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Wow. This is an amazing piece if work. Thank you so very much. One question: does Ambesi ever stop for breath in between? I mean, simply based on your translation, it's amazing how much he can talk seemingly without pause. And with not a single word being nonsense and each and every moment he speaks enjoyable. OoO If talking were a sport, he'd be the Yuzuru Hanyu of it.

He's not beneath lying through his teeth, though. He's resorted to it before. Most recent case in point (paraphrasing): ...just sayin'.

I think there are a few frames of mind one can have to skate clean, and another few they can have to YOLO successfully (they are, ofc, mutually exclusive). He's managed to hit quite a few of them now, with the YOLO mental settings a more recent acquisition (plus another new mental setting for skating a program clean), but not all the time. His ACI FS was an example of him probably knowing that both his mental and physical settings that day would not allow for a clean skate so he was struggling to adjust them to YOLO instead but they kept going haywire so... Long story short, on that day, he simply wasn't in any frame of mind to do much of anything but get through the competition somehow and wait for the day to end. >_<

Nah. Can't do something I don't have a passion for. Mine lies with words, not pictures. Lol. I can't even take photos right. xxxD I'm super excited to see contributions though! Maybe you could post this on the Japanese-speaking thread? I mean you can do it in English. I think we've got a few bilinguals in there who also pop up occasionally in the rest of the forum. One of them might be willing to help. I don't know Russian but I've asked for help about something in the Russian thread before and got it pretty quick. People are that nice here. ^^

Wow...how I wish I could draw. I'd jump onto this quick as lightning and probably attempt all 31 days. But this is such an awesome idea! Hanyu inspires so much fanart I really hope loads of fanartists will get onto this. Next month would make for such a delightully eyecandy-ish month if that were to happen. Are you already spreading it around the Japanese fanbase as well? I mean the English doesn't look too hard for them to get. Would be so great if they were to get involved too...

You are my 🌞 My only 🌞 You make me ☺ When skies are gray You'll never know dear How much I 💘 you Please don't take my 🌞 away~ (Thank you thank you thank you! The one I originally came across didn't have commentary or as much of it because I could clearly hear the venue announcer. But this *is* the full unedited ceremony that I've been wanting to see again so badly and I can't really hate Ambesi and co. (I speak no Italian but I'm assuming he's one of them cos one of the chatterboxes sounds a lot like him--like I don't think they ever stopped for breath >_< ) so thank you! *huuuuuugs*

Oh. Yeah. Never considered it from that angle. Those vs. narratives make a whole lot more sense now. Funny how far the men's field of the country's come in just a single Olys. From hoping one would simply podium for years and being happy with just that, to putting two contenders on opposing side of one another for the gold even though they're essentially part of the same team. Japan should enjoy it while it lasts. I guess it's probably why they're milking it for all its worth now because how likely are they ever going to be able to have another one, much less two, contenders within the same country and field strong enough on the world stage to build this narrative again? Now that I think about it, they absolutely love this sort of thing. Hyping up "vs" narratives, I mean. They do it all the time in sports manga. ^-^; This would likely catch the interest of those who don't usually follow the sport at least and perhaps convert more fans to it. Might not be such a bad thing, if one were to look at it this way. I mean it's not like they're making the athletes themselves act like bitter rivals when they're in one another's presence just to support the narrative. I don't think they're painting that sort of picture anyway. Just the determination of both to be the one at the top, perhaps skewed more towards Uno because, well, the guy is still the underdog of the two. And whoever manages to win, if one of them does, well the glory and narrative for him would be an immense one. If the underdog wins, it'd be a real-life reenactment of all those underdog triumphs over the biggest champion stories while if the absolute champion wins, they'd have a story of the once-underdog turning absolute champion and finally turning GOAT. It's a win-win either way. Of course, no prizes as to which scenario I prefer, simply because unlike most underdog winning over established champions stories where the underdog is depicted to have serious skills that rival that of the champion's even on a good day for the latter. If that were the case, I'd root for both and be happy if either one wins. But this one can only really win if the reigning champion bombs himself out of contention, and the other contenders having to make significant mistakes besides. Still, it's what the Japanese media has so it's hard to begrudge them the action of capitalizing on whatever opportunity comes along to help the sport garner an even stronger following.

