Yatagarasu

7 Rika HONGO JPN Rika Hongo is a Japanese figure skater. She was born on September 6, 1996 in Sendai, Japan. Her mother is a former figure skater, while her father is British. She began skating at the age of five and at the age of nine moved to Nagoya to train under coach Hiroshi Nagakubo. She debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in the 2012/12 season where she won a silver medal in Courchevel, France and placed fifth in Croatia. Along with Satoko Miyahara, she was selected to represent Japan at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy where she placed ninth overall. At the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria she moved one place up, eight. Making her senior Grand Prix debut, she finished fifth at the 2014 Skate Canada International. She made her senior worlds debut at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai where she finished sixth overall. She finished 8th at the 2016 World Championships in Boston. She participated in the 2017 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships as an injury replacement for Satoko Miyahara and finished 10th. She is a two-time (2015–16) Four Continentsbronze medalist, 2014 Rostelecom Cup champion, 2015 Finlandia Trophy champion, and 2014/15 Japanese national silver medalist. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 69.89 129.97 199.15 Her coach Hiroshi Nagakubo retired this past month and she remains under Yoriko Naruse and Miho Kawaume. She is a member of the Howa Sports Land club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: O Fortuna (from "Carmina Burana") by Carl Orff (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne) FS: Frida (soundtrack) by Elliot Goldenthal (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne) She participated in 2017 CS Ondrej Nepela Trophy and placed 2nd (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 8 Anna POGORILAYA RUS Anna Alexeyevna Pogorilaya is a Russian figure skater. She was born 10 April 1998 in Moscow, Russia. Pogorilaya began skating at age four and about two years later, Anna Tsareva became her coach. She made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in the 2012/13 season. After taking bronze in Croatia, her first event, she then won gold at the JGP event in Germany which was enough to qualify for the JGPF in Sochi, where she won the bronze medal. At the Russian Championships, she placed fifth in her senior debut and sixth on the junior level. The following season she made her senior Grand Prix debut and qualified for her first senior Grand Prix Final where she placed sixth in Fukuoka, Japan. At Worlds in Saitama, Japan she finished fourth overall. She again qualified for the GPF in the 2014/15 season held in Barcelona, where she placed fourth. She was selected to compete at the 2015 European Championships where she won the bronze medal and the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, where she finished 13th overall. Her placement was significantly affected by an injury that had not year healed by the time the competition was held. The following season she won the bronze medal at the 2016 Russian Championships in Yekaterinburg, repeated the bronze at the European Championships, which were held in Bratislava, Slovakia and at the 2016 World Championships in Boston won the bronze medal behind Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva and USA's Ashley Wagner. In 2016/17 season she obtained the bronze medal in Marseille, France, at her third Grand Prix Final. At the 2017 Worlds, after a bad free program, she finished 13th. She is the 2016 World bronze medalist, a three-time European medalist (2017 silver, 2015–2016 bronze), the 2016/17 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and the 2016 Russian national bronze medalist. She has won gold at four Grand Prix events – 2013 Cup of China, 2014 Skate Canada International, 2016 Rostelecom Cup, and 2016 NHK Trophy. