Sombreuil

I have just been flicking through twitter (which I dip into but never post and block quite a lot of content) and came across this LGC was never one of my favourites- not a Prince fan tbh, and the choreo was insane - he needed 2seasons mileage on that to take it to PC imo, and I think he knew that when he decided to switch back to Chopin. I sometimes wonder which he would have picked if he'd given LGC a go a year earlier… anyway, I can’t regret PC Chopin because it was fabulous but I think this poster has a point about the adjustment of moves in practice on this SP. I bet the judges marked it down for little things like this - it’s ok for a US competitor, or an ‘edgy’ European skater (Aymoz?) to do stuff like this but it doesn’t fit the box they would have liked to squash him into. Also, have any of those whining ‘real skating fans’, whose mantra is ‘Hanyu is limited - only skates to Japanese music we can’t be bothered to look up and understand or classical piano’ ever actually watched much of his back catalogue? Personally I feel that Prince is a lot edgier than Elton - and that’s before we look at the skating, a comparison I don’t have time to do justice to.

Please don’t worry about it - on an international forum there are bound to be these cross cultural soft points - the great thing is to address them politely and respectfully as I think everyone has done

Forgive me if I wait to see whether this is actually carried out in real life… Its not just the doping it’s the abuse. Elena Mukhina was my line in the sand for womens gymnastics- people said - that’s years ago , things are different now- until Larry Nassar. Tbh if there isn’t a sexual abuse element or provable doping it’s just swept under the carpet. I saw Lipnitskaya post Sochi when I discovered YH and saw her pre Sochi when researching his previous career - I saw a similar growing desperation replacing previous zest in the performance of the sport and never got invested in Medvedyeva or any of the subsequent wunderkinder. I’m not saying coaches of other nations don’t get away with it with almost the same level of state connivance but at least they are less blatant about it.

The skeletons are beginning to claw their way out of the cupboard…. It is so sad that she speaks as though this is acceptable- even good practice. I wonder how she’ll feel when she’s middle aged and those injuries come back to haunt her.

I can remember years ago there was footage of him arriving at an ice show and chatting to Shizuka Arakawa - she was saying she wanted to continue to jump the more difficult jumps - can’t remember whether it was Salchow or Lutz? She is amazing - there really must be something in the water in Sendai. Maybe it’s not being from the usual skating establishment- you see the need to work harder at things.

I can’t see him turning into a clothes horse somehow - though they did get Uchimura into a tailor made suit - he lived in gym clothes and had a physique that was equally difficult to fit into ready made suits, judging by all the photos prior to that Paul Smith number.

Chilling……. has she no idea of how this sounds outside Russia? I might boycott ISU competitions if someone this blatant manages to get back in. Are they ever going to tackle the doping issue that arose at Beijing? Or will it just lapse after being overtaken by the war in Ukraine?

They’ve been v quiet lately

Interesting development- Jason won’t be able to do much about the jump technique but going to him at least indicates that Daniel (or someone in his team) sees the need to improve other aspects of his performance. As he’s going to Sheffield I shall be interested to see whether Jason has been able to get him to move less like a crane fly.

Luckily I never actually post anywhere but here - my first experience de lurking was a disaster, to the extent that I very nearly didn’t accept an invitation to join here - I’m glad I did but once burned…..

You’re welcome - I frequently blank out over sets of capital letters myself

North America. Those of us who began this journey before the planet opened suffered a good deal from …. let’s call it the entitled attitude of certain US and Canadian Uber fans. I’ve just finished watching 2012 worlds from Kozuka on (it was a Japanese tv coverage). Yuzuru was of course amazing, I’ve watched R&J1 more times than I care to remember in isolation but it was very interesting to see the embryo Fernandez and Ten, Chan in his considerable pomp, Takahashi also at his zenith ( though I can’t find him as alluring as his fans do, Blues for Klook was amazing), Jouberts matrix after loving Kaori’s version ( I like hers better)but also Abbott, Kozuka, Brezina, Amodio! I had forgotten Amodio - he’s a coach now I believe and his style would suit Donovan Carrillo so well if the stars aligned right for them. I noticed one thing they all had - they used their knees, all the time, take off, landing, steps, crossovers whatever- all of them had bendy knees , unlike Lysacek in that clip I posted recently or NC. Must be a thing with certain US coaches. Edit : had also forgotten how bizarre Mozorov was as a coach - practically chewing the edge of the boards - Al Pacino would be proud. V unsettling to watch.

