¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Looking forward to her further development, which, if things go well, and she is able to put to good use all her experiences so far, will be a tremendously astounding one.

The only thing I can think of that's creepier than these cardboard cutout representations is having someone wearing a mask of his face complete with eye holes as a stand-in. I find the Japanese to have some real odd sensibilities sometimes, though they're usually quite amusing, like this one is. Lol. Well, at least the one this time has more natural coloring.

Oh, is that why Phelps never participated until his last one? He always had an event that was scheduled very close to the ceremony? I suppose it'd make sense to skip then. According to this, the men's SP portion of the team event is on the same day as the opening ceremony, 9 Feb. The competition starts at 10:00 and ends at 13:25. The ceremony is from 20:00 to 22:30. Just like in Sochi, the competition takes place before the ceremony, only instead of the day before, it's happening on the morning of the same day. The next figure skating event is scheduled on the 11th and assuming Hanyu is skating only the SP for the men's team event, his next competition skate isn't until the 16th. If he chooses to skate the FS as well, that one only takes place on the 12th. Either way, schedule-wise, chances seem pretty good that he'll show. With the belief that he'll remain at least reasonably healthy throughout the Games, I believe we'll be seeing him among the sea of faces at the opening ceremony. I'd start to worry if we don't.

Yeah, he was there, one-handedly waving those tiny Japanese and Russian flags like everyone else. I dunno why Phelps didn't show up in previous Games, but if I had to make a guess off the top of my head, maybe it's cos his events didn't happen right off the bat and instead of wasting precious training time at the venue, he flew in later. Rio was his last Games before retirement so it made sense for him to show up even of the timing is inconvenient (if it was indeed inconvenient). Anyway, your logic is sound but it just strikes me as out-of-character for Hanyu to choose to bow out of it voluntarily if he's in the pink of health, especially seeing as these Games represent the penultimate point of his career, and could very well be his last. There are other memories to make instead of only the competition ones and memories strike me as things that are also important to him. But who knows, you could turn out to be right. I certainly won't think him any less for it.

It's not puzzling at all, though. Or at least, it shouldn't be. This is neither showbiz nor a popularity contest. And even if Hanyu is the defending champion who did Japan mighty proud with that gold back in 2014, so did other athletes. Uchimura's already a highly decorated athlete before Rio but he wasn't the team captain and by extension flag bearer. The honor went to Keisuke Ushiro, who's had a great career, albeit one that didn't involve an OGM, or any Olympic medal at all. Kodaira is an exceptional athlete with an impressive overall track record. The PC Games would be her third go at the Olys. I don't know what went on behind the scenes but I wouldn't be surprised if she's always been the first pick for the position. I think she is, actually. As JOC's athlete of the year for 2017, her selection isn't just unsurprising, it's appropriate. If Hanyu sticks around for 2022, maybe he'd get to be first pick then, lol. p/s: About the opening ceremony, from what I'm able to gather based on what he's displayed of his character so far, the only reason he won't be in the opening ceremony is if it's an involuntary one. He's an athlete, not a prima donna, and while I'm not saying there are zero athletes prone to diva-ishness out there, there are very few of them, and Hanyu is most certainly not one of them.

!!! 8D ...who's this Hanyu fellow again?

Actually I think it's the gods telling JSF who the One True King is. They had Uno there before but then had to move him to Hanyu's spot to maintain balance. So whichever spot Hanyu is in, his absence leaves a very huge impact. And given that they are forced to move Uno up and leave the spot for the actual crowd-puller open to remind people who that person actually is, well, it's quite hard not to feel smug. Which I do. ...damn. I've always thought I'm at least semi-decent as a person but this just goes to show how rotten I really am at the core...please excuse me while I go fruitlessly reflect.