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 74.39 143.18 216.47 She is still coached by Anna Tsareva and is a member of Sambo 70 skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Esperanza by Maxime Rodriguez FS: Swan Lake by Petr I. Tchaikovski (choreo. by Nikolai Morozov) She is yet to participate in any international events this season, though she skated her short program in the 2nd round of Cup of Russia (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 9 Maria SOTSKOVA RUS Maria Romanovna Sotskova is a Russian figure skater. She was born on 12 April 2000 in Reutov, Moscow Oblast, Russia. She began skating at the age of four after her mother decided to bring her to the ice rink and made her junior international debut at the 2013/14 Junior Grand Prix. She qualified for the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan where she won the gold medal. She then took silver behind Sakhanovich at the 2014 Russian Junior Championships and was assigned to the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria but was forced to withdraw due to an injury. The following season she finished 4th in Barcelona, Spain at her second JGP Final and placed 5th at the 2015 World Junior Championships in Tallinn. In the 2015/16 season she qualified for her third JGP Final where she took the silver medal which she repeated at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Hamar, Norway. In the 2016/17, she participated in her first Senior Grand Prix and qualified for the Grand Prix Finals in Marseille where she finished 5th. She then placed 5th at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava and 8th at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki. She is the 2016 Youth Olympic silver medalist, the 2016 World Junior silver medalist, the 2013/14 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and the 2017 Russian national bronze medalist. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 72.17 137.61 205.30 She is currently coached by Elena Buianova, and is a member of CSKA Moscow skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Swan Lake by Petr I. Tchaikovski FS: Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy (choreo. by Peter Tchernyshev) She has participated in 2017 CS Finlandia Trophy where she placed 1st (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 10 Karen CHEN USA Karen Chen is an American figure skater. She was born in Fremont, California on August 16, 1999. She has a younger brother, Jeffrey, who is also a figure skater and started skating when she was six years old. In 2013/14 she had her Junior Grand Prix debut and qualified for the JGP Final. While practicing a triple Lutz, she broke her right ankle and had to withdraw but still participated at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria where she finished 9th overall. The following season she won the bronze medal in her senior national debut at the 2015 U.S. Championships, behind Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold. Though she finished 8th at the 2016 U.S. Championships, the following season was much more successful and Chen won the gold medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships. She set a new U.S. record with her short program score of 72.82. At the 2017 Four Continents Championships she finished 12th but at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships Chen skated to a fourth place finish overall in her first appearance at the World Championships. Her placement, combined with a seventh place finish from USA's Ashley Wagner, qualified Team USA three spots for the 2018 Olympics and 2018 World Figure Skating Championships. She is a bronze medalist at two ISU Challenger Series events, the 2015 U.S. national bronze medalist, and the 2017 U.S. national champion. She placed fourth at the 2017 World Championships. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 69.98 129.31 199.29 She is currently coached by Tammy Gambill and is a member of the Peninsula FSC San Jose skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Tango de Roxanne (from "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack) (choreo. by Mark Pillay) FS: Slow Dancing in the Big City by Bill Conti (choreo. by Karen Chen) She participated in 2017 CS U.S. Classic International where she won the bronze medal (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 11 Courtney HICKS USA Courtney Hicks is an American figure skater. She was born on December 15, 1995 in Placentia, California, USA. She began skating when she was six years old and won the junior title at the 2011 U.S. Championships. In the 2011/12 season she