Yuzurella

Here are some of my thoughts after reading Yuzu's interview. Regarding scoring, I'm sure Yuzu has known for years that he doesn't get the points he rightfully deserves according to the rules and that the system is against him. Nevertheless, he decided to carry on and keep competing despite the unfair scoring. But he changed his focus to his own goals, especially landing a 4A. Even when the pandemic started and he ended up without coaches, he still kept on chasing his own goals and delivering programs and performances that are simply a class of their own. I think the time when he practiced all by himself in an empty rink was a very lonely and tough time for Yuzu. No matter how capable and self-sufficient you are, it's still important to have some kind of external input, a fresh point of view, and some companionship from time to time. I believe that the time period from Japanese Nationals to the Olympics was especially hard because Yuzu had committed to competing in another Olympics. And as he said himself, he committed himself to winning another gold medal with the help of the 4A as his weapon. I can imagine that the pressure from the outside world as well as from himself must've been enormous, crushing even. That's probably why he looked so tense and stressed when he arrived in Beijing. We all know what happened then. Considering my own sorrow at the sheer unfairness of all this - with bad luck piled on top of injustice - I can't imagine the utter anguish, pain, and suffering Yuzu must've felt at the time. But being the unbelievably courageous person he is, he fought back and wrote sports history despite all odds against him by almost landing a 4A. And then he went back to the practice rink just a few days later to rediscover his love and joy for figure skating. That was the first time he looked happy and at ease since arriving in Beijing. Yuzu said in the interview that being rewarded isn't everything in life and that he's still happy in the unrewarded present. He also said that he was happy to perform for other people. This might very well be the key moment in Yuzu's career in which he realized that his love for skating and performing is greater and more important than his desire to win competitions, more important than medals and titles. Yuzu has always been extremely ambitious with a fierce desire to win. And he did achieve incredibly accomplishments and became a legend of figure skating. With fair scoring, he should've won even more competitions and hold more titles, but the corruption of the system is unfortunately the way it is. Yuzu can't change anything about it and neither can we. But what he can do is to skate and perform to his heart's content and show his incomparable skating to the world. As I've already said before, what happened at these Olympics has shown that Yuzu is as loved and supported as always, in fact even more so. Despite not winning a medal, he has won many more fans and admirers and it has become clearer than ever that his fans don't love him because of his achievements and medals, but because of who he is, the way he skates and performs, and the way he makes us feel. This might very well be what freed him from the pressure of winning. Yuzu always wants to give us his all and show us everything he can do. He doesn't want to disappoint people. But I hope that the love and support he's received showed him that he will never disappoint us and we'll love him no matter what. Perhaps, now that he's gone through hell and survived again, now that he's survived being off the podium for the first time in many, many years, he can let go of the burden of always having to win and really just focus on his love for skating and performing. I believe he still has so much more to show. He's only been getting better and better the last couple of years and I think he hasn't reached his peak yet. And this kind of freedom might very well enable him to soar even higher and shine even brighter than ever. Of course everything depends on Yuzu's health and his own preferences, but I believe he will continue for a few more seasons. I think there's a certain thrill to competitions and being able to perform for a huge crowd during a competition. This kind of atmosphere is probably very different during ice shows, not to mention the lack of Pooh rains. And Yuzu definitely deserves a couple more huge Pooh rains before he decides to bow out. No matter what he decides to do in the future, I will always support him. In fact, no matter what he chooses to do, it will always be a success regardless of corruption, manipulation, and fake hype from the ISU and feds. If he competes, the competitions will be sold out and the audiences will always support him the most and cheer for him the loudest. If he decides to retire and only do ice shows from now on, they will be sold out everywhere and the crowds will flock to where he is. In this sense, Yuzu will always be the winner.

Yuzu's 4A wasn't ratified, it was certified. I think in order for a jump to be ratified, it has to be fully rotated and landed cleanly.

