caterpillar

Wait, what? Am I somehow reading this wrong, or is Rafael actually saying that Nathan’s free skate is boring? I mean, I know I think that, but this is his coach we’re talking about. Is he actually basically admitting that they’re choreographing boring programs for Nathan so that he can focus on his jumps, because judges don’t know/care about the rules enough and will still give him high pcs and goe if he’s clean? Because that’s what it sounds like, but who would confess to something like that, especially when US media is portraying Nathan as an artistic prodigy? I feel as if I’m missing something here.

A bit off-topic maybe, but I had such a great thing happen to me at work today. So, first of: I work as a bookseller in a pretty large bookshop, and it’s not unusual for us to sometimes receive free gifts from the publishing houses we order from. Today, I had just finished my lunch break (which I spent bothering my colleagues by gasping over the ladies event) when one of our buyers came up to me. I barely know her, so I was really surprised when she said “You like figure skating, right?” She didn’t have the tone of voice that would suggest that she had just discovered a shared interest, but I said yes, wondering where this was going. I definitely didn’t expect her to say: “That’s great! We got this figure skating magazine in an order from Japan, and I don’t know what to do with it. Maybe you want it?” Of course I agreed to take it, though as she went and fetched it I thought that it would probably be pretty wasted on me, seeing as how the only words I know in Japanese are yonkaiten and kuyashii. And then she came back, and with her she had a magazine with a picture of Yuzu on the cover, posing with his Olympic gold medal. It turned out the magazine was a Pyeonchang Olympics memorial special, which basically means that it’s over 80 pages entirely filled with big beautiful pictures of Yuzu from the Olympics, as well as a few pages each for Shoma and Javi. I have never even contemplated buying anything figure skating-related from Japan because of the shipping costs, and this was just so unexpected and brightened up my whole day. It sounds really smug retelling it, but it made me so happy. I also showed the magazine to one of my favourite co-workers (she covered for me today while I secretly watched the last few free skates) and she thinks Yuzu is “incredibly handsome”. I just really, really like my job.

I just discovered this thread, and it was lovely to read through (I had kind of assumed that I was the only person obsessed enough to write poems about figure skaters). So, I thought I would share one of my own. I wrote this sonnet after Yuzu’s withdrawal from the GPF last year, which coincided with the anniversary of NHK 2015. I think it seems sort of appropriate now. (The language is really clunky because I don’t usually write in English, sorry): Exactly three years and one day ago He shook the world of skating to its core When some thought he had no more room to grow He did what no one else had done before And he’s improved much more with every year Each move he makes on ice is a delight But we won’t get to see that magic here And while it’s sad, I just pray he’s alright I watched NHK Semei yesterday Tonight, instead, I’ll watch Haru yo koi I don’t think there will ever come a day When Yuzu’s skating fails to bring me joy I might not know exactly how and when But joints will heal, and spring will come again

Holy... I can’t believe he somehow becomes prettier every time I see him. Breathtaking. (Though it’s possible that he seems even more beautiful because I miss him so much...) I have watched this like twelve times now, I’m so happy to see his face again This is the perfect Olympics anniversary gift

I filled out the doodle as well. Saturday is completely impossible for me, but maybe we could do the short program saturday and the free skate sunday, the way it actually happened last year? That way, most who are interested could see at least one of the events. ... or maybe this was the plan all along, in which case I'm in favor

Olympicchannel has the full events uploaded on their site, including the gala, so it’s possible to view there.

