- What are your goals for jumps?

For quads... I'm hoping at least 2 kinds twice (laughs). I think I have to become at least able to jump that much. As I practice, I think I'm getting better than a few of the younger skaters, so I can still see it maybe happening. Even then, I need to be careful to not force my body too much all of a sudden, so I will not rush too much and take it slowly. I'm still feeling good about it though. I'd like to put at least 2 kinds twice.

-  You said you weren't able to give it your all during Sochi season, and that it was one of the reasons to compete again. Does that make your heart burn?

It has been 4 years since then, and the first 2 years I didn't even think about the word "competing", so it's not exactly like I was thinking about this for the whole 4 years. However, I started noticing this feeling in myself especially during the past year.

- After Nationals last year, there was also the Pyeongchang Olympics. As you were thinking about competing again, how were you feeling while watching younger skaters compete? Additionally, please tell us if the performance of younger skaters influenced you.

At Pyeongchang Olympics, I was just watching with a very supportive feeling. I thought that even if I returned to competition, I wouldn't be able to compete against top skaters anyways. I thought they were in another dimension, so I felt separated from that and I was watching with different feelings. Except that, when skaters did their very best and were sad or happy, I thought that was nice and I wanted to feel that again.

In that way, it became a good stimulus for me and I thought since I'm doing it, I would like to end in that kind of happiness.

- You said you wanted 2 kinds of quads twice. If you bring yourself to that level, won't you want to compete internationally?

For now I can't think of it. If there is a chance, I'd like to think about it but I'm not sure whether or not I should compete internationally. When I think about the future, I think it's better that younger generations compete and I don't want to be in the way. So if it turns out to be like that (a chance comes up), I will think about that before making a decision.

"I'm really excited"

- At Pyeongchang Olympics, there were many Japanese skaters who left results. Did that influence your decision making?

It wasn't exactly a reason of my decision, but it did become a good stimulus. I was happy about the result just as another citizen. I never saw myself in there as a skater who is coming back to competition. Since I didn't see myself trying for the Olympics at all, I separated myself from that.

- You had many different troubles with your body before retiring, such as the pain in your knees. How is your current condition?

There are still a few influences from the surgery. I still have to take care of it, since an injury is still to be taken care even later. For that I continue to observe my condition since the injury will not get any better right now, but I've been dancing a lot more than before my retirement and although I didn't do any muscle training before, I need to right now and I'm building a whole different body compared to before my retirement.

- There will be Olympic gold and silver medalists at Nationals, but do you want to win against them?

Of course I'd want to win if I could, but I don't feel like I can at all. (laughs) But if I can be more confident as I train more, I hope I can keep up with them.

- Is the feeling of excitement the biggest?

Yes, I'm still worried but the feeling of excitement is definitely there. I'm going into this as a challenger so it's normal that I don't win, and I think I can't win against (Olympic) gold and silver medalists, so if I win it'd be a windfall. (laughs) They're both really in another dimension. I don't know if I can be at a position to challenge them, but I do want to be in the last group at Nationals and be together with them for 6 minute practice and official practice.

[yukirin1408]

Interview with Kazuki Tomono posted on May 16th, 2018. Please don’t use/repost my translations without my permission.

―Your first senior season was a season with huge breakthroughs.

I think it was a year where I really made rapid progress. My results were better than I thought they’d be, and I feel that I was able to get closer to my ideal image of skating and the skater I hold as my ideal faster than I predicted.

―You came in 5th at Worlds with wonderful performances. [Going to Worlds] was a chance that came about in a hurry, but how did you feel when you heard of it?

I was told “Make sure you’re prepared.” Until (my participation was decided) I was half-convinced and in a condition where I wasn’t really able to make adjustments to my emotions, but I’ve had this kind of experience before as well. The moment it became official 2 weeks before the competition, I moved on from those feelings, and all I could do was face the competition.

―To what extent did you set your objective for Worlds?

My objective was at the level that I only thought about passing the short (t/n: qualifying for the free) and placing in the top 15 if things went well. Passing the short would give me the right to participate in a competition on the GP series, so I really only wanted that.

―The moment you ended your short, there was a scene where tears were flowing.

I was very uneasy on the day of the short. I was able to skate the free with no worries, but I was thinking that it’s over for the short if I make one mistake, so the pressure I put on myself was immense. This result was probably going to change my skating career from now on, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to participate on the GP series if I didn’t do well here. I thought “If I fail here, the things I will lose in my future skating career will be immense.” I was the most afraid of that, so the moment I finished, my relief for the time being became tears and appeared in that way.

―Truly, I believe your skating career changed drastically with your results at Worlds. Is there a part that specifically changed?

I think I was able to become aware of myself. I got the result of 5th at Worlds, so my feelings have changed into needing to become a skater worthy of that. There were the mistakes of other skaters as well this time, but despite that I gained confidence that I’m somewhat able to pass for a senior. I was able to get scores that high with my current strength, and I still think I’m lacking in technique, so the hope that my scores will get improve if I develop technically has come into sight. Right now, skating is really fun. I really feel that I can get better and better.

―Concretely speaking, how is being aware of yourself manifesting in your actions?

My feelings towards practice have changed. Also, my private life will be watched more often by others, so I feel that there is a need for me to grow as a person as well. Without a doubt, that will tie into my competitions as well, and I don’t want to become a half-baked human being. Whether it’s as a person or an athlete, I want to become a skater who is respected, so I want to keep that in mind through my daily life.

―What event in your skating career has made you the happiest?

There are a lot, but in the end, number one is when my scores came out at Worlds. My entire skating life piled up there as well, and I was fairly calm, but Coach Taijin Hiraike was quite joyous beside me, and that made me happy too.

As for other events that have left an impression on me, I was a skater who had a fair amount of hardship in his junior days, and I wasn’t able to make rapid progress in my first four years. I was always called on for the JGP Series qualifier, but I was dropped from the selection and wasn’t sent out 3 years in a row. I don’t think there really are any other skaters besides me like that (laughs bitterly). Even so I kept challenging it while my heart was breaking, and I was really happy the moment I was selected to be part of the JGP Series delegation for the first time on my fourth try (2015-2016 JGP Series). There were times that I was the only one who was dropped, and trudging home alone made me frustrated, so it was a moment that I felt that I’d finally grown a little.