Ikr! At least his self-preservation instincts seem to be getting stronger with age, but still... If we feel about him this way and worry so much about him, I can't even imagine how his family must be feeling. Source Let's enjoy a beautiful ice fairy to comfort our hearts and souls. This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

I think this should be the complete interview. Now I just hope Yuzu gets some good rest, recovers soon, and finds comfort in the knowledge that he is loved and supported more than ever. [NEWS]

Hanyuconomy. I bet Citizen will make more limited edition watches with Yuzu considering his growing popularity in China. [NEWS]

Even Yuzu's name is a masterpiece. I mean, his name is really amazing. It's like poetry. Li Yugang even used the characters from his name in the lyrics of the song he wrote for Yuzu.

Two more examples of how loved and popular Yuzu is in China. [NEWS]

https://twitter.com/sof8894/status/1495389407104598018 Yuzu's 9-year-old self was jumping together with him.

Yuzu is really an exemplary human. I hope he finds happiness within him, regardless of his path. [NEWS]

Yuzu is an angel! He is just such a good and kind person. [NEWS]

I was talking to my mom about Yuzu's incredible popularity in China. She said that one of the reasons why Yuzu is so popular is probably because he is the perfect ideal of a Chinese gentleman in the classic sense. I googled this a bit and found this in an article in Britannica. A junzi (gentleman) is "a person whose humane conduct (ren) makes him a moral exemplar." "...the junzi is cultured (wen) and knows how to act and speak appropriately in any situation; he is thus an exemplar whose virtuous influence promotes a flourishing human community." On the other hand, a xiaoren (literally little/small person, but that term has nothing to do with physical size) is someone who is petty and "who cannot transcend personal concerns and prejudices and acts only for his own gain". Also, after I sent my mom a link of Li Yugang's song, she wrote a small poem in Chinese. I translated it with my limited Chinese and the help of Google Translate. Hanyu Yuzuru Beauty from the east Transcendental and refined with every gesture He came into the world like an immortal god Leaving all the beauty in the mortal realm

Perhaps the lady who introduced Yuzu as "Yuzuru Hanyu from China" during 4CC 2017 had prophetic powers.

I can still barely believe Li Yugang wrote a song for and inspired by Yuzu. Li Yugang is very famous and popular in China. The way he incorporated the characters of Yuzu's name into the song lyrics is brilliant. He is a true poet. Only a true artist and genius like Yuzu would inspire an artist like Li Yugang to write such a beautiful song for him. This is a whole new level of GOAT. If you haven't listened to the song yet, it's also on YouTube.

It's absolutely amazing how much Yuzu has inspired other people, including a highly accomplished and famous singer and artist like Li Yugang. Yuzu is very popular and loved in China indeed and this song is beautiful. I hope someone will translate the lyrics. My Chinese isn't good enough for translating it because Li Yugang uses very poetic language that's not easy to understand. From what I understand, he incorporated the characters of Yuzu's name into the song lyrics. Someone has already uploaded the song on YouTube.