If his right arm were above his head, this would make for the most constipated-looking SHEEEH! pose ever.

Lol. There's no telling with him. What if he skates LGC clean? And there's no telling he'll come back with a perfect FS either. Plus how he does in his SP helps determine how late he gets to skate in the FS and according to the unspoken rules of the game, the later one skates the better chances there are in getting high GOEs, since they are apparently finite and the judges like to reserve a bunch just in case for these final few skaters. Old habits die hard and all that. So he'll want to factor that in and be getting one of the final 3 spots so that he's able to be one of those they can rain all those saved up GOEs down upon, and not one of those earlier ones that gets taxed. He's been there and done that for both situations and I'm pretty sure he likes the feeling of the previous one better. The kind of field it is now, any one among the other 5 can edge him off the top spot if they skated both programs clean and he doesn't. And it's not so far-fetched to think that at least one of them would at the Olympics. Plus Hanyu doesn't like banking on the mistakes of others. So he has to assume that everyone's skating clean and train himself to be able to win despite the fact. That's the safest and surest fire route, and not to mention the most satisfying. And Chopin is the only SP vehicle he has that gives him a higher possibility of nailing both programs. I used to think there's a small chance judges might score someone else with higher BV who skated clean enough programs higher than they would him even if he skated his lights out because politics can be sickening like that. But ACI has shown that judges ultimately recognize true quality when they see it and are more than willing to reward him the scores he deserves even with lower level tech than others, as long as he makes it easy for them to do it. So now I'm assured that the only way any one of the others--higher BV, inflated scores, political-backing and all--will have a chance at gold is if, and only if, Hanyu made mistakes, and they either made none themselves or made them a lot less. Still, if he's putting in new elements that he's doing for the first time this season, it's hard to say whether or not he'll manage to not make any, familiar programs or no. Yeah, but only one person can win the gold. Though I dunno why they'd give a damn which one of them wins it so long as one of them does.

Lol. I hear ya. Guy could use a tweak here and there, even if it ultimately may not have a huge impact in the grand scheme of things, but it wouldn't hurt to have them among all the other intricate details he's poured into his athletic career. But hey, it is what it is. He's still a helluva skater and if he manages to deliver what he wants, or close to what he wants, we're all happy. I capiche. 👌

