Neenah

As a newer fan (been following the sport for only 2 years), it is hard to say how I would react to Yuzu's retirement. Like everyone else here, I am sure I will continue following him because he will definitely still be active even if he doesn't compete. For the sport, I don't know. I like FS a lot and there are many skaters in all disciplines that I enjoy immensely and support wholeheartedly, but Yuzu is very different. Following the sport is actually really hard because of the time difference and commitment required. Attending competitions is even harder especially if you are in a faraway country. I feel like I need a strong investment and emotional attachment to the skater to be able to forgo sleep or pay a fortune just to watch them. Unfortunately, I can't seem to be able to forge such connection with any skater other than Yuzu. I guess being a Yuzu fan sets the standard too high As for the impact on the sport, I think it depends on the ISU. Some fans will lose interest but many may be willing to stick around longer, but the ISU needs to make it easier for them. This is the information age where everything is accessible with a click and people's attention span and preseistance is very limited. The ISU must make the sport more accessible to retain those fans who found the sport through Yuzu and keep them interested. That also includes not ruining things by changing the sport very drastically every four years and alienating fans who are barely getting invested

Nathan's short program looks promising This program feels like something Boyang would excel at. An interesting choice for Nathan and he seems to be enjoying it

Le Corsaire is my favorite Nathan program. As for Mao's last dancer, it doesn't matter if the music was ballet or whatever because there was very little choergraphy anyway so he could be skating to any music and it wouldn't have made a difference. It is however my biggest disappointment last season because I really liked the music IMO, Nathan's problem is that his programs are segmented, namely you can pinpoint exactly where each element begins and ends. His performance rarely feel cohesive and after watching him I find myself only remembering few seconds of the program while the rest never sticks in my memory because it is just forgettable. He has some standout elements and some very mediocre ones but they don't feel very connected. It is really a shame because, performance wise, when he hits he is wonderful but when he misses he is very underwhelming.

I am probably the only one, but I actually like Nathan and ballet

I think Yuzu's vision of the ideal skate is evolving with his skating. He is always pushing himself to the limits and when he overcomes those limits he sets himself new goals. Yuzu in 2015 or even 2017 is not the same skater he is now and his experience and challenges are also on a different level. It is what makes being his fan exciting, you know he is never satisfied and will be doing something interesting and challenging next

First impression, I don't like the music or the choreo (seems familiar for some reason ), which is a good thing as it spares me the frustration when he kills the program throughout the season Prove me wrong Nathan, this is a challenge

When I say everything else is extra I mean that he doesn't have solid plans for the next four years like he did after Sochi (at least that is the feeling I get from him, I could be wrong). He is doing for the sake of skating and competing so it is extra (did that make any sense )

No need for rose-coloured glasses or camps for me because I believe Yuzu He loves skating too much and will not jeopardize his ability to continue skating for nothing. The Olympics are over and he won, everything else is just extra for him and us, so I am sure he is taking good care of himself and his poor ankle

This is exactly how I feel.. Since the day he announced that he wants to continue competing I have been in excited mood. I just want him to be healthy and have a good season, nothing else really matters to me

I can't belive or process this.. This world is so cruel and he was so young Rest in peace Denis My condolences to his family and friends, I will be praying for them all

