KatjaThera

Another angle of the flower ceremony, where you can see Javi did tickle him a bit... (embedding not available for this video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnYC1dWpSHE ETA: wow, Angry Seaweed... strangely appropriate...

I woke up to 120 new posts and wondered what happened ^_^; Javi thoughts and a bit more info, under spoiler, because it's quite OT Back to reality, I won't be surprised if we get more Yuzu sobbing all over him at the gala as well... so get your tissue boxes ready...

About whether he truly seemed happy or not, I, too, think he looked so happy to be back on the ice, but I think that also threw a lot of people off, because he's usually not like that. Not to that extent. And I guess it hinted at "reasons" as to why he was so happy. But I do think he was genuinely happy. (And that's also part of why I wish he could safely compete in Milan, too, because that happiness would appear there, too.) I did however get an anxious feeling after his FS. Something didn't seem right and there was a trace of melancholy that, after a while, I realized, subconsciously, I think, reminded me of Boston. Of that teary smile at the end of Requiem. I held my breath throughout the lack of updates from the press conference because I half expected him to announce his retirement then and there. So that was a relief, when he didn't, but the injury wasn't that much of a shock, because of the undertone to his happiness that hinted at a lot of pain prior to it. He is happy, though. And he doesn't want to retire. So it's actually much better than I feared then. ^_^;

I totally understand this, and in some ways, the exasperation is half joking and half genuine concern. On the other hand, fans seeing so much of this reaction can also become exasperated by it lol. It becomes a bit of a vicious circle. I was also part of a fandom where complaining and bemoaning the artist's decisions became the default mode and I grew to hate the fandom because of that, so there is such a thing as too much. Although I think we are still very far from that. However, Yuzu is an athlete and athletes, generally, put their health and bodies on the line in order to achieve their goals. So, while I also hate to see him hurt, I'm also sometimes surprised by the "want to wrap him up in cotton wool" comments. I generally have a different attitude towards injuries, though, so maybe that's why. But everyone is free to react however they feel. As long as we keep it reasonable And I think that's very much the case here.

They're roasting the Demon at the Olympics to feed it to Satoko

I'm sure he won't, but... sad about Javi... where did he confirm? And why so quickly, he said he'd think about it >_<

Well, worst case, even if he doesn't get the first 4A, he definitely has the highest chances of getting the first +5GOE 4A

I think setting a deadline would get him into that frantic mood again. "Ok, I have to achieve this, this and this by then." So I'd rather he doesn't decide on one. If come 2022 he'll still be competing and in good shape, sure, why not? Nothing to lose, right? If not, not. Honestly, I think he'll stop when he won't feel good doing it anymore, be it because of pain or injuries, or not having fun anymore. Why stop before that, anyway? That could be tomorrow, or next year, or in 3 years, or in 4 years, or in 5, 6, 7 years. Obviously, I'm hoping it won't be any time soon, BUT I don't expect him to ever say: I will definitely retire in 2 years, 3 months and 25 days. Because he had no reason to think that far ahead. He'll probably take it day by day, competition by competition and analyze how he feels after each of them.

It's not just now, he's been saying it ever since he got the European title. And even before, he never said he would retire, just that he definitely wouldn't go to Beijing and that he might only do a few competitions, and not the whole season as until now. Javi had also planned to take time off after Sochi and sit out the grand prix season, but the GPF taking place in Barcelona put an end to that. Of course, he might go home after this and decide he can't be bothered to go back, or he might get bored out of his mind and crash into TCC more motivated than ever. He probably doesn't know himself.

Regarding gala, it only says he intends to participate/the plan is to participate.

Yuzu will want the highest scores, regardless of what the scoring system is. If they start giving hanamaru instead of points, he'd want the most of that, too, probably. (And he'll want to earn them, not have them gifted, btw.) Hmm you're right, he did say Yuzu had tried 4F and 4A (actually that's when I realized Brian isn't quite as panicky about 4A as we like to joke, because he seemed to mention it very casually then). There's no point in focusing on 4F now, but if he gets 4A, he might want to have all six quads after all. As for the Lz, I think it's precisely because it's scary that he'll want to conquer it. It probably won't be easy, because he went without doing it for too long (it's like if you fall of a bicycle, you need to get back on it right away and not give your fear time to grow), but I think he'll want it. But like I said, only unless he risks hurting himself again badly. And he knows the reason why the lutz and the toeloop were wobbly were because of his ankle. Hasn't he jumped 3Lz in practices? I think he'll go for it. He's conquered his fear of sharing a rink with others, that he had post CoC, too. Faced it right on and dealt with it. He'll do the same with this.

I don't think he'll ditch anything. If anything, he'll want to conquer 4Lz precisely because he had to give it up at the Olympics. I think he'll only give up Lz if it might clearly affect his 4A chances. (I actually wouldn't be surprised, if he manages to stabilize 4A, and his joints still hold up, if he won't decide to try 4F as well, just because. lol) The urgency is gone, but he's the same guy and he'll want to challenge more things, because that's just who he is.