I don't necessarily find pre-packaging fake either, and it's even necessary for some, like Uno, whose packaging, imo, represents a solid 75% of his very quick and very incredible success. But it does make it harder to see who the person really is under all that glitter and superficial pizzazz, especially if that person doesn't have strong innate charisma to begin with. It's all smoke and mirrors with the vague image of the true self beneath. For Hanyu, it might enhance him, and his personality still ringing out strong and true, but the enhancement won't happen without also stamping out the less PR-friendly but more endearing side of him, which ultimately deviates from who he truly is, which is what we're getting now, both the good and the bad. Out there. On the ice. What I'm saying is, this isn't who Hanyu is. And so long as he gets the results he wants, anything and everything else isn't necessary. Maybe they won't hurt but they're not necessary. I get that your field of study means this is an angle you think he should explore, but ultimately, it's neither something Hanyu needs nor seems to be interested in exploring. Why make it seem more important that it really is, for someone like Hanyu? If he loses, it's not going to be because he was disadvantaged by a lack of edge to his image, it's going to be because he lost to his own mental freaking blocks. That's it. And even if his less than perfect skates are better than the best any well-packaged top contenders can offer on a good day but he got edged out simply because they are more well-packaged, Hanyu, as he is now, doesn't consider it a true win unless he delivered his skates perfectly anyway. The kuyashii level would be way too high for him to be able to enjoy it. 'sides, you're talking as though he does this all the time when it's only really this season. He's given us new costumes every season, or revamped ones, and he's even switched out costumes mid-season. And it's always full of sparkles, and eye-catching, which is more than what I can say about most Western skaters. Those can change costumes every time and have stylists and what not and they do look nice but they're also oh-so-conservative. So any differences they may have season to season are highly understated still. It's not like Hanyu has ever been that. So he wants to do things in a way he feels means most to him this season, even if it looks old to people who have paid at least a bit of attention to him but look what happened when he scored that WR. With lower difficulty tech content (compared his original layout and to others) *and* in a completely untouched costume*. He could've skated that in a baggy Hawaiian shirt tucked into a fundoshi, or that butt ugly Vertigo costume, and people would still wax poetic about him and his skating that dking he has to stick to tay. Anyway, this season, unlike all other seasons he's been through, is the one season that's the culmination of all his years of dreaming and hard work. It's Yuzuru Hanyu the skater's penultimate season. He owes this season to noone but himself and he should present himself and enjoy it the way he sees fit. I mean it's okay if you yearn to see something more from him but so long as he's happy, I say let him be. I hope he is anyway, because that worry about him clinging to the past because he feels it's what he has to do to win is pretty legit. But if he does well anyway, I guarantee it, whatever his costumes now turn out to be or don't turn out to be, they are going to look like the best things ever even to the harshest of fashionista skating enthusiasts. Cos although not new, they still look good. And most definitely not a fundoshi. I'm saying all this because while it'd be nice if we get to see more obvious changes to his costumes, or in this case, his SEIMEI one, even if what we saw at ACI *is* the final product or if he decides to switch back to what he wore back in 2015/16, it's not a huge issue, or ultimately even an issue at all, where his skating is concerned. And that's all that should truly matter to all of us. (Also, if he's never been media-trained, than that's one heck of a talent he has when handling the media o.O) *I do hope he'll change his Chopin one, though, or at least have an extra set of it because after a full season of wearing it and 9 ice shows, I'm not sure the wear-and-tear won't start to show if he decides to use it all through this season as well. >_<

Yeah the thing is, when athletes get to his position, they usually become a "product". Even Plushenko became one. Hanyu is one of the most successful, famous and loved athletes to have ever emerged, and probably THE most of all those things when it comes to figure skating, but you can clearly tell that he isn't a product. At all. He hasn't cashed in on his success and any commercial-based endeavor he's ever done seems more like he's fulfilling the bare minimum obligations of what's expected of a highly successful athlete. When he does ice shows, even as a headliner, he's still appearing in them the same way he always has--as a challenger, using the ice show as a ground to polish his skills and test out new things instead of as the star he really is. And given where he came from and all that he's been through and all the people he considers as his support pillar, I don't think he'll ever be able to position himself as someone who's up on a pedestal, far removed from those who admire him, and seek to gain monetarily from them. So if something does not directly concern his skating and the subsequent results produced by said skating, he'll likely just keep going about it in his own earnest way. I mean even when it does concern his skating and results, he's stubborn about it. How many years and dead brain cells did it take for Brian to finally get him to at least partially listen when it comes to competition strategy? I doubt a PR/image advisor will ever be anywhere in the books for him, given how far removed he considers it from his actual skating, and how sincere he is in showing his audience who he really is. Like he's said, he is no one other than himself. Yuzuru Hanyu. Nothing more and certainly nothing less.

