Yatagarasu

I admit if he were to choose Jazz I wish he'd choose something less known. Fly me to the Moon has definitely been done, quite a few times even if the covers differ. I still hope Zu will go for at least one Japanese piece.

Probably before considering we'll be getting more desperate? Then we'll jump by some 100 probably while we argue over choices, potential costumes and in general flip out Yikes. Best not get close at all it seems! Better safe than sorry!

Hmm, Waka is pretty short there. I am not so surprised she said throughout the season then. Rika on the other hand seems to be doing really, really well.

Oh ok that is great to see Brendan with a 2nd assignment. Tbh he should have just gotten one right off the bat but it's fine now.

I see we're holding on nicely and have gone only slightly wacky so far

Rajicova has WD from both her assignments. This possibly opens up a place for Eunsoo.

*pats* Most of the time, that is the wise choice. Goodness knows I don't want peeps to think too hard about what's in my head sometimes

To keep it short

She is 14 years old. The adults in her life are there to guide her because at 14 she is definitely at the age where she still requires guidance. It's normal, she's a child. Her Lz technique is anything but strong. She prerotates that thing by a lot and take a look at where her blade is at take-off. There is no reason not to try and give her a proper Lz before including that jump into her programs. For example. I'm not one for limiting skaters but both for her, and Gogolev, and Anna S, I think some things are too rushed. It's pointless in the end, as I am not the one calling the shots but that's my opinion.

Believe me so do I. And I just know that somewhere out there Yuzuru is all

I have questions about Gogolev too, especially as I think his technique, as well as Sasha's, isn't exactly ideal. In general, I think the question of quads and their impact on health is one that is yet to be answered, for everyone. We don't exactly know what the impact will be for the current Seniors either. Chiddy talked about this about a year ago ( for those who haven't read it - Patrick Chan fears for skaters' health in quads era ) and while I don't agree on everything, I do think it's a question that's worth asking. Personally, I think one way to limit the potential harmful effects of quads is for coaches, and skaters if adults, to be aware of the rule of quality over quantity and to stick to that rule. It won't be the same for every skater because some skaters can safely jump more (Kolyada I believe has a much smaller limit IIRC) but there is a limit while training. This isn't' down to just ISU; there's personal responsibility too, for the skaters, or parents, and coaches, to safely train. Another is to have really good jump technique and to polish that as much as possible. When it comes to Juniors, and in this case Sasha, I at least would choose a middle road here. I'd go for max quality of programs, well, as much as possible, with a quad with excellent technique. This would also help with keeping the jump as she grows older. We cannot limit these kids fully and IMO we shouldn't; athletes will push and push and that includes Juniors but we can play it at least somewhat safely while pushing these limits.

Tomorrow will be one year, Aug 8th! How time flies in some ways, and how it crawls in others! I'm crossing everything that he brings us something like that again, as that program really was a breath of fresh air. @Sombreuil we may not have to wait that long, but realistically, it may very well happen when he's back home as the J media don't have to travel that far then. Way easier than shipping themselves to Canada and it's only a matter of some two weeks then. Well, only. For them. Sigh

We should all let our inner toddlers out to play for a bit perhaps and let off steam that way. Poor planet but it has survived worse. I am not sure what we'll do if it ends up we need to wait until late August!

You'd be surprised. Both of my male skating friends mostly thought he is super self-confident about wearing it and then grumbled how he is giving them a complex by looking like that

Oh you haven't seen that one? To go along with the rest of his gems

Thank you for that lovely image that I am going to have in my head whenever he skates this from now on Zhou, the Sims mosaic skating version!

He has gained some muscles on his arms but that has been happening for a while now. Definitely bulkier than he used to be, he must be pleased! Don't think he's gained weight, seems about the same.

Wow. In major news, Kurakova has switched countries! She is going to be representing Poland from now on. https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/warmup/1901225.html This is pretty huge. She's a great overall skater and with this, she has guaranteed herself a spot to ... everywhere. Wow.

That looks like a CVAC POD to me. I am not 100% sure but it does resemble one. It's been used by many athletes. Google gives super odd translation of that tweet....

It is, no doubt in my mind. I actually hadn't realized that until I saw him skate it, and then it became quite apparent that it is a challenge all right. I think it's a good choice by his team, in terms of getting him to stretch and evolve further on but I do hope they help him out in that as currently, he isn't even trying to shift gears. It might be that it is simply too early so he knows that he isn't there yet and chose this way right now, or might be that he doesn't see it yet so I hope his team is on top of that. It's a risky choice, just as much as it's a good choice.

In general, it's best to wait a bit more and see how the programs look when the season properly starts. They evolve during it so in August it is definitely not ideal. I still like this music choice for Boyang and it could work but right now, it's quite empty. He also needs to grasp the music better; it's not one note actually while currently he's skating it through as if it is. Listen to the song Boyang! I know he's excited for the fun, rock parts but there's more to this and he needs to get it before the program can come together. Hmm, I prefer Satoko's SP to FS right now but I'll wait. @TallyT at least he isn't wearing a funeral outfit this time, Nathan I mean, so take it as a win

This trend of flattening his hair is really odd. He doesn't have to cut it, he looks quite good with that length but oi vey. It's like some giant animal stood above him and then licked and licked at his head. Stahp.

Doesn't work that way. What happens is that once Yuzuru is ready, all the arrangements are made with the journalists and everything is set for the date (out of the public eye). The announcement that sometimes leaks, and is sometimes made just 24hr before is really an unnecessary thing; this is not when the journalists find out. By then they've known for a good while, precisely because of all the plans that needed to be made. As @SydneyH said, this is a Yuzuru only thing, with Japanese journalists. It's not connected at all to once Javier, or now Medvedeva or Jason. We may see them as we have seen others in the previous years, but that's the extent of it.