Kumamon. Is. Real. There's no one in there but Kumamon himself. Please take your blasphemous words back. ;_; It won't change things for us but it'll change plenty for the sport, especially the men's field, in the eyes of the world at large. And for him. While I'm aware he can't think the same, to us fans, whatever will be, will be, you're right about that. Naysaying does seem to work wonders for his motivation, though. And it's not something he's a stranger to. Positivity has its own pressure and writing him off may actually counter balance that and release some of it. Theoretically, he's no longer the front runner for the gold anyway. Which I think is a good place for him to be. His results all these years have shown that he is far more consistent as the chaser than as the chased. So, I think a good balance of support and doubt is a necessary ingredient in the recipe for success. His recipe for it anyway. I have absolutely no doubt he can pull off what he plans but I'm plenty unsure of whether he'll be able to pull it off exactly when and where he wants to, since he can be a bit of a headcase prone to mental landslides. So far he's been able to deliver at least one perfect program in the really big events so there's no reason to doubt he'll at least be able to do that, given that it's an established pattern with him. And if it's going to be just the one, I'm hoping it'd be the FS. If he delivers a flawed SP, I'll probably still be sweating bullets but if he delivers a flawless one, I'll probably drown in my own anxiety long before he ever takes the ice for the FS. The whole thing is a process so, I think people are simply going to do what comes naturally. And that includes being salty, I've since come to learn. So long as everything remains at tolerable levels, I actually think it's a good thing. Lol! There's literally a Hanyu-shaped hole.

_ So much personality. You're the mascot to end all mascots. A good 1/3 of my YouTube hours are dedicated to you. There will never be another like you. Please live forever, Kumamon.

@Vadrouille Lol. That's good. We need some pessimism to even out the scales a bit. And yours isn't too much of a downer. Too much optimism can be scary, too. I'm neither here not there myself because the dude is way too unpredictable. It's not a matter of whether or not he can, because he can. It's more a matter of whether he will or won't. 4 quads with or without a loop in his FS clean, with a clean 2-quad SP preceding it would most certainly guarantee a win for Yuzuru Hanyu. The lowest difficulty he'll allow himself, so long as he skates it clean, would still see him topping the podium by a comfortable margin. Said margin really is that wide, but it can only be seen when he presents clean skates, like what he did for his SP back in ACI. Why else do you think people are nagging at him to lower his damn difficulty? >_<

His track record means he qualifies for the 3rd spot. The 1st spot belongs to the National champ. The second belongs to whoever comes in 2nd, or has podiumed at the GPF, etc. Basically the first two are based on recent results and the third one is the only one that allows for the consideration of past results and overall standings. So for whoever arguing against there being rules and Hanyu's selection isn't locked cos of them, it's kinda moot because it's exactly those rules that dictate the 3rd spot is his. His very achievements define that third spot. It's very black and white, really. I've never been quite sure what all the arguments and uncertainty surrounding his selection is all about, tbqh. Had he gone ahead to compete at Nats this year, if he came in first, he'd qualify for both the 1st and 3rd spots, if he came in 2nd, he'd qualify for the 2nd and 3rd ones. He'd be overqualified. Just like back in 2013 when his results basically qualified him for all 3 spots. Either way, that 3rd spot has had his name written on it since his victory in Helsinki.

Haha, I guess I get what you mean. I've said before that between him winning with a flawed skate again and somehow, for whatever shady reason, he skates his best and still loses (and it will have to be a very shady reason indeed for anyone to win over him despite him putting out clean skates*), I'd rather see the latter. But my initial point-out was more about the griping of Chen's streak being mentioned in an article about Hanyu's WD while leaving out the exact details of his win. They don't need need to include these details because they are a news reporting outlet and to them, a win is win is a win. *For this point, thanks to the judging at ACI, the judges have proven that it's unlikely they'll go down that route if Hanyu simply gives them license to claim their hands are tied. So if he indeed manages to skate his best, he won't only be guaranteed to win everything, medals, hearts, you name it, he'll also be saving their souls, lol.