@kaerb: But that *is* part of Hanyu's appeal. And he got this far only by the virtue of essentially being himself. Uno seems more like a prized horse in a race with a machine running the show behind him. Hanyu is both the horse and the machine. Or he's the machine running the race himself. He's never been PR-unfriendly but instead of a professional finish, he has a home-made, genuine feel to his image, which is more accidental than designed. The only things that are designed about Hanyu are his goals. Sure, that's bound to also include some rough edges and questionable decisions and if that includes recycled-looking outfits, I'd still take those over him suddenly looking all pre-packaged by professionals because it'd at least still be all him. It'd feel unnatural if he were to suddenly not be. Like he's playing the same game as everyone else. That's just not who he is or why he skates, I feel. He doesn't play into the business and the political side of it, so he'll never be a tool for those things. His entire skating life defines him inherently. He's kind of like Weir in this respect. It's *him*. That's why his skating always feels so personal and so him. To me, everything about Uno including his skates seems more like a product of something or someone else. Like a boyband. Even his skating has become a by-product of all that. The only thing that's Uno is the action of skating. That's fine for Uno. But it's not Hanyu. The guy is the very embodiment of the poem Invictus. And he's more than proven that all these other things ultimately hold no influence on neither his skating career nor the results he's produced. It doesn't help his image, sure, but his skating has never been about image, and the results he's gotten are purer for it, I feel. Because he doesn't pull the wool over people's eyes. What you see *is* what you get. And being at the top despite that, is what makes him so unique and different from all skaters now and in the past. Which is why I'm not complaining or criticizing as much I guess, because I'm happy with just that. I mean I get that it's puzzling that the SEIMEI costume didn't have a color change in at least some small way. I'm puzzled too after what both you and @yuzuangel have pointed out but everything else, I totally understand and wholeheartedly buy into. Wonderfully presented commercial-based cuisine is nice and all but my tastes ultimately run more towards home-cooking. >_< I mean it's not a bad thing what you're asking for. I guess we're just coming from different places. Aesthetics have never been one of the reasons I've gotten deeply into anything or anyone. It's usually more about how genuine they are, even if they fall short of others in certain more controlled aspects.

@kaerb & @yuzuangel: Huh...I guess I can see your points. Didn't realize how big a deal it was cos I'm not particular about it. But he's always paid so much attention to his costumes that I guess it's kind of strange that the revamp isn't more obvious. He's always changed the colors at least when he repeats programs. So a different color on the accents would've been a good idea, I guess. The subtlety of the changes, while nice, doesn't seem much like him since the guy doesn't do subtle. Not the gold finishings, those aren't subtle, but in terms of overall design. He's never struck me as a PR-driven skater though. Not the way Uno is being presented anyway. All the costume-related decisions since the ones he's made in the past seem more like personal whims to me than it is about how he wants the audience to view him. They always seem to contain a healthy dose of his own personal whimsy, either copied or original. Like if someone told him the audience is going to give him weird looks, he'd probably shrug it off cos well, he likes it. A lot of his costumes in the past, especially the ones he had pre-Sochi, seem to shout that. Where Uno seems to have a machine working for him so he has this professional-looking finish, Hanyu, even from before, has always seem to give his a more personal touch like, "Here try these cookies! I made them myself!" Which I guess makes it doubly puzzling why he didn't bake a more obviously new and different batch this time. Like he could at least have made chocolate chip instead of oatmeal raisin again--but slightly bigger--this time. xD In fact, everything he does is DIY. Even the music. Like, even if he hadn't chosen it or asked for specific edits himself, if he had someone else suggest something to him, he has to approve it first. So no PR machine. Just a lot of Hanyu. Uno seems more like, he tells his team what he wants and that is to beat Hanyu, and they just handle all the other details that may help contribute towards that while Uno himself just focuses on training, Hanyu seems to always want ro have a hand in every aspect of his skating. And by hand, I mean heavy personal involvement. Uno's is a strategy. Hanyu's is...uh...he's an artist? Lol. Very different styles for very different personalities and skating backgrounds, I guess.

