barbara

I certainly hope he isn't even considering retirement, though he mentions life after it. 2026 Olympics are a very real goal. He'll be only 24 - peaking. He just needs to get back to regular training with his coaches.

Since no one has posted about NHK, I thought I'd take the opportunity to 1) congratulate Jun!!! and 2) blast NBC sports. I'm so pleased I have a VPN so could take my computer to Canada and be able to watch all the skaters I wanted to (though didn't watch live - except the Gala because the men skated in the middle of the night) Jun's SP is so powerful and energetic. He was somewhat underscored on his long but lucky he had the points from the SP to keep him on the podium. And his Ina Bauer is the best. He's long and flexible and covers so much ice when he does that element. And his Gala skate was light on elements (as are most) but beautiful and artistic. But NBC (who are why all figure skating is geo-blocked in the US) had a relatively short pre-recorded program yesterday. They only showed Vincent's SP and the the long for the top 4. Chief complaints: They got his name wrong (yes, in Korea, it's Cha Jun-hwan but Shoma is also Uno Shoma in Japan, Yuzu is Hanyu Yuzuru ) and pronounced it wrong, too. They got his age wrong. He just turned 20 less than a month ago. He is not 21. And, egregiously left out, has been training alone -with some zoom calls- since he left Toronto at the beginning of the pandemic. Brian is his coach, but he doesn't currently "train in Canada with B.O.". The fact that he's done as well as he has, and took a bronze at this comp skating against Vincent and Shoma (and Matteo and all the Russians) who have had in-person coaching almost the whole pandemic, is notable. Very notable. Jun was basically dismissed and it really really irked me. Yes, grateful for a VPN. I don't know who the Canadian commentator was but he wasn't up on Nam's choice of music. We know Nam loves BTS and that's why he chose Butter for his Gala piece (and it suits him), but the commentator didn't know the name of the song (and it's in English!) and thought Nam chose it to please the Japanese crowd because "this song" is pretty popular in Japan. Duh. #1 for 10 weeks, and the most popular group on the planet. But I digress.....

I'm reporting her first to the moderators first - this is not her first troll attack on me. Just the first one in a long time. Edit: done and done -

No one knows what Yuzu wants, other than to be healthy and able to compete. No one is saying he might not have been injured if he'd been at TCC. What the consensus of those who would like him to get back to TCC is that his jump coach, Ghislain, could help him achieve his dream of a 4A. He's a jump coach - that's what he does. Trade secrets? He could easily train privately at TCC so that's not an argument. And it's not like others aren't trying the 4A and everyone has seen Yuzu's attempts. And we all want Yuzu to recover and be happy.

Is that response okay with anyone? Why would ANY of us hope Yuzu would be injured and WHO is @180267? Why would you say something so rude and disrespectful? We are all Fanyus here. I can wish that Yuzu had gone back to Toronto and received in-person coaching, and I do, but that's because that's what I believe would have been and would be best for him. We can have a difference of opinion without getting nasty.

Only one person has said this in this super long thread of reactions to this new injury, but I feel it would be the absolute wisest decision for Yuzu to get back to Toronto immediately, where he can get the treatment he needs and the coaching he's been missing. Don't go to COC - just heal and train, with the proper medical people and actual coaches. I am devastated for him, but not actually surprised.

I think they are pajama pants -

We don't know if he's been vaccinated yet and he'd need to be to get into Canada...

I am still so bummed I haven't been able to wear my badge yet. But it's ready.

And the heart - if only he'd painted it purple, it would have ben totally over the top. He is SO cute.

The geologist (me) is not voting at all. Ice is a truly remarkable substance (it weighs less than water, even though it's the same thing chemically) but only considered a mineral/rock if it's naturally occurring, like in a glacier. I (again, as a geologist) have to say that I think olivine is pretty boring but is part of so many rocks. And I love green minerals, but olivine can't remotely compare to emerald or dioptase or even malachite. So, rink ice is not a mineral. But vote away.... for Yuzu.

I might be more inclined to purchase something like this if there was even a half tiny chance of seeing him skate live. Alas - no chance.

Oh, I hope so, too. I understand that Korea is now 70% vaccinated, so Jun should be (though he falls in the "young" group - he's an international athlete so I believe he'd have had his shots.) Thanks for the tweet!

Legitimate geologist here. And I don't consider ice a mineral, but I understand why the votes are coming in the way they are. And it coming down to ice or olivine? Not even fair.

This might not be the correct forum to post this on - but I know a lot of us have VPN's so we can watch Yuzu skating without being restricted by country...

If they have to announce entries and are a week after Finlandia, why hasn't Finlandia announced entries yet? That's the one I thought Yuzu would go to, if any, because it works into his schedule and it isn't an Olympic rest event (what "test event" means.....)

Where do we actually have spectators?

Rika does not have to quarantine when entering Canada (I am presuming she is vaccinated as the JSF said they would have their skaters vaccinated by August.). Who knows what rules will be in place for any country two months from now. I hope Japan gets their percentage of vaccinated up.

Any known update to Jun's plans? Canada is now open to international (vaccinated) travelers without them having to quarantine, so he could, hypothetically, fly back this week.

I love all those things - his gentleness, his artistic interpretation, his technical finesse, his transitions, his humanity - and, hello! His speed! He is SO fast.

R+J has been used by multiple skaters (Jun, for instance - but a very different version). I would think that Nam will have totally different choreo and probably even a different version of the song. Unless he states he's doing an something to commemorate Yuzu, I would think his take will be original.

I think this is the only place I've ever heard about Yuzu interacting like a regular person with a friend.

And then there's this from the OC

What do those symbols stand for? He doesn't have any repetitions in his name.... (Clearly I know zero Japanese...)

Tokyo forged ahead - but a year postponed. Will they postpone?