Can that happen? In a field as deep as the Russian ladies' one is right now? Like, in Hanyu's case, he's luckier because even if his track record leaves no room for any contention in terms of his selection, the fact that the Japanese men's field is rather lacking right now can only help. So he's a lock for the third spot, no ifs and no buts. Like, Takahashi had one of the best track record for the Sochi selection but had he not shown up to skate at Nats all, the third spot would very likely have gone to Kozuka. This seems more like the case for Medvedeva. Of course, it'd be great if they give her a free pass as well, but it probably won't be as easy a decision as the one for Hanyu is. (And yes, it's very certain he's in because if he hadn't been assured of it, he wouldn't have gone as gently into that temporary good night as he had. He'd be raging against it by doing what Takahashi did 4 years ago and fight tooth and nail for a spot despite his injury. Since he agreed to WD, it's probably a safe bet that JSF already agreed that the 3rd spot is his.)

It's a girl? Cos all those other jumps in the picture look like mini Hanyus and as such, I had the notion they're all boys, or at least boy-shaped...

So it's off somewhere flashing innocents? Like that Crayon Shin-chan character is always doing when his mom isn't looking?

Yeah, cos that's what fans and experts do. But the news media won't bother because to them, the results are all that matters, as it should.

Because I always notice the important things, I wonder whose unworn shorts those are right in the middle.

@Forcefield Haha. Yeah I get it. That's why I found it funny. It's all part and parcel of being sports fans, I guess, which, admittedly, I'm rather new to. @Neenah Good on ya for being impartial. I can't claim I'll be able to do the same. Especially if he wins despite bad skates. It just means others did worse, or just didn't have the technical firepower to best him, and definitely doesn't mean he isn't deserving of his win. I mean, if we're only strictly looking at the results. I'd be sad that he underperformed but I wouldn't be any less happy about his win.

Lol. If this was the other way around, if Hanyu were the one having a winning season (let's not worry about the details of whether he won by virtue of only one strong program because that was exactly how it went for him back in his last year as a junior) and the article was talking about Chen having a not-so-great one while sneaking in a mention of Hanyu being undefeated, I'm willing to bet that none of us would be complaining. xD I know I wouldn't be. I'd be glad for any mention of Hanyu that's spun in a positive light. Let's just hope Chen's streak will serve as motivation for Hanyu. And that he'll have better skates as the season wears on.

The first part is more or less Hanyu's own words, right? Although their situations and experiences are worlds apart, these words echo Mandela's sentiment, whose words, I believe, were:

Oh. Whoops. Sorry. Let's hope he's well enough to turn up for both then. I mean, there's also Milan who seems to want him there badly enough to be dropping rather unsubtle hints and all...I'd feel sorry for them as well if he doesn't show. ^^;;

Was just giving a possible scenario to the question posted. If he gets to go but isn't in 110% form physically, this it likely how it'll turn out. Like what Yoshida has said, there have been champions who did well enough to win despite not being in top form and even more of those who underperformed even in tiptop shape. At the end the day, unless the injury is an incapacitating one, it's all in the mind. Hanyu himself has skated his lights out with injuries and underperformed at 100% health. So it's really more a matter of his mental state when he's there that I'm more concerned about. And with the way things are stacking up, it's looking more and more likely he'll at least be covered mentally, given the anomaly that he is. For a real-life person anyway. Characters like him are a dime a dozen in works of fiction. Well, ideally it'd be great if he's well enough to turn up to both but if it turns out to be either or, wouldn't you rather he show up for PC instead of the other way around?

Then, unless fully incapacitated (though I'm not sure if even that may be able to stop him), it's probably safe to assume he'll simply skate through it. He wouldn't be the first skater to do it, and neither would he be the last. With this latest setback, he's forced to strategically save himself up and pick his battles even if the practice goes against his principles. With PC being the only comp that truly matters this season, if he doesn't skate there, what's the point? I'm willing to bet if it comes down to the cost being the WC, he'd probably be more than willing to pay it. With zero hesitance.

It just occurred to me that the US men's senior field is basically the deepest right now, even though only one of them can be considered a serious OGM contender, if all the other top contenders show. And although Japan isn't currently the deepest with only two top skaters, both of them are OGM contenders. >_<

Huh. He's back early. Nats isn't for another month and Christmas isn't until the week after. Gotta wonder why, when it's so much warmer down in Cali...