I have to admit it doesn't bother me at all because I'm not sensitive to details like that, lol. He could wear what he did before and I wouldn't complain. I actually thought it was at first until I realized the cut is looser to resemble the actual traditional Heian noble garb more (think it's called suikan or something), and the white is brighter with a lot less going on on it. I think the flare at the sleeves are bigger too. Hope those new details don't get in the way of the dynamics of his performance too much. Oh, and after I realized it wasn't the same costume, I went on to think it was unfinished. But anyway, for a costume to bother me, it has to be a real eyesore. Even R&J 2.0 didn't bother me. Probably because it's worn by Hanyu and I thought he looked okay in it. It probably won't look okay on anybody else. The only costume he had that ever bothered me was that first one he had for Vertigo back when he was in his teens. Maybe we should all count our blessings that it's at least cool and utterly different from R&J 2.0, which was his last FS costume at the Olympics. People who remember him from then and didn't know what to make of what he wore would be in for a real treat. >_< Has nobody ever won OGM with at least some measure of gold details on their costume? I find that hard to believe somehow... And I doubt too many things escape his notice, least of all a detail like that. He's a data sorta guy. So maybe someone in the past, male or female, had won in it after all? Or he's just determined that gold's his lucky color? He's known to have them on some of his other personal belongings. He's subtle like that, that Hanyu fellow. 9.9

