SweetSakura

Great points! I'd like to also add that the competitive pool did not have nearly the depth of today. Competitive figure skating during the 40s and 50s was exclusively the domain of a small sampling of folks from western countries (Europe and North America). It was nowhere near as international as today's fields. Plus, it's not fair to compare Dick Button's consistency with Yuzu's. Dick Burton pioneered the sport by landing the first double axel and triple jump (a loop) in competition. He faced nowhere near the physical demands of today's skating. Even Button himself recently said in an interview that there's no way he could have performed a quad jump. Men's figure skating has never been as high-stakes and physically demanding as today. We went from 2-3 quads in the 1998-2002 era, down to 0-1 quad from 2003-2010. Back up to 2 quads from 2010-2014, and all of a sudden to 3-6 quads in the last several years, and difficult quads to boot. Given just how crazy the quads arms race has become, it is simply not reasonable to expect a top skater today to have the same consistency and number of mistakes as skaters from any previous era. The sport today is so high risk and cutting-edge that more mistakes are the name of the game. And given this changed landscape, Yuzu's consistency level has been pretty amazing. As Jackie Wong noted, Yuzu's dominance and consistency in an era when parity and diversity (of winners) should be the norm is nothing short of extraordinary.

I wanted to add a quick point regarding Boyang's decision, not that this was necessarily the main factor, but that it could have been a point of consideration for him. I was thinking about this situation and remembered that having two gold medal contenders train under the same coach has historically been the exception rather than the norm for male singles figure skaters. There's the famous example of course of Yagudin and Plushenko of how things can go spectacularly awry, lol. And even in the best case scenario between Yuzu and Javi, there were times when things became distant and tense between them. As many have noted, switching to TCC would require Boyang to uproot his life to a completely foreign environment and to learn a difficult new language. Add to that the fact you would be training alongside one of your biggest rivals and I can understand why this arrangement might not be for everyone. Clearly, Boyang and Yuzu have expressed many times that they hold each other in the highest regard, so this is not to say that Boyang's decision is any type of knock against Yuzu. But training alongside a major rival is not a decision to be made lightly and is one that is intensely personal. Just because Yuzu was able to move to Toronto and train alongside Javi doesn't mean we should automatically assume it'll be best path for everyone else. And just because Yuzu and Javi flourished together, doesn't mean every skater will thrive under the same rink training with their major rivals. Then again, Boyang may very well have decided to stay in China for other reasons and a move to Canada could still happen in the future. I just wanted to throw out an extra point as to why people, in spite of their disappointment, should cut Boyang some slack and be understanding towards the decision he made.

I'm not up to date with JSF politics. Why would they want to focus more on Shoma and what is their agenda? Thanks!

At least this article didn't mention Winnie the Pooh 🤣😂😂

Thanks for expressing your thoughts on this subject so articulately. I think you have been very clear. I just wanted to add that your perceptions of Yuzu being alpha-male-type are not concocted out of thin air and that I've come across statements attributed to Daisuke Takahashi implying the same thing. In one instance, Takahashi called himself a "herbivore" and Yuzu a "carnivore." (https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?36246-Daisuke-Takahashi/page108) Many of us might be familiar with Japanese usage of herbivore and carnivore, but to add to it, I've also heard the two terms described by a Japanese friend as meaning "beta-male" and "alpha-male." In another quote (not sure if from the same interview), Takahashi states that Yuzu's personality is "maybe the most manly of us all," after saying that Yuzu's personality is not at all like his appearance, lol. So your observations have also been noticed by at least 1 fellow competitor of Yuzu. 😀 I remember watching my first documentary on Yuzu (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhKvqS5gOq4&t=889s) and being just struck by this intense alpha-male, need-to-dominate-and-overpower-the-competition drive within Yuzu. Of course this is not to say that being competitive, dominant, and ambitious is an exclusively male domain. But in watching Yuzu's particular brand of competitiveness, phrases that kept coming to my mind for capturing the essence of Yuzu's mindset were "testosterone-fueled," and "Bring it on!" It reminded me a lot of Plushenko, but whereas Plushenko's competitive nature was more overt and external, Yuzu's manifests itself through his very personality not not necessarily through "macho" displays on the rink. I just wanted to add my 2 cents to this fascinating topic and discussion. I would say that by acknowledging Yuzu's alpha male side, that I'm not trying to moderate or downplay his more feminine qualities, which are undeniably there. But just as we note that Yuzu has a more delicate and feminine side (e.g. in some mannerisms or performance style or physical features) I think we can also acknowledge the alpha-male aspect to his personality. People are complex and multi-faceted creatures, and I think Yuzu's ability to embrace so many different qualities is also what makes him so fascinating. 😄

Thanks for all your responses! I think you're right, that it's most likely that Orser ran Boyang Jin by Yuzuru first. Plus I remember that Yuzu first sought out Orser because he wanted to train with Javi. Maybe he prefers to train alongside another top level skater, especially because he likes to learn jumps by watching others perform them successfully for his image training. And Yuzu and Boyang seem to share mutual admiration and an easier rapport so hopefully it'll be a fantastic and exciting new chapter at TCC. 😄

Wow, this is big news! Thanks for sharing!! Do you think Orser consulted this with Yuzuru the way he did with Javier (when Yuzuru first joined TCC)? Hopefully he did and more info comes out soon. But very exciting, especially if Yuzu is on board. 😊