And then the next season, I received 2 JGP Series spots. Even though I was dropped from the selection up until two years before, I was expected to be number one in juniors around that time. I faced a lot of hardship during my junior days, but I was able to grow in the end, and it makes me happy that it lead to the present.

―On the other hand, what event made you the most frustrated? Could you speak about how you were dropped from the selection 3 times in a row?

It’s that without a doubt. I was frustrated to the level that I don’t want to remember it anymore. However, if I think about it now, I feel that the judges saw through how I was skating with half-baked feelings. But I think going through that experience helped me become capable of analyzing myself calmly, and I acquired ability power to assess the skaters around me. For example, it might’ve been impertinent, but I’d watch the junior skaters who came to the qualifier and assess them like “this kid can make it” or “it might still be a little impossible for this kid.” The level of their feelings towards skating that they practiced with, and what level would produce what amount of success. I acquired the ability to calmly analyze those 3 continuous years that I was dropped.

―Concretely speaking, what kind of things are you able to see and understand?

It’s hard to explain it concretely, but skaters that stand on the world stage have approaches towards practice and feelings towards skating that are different from other skaters. It’s not about technique; skaters who establish an objective and head towards it with feelings twice as strong as the rest are strong in the end. They have an objective like that, so they never practice without knowing why, and they are always practicing while they keep what they should do, what’s important, and what’s necessary for them in mind. I personally think skaters who understand that are skaters who are able to improve.

―So after all, the reason you weren’t chosen at the qualifiers is because…

I didn’t have those feelings. I was still very lacking in ambition.

―The reason you now have that ambition?

It was when I was able to land the triple axel. I think it was around the summer of my fourth year in juniors. It was right when Tatsuki Machida was practicing at Rinkai Sports Center (Osaka), and the first time I landed it was right in front of Machida’s eyes. I remember that vividly. I gained a lot of confidence from landing the triple axel, and I thought that I could still do my best after learning a powerful technique.

―That lead to your first JGP Series participation as you mentioned earlier, as well as your participation in Junior Worlds, didn’t it.

That’s true. But that season, it was failure on top of failure, and the JGP Series ended with crushing defeat. After that, I went to Junior Worlds too, and that was when I realized why I was no good for the first time. I wasn’t familiar with international competitions, so I didn’t understand why [Sota] Yamamoto and Shoma Uno were strong. They had already experienced international competitions, and they were strong because they skated with the world as their opponent. They were overwhelmingly strong nationally because they had high objectives. I was only thinking about doing my best in nationally up until then, so feeling that I could become strong like them by practicing with my objective as the world was a reason that I was able to improve.

―Your point of view was different to begin with?

It was different. They were standing on a completely different stage. I felt that when I went to an international competition. That’s true for Worlds this time too. By participating, I understood the point of view and feelings of the skaters competing at the top. I understood that I could improve by experiencing this, so I think I was able to experience something good again.

―There are many skaters in the same age group as you, but is there anyone you’re conscious of?

There really are a lot. That’s why I really respect the senpai who have lead the Japanese skating world in every way, and I still can’t even come close. That’s why I’m the most aware of Keiji Tanaka, who I only practice with now on the weekends at Chukyo University. He was an existence above the clouds until now, but it feels like I’ve gotten a little closer to him, and we’ll definitely be competing for a spot at Worlds next season. He’s a senpai I can really respect, and he takes care of me regularly too. He’s one of the senpai I love, but my feelings of wanting to win against him in terms of skating also come out, and I’m very conscious of him during practice.

―Have your programs been decided for next season?

I’ve spoken to people about them, but with the rules changing, nothing has completely been decided.

―You revealed your new exhibition program to Pentatonix’s Daft Punk at Prince Ice World in April. Please tell us the intention and concept behind choosing that song.

It’s a song that I like and that I”ve listed to for a long time, so I said “I want to skate to this” to Misao Sato-sensei, who choreographed it. I normally get rejected, but this time she was really into it (laughs). Maybe it was because my song choice was good.

―Is there anything you want to challenge this offseason heading towards next season?

I want to learn 4T. I also want to challenge other jumps, but the toe loop is first realistically. I also think the improvement of my skating skills is important. I’m lacking there too, after all, so I want to raise my standard.

―Will you include 4T in your programs next season?

I want to. I can’t compete if I don’t. It would be ideal if I could put two salchows and two toe loops in the free, but realistically it’s probably two salchows and one toe loop. Of course, it isn’t good to decide arbitrarily, and I want to challenge it as long as it’s possible. Nonetheless, rather than just quads, I want to raise the quality of each of my jumps, and there’s the risk of injury, so I want to do this without placing too much burden on my body. At Worlds this time, in terms of the technical score, I got a fairly good score with two salchows, so I want to emphasize success rate as well and not just challenge.

―Heading towards the Beijing Olympics in 2022, a new four years is beginning.

The Olympics of my dreams has really become my objective. It was uncertain until now, but now I think that I can definitely make it, and the Beijing Olympics are my concrete objective. The Olympics have become such a large existence to me that I can [set them as my objective].

―This is the last question. Where are you setting your goal as a sportsman?

I don’t think I have a goal. There will always be areas I can improve in, and even if I was able to jump all the quads, there are still quints. I don’t know what lies ahead of retirement, but right now one of my objectives is to aim for the Olympics. As long as I continue to compete, I don’t want to decide on a goal. My ideal is to give people courage and cheer them up both as a person and as a skater, and becoming a skater who is respected is the most important. In terms of technique and as a sportsman, without deciding on a limit for myself, I want to get results and aim for greater heights. I want to become a skater who can realize his ambitions.

[allyuzurustuff]

170218 Pyeongchang Olympics Press Conference for Men’s Figure Skating- YUZURU HANYU

1. The Meaning of Tears

“Becuase it’s been a lot of hard work, the journey here [from Sochi to Pyeongchang] is no easy feat. If I were to reflect on these 4 years, those who have supported me [since Sochi], those who supported me even since the Juniors, my most important family, the team and the coaches and teachers who nurtured me till today, and finally all those around the world who have supported me -- all these emotions and thoughts gushed up to my mind.”