Oh, I very much agree with you that figure skating is a lot more similar to ballet! A friend of mine in middle school did ballet, so I know how incredibly difficult and athletically demanding it is, as well as beautiful. I have never actually heard of a ballet competition, but it makes sense that they would be judged similarly to figure skating to encapulate all aspects of the sport. An even more obvious similarity to me is that several figure skating movement are clearly borrowed/inspired from ballet, even in name (arabesque and attitude spin comes to mind). In swedish, the vocabulary is even more similar (for example, it uses “pirouette” instead of “spin”). And there are a lot more similarities that don’t share the same name, even in the basic steps and positions, just as most modern dance often gets some of its basic movements from ballet. I think it’s clear that figure skating owes a lot of its fundamentals to ballet (though I don’t know enough about figure skating history to be sure), in a way it doesn’t to any other art form. But what I was trying to contrast was sports fandom and “arts fandom”, and what I have seen of the ballet fan-culture doesn’t appear very similar to that of figure skating (though this might admittedly have something to do with the fact that I haven’t noticed a ballet fandom online). My experience is limited by the fact that most musicians I really love died at least a hundred years ago, but it seems to me that some aspects of figure skating fandom, such as the focus on appearance in many different ways, and maybe also the way people tend to develop personal emotional connections to their favorite figure skaters (and I am definitely guilty of this as well), resemble fans of musicians and groups more than other sport fandoms. Other aspects, reasonably, puts us closer to sport fans. And this is what I was getting at, really, that the “art” aspect of figure skating might be part of what makes the fandom different. This art aspect is much more similar to ballet and dance that anything else, but I haven’t seen much similarities between ballet and figure skating when it comes to fan base (probably for the reasons you mentioned), so it wasn’t ideal for exemplifying this particular aspect. (This is getting quite off-topic, but I thought you had a really good, interesting point so I wanted to clarify what I meant. I am not at all sure that this is a correct hypothesis, but it is interesting to think about )

I might be completely wrong about this, because I am not generally one to follow sports, but I have actually thought a bit about this lately, and I think part of it is due to the way figure skating differs from other sports. I think that while Yuzu is definitely an athlete in every sense of the word, figure skating is quite unique in the way it blends art and sport. Anyone who has ever experienced the suspense of a figure skating competition can attest to the sport aspect of it, the competition, and that aspect is probably true for all sports. On the other hand I don't think fans of most sports tend to discuss the details of the athlete's outfits the same way, of the aesthetics of their movements or their musicality and "artistry". And why would they? That's irrelevant to most sports, while in figure skating, it is often considered incredibly important. In this sense, figure skating fans share a lot of similarities with fans of musicians, maybe in particular with k-pop fandoms. And figure skating IS an art, in a way that golf just isn't, which is made very clear with the gala after most bigger events, and also all the ice shows held around the world. So it makes sense that people would follow it in a slightly different way. I also think it has to do with figure skating being a much smaller sport. Bigger, more accessible sports are easy to be causually interested in, but figure skating is obscure enough that to actually get into the sport in the first place you have to be quite dedicated. It is also easy to find fellow football or tennis fans in your everyday life, but with a niche sport like figure skating you are quite likely to be alone in your interest, and subsequently many people find fellow fans online instead, which gives the sport an active online "presence" despite its limited popularity. I'm really just speculating, but those are some aspects I have considered.

I’ve been too swamped with work this last month to keep up with figure skating much, and when I return Yuzu is athlete of the year and has recorded an unbearably touching video message for Javi, and I feel like my brain is trying to feel a month’s worth of emotions about it. It’s nice to know figure skating is as intense as I remembered.

I watched this in the break room at work, and a collègue came up to me and asked me if something had happened because I looked so sad. Everyone is missing Javi this season, but after all they’ve been through together, I can’t imagine how Yuzu feels.

While I technically agree with your statements, has anyone implied otherwise? If somebody is seriously using this record to argue that Stephen is a greater skater than Yuzuru, that might be the most hasty conclusion I have ever encountered. If I recall correctly, Stephen actually looks up to Yuzu a lot, and I find it unlikely that he himself thinks that he has surpassed Yuzu after this competition. The record for “youngest skater to win x event” is likely always going to be broken sooner or later (until the skaters literally can’t get any younger and still be eligible), and while it’s impressive it is far from an absolute indication of the skater’s skill. Tara Lipinski isn’t generally regarded as the greatest women skater of all time, despite the fact that she is the youngest skater to ever win an individual ladies OGM. Maybe I completely misunderstood your post, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about Yuzu’s legacy is far too great to be overshadowed by someone breaking this one record. Actually, given the way Yuzuru has talked about Gogolev, I would think he’s actually just proud of him right now.

