Yatagarasu

I was just coming to cross post that. Basically ...

So TSL are who they are but they do sometimes have good info. They say that for the Team, it is Bradie short, Mirai long and that the Shibs have asked to skate both.

You're right about respect, true true! And eh, it'll be fine, he has Ghislain and Tracy and everyone else plus Skype!

Ghislain can I think his poor mother is too slight for that ...

A girl can dream He's going to lose his #1 World Standing if Shoma wins so I am sure he'll be miffed, and a miffed Zu ... well Brian can sit on him. Seriously though, I'm sure it'll just spur him further on!

I think he's fine when it comes to his form peaking. We'll see about the stamina and what he even ends up choosing for his layout/jumps. I definitely do not want anything right now, as he seems tucked away in a bubble where he can skate so anything disrupting that is eh. Hopefully someone hides the 4CC coverage and results from him

I think singles to triples, there's no way he's doing doubles. He can do a 2T/Lo as a tacked on combo but I do think he's lost them, pretty much, as solo jumps. 1A to 3A and for Toes and Sals, it wouldn't surprise me if he went 1 - 3 - 4, with very little time spent on the triples. His 3Lz and of course 3F are likely fine as solo triples though.

You get tested at the event too. Medalists as obligatory, plus randoms throughout the field. Both the Team and the individual. Hope Kaori is going to be fine soon. 2018, you were supposed to leave this to 2017 and not try and emulate it! *taps foot*

Zhenya's going to Euros: ""Medvedeva is preparing for the European Championships. There were almost no consequences after the injury " President of the Federation of Figure Skating of Russia (FFKR) Alexander Gorshkov said that there are no changes in the composition of the Russian national team for the European Championships." By Gorshkov

Not even podium? You are underestimating Yuzuru. His health is fine, it's just a question of how much time he has from that point to the actual Games, and how much has the lack of competition ice affected him. Considering all we know so far, and this is not new information that suddenly appeared now as some sort of there there pat pat by some, but this is old and has always actually been a problem for him - he peaks quickly. Nobu's recent words add to that but they go hand in hand. Not sure how quickly he recovers stamina but really, the lack of competition ice is likely to be his one issue. With even 4 quads in the free, no Lz and the ACI short, he still has more than enough of an advantage if he is clean. He's simply much better overall. Fernandez isn't sticking to 3 quads for no reason; they know that if he can clean his chances are quite high. ____ About the documentary I'm not going to watch now but I'll catch up later because I've reached my saturation point and I just want the Games to begin. I joke about the whole of it's so close and alcohol (wait, no, no, I'm serious about the alcohol) but I do actually wish for this time to speed past as quickly as possible so that we can just get on with it. The waiting is driving me nuts. It's always the worst when it's so close and time drags for me, so I'm trying to watch unrelated things and hopefully it'll just tick tock by.

To be honest, I checked if my alcohol supply is full the other day when I realized how close we've gotten. Chocolate is not going to cut it. Tea isn't going to cut it! I am pregaming for this baby, thank you

Careful, you'll make some of the satellites fall out of their orbit

Oh smart call. I think, even with the change, he is pretty much at the end of his rope. I think he wants to go out with two clean programs that still retain a certain degree of difficulty. His Toes are stable and this really increases his chance of bringing his career slowly to an end with two great Olympic showings. With his PCS it will still be enough for a top 10 if not higher if the quadsters start splatting and indeed, it should give Canada a good score in the men. It does increase the Russian chances though, as Kolyada is doing quite well and Samarin may be able to put down a decent short.

Congratulations guys! And thanks once again @Joey for all this work, phew, that's a lot!

Guardian has the oddest coverage too. They actually covered the US ladies Nats now. I think they once covered the SP of something, but not the FS. It's so random.

Yes, they changed the title but... It's a full sports section headline, and inside, double pages (I've seen it). That's really a lot for figure skating, and for someone who isn't from the US. Put in perspective, Bradie didn't get a quarter of that as a National champion. So really, still good and kind of illustrates his importance

I completely missed that, thank you! Curious, guess we'll see then, in case they do qualify. Huh, I honestly have no clue what he'd choose. I can see the pros and cons to both.

Yes, Yuzuru should skate the short, I think that's a given, but what about the Free, in case they do qualify? Technically speaking, that one should go to Shoma, with the whole way Japan has set it up - best SP score skates the SP, in case that person also has the best FS, it goes to second best.

A mentality shift is probably one of the hardest things to do, and it's only possible to a certain extent anyway. I think a good way is indeed to compromise, and I'm sure they're doing something like that. If he's in good enough shape, he'll try the next step, and then the next when that is stable but honestly, Yuzuru wouldn't be Yuzuru and wouldn't be where he is, if he didn't have that mentality so not everything needs to be filed down. Just tempered. In any case, nothing would surprise me, whatever their decision ends up being. I think Brian, Tracy and the team will play a huge role here in guiding him but knock on wood they end up finding the right balance that suits him and he's feeling comfortable with his choices by the time he's in PC. ... which is in, give or take, three weeks ....

Certainly but then Yuzuru's mentality still is what it is, and that will play its own role. I primarily mean that he just doesn't like backing down and that it is actually possible his mentality to be negatively affected by a more sensible, 'easier', layout. This is why, like @yuzuangel, I can see the 4Lz both staying and going. After all he could keep the 4 quad layout and switch out the quads. In this way, he keeps his new quad, while retaining the old, 'easier', layout, which would require less stamina. If he is doing really well in practice, he may decide to go for it. It's why that Team event, and to think I once moaned about it (and I am still not thrilled with it but it suits him now so I'll be a happy hypocrite), is going to come in handy. He may test-run something there, if the opportunity presents itself.

It doesn't matter how many times he was clean. It matters that he had ample opportunity to skate it in the first place, which cannot be said for the new Seimei. Yes, it really does make a difference, or landing a new jump in practice would translate into landing a jump in competition, and it does not. It takes time to get into it all. If there's a very good reason why the 4Lz is most likely to get dropped, it is that. He had just the one competition with it, and though he landed it, Yuzuru takes time with his new ones, time he did not have now. He may still choose the new layout because he doesn't like backing down and who knows, he may even choose the 4Lz. Mentally speaking, that may suit him the best but we'll see. It's fun to discuss to pass the time!

Yes, yes. I suppose he could try for that in the second half but if they choose to do this, I imagine it'll be a question of balancing decisions. The old layout would trigger the muscle memory he has, and it'd be a huge help I imagine, so then they'd probably have to see where he is at with stamina, etc and how all of that works in runthroughs. I don't expect 5 quads either at this point, and I am not sure on the 4Lz. Yuzuru is Yuzuru, and my reasoning is not his I imagine the team would advise against it, but who knows. That he peaks quickly is definitely a benefit but it'll take a while with his stamina. It really would be something if he could do both parts of the TE, provided Japan qualifies. I'm crossing everything myself, and braiding the hair. Sigh.

Yes, both of those matter, plus lack of comps. I am actually really chomping at the bit to see, or rather hear about the practice skates because I'm curious if they'll revert back to the H&L layout. Realistically, it requires less stamina and is something he has down pat, which has had plenty of practice in actual competitions. It probably isn't something he would be thrilled about but looking at the bigger picture it would not surprise me one bit if that's the team's recommendation.

Do we have this? I missed it so sorry if we do but nice to see him here:

Kikuchi-san can voodoo Pooh in, I mean there's got to be some use of him being a Warlock and all.