*fidgets uncontrollably*....HHHnnNNnnNghH! Sorry guys! I tried. I really did. But I'm a big fat liar and I just have to do this! >.< So have an epic word vomit, courtesy of me! xP No problems!!1! *^___^* Always happy to continue an interesting thread of conversation, or debate. I'm actually highly appreciative of the fact that you read what I wrote and responded to them so meticulously. Of course, I'm very sorry to everyone else who's tired of this topic, or thought it safe to come out of cover thinking it's over, but I do think this discussion is actually beyond simply Sochi accommodations right now and has gone into Hanyu's character, which is something I simply adore discussing because it's what's gotten me so deeply invested in him, even more than his skating. His skating only opened up the doors to his incredible character, so I'm interested in hashing this topic out. I don't jump into all the convos here without looking like that awkward person trying really hard to fit in so when I find a thread I can naturally follow, I'll trail it like a hound because I like to see it to the end. ^.^ Also, it gives me something to do on an otherwise slow Tuesday. Thanks @kaeryth, for starting it, although I'm sorry if you're regretting it. But I'm very much enjoying myself, lol. I'm a very shades of gray kind of person, really. I often find grays making more sense than stubborn black and white in a lot of things, but I don't see any reason for this to be gray in the manner you speak of because, like you've acknowledged, the guy had pretty much put it out there which makes it pretty black and white. Any reason for it to be seen as not would be way too convoluted, which I'll attempt to muddle through later below. I also understand arguing for both sides but they each have to make sense without negating the other and I think the problem was that I kept seeing each side of yours, those two points I mentioned you made, as countering the other. If I didn't, I'd get it completely but they just seem that way to me. Why I see it as that is part of the convoluted bit I was talking about earlier, which I'll elaborate on soon enough. But for this subject on the whole, I'll just chalk it up to our minds working very differently and, like I promised in my post before this, accept your logic for what it is. You won't hear a thing about it from me from here on out, not explicitly anyway, except for in that little PM I sent you, though I'd recommend you finish reading all of this before you read that one. As for the rest of this post, this discussion has other fun parts so let's move on to those instead. I've also got more to say in regards to the non-bolded parts of the above quote but to present my case clearer, I'll have to get back to it later and start with this bit first: I can't fault you for thinking this because I wasn't clear enough in what I wanted to say. I had elaborated a little but then deleted it thinking it wasn't necessary and would only serve to make a long-winded post longer. I took it for granted that what I was trying to say was clear but I guess I overestimated my communication skills a little bit there. Lol. Sorry. What I meant by that was, if most other athletes were toughing it out at the Village where it's rumored to have dismal conditions, it would be very OOC for Hanyu to not do the same, because he's survived tougher conditions. He may have a choice about it now, but taking the easier one would seem quite...ungrateful? I mean if he hadn't gone through and survived what he did, it wouldn't be as such. I wouldn't have thought twice if it were someone else but that kind of experience changes a person and from what Hanyu has shown of his character, he doesn't seem like the sort to complain when he's given something, anything. He'll make do and he'll bring contingencies to avoid complications. If external authorities were kind enough to offer him different accommodations, which we don't know whether or not they did, based on his account of having stayed at the Village, he'd politely declined it. Now here's the convoluted bit. It *would* be a big deal. And I can't understand how you aren't able see it. I know you've agreed that the scenario is unlikely seeing as you've acknowledged his words (so we both agree that there's nothing gray about the situation at all, regardless of whatever inexplicable lingering doubt you may harbor), but here's why I find this whole thing about them going against his wishes and making him stay at separate, more viable facilities and the whole thing being kept under wraps with a different story offered up as truth so very unfeasible. Because it's a huge deal if it were. First, in light of what I just hashed out in the section above this one, the action itself seems rude and disrespectful and it completely overshadows all the good intentions behind it. They'd essentially be going against his wishes and disregarding his reasons behind them while brushing aside all the measures he and his own team, everyone who knows best what he needs, had set in place in favor of what *they* an external authority, think is best. No, just. No. I sincerely don't think JSF works that way. Also, this theory also basically implies (or accuses, if I'm blunt about it) Hanyu of lying to cover the whole thing up and the reason he'd do that being that he wanted to project a more favorable image of himself (especially to those who know of his asthma) as not having received special treatment and toughing it out with other athletes despite his handicap. Lying about who he really is is clearly OOC for Hanyu, unless everything he's shown us until now has been nothing but a lie. It basically opens up a whole other can of worms and possibly gives way to endless negative conjecturing. It's all just too far-fetched to be reality, which is why I find this scenario so implausible. It might work in fictional theory but I highly doubt this was how it panned out in real life. It's just not consistent with his character. Because if circumstances really had played out this way, even though there isn't even the slightest confirmed circumstantial evidence for it, he would've just been upfront about it and said as much. Now *that* is the Hanyu I know and it's a big part of what I admire about him. He doesn't like to admit his weaknesses, yes, but when cornered, he doesn't resort to outright lying about it. He would just straight up admit it and then put a positive spin to it. He'd make it sound like an advantage instead and make everyone think they're the ones who are really losing out with their infinite amount of health, because he makes us realize we take what we have for granted, even if we can't help it. I'm no masochist, far from it--I apparently register more as a sadist according to friends and family, usually with a judgmental look on their faces, but that's beside the point-- but it takes a very special person to make me feel like shit about myself and love them for it still. Also, while he's doing all that, he'd paint JSF in a positive light and thank them over and over for their kindness. Since he never said anything like that, it didn't happen. Anyway, it's not like he would have to lie or cover his condition up in the first place because like I said, it has always been public knowledge. If people don't know, they just haven't been paying attention. It won't be because I believe it isn't. Due to reasons and evidence (i.e.: what we know of Hanyu's character based on what he's shown the world) presented above. It's probably better that you are because I really do believe that's the truth. The bit about him and Machida being roomies, anyway. Unless the boy was so hard up for friends he completely deluded himself. I mean, *I* haven't heard Machida confirming his claim xD. Jokes aside though, he didn't make it out to be a fun experience for either of them due to the pressure and by the time everything was over, Hanyu was too busy with media commitments and recovering from his bout of illness. The bit of unverified info where he was staying elsewhere fits very nicely in here, where he moved housing to recuperate faster since each and every Japanese media outlet wanted a piece of him, though that remains a hypothesis because we'll never know for sure and it really doesn't matter whether or not we do anyway. But no problem if a small part of you wants to remain doubtful. I'll respect that because I understand there must be some to make room for creative licenses*. *Please see PM for clarification.

