Katt

I'm relieved. I thought he might need 6-8 months rehab so 3 months is basically Boston level. In 2016, he's off ice right after WC and back to training around late June, so this time, hopefully it will be around mid-late May. That will give him plenty of time to prepare for next GPs. With the changing rules coming up, I think most skaters will wait for new rule (around June I think) to do the choreo so he wont be late in preparing. He still can do some ice show in mid June/July. Pray for his speedy recovery. I wonder if he would go back to toronto for rehab ? Finally I can watch JWC and WC in peace =))

Mood :

If we talk about Yuzuru's SP, I agreed that the ACI version is better. He change the timing for jumps in 2nd half and went for it earlier at Olys. As for presentation, I will give it for Olys ver. What I love about Yuzuru's skating is his performances always have new little details. In ACI, no doubt its the 4T3T and the sit spin. In Olys, the inabaeur and the arm during final spins will take the cake. He delivered when it counted, that's it.

Yeah Brian is not fond of quad quad quad, as he said many times he aim for the whole package. What he did for Javi in the past 5 years always amaze me. Seem like Brian is quite invest in SS/foundation, thing that wont give you results right away. About Asian or small fed skaters, i don't know yet but I feel that most of TCC's skaters are very chill ??? Yuna, Javi, and Jun hwan are all chill. Yuzuru actually the most stubborn kid . I'm very curious to see who's gonna join TCC next season.

Its the same with last year worlds gala too. Shoma and Boyang was in 1st half while Javi and PChan in 2nd half. I think only winners are guaranteed for last 4 performances

Seem like there's a lot of coaching change for US skaters next season. Anthony Liu is a great option for Jason ( he should change coach after Sochi IMO). Now I want Nathan go to Anthony too. I'm not fond of the idea that everyone should go to TCC. I read somewhere that Brian rejected alot skaters because he felt they maxed out in term of potential and he will be very picky to choose who's he gonna work next season. I always have a feeling US skaters might not fit to Brian's approach.

Tarasova stop coaching a few years ago I think. And lol a big no for Kurt. He has his job as commentator for CBC and no way US fed would agree for Nathan to go with an inexperience coach. I remember when Nathan got interview for college, there're few people told about changing coach. Its hard situation for him if he leave Raf. Is there any US coach can fix his weakness ( SS/choreo/whole package/3A) ? May be he could go back to Marina Zueva.

.I always feel like there's something happened between Raf and Nathan after Nats because the way they communicate seem a bit weird, especially at the Olys practice when Nathan looked so stress. At the beginning of the season, I thought Nathan came up with great strategy. Landed the 4lo to prove his TES potential and good programs. At that time I thought Nathan would take out the 4lo and transitions as the season went so he could be more consistent with the jumps and the pcs would rise through the roof. But it didn't happened. No matter how many times media reminded he's undefeat before Olys, his score in GPs was far from other top contender's PB/SB.The moment I realize the pressure got into Nathan was Skate America and I knew thing like that would repeated at Olys. There's alot of talks about Nathan move to TCC but I don't see it happen. Brian said working with US skater require too many paper works, not to mention Nathan's college plan. And if Nathan's mom (or family) did decided thing, there's no way Brian would take him. Brian fired Nam because his father involved into training. The same with Vincent.

This is the calendar of next season : https://www.isu.org/communications/15290-isu-communication-2124/file As for the ice show, there are several big ones in japan such as prince ice world, star on ice japan, fantasy on ice (Faoi), dream on ice (DOI). Yuzuru only do FAoi and DOi for the past few years. You can check the date/venue by searching these ice show name on google. And keep in mind Yuzuru usually confirm ice show quite late. I;m sad that he might not be at worlds, but tbh its the best for his ankle. There's only 3 weeks before WC, and he need to go back to Japan for the check up. If his injury heal properly, we might see him next season and he will has chance to get back the world title in japan.

Huh, he said he thought of taking out 4lz for a while, but not the 4lo Edit : According to this http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2018/02/22/kiji/20180222s00079000286000c.html Seem like Yuzuru will be at closing ceremony, but not a flag bearer because he want to enjoy it quietly

Its is allowed. But the second jump on a sequence only have 70% BV so its not worth in COP. Normally its the ladies who use SEQ with 2A because they can't do 3-3 or different combo than 3T-3T And I'm sure there's no ladies (or men) ever do 3A seq in history

Wow at those non answers from Yuzuru He really never fail to impress me with the way he handle media/expectation. You media won't get any hint from him with those direct questions So happy to see him in a good mood Welcome back !!!!!