He didn't get hurt because it was the 4lz, he got hurt because he jumped when he wasn't fully recovered from a fever and probably had less muscle memory to save the 4lz landing, due to less experience with it. (Although I think he fell on other jumps as well and it was probably bad luck his foot slipped the way it did, just on the lutz, but that it could have happened on any jump.) Javi is probably not going to retire after worlds. In his latest interviews, he says he wants to do more competitions. He probably won't commit to full seasons, though and maybe not to the Grand Prix Series - or at least not very seriously. But I think he really wants 7 or 8 Euro titles and he doesn't really have big enough rivals there, so even without quad loop he could, maybe, do it. Javi probably won't do quad loop for health reasons, too. He's revealed he has trouble with his knees, too, so he probably doesn't see much point in risking it. Especially now that he achieved his biggest dream. But yes, he will be missed. However, we'll probably get years and years of lots of Javi in ice shows! And he's probably going to be awesome in them, as he can perform freely and have fun and not stress about anything. IMO, Javi is second only to Yuzu in FS right now. IF he'd kept up the technical aspect as well, nobody could come close to them. But I can see and understand why he didn't.

I think it might have been a compromise. Yuzu: I want to try the quad axel... Brian: No way. It's Olympic season! Yuzu: But... Brian: No. Yuzu: Brian: Yuzu: Brian: Well... Yuzu: Brian: Only if you use a harness! Yuzu:

ETA: credit to Iron Klaus for posting this first on twitter, btw ^_^; So, now we know how he did the 4A...

I noticed. Or well, I noticed Yuzu noticed Javi didn't have a flag and was bothered by it. When someone in the audience finally threw the Spanish flag, Yuzu and Javi reached for it at the same time. Flags are important to Yuzu and of course, especially for Javi (I still remember at ACI, when he was looking around for a flag as they played the Spanish anthem, then finally spotted one and poked Javi and pointed it out to him. I think a fan was holding it and they didn't have official flags?)

They should do a VS Arashi when ice shows come around and have a figure skating team. Yuzu, Javi, Shoma... who else... Deniss? Nobu? Stephane? Johnny? lol or get more Japanese skaters... Oh, they could have Ondrej and it'd get hilarious really quickly (Someone needs to invite Ondrej and Valentina to ice shows in Japan...)

I'm not even an Arashi fan, but this would be the most amazing thing ever! I can imagine they might need a 3 hours special, because if he lost anything, Yuzu would want rematches lol (Wasn't Miki on it at some point? Or was that another show?) And I don't think Brian ever said Yuzu was healed. He just said he's fine and coming to win. Which he did And also, yes, mostly pain free (on painkillers). So... you know. Fudging, but not lying. As for 4A, I want to see it. Mostly because Yuzu wants to do it. He probably already has and I believe he CAN do it without it being as risky for him as it would be for most others. However, think about it like this, too: because he wants 4A and he wants to do it in a program, he knows he can only ever do that if he is healthy, injury-free and in the best possible shape. So he'll pay even more attention to that and be careful, precisely because he's going for Nessie. Also there's no more urgency of things he has to get done and under his belt - or in his bank, to use Brian's analogy - ASAP, because Olympics in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Until now he was frantic about everything because there was the ticking bomb of the Olympics. Now he can just take his time. However, I don't think Yuzu will ever be able to go into a competition without wanting to win it. He will probably aim more towards getting his ideal skate and ideal mix of athletics and artistry and likely blow or minds in the process, so I expect even aside from Nessie, technical content to increase, and he will want to win and will feel kuyashii is he doesn't. But there won't be any urgency. And when he can't do it anymore, he'll be able to step back with no regrets. How many of us can say that?

Shoma probably needed sleep ASAP and he ran away lol Also his cough during some interviews was a bit of a "are you ok?" so maybe he really just needed a few days home, while Yuzu is basking in the victory. I think it's also possible that he doesn't want to know how bad his ankle is until Olympics are over. Which I kind of get. I'm sure the top 3 will all be back for the Gala. I'm not sure skipping at the Gala is ever really done? Plus, like it's already been said, he'll want to do it. And I really want to get into the Yuzu's mentality talk, but I have to get ready for work ^_^;

Proud Mama Tracy:

Personally, I was hoping he'd go to Japan for his check up this week, then come back for the closing ceremony and gala. Then, depending on the result, either try and see if he can recover by Worlds, or withdraw, rest and slowly heal. Honestly, either way, I'd rather he goes to Toronto for peace and quiet and a more normal lifestyle (even if they protect him in Sendai, he's said he can't go out normally there, either, anymore). Then do the Sendai parade in May or so, when he'll be in Japan for more media and probably ice shows. I think he'll want to do the gala and he'll want to be flag bearer if they offer it to him. And I also think he wants to do Worlds. However, he's not frantic anymore and has no reason to take risks, especially if his goal is quad axel. He knows he has to be in perfect shape to go for that, so it'll be an extra incentive to give himself time to heal. But if doctors give him any hope that he might be able to do Worlds safely, I think he will, to end the season properly and simply because he loves to skate now more than ever maybe.

These people are FAST! And I do think that might be the cover... Oh boy... I'm so happy I pre-ordered it!

I tend to think those were sold at the venue and it was people throwing them on the ice. But Yuzu probably gave some of the ones thrown for him, to the volunteers. Javi's was probably thrown for him on the ice. (I think the label on them was Korean?)

I think the Nathan hug was in the broadcast, in the NHK one at least. Because it came just after Javi's score was announced and before Shoma started. I think I also saw a Shoma hug, but it was after all hell broke loose and the camera angles were weird. Yuzu was trying to hug and greet people while also putting his skates back on - not to mention crying, so... Javi and Boyang hugs weren't shown because the spotlight was rightfully on Shoma then, so they showed them later.