2. Today’s Programme Structure

“I’ve been thinking about it ever since I woke up this morning. Luckily I had a lot of options. Under these circumstances and being able to compete in this state has a lot to owe to my injury -- that’s what drove my thinking. You can also say that due to the period of time when I was unable to go onto ice, I was able to learn how to strategise, like how I worked hard for this victory.”

3. Regarding his Performance

“It was a careful first-half, because I was quite uneasy regarding the Salchow during the 6-minute warm-up session. And based on the feeling the first-half gave me, I was able to complete the jumps in the second-half.  And most importantly, as I mentioned yesterday, be it the salchow, the toe loop or the axel, all these triples have been with me over the years so [my body] has already remembered them.

4. The last standing 3Lz

“Because it is really tiring to jump the Lutz using the right leg. My right leg worked hard -- such a thought was really strong.”

(sorry I am a bit unsure of what they meant here^)

5. The Moment the Performance Ended

“I felt that I won. But during the Sochi Olympics, my entire mind was filled with unease from the doubts on whether I could win, so the most important thing here is that I felt that I conquered myself.”

6. When did you decide on the programme for the FS?

“This morning, myself. It was before practice. There’re a lot of reasons for this.”

7. Did you have the thought of wanting to jump the 4Lo?

“Before considering whether I should include it, the most important thing here is to win. If there’s no victory, there’s no meaning behind it anymore, which is even more so for this competition, considering that the results will follow me for the whole of my life. [I] really really value [this competition], so I only came with the sole goal to win.”

8. Pressure of Winning the Olympics Consecutively

“There’s not a lot of pressure. I didn’t think of whether I can win it consecutively or not, I just want to win the next competition.”

9. Comparing to the Sochi Gold Medal

“I can’t just compare them. What comes to mind now, is the dream that I had since childhood, or the journey of my life -- I am, in a sense, nearing the end goal now. With consideration to this, I would like to say this to the young self who just started learning how to skate, who watched Evegeni Plushenko thinking “I want to get a gold in the Olympics!” -- “Although many things have happened, I am still practising really hard!”

10. Surpassing Plushenko?

No.

11. Comparing the FS to Sochi

“Back then I was immersed in it and worked desperately towards it, and I thought that I presented a good performance for a few years back. Regarding that [Sochi] performance, I was neither regretful nor ashamed. However, the fact still remains that there were mistakes, so it’s really good that mistakes were cleared during this performance.”

12. Did you practice the entire FS in Toronto?

“A couple of times. However, I was still quite wary of my ankle’s condition. Although I did not intend to make any comments regarding the state of my ankle, the condition is really serious, more than what I have expected. Not only did the initial diagnosis showed that there was ligament damage, other body parts were affected as well, and the off-ice period was really long. Hence, in a sense, rather than the issue of stamina, my unease towards being back on ice was greater.”

13. Rasing the benchmark in Figure Skating

“I do not think I raised the standards. The first skater to open the doors to the 4Lz was Jin Boyang, and I have tried my best to overcome my limits to chase after him ever since. As a result, everyone became stronger -- Nathan Chen entered the arena, and even Shoma, such a skilful Japanese skater, also appeared. I deeply feel that I, as a skater, am the one benefitting from this era.”

Every time I finish his interviews, I am once again reminded that Yuzuru is really such a humble, strong and inspiring individual.

Translated from (x)

[yuzusorbet]

27 Feb 2018, interview on 'Minna no News': 

Interviewer (I) "Congratulations on your amazing results!" Yuzu "Thank you."

(I) "How are you feeling, the medal has the weight of something you wanted from the bottom of your heart, I assume?"

Yuzu "Yes I am feeling the weight of it. But this is not the weight that only I can carry around. It was achieved by the effort of everyone. So I want to share this 'weight' with them."

(I) "I am sure there are many people who were happy for you. Please, take a seat"

Yuzu "Thank you."

(I) "We had you and Shoma in this show after the 2017 World Championships. You won the gold and you were smiling. Yet you looked like you were still in a fight towards the Olympics. Compared to back then, you now look that you are finally freed."

Yuzu "Yes, I actually feel being released now. It was like facing a dead end with no luck left. I cornered myself, and it was quite a difficult situation. I bet and sacrificed so many things. So I am fulfilled as all my sacrifices and work paid off, in a way."

(I) "Would you summarise that the past 4 years was all for the gold medal?"

Yuzu "Well, it was not just for the Olympics. However, everything was done for skating, for sure. Of course, everything was linked to the Olympics but I put my best effort in all competitions one by one. The consequence of all effort led me to the Olympics."

(I) You spoke of sacrifices, so there were a lot of hardships...

Yuzu: Yes... for the sake of skating, I had to choose what to take and what to give up a lot. But given the consequence that brought me this happiness and the happiness to all my supporters, I am glad (I did what I did)"

(I) "So you think you received massive support?"

Yuzu "That's right. Of course I had big support to recover from my ankle injury. But I have never felt, not even once, that I could skate only with my own strength. I really think it was all due to the support."

<chart of past 4 years> (I) "Here is the brief history of your last 4 years. Were you thinking about winning the next Olympic gold medal straight after Sochi in 2014?"

Yuzu "Yes, I was thinking about it."

(I) "Was your next goal the gold in Pyeongchang already?"

Yuzu "Yes"

(I) "(scrolling down the screen) Look at this. There was the accident, sickness, injuries. How do you describe your last 4 years?"

Yuzu "Well...It was long. So many things happened and it was a meaningful time. But I always had a life with big ups and downs anyway, the earthquake, closing of the rink. I have been living a life of many obstacles all the time. So looking back now I've come to understand that's how my life goes."

(I) "You pick Seimei which you scored the world highest record with in 2015 to reuse. Was it a part of your gold winning plan?"

Yuzu "Yes. Since that season when I broke the world record many times, I have already decided to use this programme in Pyeongchang. It is my masterpiece and the one I can perform really well."

(I) "And on your road to Pyeongchang, the injury happened in November last year. How did you feel when it happened?"