Its hard to say. Yuzuru said that he didn't like some of music choice but he trusted Nanami-san so he skated to it anyway. And I think Yuzuru talks more about his ideal skating in recent years, especially after Seimei. I think its understandable for the youngster haven't found their ideal skating yet, they're young and have plenty time for it. As for me, I always love Yuzuru's skating but Seimei is his artistry breakthrough and I think most skaters need at least 1-2 iconic program to grow to the next level. There's only a few days before we know his layout. As @Floria said, we should keep in mind that's he back on full training around 4 weeks ago, and to get back quads and 3A in 2-3 week is truly impressive. This is olympic and he's back from injuries with one month training , for sure he won't do thing that isn't going well in practice

Yes, he's the one who watch over Yuzu for the past 3 months, I think there must be a reason that he's so confidence about Yuzu's condition like that. His interview cleared alot of doubts and worries and remind people that "Yuzuru's coming". Still, its his way to PR his students and I'm perfectly fine with it. Its a coach's job after all. Olympics is not all about what skaters deliver on the ice on D-day. Its a big politics game and Brian knows it.

Well, they never mention that Javi did beat him at JO. I guess that its not ISU comp but neither US Nats . At first I'm a bit worried about the way Brian hype Yuzu up, but after reading a few US articles, its nothing. I should stop clicking those articles for my sanity. Its all about Nathan vs Yuzu ( with Shoma appear sometimes) and I'm not buying those Boyang/Javi erasure

Well I saw an article with headline "OGM is Chen to lose" so I know he's the best bet for gold among US skaters, but I'm with the way they list only his good things and downplay his rivals with their multiple errors. He's not flawless this season either and other top men didn't make more mistake than him. There's no clean FS from any men until now, and a few clean Sps came from top 7 are from Yuzuru, Javi (x2), Boyang, Kolyada. Why US media hate facts and numbers when they can check PB/SB, protocols by just one click . Especially this time OGM isn't going between 2-3 skaters. There's 5 men who have equal chance for it. I feel bad for Nathan. I think he is a nice skater and a great kid, but this insane hyping annoys me so much.

Music to my ears !!!!! What can we do without Mr Orser ?

Pray for 4Lo !!!!! Meanwhile I'm trying to accept that only one 3A FS, just in case

Just read Kyodo article. I must say Brian is doing a great job for hyping up Yuzuru. His words are so strong and straighforword. I have a feeling he's pretty annoyed about the uncertain and doubts So seem like the 4lo in FS is undecided. I think its wise to go back with 4S/4T SP layout as he's very comfortable it (he went clean for 4/5 times). I still refuse to believe the king of 3A will only do once in FS at Olympics. Sorry most men's 3A this season aren't sacrifice for this

I would rather to see him skate clean with his fix layout than making mistake and have to yolo to make up the losing BV. And as far as I remember, he only did great with flying layout once at 4CC last year. At WTT, he poped the last 3A so it didn't work for him all the time.

IMO there's a fix layout by the time he started doing runthrough since last week. So he has around 3 weeks of doing runthrough and that's not much time and I think he should focus on one layout. But I could be wrong, or I refuse to believe that nonsense 5quad 1axel layout I just think if there's a change in his layout this week, it will depend on his stamina. His 2nd half is a big challenge in term of stamina so he could take out 1 or even 2 quads

I doubt his layout is not decided at this point, considering there's only a week left before the official practice. Getting back the jumps is one thing but to do it in program, with choreo and transition take alot of time. Satoko said when she comeback after injuries, she had big trouble to land jumps in program because of the timing. I feel like its just a way of talking, simply because he didn't want to say about the layout and only Yuzuru can talk about it. Whatever, we'll know soon.

Well I guess Brian didn't want to reveal the layout, and he didn't need to. For sure there's no 4lz and and I doubt he would go for 1 quad per program so of course there will be a lot of quads No need to analyze his words too much There's only one week till we know his layout. And I think he is training without any pain is the most important thing. Now I know why Brian went to Korea early. He's out there to give us the details update, clear all the doubts and it give me hope

Yuzuru never change his layout during the competition no matter how others skate. His jumps depend alot on its entry and it takes time to be consistent. The only jumps he yolo a couple of times are 3A and 4T which are very reliable . He's not Nathan who decide the the layout right before the comp or base on the practice. Not to mention there's not much time after the SP.

We don't know how his practice goes and how he feel so I won't make any speculation about it. Like I said before I'm so happy to hear that his training is going well so I don't care about 4lz or not. I trust Yuzuru and his team to come up with the best decision with his current condition