debuted on the Junior Grand Prix series but sustained a season-ending injury while competing at her second JGP event in Milan, Italy. She placed 4th at the 2013 U.S. Championships and placed 5th at the 2013 World Junior Championships. She made her senior international debut in the 2013/14 season, winning gold at the 2013 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic. After finishing 6th at the 2014 U.S. Championships, she was sent to the 2014 Four Continents, where she placed 5th. She finished 9th at the 2016 U.S. Championships. She has won two medals on the Grand Prix series—silver at the 2015 NHK Trophy and bronze at the 2016 Rostelecom Cup—and two medals on the ISU Challenger Series. She took gold at two other senior internationals, the 2013 Ice Challenge and U.S. Classic. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 65.60 119.30 183.12 She is currently coached by Todd Sand and is a member of the All Year FSC Ontario skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Nocturne from La califfa by Ennio Morricone performed by Yo-Yo Ma (choreo. by Rohene Ward) FS: Amazing Grace by John Newton (choreo. by Jonathan Cassar) She participated in 2017 SC Autumn Classic International where she finished 4th (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 12 Ashley WAGNER USA Ashley Elisabeth Wagner is an American figure skater. She was born on a U.S. Army Base in Heidelberg, Germany, on May 16, 1991. She began skating at age five in Eagle River, Alaska because she was made to choose between it and ballet by her mother. In the 2006/07 season she made her Junior Grand Prix debut and qualified her for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she won the silver medal. At the 2007 Junior Worlds in Oberstdorf, Germany she won the bronze. She made her senior international debut at the 2007 Skate Canada International in Quebec City, Quebec, where she placed fifth overall. At the 2008 World Championshipsin Goteburg, Sweden, she finished 16th and the following year she represented the United States at the 2009 Junior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria where she placed third, winning her second junior world medal. She was placed on the team to the 2010 Junior Worlds, but withdrew from the team before the event. At the 2012 U.S. Nationals, she won her first Nationals title and placed 4th at the 2012 World Championships. She qualified for the Grand Prix Final the following season and won her first medal, a silver. At the 2013 U.S. Championships she won her second national title and then placed 5th at Worlds 2013. Though she finished fourth at the 2014 U.S. Championships she was sent to 2014 Sochi Olympics where she won a team bronze medal. At the 2014 World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan she placed 7th overall and at 2015 World Championships in Shanghai 5th. At the 2016 U.S. Championships she won the bronze medal which qualified her to compete at the 2016 World Championships in Boston where she won the silver medal, becoming the first American woman to win a medal at the World Championships in a decade. At the 2017 World Championships in Helsink she placed 7th. She is the 2016 World silver medalist, 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, winner of five Grand Prix events (2012 and 2016 Skate America; 2012and 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard; 2015 Skate Canada), and a three-time U.S. national champion (2012, 2013, and 2015). She is the bronze medalist from the 2014 Sochi Olympics, in the Team Event. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 73.16 142.23 215.39 According to an interview, Wagner has suffered several concussions and she believes these incidents had affected her cognitive abilities, including her ability to remember choreographies. She is currently coached by Rafael Arutunian and is a member of the SC of Wilmington skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Hip Hip Chin Chin performed by Club des Belugas (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne) FS: Diamonds, One Day I'll Fly Away, The Show Must Go On (from "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack) (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne, Benji Schwimmer) She has not participated in any events this season.