Then we are roughly contemporaries- I rated my male relatives after John Curry’s miraculous season by their reactions to the media reporting at the time. My grandfather was wonderful - he was a Fred Astaire fan from the 20s so he appreciated good moves - uncles and cousins less so. Least said about my late father the better tbh. It was an extremely useful learning experience.

I think the intense moments are my favourites- like the killer glare at the end of NHK 2015 Chopin. Gets me every time. I am currently watching the last two groups of 2012 WC in Nice. Watched Kozuka, Ten, Abbott and the man himself so far - baby Romeo. All I can say is standards have plummeted. Edit: re reading this as posted I’m beginning to sound like A Real Skating Fan from a Proper (NA) Forum rather than a fanyu - the horror!!!!!

Satoko is making her mark as a pro skater. I would love it if she were to collaborate with Yuzuru at some point - her jumps are a weak point but the rest is - she’s the only one whose lines are as beautiful as his are.

Seeing Yuzuru in the studio with Oda it took me back to 2013 GPF - Oda, Kovtun, Han, Machida, Y and Chan. I went and watched the SP on YouTube . Really brings home the decline in skating standards. Pluschenko really robbed Kovtun of all momentum when he strongarmed his way into that sole mens place at Sochi.

Just read out the bit about 10% of skaters earnings from sponsors, endorsements etc going to JSF to my husband who was - sweet (football fan) summer child has no idea what sports organisations can get away with in less popular sports.

JSF and ISU about to reap what they have sowed. What a shame - Now those old dinosaurs will have to address the elephants in the room - the bloated demanding old guard US and Russian federations (ISU) and the entitled Osaka based traditional skating aristocracy who have never brought home a gold Olympic medal (JSF)

This is very interesting- Sano on the Hanyu axel contrasting it with Lysacek - who looks incredibly clunky…….. I suppose that’s the macho US style.

@rockstaryuzuhere they are Roman, Shun Sato, and Mai at Sheffield- I’m going to have to look at train times.

And Yuzuru is politeness personified and wouldn’t dream of disrespecting his national federation by ignoring the protocol.

I know - not going. No one I want to see badly enough to pay for the tickets - bit like those ‘real ‘ skating fans - still kicking myself for not making time and money to go to Glasgow 2015.

Yuzuru’s commercial standing is no surprise at all - it’s an excellent springboard for whatever he is percolating in that brain. I am doubly bereft, Kohei Uchimura having also retired relatively recently, also with a terrible last Olympic quad plagued with injury and loss. However he perfected the Bretschneider, in home competition if not in international competition before crashing out during the qualifying round at Tokyo. They have been an aberration in my adult life. I never expected to get fixated on any sportsman the way I did on Uchimura though I always enjoyed mens gymnastics, and especially the elegance of the Japanese men. As a child I had a thing for John Curry so I suppose I was primed to respond when a reference to the CoC collision appeared in an interview with the Japanese gymnastics squad. I watched and we all know the result of a casual trawl through the Hanyu footage - hook line and sinker. Two Japanese superstars for the price of one. At least Yuzuru can continue to skate and we can see him do so. In fact I really look forward to seeing where he takes this. I think I will probably dip into FS the way I’ve been dipping into gymnastics- I have a softer spot for team Japan in mens gymnastics than in mens skating, but I am interested to see how Roman Sadovsky progresses, I still love the Kobe girls, and as far as I know Sui &Han are still skating so I will dip in as and when it suits me. Idk if I have the heart to keep following juniors with the new rules.

I’ve just rewatched On Ice Perspectives Parisan and I hope he does more of those.

If some of my favourites go I might try and find the time and money.