Yuzu "Yes it was a rough time... (watching the scene of the fall) ohh ouch.... It's really painful...."

(I) "Ahh does it hurt by watching it, oh I'm so sorry..."

Yuzu "It was a hard time for sure, but people who cheer for me continuously cheered for me. And the skaters I respect and admire kept on raising the voice that they believed in me. So I strongly felt that I had to believe in myself."

(I) "I assume that you felt fear, panic, frustration during the injury time?"

Yuzu "I certainly had frustration. When I resumed practise, I decided to take painkillers as I could not jump due to the pain. I was panicking after the decision as there was not much time left."

(I) "Did you feel pressure that you cannot betray your fans and supporters?"

Yuzu "I did feel a sense of responsibility, but it was not a feeling of betrayal or not. It was more like a duty. Knowing people whom I admire believe in me. Because I could believe in them, it was not so much about if I could believe in myself. Their words naturally sank in me. So I always had a confidence to win"

(I) "How did you train in Canada when you could not skate?"

Yuzu "The training for figure skate actually does not have many options for that situation. For example, there is a training called rotation practice which we jump and do rotations on the ground. Or we practise in front of a mirror as we do some ballet-like moves. But this time I had some training tips and ideas from short track and speed skating to keep my cardio. I also used a stationary bike."

(I) "Did you feel prepared and confident when you landed in Korea?"

Yuzu "On the day before I flew into Korea, my condition finally reached the level that I aimed for. I was feeling disappointed until that day, thinking 'Oh no, I can't win when my jumps are so bad'...but on the previous day of my departure I finally could jump alright. So I was confident."

<9:06> (I) "How do you look back on your SP and FS?"

Yuzu "SP was good. Even FS, I did everything I had to do."

(I) "We all cheered 'yes Hanyu is back' in SP. Did you feel calm to go back to the competition after a long while?"

Yuzu "No I wasn't calm. It could have been different if it wasn't the Olympics, but fortunately I had a confidence as the gold medalist in Sochi. I experienced it, and I let myself admit my confidence from that experience. It eventually worked well for the good result."

(I) "People talk about artistic quality of the performance. How do you think about the balance of technique and artistry of figure skate?"

Yuzu "Artistry is only possible if you have technique. [t/n. then he says it's just like artists who paint....] [we are not sure how to best translate his analogy, so it’s omitted.]

(I) "So you need to build up technique for the beautiful artistic performance?"

Yuzu "Yes. Technique itself IS the artistry."

<Pooh rain > (I) "The Pooh rain was bigger than usual. Did you feel the cheers of your fans more than usual?"

Yuzu "Yes, especially for the last lutz jump, I was fighting with some anxiety and pain, and I almost fell. I think the fans literally 'supported' me."

<about the scores> (I) "Let us talk about a little more technical stuff. The GOE of your SP. Your 3A got +3. How do you, the skaters, read those?"

Yuzu "The jumps. 3A, 4S, 4T, their max GOE is +3. So I check them first. But please also look at the spin and the step sequence. You might think the spin only got 1.4 but the max GOE of spin is 1.5. And the max for step sequence is 2.10. So it is huge that I could get good GOE in those elements."

(I) "let's look at your FS. Your 3A got +3 in SP, 2.14 in the 3A combo in FS. And you mentioned 4A in the press conference. Does it mean the axel jump is so special to you?"

Yuzu "Well, when you look at the score, 4S, 4T, and 4S of the 2nd half all got high GOE. I think it was the reason I could win. As for Axel, yes I have special feelings for it.  The first jump I did after the earthquake, when I resumed my training on the ice, was 3A. So it was like my new start line. So yes, 3A is very special to me."

(I) "Now Pyeongchang is over. I understand your next motivation is 4A. What about other goals, such as breaking the world record score again?"

Yuzu "No, I am not thinking about that. We have been told for a while that the rules would change (after the Olympics), we have no idea how the new rules will affect the scores, including the world highest score. For the last 4 years under the current rule, I could achieve the world highest score in all three, SP, FS and the total. I think that is the result of all my hard work."

(I) "Regarding 3 consecutive Olympic golds that no one has done before, how much feeling do you have for it now?"

Yuzu "None. (Hosts: None??? Hahaha. ) Before I talk about if I can do it or not, my answer to the question if I want to become a three consecutive gold medalist, is NO. But um...... if I could go, I will win. That's how I feel."

(I) "It can be said, you have become a 2-time gold medalist that even Plushenko whom you admire could not reach. Do you feel like that?"

Yuzu "Not at all."

(I) "He participated in the Olympics 4 times."

Yuzu (pointing at the sign 'withdraw' for Sochi) "It would be Gold if he could compete."

Yuzu "He had to withdraw from his single event but he still skated amazingly in the team event. I was in the same competition field with him and I somehow won. But he is still a legend after all and I could come this far because his words always motivated me."

(I) "Could you please write your current motivation or your goal as a figure skater? You don't feel burnt out, do you?"

Yuzu "No, I am not burnt out."

[Yuzu writes the words 'Perfect package'.]

(I) "Maybe you mention that all the time but please explain to us."

Yuzu "I've never said this before." (haha.....) Yuzu "My coaches always talk about 'total package'. It means you are good in all aspects of skate. 'Perfect package' means you are perfect in all elements and aspects. I know 4A will get a lot of attention from now. But within me, to me, I want to aim at becoming a skater who is perfect in everything. Everything is perfect, on my scale. That’s what I want to be."

------- 

Translated by Rena Moriguchi in YHIFG;  video thanks to pino16.17.  (for the hosts’ words, only the main points are translated.)

[Do not use nor re-post without permission] 

[axelsandwich]

yuzuru hanyu: an exhaustive introduction

YUZURU HANYU IN 8 SECONDS: A SUMMARY 

the weird goat noise crying at the end is yuzu himself basically going ‘nooo no way, no I don’t want this, that was scary, so scaryyy’

THIS IS ALSO YUZURU HANYU IN 13 SECONDS

YUZURU HANYU JUST BEING HIMSELF (PART 2)

choose your fighter

he’s happy a lot

basically the embodiment of the n__n emoji

and cute

the cutest 

ever

loves nature on the rare occasions he goes outside

hitting his coach with a fan

scaring his other coach and then running away

adorable w kids

loves teaching

but also falls down a lot. very cutely.

sometimes in a stupidly beautiful way

factual info you could probably Wikipedia but are too lazy to do so: Yuzuru Hanyu is a Japanese figure skater from Sendai, born 7 December 1994 who competes in the men's singles discipline.