1 Kailani CRAINE AUS Kailani Craine is an Australian figure skater. She was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia on 13 August 1998. Kailani started skating when she was eight years old and six years later she first appeared on the international scene in the junior events. In 2014 she participated in Junior World Championship but did not advance past the short program. In December 2014, she won both the Junior and Senior Australian national titles. Though in 2016 she did not manage to qualify past the short program, in 2017 she did and placed 24th overall at the World Championships in Helsinki. She is a four-time Junior and three-time Senior Australian national champion, has won six international medals including the gold at 2017 Nebelhorn trophy where she won the spot for Australia for the 2018 Olympic Games. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 58.02 110.07 167.45 She is currently coached by Tiffany Chin, Kylie Fennell and Galina Pachina, and is a member of Hunter ISC Newcastle skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Dream a Little Dream of Me performed by Ella Fitzgerald, One Day (Swingrowers Remix) performed by Caro Emerald (choreo. by Alex Chang) FS: Moulin Rouge (soundtrack) (choreo. by Alex Chang) This season she participated in several competitions. She was 2nd in Slovenia Open, 3rd in the Asian Open, 8th at Ondrej Nepela and has won the 2017 Nebelhorn Trophy (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 2 Larkyn AUSTMAN CAN Larkyn Austman is a Canadian figure skater. She was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada on February 22, 1998. Early on in her career she won the silver medal at novice level at the 2012 Canadian Championships and gold competing as a junior at the 2013 Canadian Championships. Her international Junior debut was during the 2013/14 season when she competed on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, and finished 8th in Tallinn, Estonia. That season she competed at the 2014 World Junior Championships and managed to qualify for the free program, finishing 16th overall. The following season, after placing only tenth at her 2014 JGP assignment in France she decided to quit skating but returned the following year, and managed to finish sixth at the 2016 Canadian Championships. She was 4th at the 2017 Canadian Championships which made her the member of the Canadian National team. She has won the bronze medal at the 2017 International Challenge Cup in The Hague, Netherlands. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 50.22 94.31 136.82 She is currently coached by Zdenek Pazdirek and Liz Putnam, and is a member of the Coquitlam SC skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Mein Herr (from Cabaret) (choreo. by Mark Pillay) FS: The Great Gatsby (soundtrack) (choreo. by Mark Pillay) This season she participated in Ondrej Nepela Trophy where she placed 12th (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 3 Alaine CHARTRAND CAN Alaine Chartrand is a Canadian figure skater. She was born in Brockville, Ontario, on March 26, 1996. She started skating when she was just 3 years old. She debuted in the Junior Grand Prix series in 2012 and participated in 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy, where she finished eighth, as well as 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria where she finished fifth. She debuted on the senior Grand Prix series at the 2014 Skate Canada International, finishing seventh. At the 2014 Rostelecom Cup, she obtained her first GP medal, a bronze. She participated in the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, China where she finished 11th overall and 2016 World Championships in Boston where she finished 17th. Last season she did not qualify for the World Championships but participated in the 2017 Four Continents Championships in Gangneung, South Korea where she placed 11th. She is the 2014 Rostelecom Cup bronze medalist and 2016 Canadian national champion. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 67.38 129.50 186.11 She is currently coached by Michelle Leigh and Christy Krall, and is a member of the Prescott FSC skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Libertango by Astor Piazzolla (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne) FS: Sunset Boulevard by Andrew Lloyd Webber (choreo. by David Wilson) She participated in 2017 Autumn Classic International where she finished 5th (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 4 Kaetlyn OSMOND CAN Kaetlyn Osmond is a Canadian figure skater. She was born in Marystown, Newfoundland, Canada on December 5, 1995. Osmond began skating at age three, following her elder sister Natasha. Her home town couldn't provide for enough training time so she often had to travel to Montreal to train and since age ten, she has been training at the Ice Palace Figure Skating Club in Edmonton. Though she won the short at the 2012 World Junior Championships, she finished 10th overall. Next season she won her first international title at 2012 Nebelhorn Trophy and made her senior Grand Prixdebut at the 2012 Skate Canada. That season she won her first the Canadian national title, the first time in ten years that a ladies' single skater from outside Quebec has done so. Next season she repeated as national champion and represented Canada at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where she finished 