Please don't think I'm attacking you. I may have sounded a bit exasperated at first when you were making one point that I don't agree with but then in a following post, you turned around and made another that I do agree with but it contradicts the first point you made and now I'm just desperately trying to follow. See, you're now saying that your point, or angle, is, "He's strong and he has some issues, but he's strong and it's fine and it's normal for him, but it's also real." Great. We're on the same page. But only until here. I believe, based on clear evidence I've seen and heard, that the guy can handle himself together with his rather comprehensive team of professional caretakers and support-givers and any help he feels he might need from external authorities, he'll request for them. Maybe his team wasn't as comprehensive back in 2014 as it is now but I believe it was sufficient even then. The people who make up the core of this team: himself, his mother, Brian and perhaps Kikuchi-san, know best what he needs and would have taken necessary preventive measures and precautions on their own. JSF wouldn't have known better than his own team what kinds of preventive measures work best. But here's your other point that you made earlier: you harbor this dubious theory, even while thinking it unlikely, where you think JSF thinks it knows better and ran interference, forcing Hanyu to hide under their protective wing because he is a special investment who unfortunately has a delicate condition. In your own rather dramatic words: The guy already explicitly dispeled it, so his rooming arrangement based on what he said wasn't even hypothetical in the least. But you, while acknowledging that your theory is a hypothesis, also seem very keen to hang on to it as though Hanyu could have been fibbing and hiding what really happened to downplay his condition. That's fine, I may not agree with you but I don't have an issue with you thinking that at all because it's your choice whether or not to believe what he said, but it also puts you more in the ""Oh, poor baby, he's so fragile" camp in my books rather than that other one you say you are in, because here, it seems to me like a part of you simply refuses to be dissuaded that he wasn't treated like so much fine china. You seem to say one thing but then hint at another and I find it confusing, is all. Sides, no matter how bad the condition of Sochi's accommodation was, it couldn't have been the worst he's stayed in, unless you're saying the rumors hinted at conditions that were far worse than that of a makeshift refugee shelter after a devastating natural disaster. And if the problem was hygiene, he could have just brought along personal countermeasures which he most likely did. With the kind of traveling he's been doing since young and the amount of work and training he can shoulder, he knows very well how to handle his condition so that he can do all those things. JSF suddenly deciding that they know better what's best for him just doesn't seem like fitting logic to me so your theory doesn't seem plausible to me. They may have proactively taken certain preventive measures on his behalf but I'm pretty sure it's not to that extreme. And what we're discussing is general Hanyu related stuff so I dont think we're OT at all. More than one kind of discussion can happen at any time, right? So long as it's general and related to Hanyu? Plus, I think this is a pretty healthy and somewhat rational discussion we're having, not exactly a heated argument. Just because it ain't fluff doesn't make it so, does it? If it is, I'm sorry for all my posts thus far because they're usually not fluff material... Anyway, we're good. I'm actually not trying to win an argument here by getting you to agree with me. I'm actually trying to find a way to comprehend and accept what you're saying while making clear where I stand but the contradiction makes it hard for my brain to compute your logic. Still, if you're happy where you are, confusing as that is, I'll just let it go and accept it because not everything in this world has to make sense. Sorry for giving you more trouble than I'm worth. >_< You're right, let's end this here.

Oh yeah. There we go. I may also have gotten slightly worked up that people kept insisting he may have been kept in a special room like some special exhibit when he already stated officially that he was staying at the Village, at least for most of the time he was there. I also don't get the impression that JSF or any sports feds for the matter, babysit their athletes like that, no matter how high potential. Especially when they are not already superstars. Yet. Some privileges may be given after so I can't say for sure they aren't offering any to Hanyu now but I highly doubt that they practiced the gesture on him back then. He was high potential and they had high hopes but it didn't seem to me like they seriously thought he would win. Now, he's a grown up and has proven that he can handle his own affairs just fine so I'm doubtful they'd offer him babysitting services if he doesn't ask. Seems kind of insulting somehow. But who knows, maybe they will but it'd be more a privilege sort of thing that they offer out of goodwill, I think, rather than a you-have-no-choice-but-to-let-us-protect-you sort of deal. Like, can you even imagine it? I know I can't. He'd eat them alive. But I guess if that theory you have about his accomodation back in Sochi is one you like to harbor, then it's your prerogative to and I can't exactly stop you. ^.^; It *does* make for an entertaining image. xD

Mmh, you know what? I don't really know either. xD I guess I got the impression that people sometimes like to paint him as this delicate thing that needs all kinds of protection and special treatment to perform his best when I think any special treatment he needs he and his team handle it privately on their own. He maybe brings air purifier and such along with him as counter measure but I don't think he makes external authorities go to lengths such as giving him his own special room right from the get-go (or that they offered without him having to ask first since these kinds of things usually have to go through a bureaucracy process first) during events like the Olys where athletes are assigned their places in bulk because that seems a bit...much...for an athlete. Him and his team handling things on their own just seem much more plausible to me because that is actually evident in most of the event backstage coverage I've ever seen and read. Not that other thing.