PSA: YUZURU HANYU IS NOT THE MODEL FOR KATSUKI YUURI FROM YURI ON ICE (yuuri katsuki is canonically based on tatsuki machida thank u)

japanese media (esp in sendai) basically filmed him growing up and called him a young prodigy so we’re lucky to get footage of chipmunk-cheeked yuzu with his (flying) mushroom hair 

look at this tiny bean

he was interviewed in ice rink sendai with japan’s other figure skating gold medallist shizuka arakawa. to quote, when asked “can you become a gold medallist too?”, he said “probably”. and then he went and did exactly that.

he would get into fights with his rinkmates, used to ball up skate rink magazine flyers to hit like a baseball and basically had a 5min attention span after which he would get bored

he also remained top 5 in his class academically while competing internationally during high school and does online education at waseda university, which is one of the most prestigious universities in Japan (this kid was away the day God handed out laziness and procrastination I s2g)

he’s studying Human Informatics and Cognitive Sciences (ie. basically a massive maths nerd)

my favourite in-depth and extended interviews with yuzu are his press conferences with the foreign correspondents club in japan, he really lets his intelligence and thoughtfulness shine here in particular:

2014 post-sochi olympics

2018 post-pyeongchang olympics

2018 post-pyeongchang olympics (japanese media)

memelord mc memeface (no, I am serious)

literally can’t control his face

I could go on.........

for a long time

(this is my fave)

the duality of man

10 expressions for the price of one

‘yuzuru will also respond in english’

yuzuru was a victim of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami and lived in an emergency shelter with his family for about a week. spent the summer afterwards skating 60 different ice shows to raise money for the victims. he lost his home rink because of the earthquake and so would go to the show rinks early to practice ): 

it’s heartbreaking that he’s still very affected by the memories. he’s said he doesn’t take anything for granted and is always grateful to have a rink to skate on, and the impact he had on the survivors had a profound effect on his skating

he mentioned it in his post olympics interview

if you feel like crying really really hard today, watch yuzuru visiting sendai’s disaster affected areas and where he stayed initially in the days after the disaster

he donated all his olympic winnings to helping tohoku recover

the only regular TV appearance he does every year is 24hr TV which is a charity marathon to raise money for various causes, especially for areas affected by natural disaster 

“If it is because I visited them that those who suffered from the disaster can forget about their hardships for even just a moment, to me that would be something very meaningful. Therefore, at that moment, I thought that I wanted to get another Gold medal at the next Olympics.” 

the reason why he’s going for another olympic medal. cry with us

gets on with nobunari oda like a house on fire and carries out shenanigans whenever they meet

nobu and ex-tennis player matsuoka shuzo have been his most zealous and purest hype men since he was sixteen, it’s the cutest thing in the world, they’re regularly worried about him, stunned by him and moved to tears by his performances

here they are reacting to his olympics programs

here’s yuzu thanking shuzo for his support by putting his gold medal around shuzo-san’s neck

has the cutest bromance ever with training mate javier fernandez (eg. when he cried bc he didn’t win but was also super happy for javi, and when he watched javi’s free skate)

gives the best hugs to javi

iconic(TM)

just before the Olympic medal ceremony, yuzuru cried after javi told him this would be his last olympics and saying ‘no I can’t do it without you’ wow I didn’t need my heart or anything today

has the cutest interactions with all skaters including his direct competitors

here’s boyang jin giggling about how he got a hug from ‘the guy who likes Pooh’

nathan chen commenting on yuzu & both of them complimenting each other

dodges media attempts to pit him against shoma uno as bitter rivals bc they are NOT ABOUT THAT LIFE 

olympic gold medallist checking to make sure the olympic silver medallist has his jacket on straight and teaching shoma to wave bc he is actually just a mother

the only person who has the ability to make him lose focus: his forever-idol evgeni plushenko (now in motion) 

probably the only asian boy who willingly opted for a bowl cut 

who he shamelessly cheers on during ice shows

literally not capable of not being extra as fuck

here’s his pre-competition rituals aka. lipsyncing silently at a wall

he does it a lot

where every other male skater is in sensible shirts and pants, you will find yuzu standing there BEDECKED IN SEQUINS AND FEATHERS

he don’t give a fuck about your gender norms

and looks excellent while doing so

here he is, single-handedly destroying toxic masculinity

here he is just generally being Extra, with the rest of the men, bullying junhwan, bullying boyang... speed skating

tbh his milkshake seems to bring all the boys to the yard...seriously. and obviously most of the girls...

famous for his death glare murder face of hyper-competitive intensity

scariest thing is how quickly he can switch it on

there’s literally a collection of photos of yuzu - from when he was a bb to presently - eyeing the gold medal from another podium position like ‘my precious will be mine soon’ (here’s another one)

but also for being the sweetest kid ever 

he is truly SUPER polite wherever he goes

hugging his competitors at the 2018 pyeongchang olympics

staying behind to answer all questions from media at the competition

CRAWLING ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES behind competitor shoma uno so he doesn’t get in the background of shoma’s interview

mr worldwide (he thanked reporters at the Olympics in five languages)

watch him say thank you in korean

JP TV basically had entire TV segments where they were like ‘OBSERVE HIS GOD-LIKE BEHAVIOUR’. It continues to this day

there’s literally a shrine with kanji similar to his name and fans pray for him there

he has three dedicated shrines that his fans make pilgrimmages to - yuzuruha and the two seimei shrines. 

oda nobunari visited one and basically all the ema wishes were for him (yuzuru himself also visited the shrine to pray as well)

helping people repair the rink after competitions

single-handedly keeping the winnie the pooh soft toy industry alive.  