13th. In March, she placed 11th at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. The following season she was assigned to compete at 2014 Skate Canada International and 2014 Trophee Eric Bompard she had to withdraw due to a broken leg, which also forced her to miss out on the rest of it. She gradually returned to skating, and received the silver medal, behind Evgenia Medvedeva, at the 2016 Skate Canada International. In November, she took silver behind Elena Radionova at the 2016 Cup of China. This was enough to gain entry to the GPF, making her the first Canadian lady to qualify to the Grand Prix Final since Joannie Rochette did so in the 2009-2010 season. In March 2017, Osmond was awarded the silver medal at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, having ranked second in both segments. It was the highest result at the event by a Canadian ladies' singles skater since 2009, when Rochette also won silver. She is the 2017 World silver medalist, the 2012 Skate Canada International champion, a two-time Nebelhorn Trophy champion, and a three-time Canadian national champion (2013, 2014, 2017). ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 75.98 142.34 218.13 She is currently coached by Ravi Walia, and is a member of the Ice Palace FSC skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Sous le ciel de Paris performed by Edith Piaf, Milord performed by Edith Piaf (choreo. by Lance Vipond) FS: Andante Allegro, No. 24 Scene: Allegro (from "Swan Lake") by Petr I. Tchaikovski, Stumbled Beginnings, Nina's Dream (from "Black Swan") by Clint Mansell (choreo. by Jeffrey Buttle) She participated in 2017 SC Autumn Classic International where she finished 1st (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 5 Laurine LECAVELIER FRA Laurine Lecavelier is a French figure skater. Lecavelier was born on 26 April 1996 in Enghien-les-Bains, France. She started skating when she was 5 years old and debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in 2011. She won her first senior national medal, bronze, at the 2013 French Championships and was sent to the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan. She finished 13th. The following season she competed at the 2014 European Championships in Budapest where she also placed 13th. In 2014/15 season she made her Grand Prix debut, placing 11th at the 2014 Trophée Éric Bompard and again participated in the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm, this time finishing 10th, an accomplishment she repeated the season after that. The 2016/17 was her most successful thus far. She won bronze at the International Cup of Nice and finished 6th at the Trophée de France, took gold at the French Championships in Caen and placed 5th overall at the European Championships in Ostrava. She is the 2017 French national champion. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 66.61 124.29 188.10 As of October 2016, she is a sociology student. She is currently coached by Kori Ade and Rohene Ward, and is a member of CSG Garges Les Gonesse skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: Shining Silver Skies by Ashram (choreo. by Fabian Bourzat) FS: Bye Bye Baby, My Heart Belongs to Daddy performed by Marilyn Monroe (choreo. by Fabian Bourzat) She has participated in 2017 CS Lombardia Trophy where she finished 10th (video: Short Program, Free Skate) 6 Marin HONDA JPN Marin Honda is a Japanese figure skater. She was born on August 21, 2001 in Kyoto, Japan. She is one of five children and with the exception of her sister Maho, all of her siblings are figure skaters and Miyu is also a popular child actress in Japan. Honda began skating at the age of two after following her older brother, Taichi. She debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the 2015/16 season and won the silver medal at the JGP in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. At her second JGP event, in Zagreb, Croatia she won gold which qualified her for that season's JGPF in Barcelona, Spain where she won the bronze medal behind Russia's Polina Tsurskaya and Maria Sotskova. She placed 6th at the 2015-16 Japanese Junior Championships and 9th in the Senior Championships which assured she was named into the national team. At 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen she won the gold medal. The following season she qualified for her second JGP Final but withdrew due to illness. She placed fourth overall at her second senior Japan National Championships and was assigned to compete at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Taipei where she was awarded the silver medal. She is the 2016 World Junior champion, 2017 World Junior silver medalist and 2015–16 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist. She set the junior-level ladies's record for the free program to 128.64 points at the 2016 JGP Japan on September 11, 2016. Her record was broken at the 2016 JGP Germany by Anastasiia Gubanova (Russia) on October 8, 2016. ISU personal best scores Short Program Free Skate Combined Score 68.35 133.26 201.61 She is currently coached by Mie Hamada and Yamato Tamura, and is a member of Kansai University SC skating club. 2017/18 season programs: SP: The Giving by Michael W. Smith (choreo. by Marina Zueva) FS: Turandot by Giacomo Puccini (choreo. by David Wilson) She participated in 2017 U.S. Classic International where she placed 1st (video: Short Program, Free Skate)