That is awful.. I hope he gets through this safely and makes a full recovery

A probably very unpopular opinion but I think that IJS is a very good system and it is the best way to evaluate a sport like FS (not perfect but good) Let me explain why, FS does have a subjective aspect that will ruin the sport if removed, which is why I don't think that using computer to judge is a good idea. The rules as they are written assure that difficulty and quality for both elements and programs as a whole are considered and evaluated. The fact that the bullet points and PC criteria are guidelines is also the best way to handle a sport with an artistic side that needs the judges to have the ability to reward innovation and creativity, which are things that cannot be always rewarded with pre existing rules since no one thought of it before the skater. I myself used similar scoring rubrics when marking students work (videos, essays, presentations, etc) so I understand the system and how it should work. I can see its strengths and weaknesses and I can understand why some rules are written the way they are. Take for example PC; before it was in the hands of the judges, they were to decide if the performance as a whole was impacted by errors and deduct accordingly. However, that wasn't working well, not because of the rules did not work but because the judges did not apply it. There was a huge debate between fans about how much falls should affect PC scores and we never truly agreed on anything because there is really no easy solution. The ISU decided to acknowledge the problem and they added the rule that a program with serious errors should have its PC capped for all components, and that is a bad idea. They tried to take the power from the judges by introducing a rule which should force the judges to consider this deduction (or cap) when scoring performances with errors. The problem is that PC is not a fixed value that you can deduct from. It is a scale that is used to rate the quality of the performance (errors included) and that is exactly how it should be. By putting a cap on PC they put the judges in a weird situation and the result will be one of three scenarios 1) If a judge though that the performance was very good even with mistakes they may go higher than they would have before to ensure that the skater is not hurt too much by the deduction. 2) If the skater does not usually receive scores above 9 then the deduction will not hurt them and they will be getting higher scores compared to a 9+ skater with the same number of mistakes, which will create a discriminatory situation (that many fans don't seem to care about because top skaters are privileged and should be punished all the time ) 3) the judges will latch on to the "it is a guideline" and ignore the deduction altogether to prop their favorites, which will undermine the whole system. What I was trying to explain in my lengthy example (sorry ) is that the original system was the better way to evaluate the component and what was needed is accountability and quality control for the judging. Because they couldn't do that (or didn't want to) they put a rule that messes up the process and creates new problems without actually addressing the original issue. Strict rules are not always the best option and giving the judges space is required and useful as long as it is not abused (which is the problem really) The same goes for GOE, the judges need to have some freedom to reward quality even if the element does not hit all bullet points, but this also needs to be controlled and justifiable. I personally think it is correct to give an element high GOE even if he didn't hit all bullet points required if it was an outstanding element that is a highlight on its own (Boyang's 4LZ ). I also think it is okay not to give high GOE if the element is mediocre even if it hits the bullet points for it. That freedom to assess quality and reward creativity and innovation is essential in a system that have a subjective element and it should not undermine its credibility. The real problem with IJS (if we ignore corruption) is and has always been the lack of unified interpretation and understanding of the rules . The judges will always have their own opinions on what makes an outstanding element or a great performance and that is fine. What is not fine is that they would have a vastly different opinion and interpretation of the rules or that they would let other factors, such as national and cultural bias, influence that judgement and interpretation. The judges need to be on the same page when it comes to recognizing quality even if they did not all end up giving +5 ( few +4s should be acceptable) for a great element. However, we should not be seeing +5s and +1 or +2 for one element because that is absurd and unrealistic TBH I don't know how to fix this. When marking we do quality control by having someone else check your marks afterwards and adjusting the it later based on second opinions, but that is hard to do in FS since they need to give scores immediately after the performance. Maybe more transparency to make the judges accountable and aware of each others thought process, or possibly having multiple workshops where the judges sit together and judge different performances while discussing it so that they can exchange ideas and opinions and maybe reach a consensus or a compromise where they have different perspectives Sorry for the long post, I just like discussing the IJS

Sorry, but I can't admire her endurance or accept this behavior. She is hurting herself and setting a very bad example for the younger girls who look up to her. This kind of thinking should never be encouraged especially that this is the second time she is talking about enduring pain (the first was not eating) to overcome a natural thing like growing up. Where are the adults in this situation and why is no one stopping this? Her family and her coaches need a good shake (or a slap) to wake them up to reality. This is not something to be proud of, encouraged or even tolerated. She is only 16 for god's sake, someone needs to do something

Yes, that's the one

Thanks, I wanted to watch this again but it is not the one I am looking for. I should have been more specific but I forgot that there was another one after the Olympics The one I want is the documentary that was aired before the olympics. We had a streaming party for it as well

Anyone have a link to the NHK Documentary that was aired in February (about Yuzu's injury)? I didn't watch the whole thing then because I found it a bit depressing and now I can't find it Also, is there a translation somewhere for it?

This needs and explanation How did he end up like this?

I think it's more likely that they are not supposed to post photos without permission from the person. Yuzu and the others where in the background so they did not consent to it

The source on a broken deal between a Chinese skater and a Canadian coach is a Japanese tweet I give up

I second @Xen question about what is considered a serious error and how the severity of errors is qualified and judged. But most importantly, are the 3 required positive GOE bullets guidelines or a definitive must?

What a headache My only wish is that Boyang himself does not get hurt in all of this mess

If he is not going to TCC then there is a good reason for. This stupid speculation about choreography is so TSL, and I don't believe it for a second. Brain, David and Lori are not children who can't work work together, this is just silly and disrespectful. Whatever it is, I hope it can be sorted out and he still goes even if it is next season. We don't know what is happening in his life and I really hope it is not something bad

Japan's team was booed and many were angry at them for the tactic they used in their game with Poland (check twitter if you want) and some people even said they should not advance because of it (I don't agree but that is how bad the reaction was), so the reaction to his words is actually understandable. Had he used the game against Belgium as example it would have been accepted better IMO even though Japan lost. In that game Japan put up a valiant fight against a strong team that everyone expected to win (it was for me the best game in in the world cup so far) That being said, the fan should chill. There is no point in attacking Kozuka or anyone else, nothing will come out of it anyway and it is bad behavior no matter the reason

After getting a virus from a USB stick that cost me an entire year's work (and a nearly complete project) I am inclined to believe this as well

There is a teeny tiny problem with this whole "these bullet points are guidelines and not rules" that the ISU seems to be missing. You can't have the bullet points be just guidelines and required at the same time. Those two things contradict each other. A required bullet cannot be ignored and thus cannot be just a guideline in they way they are implying