C'mon now, I think that's overthinking things and finding mystery and conspiracy where there's none. >_< I mean, what's the point of there being any even? He's just one out of many athletes. And he certainly has nothing to hide. His asthma, while not widely known, has always been public knowledge. The guy said he stayed at the Village. And he did, at least for the most part. End of story. If his health issues are such that he has to stay in a separate room to pre-empt any attacks, then it stands to reason he should also be given a separate rink to skate in (absolutely no public rinks like Ice Rink Sendai) and a separate podium to reduce even more human contact. Actually, he probably shouldn't even be skating at all. And he certainly had no business rolling around the dirt like he did dodging balls during play time at school. He's a world class athlete and other than his chronic lung issue, is probably as healthy as an ox. I have had 0 health issues up until now (other than the occasional common cold and such and even that doesn't happen too often) since I was born but I'm pretty sure he can kick my healthy but unathletic ass to the next universe and back when it comes to physical endurance.

Ueda only asked about the Village and who he roomed with when he was staying there. The interview itself could have been before he fell ill (though it was after the medal ceremony), so he may have been still staying at the Village at the time. But even if it was after, talking about anything else would've been irrelevant and a waste of precious airtime, of which I believe each station only has very limited amount, seeing as there's a long line of other news outlets waiting for their chance to interview the newly minted men's FS Oly champ. That or Ueda had only been cleared to ask about the Village and not later arrangements because Hanyu didn't want the part about him falling ill highlighted. Understandably so, too, because what mattered was his win and the narrative should be focused on that and that alone. I only heard about him falling ill very casually mentioned once in passing at a different interview. (O: The article @sweetwater so kindly provided the link to is only the second time I heard mention of it and that's like 5 minutes ago. >_<

I dunno how room assignment works at the Village exactly but I'm guessing that when there are 3 representatives per country per gender max for Singles FS, the odd person out will end up rooming with someone of a different nationality, or someone from a different FS field (pairs and dance), or even someone who does a different sport. So I'm guessing that when Hanyu moved out after he fell ill, Machida and whoever Takahashi was rooming with switched rooms so M and T get to have a fellow countryman or Singles figure skater to chat with and that other dude now gets a room to himself? That's what makes the most sense to me, anyway. But Hanyu made it clear that he and Machida were roomies before and during the event. Unless he was this sad outcast who imagined the whole thing and deluded himself into believing that it's true and all this while he's really been rooming with an imaginary friend he calls Machida.

But Ueda specifically said "Athletes Village" and he neither corrected him nor made any mention about this separate housing. Unless it's supposed to be some kind of top secret information not meant for public consumption, or for some reason Hanyu had to lie, I like to think he was being honest, even if he's been known to occasionally not be for good reason... It could be that he moved to this other facility after getting his medal since he supposedly fell ill after that. So maybe he moved there to recuperate. That sounds plausible. But he was staying at the Village up until the medal ceremony, that much I'm pretty certain of.

Hmmm that's contradicting information. Because he specifically said he roomed with Machida when Ueda asked him if he had a room all to himself. He even went into detail about how they were careful to avoid talking about their event and ruining each other's rhythm. And then he went on about how the atmosphere of the whole village really hammered it in that it's the frigging Olympics. That's a lot of detail for someone who wasn't even staying there to recount...

Lol. Not as big as the one who thought an emoji would make a good username. Sorry for the inconvenience. And thanks again. The performance was quite entertaining. :O) And go ahead with tagging spree of my username, if you really have that much free time on your hands. It's the least of which I deserve. >_< Ahhh, so that's how it's done. I actually didn't know that either. >_<