Disney-senpai finally noticed him in 2018

he donates all the toys he gets to local orphanages and charities

gives his fans regular heart attacks

watch him save jumps that shouldn’t have been physically possible

changing program halfway through when he failed a jump to accommodate #emergencyquad and #yolotripleaxel 

casually breaks world records because he was annoyed with himself

casual jump combinations during practices

casually says shit like wanting to jump hithero impossible jumps

jumped new quad when pissed off at the world team trophy It is REALLY IMPORTANT to know that the main reason for fan heart attacks is because he’s dealt with a distressing number of injuries, illnesses and misfortunes in his skating life but has somehow managed to come back and succeed in spite of them

a really scary accident that happened at cup of china 2014 and he decided to skate anyway because he wanted to qualify for the Grand Prix Final (which he then went on to win) and he really should not have been allowed to but he.......did that > <;

he then came back a month later to win the Grand Prix Final for the 2nd year in a row

he then had abdominal pain and surgery right after winning Japanese Nationals in 2014

and after spending a month recuperating, still managed to win a silver medal at worlds 2014

this is why we don’t talk about boston

important to note he skated his iconic chopin/seimei 2015 grand prix final programs WITH THAT INJURY

but then he came back and won the world championships in Helsinki in 2017

he missed almost the entire 2017-2018 olympic season he severely injured his ankle while practising the 4Lz in practice at the NHK Trophy, while recovering from a fever

is making his comeback from injury either at the pyeongchang team event or potentially yolo-ing it and going just for the individual event, we have no idea, we just know heart attacks are imminent

update: he skipped the team event and made his COMEBACK SKATE FROM INJURY after 3 months of no competitions and 1 month of prep at the individual mens event of the pyeongchang olympics.... AND FRIKKIN WON HIS SECOND OLYMPIC GOLD 

he then...injured himself again for the 2018-19 season, went out and skated anyway, won the event and showed up to the victory ceremony on crutches. he made a comeback at the world championships 2019 on painkillers yet again and still managed to get a silver medal

is proficient at disappearing like a ninja and subjecting his fans to radio silence for months on end, usually bc he injured himself ))):

so his fans made him a banner

(he has some ridiculously talented fans tbh)

a helpful guide to stanning yuzu (warning: you may feel Attacked)

did I mention he happens to be pretty good at figure skating? 

he’s broken the world record 16 times and counting (the video is his reaction to the first 11 (most of them are his own records)

he’s the first man in 66yrs since Dick Button to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in mens figure skating (sochi 2014 and pyeongchang 2018)

I cannot emphasise HOW FRIKKIN #YOLO HIS 2018 OLYMPIC SEASON WAS. this was the medal he wanted his ENTIRE LIFE, which he had literally planned since he was a novice skater and had seriously begun planning since right after he won the gold in Sochi. this plan had to be adjusted due to the truly distressing number of injuries, illnesses and misfortunes he sustained during the last quad (his Olympic athlete profile has PARAGRAPHS dedicated to all his injuries - and note these are only the post-2014 ones). but yuzuru started the 2017-18 olympic season with a plan to basically break all 3 of his WRs at the olympics by recycling his Chopin and Seimei programs but upgrading the layout and introducing a new quad - the 4Lz - which he had been preparing for years. and then this plan was, once again, thrown out the window when he sustained the injury in NHK in early November, which was much more severe than he first thought. he sat out of competition for 3mths despite hoping to return first at Japanese Nationals and then to the Pyeongchang team event, but pulled out of both as well. yuzuru made his comeback from injury debut at the individual men’s event, aka. the BIG DEAL, after marching into the airport like a BOSS. we were told he had only recovered his triple axel 3 weeks ago and his quads 2 weeks ago, but post-Olympics, he’s slowly revealing that it was even more dire than that. he skated the entire Olympics on painkillers that were not working 100% which meant every jump landing hurt.  and he. frikkin. WON. by doing this. and this.  (it was also the 1000th medal in Winter Olympics history because destiny rewards those who are Most Extra)

seimei is arguably one of the greatest masterpieces of skating programs and yuzuru was involved in every step of putting it together

his iconic moves ; _ ; 

edges, have you seen anything more ridiculous

romeo and juliet 1.0 at worlds, less than 1yr after the tsunami disaster and really launched him onto the international stage

sochi olympic short program (the thing that won him the gold lbr)

sub point: his reaction to gold

sub point: his reactions to BOTH HIS GOLD MEDALS

chopin and seimei at Grand Prix Finals 2015/16 

WR for highest short program and total program score and he’s gonna bring them both back and try to surpass them for the Olympic season because he wasn’t already under enough pressure.........

hope and legacy FS at Worlds 2016/17 where he came back from 5th place in the short program to win the free and break his own world record yet again (annotated version)

broke his 12th WR in the first event of the 2017-2018 Olympic season at the ACI Challenger event with a sore knee and downgraded jump layout

hilariously, his coach brian orser was - uncharacteristically - warning everyone that his first skates of the season are like ‘first pancakes’ and to not expect too much from him before the SP

his fans, needless to say, were amused

he did go ahead and die in the free skate the following day though, and finished with his obligatory Canadian silver

Jumped and landed his first 4Lz in competition at the Rostelecom Cup 2017 (watch it clean - it’s a THING OF BEAUTY) and now has landed 4 types of quads in competition (4T, 4S, 4Lo and 4Lz). Has now said that being the first person ever to land the 4A - his childhood dream - is one of his key motivations. 

just go watch all his programs lol

has a majestic jump face. it’s art. literally. 

seemingly endless appetite for getting better and continually challenging himself

his favourite word: kuyashii (ie. frustrated)

one of my favourite interviews of him ever was right after his broke all 3 world records and went over 200 and 300 for the FS and total competition score for the first time at NHK 2015.  “[On losing to Patrick Chan at Skate Canada & the fact he was practising during gala rehearsal where everyone else was chilling] I thought I want to improve, even here right now.  Patrick was nearby and it was a really good motivation.   It’s like, ‘Watch me.'  I will definitely practise all kinds of jumps and I will grow for sure.  I will win the next time for sure, I have been practising with that in mind.”   Then 3 weeks later, at NHK Trophy, he had a different lay-out. Yuzu:  This is not related to Patrick anymore.  I was really fired up this time. Boyang Jin got 95 points in SP, right?  When I saw that score, I thought, wow NO MISTAKES!!  He gave the best of his abilities!  OH YES!!!! Matsu: You didn’t think OH NO!!!  You thought OH YES???? Yuzu:  I thought “It’s here!!!"  Since I was a child, I have never liked winning a competition when others made mistakes.  Everyone skates to their best, but I still come first, above all.  That is what I like. I like pushing myself to the edge—.” (translation cr: yuzusorbet) says volumes about his competitive mentality.