And Kazuki

Oh god I am not ready...

It’s moving to read through all the lovely messages here; it makes me selfishly happy that someone who means so much to me is so incredibly loved. I hope Yuzu sees some of the birthday wishes here or on twitter, how he brings people from all over the world together to celebrate, the devotion he inspires with his skating and his beautiful personality. Congratulations, Yuzuru! I wish you a wonderful birthday, and that your 25th year brings you even a small fraction of the happiness you’ve given your fans. May your future be filled with good health, cooperative ankles, and all the joy you so very much deserve! Thank you for existing and inspiring us every day.

17. For his thoughtful and analytical mind. The way he can see his own skating so clearly, endlessly self-examining. His ability to always find something valuable he can take from every situation and use every moment as a learning experience, identifying his own weaknesses and turning them into strengths. Everything is in his calculations.

I have been checking this forum first thing in the morning for a week for these news. Though some small stupid part of me was imagining that he’d somehow miraculously heal faster than expected, I’m incredibly relieved that it at least isn’t worse than this. Given that the prognosis was three weeks of rest before he competed in Russia, I was afraid that it was going to be much worse now. It’s so unfair that he has to make this kind of choice, and I hope he’s not too hard on himself about it. Prioritising your health is always the right decision (if not invariably the only right decision), and if it means waiting a little longer to see him skate, waiting will be a privilege.

I’ve been thinking a lot about last year these past few days, and I just wanted to say how grateful I am for having found this forum. Last year after Yuzu’s injury I felt incredibly alone in my worry and sadness and anxiety. I was a quite new fan, and watching people speculating that he wouldn’t be able to compete and then saying that he wasn’t going to podium was sort of terrifying to me, and I didn’t have anyone in my life I could talk to about it since most didn’t even know that I was interested in figure skating. This year, while I’m still really sad and I still dread going through this again, reading some of the kind, thoughtful comments here helps, a little. Thanks

This is really off topic and I didn’t know where to post it, but it made me really happy so I wanted to share it. (If this is the wrong thread I’m really sorry!) Anyway, my mum used to watch figure skating back when Katarina Witt was competing, but hasn’t been interested since then and was actually really against me going to Finland to watch GP Helsinki live. Because of this I didn’t tell her too much about the skating aspect of the trip at first, but today she suddenly asked me if I could show her some of the performances I had seen there. So I showed her some of the skates I liked, and when we came to Otoñal her first comment was “Well, there’s not many male genes in him”, which I just sort of rolled my eyes at (I was too tired to discuss gender stereotypes and/or how genetics actually works). But then she was quiet for the rest of the performance, and at the end she suddenly said: “You know, figure skating is more beautiful than dancing. It has a flow that dancing can never get. But only if it’s done well, and that’s the difference between him and the others. They were waving their arms around between jumps; he’s actually dancing.” While I really like some of “the others” as well, it felt as if watching this performance she finally saw something of what I see in Yuzu’s skating. It felt like she got me a little bit, and understood why this is important to me. (She also refused to believe that Yuzu’s Salchow was a quad and not a double until I went back and showed her frame by frame, which says a lot about the extraordinary quality of that jump.)

This is a great resource, thank you very much!

Thank you, that was a really interesting read! That high swinging free leg was what I was noticing, but I didn’t know how to describe it properly. And yes, Yuzu’s quad Salchow really is extraordinary. Now I’m going to go track down this rant about Yuzu the GOAT/skating robot...

I thought about this too! Maybe this was a retorical question, but I think the reason is that Yuzus first rotation is sort of delayed/slow compared to his other three. He looks like he jumps or steps up into the jump with one foot, while Javi sort of rotates into it with his feet parallell. Since Javi’s feet are already almost in “jump position”, he has about the same speed throughout, while Yuzu needs the first rotation to get into the right position and when he gets there he rotates faster to compensate? I don’t know that much about the technical details of jumps, but that’s what it looks like to me. And anyway, Javi’s jump looks a little bit underrotated to me, while Yuzu’s definitely isn’t.