ISU GP Skate Canada International 2017 Ladies entry list No. Name Country 1 Kailani CRAINE AUS 2 Larkyn AUSTMAN CAN 3 Alaine CHARTRAND CAN 4 Kaetlyn OSMOND CAN 5 Laurine LECAVELIER FRA 6 Marin HONDA JPN 7 Rika HONGO JPN 8 Anna POGORILAYA RUS 9 Maria SOTSKOVA RUS 10 Karen CHEN USA 11 Courtney HICKS USA 12 Ashley WAGNER USA

There's a way to build a rink outdoors without it actually being on a natural body of water. It would be near one, they'd enclose the area (also make sure there's little wind as it'd ripple the ice surface) and then introduce water, often layer by layer, creating an outdoor rink. They also used to actually drain ponds/lakes to an acceptable level then allow the remaining water to freeze. This was done as way back as late 19th century, with proper climate conditions of course. They probably did something like that to ensure safety.

"I also wanted to point out that at the end of the program there are very few steps between the two axels. The entries are so short and quick, and he nearly jumped them without any speed – that was the thing I was shocked by." - I loved, loved that! You can find the whole thing here, @Fay was super kind to translate the whole video

Yulia commented on it too, she was impressed. I love when commentators actually explain that what he's doing is not easy. @Smultron indeed. Or I can go and get a cup of tea, and return, and they'll still be setting it up. It is difficult jump, I am not ragging on poor souls, but I do want more verbal acknowledgement for those who have a good 3A, or in his case, a fantastic one.

Absolutely and not being a risk-taker probably works for Javier mentally, unlike Yuzuru who is the opposite. It's good to stick to your strengths. It also must be interesting for Brian to yo-yo between two such different personalities. If Cha makes it, he'll have to try and shelter the little guy too, considering that home pressure.

That is debatable now. With Shoma and 7 quads and Nathan and 8 or 9, even a clean Javi may get in trouble. When he dumped the 4Lo he really put himself in a position where he is not the only one who decides even if he's clean.

Just to barge in and say that when I watch Yuzuru's FS now, I have to pause the video and laugh when he pulls off those Axels. All the talk, all the issues some have, and there we have it - no prep, just bam, bam, two of them. I have to laugh. Brilliant. Yes, the 4Lz is great and he'll sort it out but those Axels. Heh.

Waka is so cute. Also in a pickle. That CoC event is going to be brutal. No matter how good she is, and I'd say she's very very good, she'd have to grab silver to have a good shot at the GPF and eh. Sigh.

Doubt that but what could possibly be a PR move is to announce now that he isn't retiring after the Olympics. One of the things that often gets the ISU going in terms of wanting a new champion is that we have had the usual win and retire business. He hadn't after Sochi but I think quite a few figured he would after PC. So now that this has been dispelled, even if it is potentially just the one season (though I think he left the door open) and of course, the 'announcement' of his desire to actually give the 4A a try (something that would be a big deal), it slightly changes the game. So if anything is PR, it is the news that he isn't retiring. Smart move.

I got the Shibs and Zhenya right and the rest is best not talked about

That moment at 2:31 when he kneels and bows is all sorts of perfection considering the angle as Zhenya is right in front of him. He looks like a valiant knight! Ha!

No rest for the wicked! Or well, figure skating fans! Here we go again! Join us

Yes it is. Training would mean continuously working on it, which he is - luckily - not doing, as Nessie is dangerous and this season is dicy as it is, plus he has another new quad he's training, so if he has to, and apparently he cannot contain himself then a jump here or there is bound to keep him at least somewhat satisfied. That's what he means.

So now that the new season started, all the 2017/18 stuff can go here!

As we promised, tad late so sorry!, the 2017/18 season commentaries and translations thread! Thank you very much everyone for keeping this going!

They went back, for all of them.

Yup it is the harness. It's a rod, a fishing rod, but means the harness.

*clears throat* It is not just that the total score is non-existent. It is that knowing that it does not exist, the mind-set and the approach are simply different. You have two unconnected segments and you know they're not connected, unlike the regular comps where you know they add up and the first influences the second. It is bound to influence them. So, yes, it could have hypothetically have happened but technically it did not.

Seriously Honestly the only good thing about that is that the skaters get a really nice sum which is of course a lovely bonus but that's about it.

Technically, they did not. I will fight this point until my dying day

Guys we do have a thread for all the practice talk And relax, it'll be just fine!

In re to the flag bearing - goodness, I hope not. It's not just the responsibility, it is the hours and effort it takes. It is actually incredibly taxing and exhausting and unlike other athletes who can choose whether to attend the opening ceremony or not, keeping in mind their own needs, you're kind of stuck. So I hope not. Yes, it's an honor but it has so many cons to it.

Yuzuru Hanyu x Matsuoka Shuzo (2017.10 Hodo Station) by @gladi