this is also iconic AF. ‘In your mind, what do you mean by wanting to win with a commanding lead?’ yuzuru (no hesitation and immediately): after everyone goes clean, I go clean and win. (matsuoka shuzo’s face is a MOOD)

oh, also he’s had asthma since he was two 

he talks about it here

it was referenced in a movie

he got an asthma attack 2wks before the World Championships in Helsinki 2017 and still went out and Did That

the new york times did a long feature on him and it’s mostly a pretty comprehensive article if you want an overview

has remained at number one in the world standings for the entire olympic cycle since 2013 despite aforementioned heart-attack-inducing injuries and illnesses

sucks at finding suits that fit him. because he needs one imperfection

questionable fashion sense in general (generally remains stuck at ‘japanese teenage boy circa 2005′)

he wears toe socks and has been seen wearing crocs once, ho n e st l y

Good Guy Yuzuru: doesn’t wear fitted suits often because he knows it’ll kill his fans and/or will only do so if he gets paid for it tbh

unless he’s wearing under armour

he can keep wearing under armour

seriously, why isn’t he being sponsored by under armour

why

really obsessed with earphones and has like 50 pairs, many of which are custom-made and cost over $1000. he gets really excited about sound quality & bonds with sound technicians over their headphones. basically it’s the only thing he talks about when interviewers want to know what he likes to do in his spare time

that and play games in his room by himself

he’s hyper-competitive about games too

is this a surprise at this point

he’s basically a shut in when he’s not on the ice rink, in competition or at an ice show. he is not v exciting

he got really obsessed with kendama and now has like 8 of them

can’t dance but has no shame (yeah) (YEAH. you’ve been warned). werq it boi

made his japanese film debut in a bald cap, playing the young lord of Sendai which he SORT OF BASICALLY IS

get you a man that loves you like the entire city of Sendai loves yuzuru

their cheer video for sochi and pyeongchang

as of originally writing this intro post - part of the top six men in figure skating right now. probably possesses the Most Lack of Chill, being world champion, olympic champion and holder of all 3 figure skating records. we’re all drinking heavily this olympic season, not in the least because Olympic season has been a Pretty Big Disaster So Far

BUT HE WON THE GOLD MEDAL AND THE MENS EVENT WAS - FOR THE MOST PART - PRETTY DAMN BRILLIANT, especially given all the disasters that happened this season.......so I recommend watching it all. ; __ ; 

alas Patrick Chan and Javier Fernandez have now retired ;;

he’s also b e a u t i f u l 

um excuse me, rude

VERY RUDE

apparently not interested in sex appeal......... 

‘acting’

want to research more? 

here’s a recommended watchpost

a compilation of interesting interviews by tsukihoshi14

gif cr: balladestorm

in conclusion, thank you for reading and I hope you know more about this special, brilliant boy ( : 

[shoma-uno]

Special Talk with Nathan Chen and Shoma Uno at 2017 Dreams on Ice

“By receiving motivation from each others’ quads” -- World Figure Skating No.79

Please do not repost this translation without permission.

The two of you know each other since your junior days. Do you remember your first impressions of each other?

S: We weren’t in the same competitions in the Junior Grand Prix Series, but even without the triple axel, Nathan would receive way higher points than me when I also didn’t have my triple axel yet. By knowing this, I realised that it’s possible to get such high marks without having difficult jumps.

In comparison to your impression of him back then, what is your impression of him now?

S: Nathan has become so grown up and mature, while I’m still far from being there.

N: Shoma, you’ve matured as well. (laughs) As he said, we first met around the time of the Junior Grand Prix Series, but I don’t remember much from then. What I do remember is Junior Worlds. I watched Shoma’s performance with Nam, and it was shocking how good of a performer he was. He had so much speed and power. Back then, he seemed like a young child so I was so taken aback when he started skating. His learning speed is so quick, and he’s gotten even better in the past 2 to 3 years. He pushes forward the field immensely and pushes me to move forward as well.

What has changed about Shoma?

N: Well he’s obviously changed since our junior years. (laughs) On ice, he’s like a different person. Because Shoma landed the 4F, it encouraged me to challenge it too, and it also made me feel as if I could push this field forward as well.

Through the beneficial rivalry, you two are now able to land many types of quads. How do you perceive each other’s quads?

N: We both learned quads in a very short timespan. But the reason why I became able to land quads in a matter of 1 to 2 years was because Shoma landed one, which made me think, “I can do this too”. We have completely different body types, but it’s nice to see us both being able to do the same types of quads stably.

S: When I first landed my 4F, I didn’t even think about challenging more quads. I didn’t think everyone would start landing these different types of quads so soon, so at the following NHK Trophy, when I heard that Nathan landed a 4Lz and a 4F, I wondered, “Is that actually true??” But then I did see that he was landing them very stably, and that changed my mindset into thinking, “I can do more”, and not just be satisfied after learning a couple of new things.

What do you think of Boyang Jin, the other challenger of quads in your generation?

N: He is pushing the sport with an incredible force. I’ve watched him since we were juniors, and he was already landing three quads in the FS when I was just starting to land my 3As. By seeing that, I decided to seriously challenge the 4T and the 4S. The increase in skaters who land quads has been drastic, and of course there’s Yuzu. Boyang’s lutz gave me motivation, and Shoma’s flip made me want to challenge it. It’s cool that we get so influenced by each others’ jumps.

S: I also wouldn’t have challenged the 4F if it weren’t for Boyang’s 4Lz. I think people are quite influenced by their emotions. When someone lands a new jump, the thought of, “Oh, this is a jump that can be landed”, and also the thought of “Nobody’s landed this before so I want to challenge it” are very important. Seeing Boyang easily land the 4Lz was an inspiration for me.