Very well said! I agree. I think for Yuzu, being on the ice and skating to his heart's delight is really the best therapy. His ankle is unfortunately not in the best shape, but if this is what he needs to heal and reconcile with everything that happened, then so be it. Seeing his utter joy at being on the ice again just for fun is probably also the best therapy for all of us who were so heartbroken for him. From what Yuzu said in an interview, I understand this as him healing old wounds and regrets about former performances. This is him freeing himself from the burden of regrets from the past. I believe this is the perfect time to let go of the past, relive precious memories, and make a new beginning, whatever that might be. I'm glad that Yuzu decided to stay after all. To me, it looks like he's a kid who had to study very long and hard for an exam and now that the exam is finally over, he gets to leave the house and run and play around freely. The pressure from the outside world as well as from himself was enormous after he declared that he would challenge a third Olympics. Seeing how tense he was after he arrived in Beijing, he must've been drilling that 4A mercilessly the last couple of weeks until he was exhausted and frustrated. So, it's really good to see him rediscovering his endless love for skating and just having fun. Who knows what Yuzu will decide for the future. I just hope he'll enjoy his last couple of days at the Olympics and his gala, get proper therapy for his ankle, heal quickly, and take a nice, long vacation. And with a free head, I hope he will follow his heart and decide for himself what he wants to do next. I think one positive thing to come out of this is that Yuzu might've freed himself from the pressure of always having to win. He and the whole world could see that his value and legacy didn't diminish at all even though he didn't even medal here. The love and admiration people have for him didn't disappear. His fans didn't abandon him. People didn't forget him. The opposite happened. He has more fans and admirers than ever. And the people who already loved and supported him before, love and support him even more. Even the media didn't mock him, but in large parts applauded him for his courage. He remained the biggest star in these Olympics and his quest for the 4A was often a bigger story than who won the medals. One thing about being afraid of something is that your imagination is often worse than the real thing. You might be terrified of something, but when that really happens, you realize you're still alive and the world is still turning and you're stronger than you thought. This is just speculation on my part, but perhaps Yuzu felt like he had an obligation to win or at least medal and the pressure was so great that he became tense and couldn't even enjoy skating anymore. And perhaps he was - consciously or subconsciously - afraid he might lose his sense of self-worth and people's love and support if he doesn't win. In competitive sports, it's often the case that athletes define their own value by winning medals. But what happened showed Yuzu and the whole world that his fans love him not because of his medals but because of who he is and what he gives us with his skating. He himself is the most valuable just by being who he is. He gives us the most by just doing what he loves doing the most. His achievements are extraordinary and admirable. But the person he is and the healing, hope, joy, light and inspiration he gives us are infinitely more precious than any medals. I hope this knowledge frees Yuzu from the pressure and tension of having to win and allows him to soar even higher and with more joy. I have the feeling the best is yet to come. Yuzu is getting better and better as a skater and I look forward to what he will show us in the future. Whatever road he might choose, I hope he's healthy and happy in every way and follows his heart.

No one loves skating as much as he does. Just looks at how happy and joyful he is. Yuzu looks relaxed and at ease now. After he arrived in Beijing, I got the feeling that he was quite tense. I think apart from the outside pressure, he also put a lot of pressure on himself to land a 4A and win the gold medal. Then those unfortunate things happened and he looked so sad and down. I was really heartbroken for him. I just hope he can put it all behind him and look ahead. Most importantly, I wish for him to heal quickly, so he can do more of the thing he obviously loves the most.

That's very unlikely. He usually never leaves his cave unless he has to. That's not surprising, as he would get swarmed by masses of people wherever he goes.

The article states that it's nearly impossible to land. That makes its BV look even more outrageous. Nobu is right. It should have a BV of 20 or even 30 points. But on the other hand, if it did have such a high BV, I'm afraid Eteri would stuff even more drugs into her poor girls and make them train the 4A.

As far as I remember, a few years ago, Ghislain said that Yuzu had landed a quintuple in a harness. Yuzu started to practice quints in order to learn jumping a 4A. Looking at how close he was at the Olympics, I believe he can land it cleanly if he's healthy. But that's exactly what I want the most for him, just to be healthy and happy, doing the things he wants to do and enjoys doing. No matter what his decision is, I hope he follows his heart.

I really hope that one day, Yuzu will do an ice show world tour. I'm sure he alone could sell out big stadiums in many places outside of Japan. It would be easier for his international fans to see him then, since tickets are so difficult to get in Japan, especially when Yuzu is skating.

There is just something about Yuzu that captivates people's hearts regardless of their gender, nationality, ethnicity, age, and cultural background. I think one of the reasons is that Yuzu is so genuine, pure, and authentic. He dares to show himself fully to the world. He doesn't hold back, especially when he's on the ice. He goes his own way and does his own thing regardless of what other people say. This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

It has crossed 3 million views! Congrats! And there are still so many positive new comments. Yuzu is just so impressive even for people who don't usually watch figure skating.

Rondo in 4K!

May Yuzu be rewarded richly for his effort and everything he has given us.

Aaaaw... I'm sure Yuzu's 9-year-old self would be proud of him.