You guys are now getting up on podiums in international competitions such as GPF and 4CC. How were the views from the podiums?

N: Us young skaters don’t have the experience that skaters like Patrick and Javi do, so we go into competitions with our fresh and young minds. All of our goals is to get closer to them. I’m so thankful to be able to compete with them each time. It’s crazy that we get to go on the podium with top skaters like Yuzu, Javi, and Patrick isn’t it?

S: I just finished my second senior season, and I was able to do what I was not able to do in my first season as a senior, and I think I was able to make good use of my experience from that first season. However, Nathan won at 4CC, and I haven’t even won Worlds or GPF, so I really adored his position. I want to compete on that stage and become a skater who fights for the gold as well. In the first half of the season, it felt as if I was working hard just underneath them and I was barely able to keep up, so next season, I want to be able to fight for the gold as well. Since this will be my third senior year, I hope that I will be able to use my experience well in my own way.

There was a period of time when you (Shoma) struggled to land the 3A, and you (Nathan) suffered from an injury that left you out from competition for a while. Both of you have experienced tough times in your junior years. What would you tell your younger selves right now?

N: Honestly, I didn’t have many goals until now, so it’s difficult to answer that question… Hm. “Don’t be so down.” It was a good experience in terms of stacking up my career and learning new things. I was able to see the positive and negative possibilities.

What would you say to young Shoma?

N: “It will be okay as long as you don’t give up.” I mean, he lands amazing 3As now. (laughs) Everything will go as planned as long as you continue your efforts.

What would you say, Shoma?

S: My answer is going to be the same as Nathan’s but… I think I’m one of the less injured skaters, but even when I had my minor injuries, it was really tough for me. It’s really painful to not be able to do something you want to do. But because Nathan didn’t give up during that time, the Nathan Chen that we know today exists, so really, I have the same answer as him. “If you don’t give up, everything will connect to your success.” I wouldn't say that if you work hard, everything will come true, but I don’t think efforts go to waste.

N: Very true.

There’s been an increasing case of you two skating together in the same groups in competitions. Could you tell me about each other’s competitive selves?

N: Honestly, I’m too focused on myself during the 6 minute warmup. The thing that I am most careful about is to not run into anyone.

S: That’s true. This is very off topic, but whenever Japanese television shows Hanyu, Nathan is often in the shot. (laughs) I see that a lot, and I just thought that was funny.

N: (laughs)

S: In our junior years, we weren’t in the same groups very much, but I always watched Nathan’s performances, and it really is exciting to be able to skate in the same groups now.

Do you have any secrets for focusing?

N: I think about the things I need to do in the program, and the things I need to do at that moment. If I do that, my switch naturally turns on.

S: I also naturally focus when I think about my practices and things I must do, since it’s impossible to think about two things at the same time. Time always goes by very quickly then, so my secrets are to enjoy it and make good use of it.

N: Exactly!

The Olympics are approaching soon. What type of ‘you’ do you hope to be at the Olympic stage?

N: All athletes work hard with the dream of going to the Olympics, and ideally, I would like to do perfect performances. Regarding the programs, I just wish to connect with the audience and the music. I want to enjoy the dream-like stage of the Olympic ice.

S: I would like to do performances that are very like myself. The phrase “since it’s the Olympics” will come up many times, and because of that, my real self might be contained. In order for that to not happen, I want to work on one thing at a time, and work hard to be chosen for the Olympics. And if I do get there, I hope to do a very ‘me-like’ performance.

Yuzuru Hanyu, who is aiming for his second gold at the Olympics, is getting a lot of attention for being the top gold medal contender. How do you see him right now?

N: Yuzu won Worlds, and as someone with a lot of worldly accomplishments, he is a skater who will get a lot of attention at the Olympics. But I think the top 6 is in a state right now that makes it impossible to predict a winner. We won’t know anything until the day comes.

S: I have the exact same view. Personally, Hanyu is an admiration. That admiration is still there, and now, he is a skater who I want to win against the most. There are other skaters who I don’t want to lose to, but out of all of them, Hanyu is the one I want to win against. Because I admire him so much.

You two see each other often in competitions and shows. Has anything interesting happened recently?

S: Was it an ice show… Oh, it was at WTT! After WTT, we went to a yakiniku restaurant, and four of Team USA were waiting outside. We asked them what they were doing there, and they said the seats were full. Coincidentally, we had reserved a table for six, but only two of us came, so we ended up eating yakiniku with them. (laughs)

N: Thank you for that! We were saved. (laughs)

Is there anything you want to say to or ask each other?

N: Hit me up when you are near California.

S: This is gonna be an actual question, so I want to think carefully… Ah, what do you do when you’re not skating? I game a lot.

N: I just finished high school, so I would go to school before. Now, I study to be prepared for university and I go to the beach with friends since we live in California. Mostly that.

S: You study hard? Impressive!

What are your thoughts for your plans post-Pyeongchang?

N: I’m leaving it up to my results at Pyeongchang, so it’s hard to answer that right now. But I’m just very excited. More skaters will be popping up, and thinking about that is very exciting.

S: I only have skating. I love skating so much, especially competitions, so even after the Pyeongchang Olympics, I want to skate for as long as I can. I want to continue my competitive career until I feel like I’ve done enough.

And finally, if you were to show each other around your hometowns, where would you take each other? Nathan, which Californian beach do you recommend for Shoma?

N: I live near Long Beach, and it’s fun so we should definitely go there together. There are so many streets, and it’s a place where you can have fun shopping as well. Laguna is famous for its surfing, and if we go a little further, we can get to LA. Palos Verdes is also famous, the ocean is beautiful there.

And Shoma, where would you recommend for Nathan?

S: I am so sorry for this, but I am a recluse. I think Nathan knows more about Japan than I do.

N: (laughs)

How about games you recommend?

S: Games! I only play games on my phone, but Vainglory is accessible worldwide. It’s a combat game, but one fight takes 20-30 minutes. (laughs)

N: My brother games a lot, but he never lets me do it. Since he games alone, it’s probably similar to how you game. (laughs)

Thank you so much. I am looking forward to both of your successes this season.