memae

I'm not a native speaker and I'm losing my grip on Russian more and more every day now that I no longer use it, but I feel like Shomenka is more likely. Maybe Shomka when joking around with the boys.

I thought this might happen. I just hope he doesn't go to Eteri. Those girls skate like robots. Shoma connects so well with his music and what he's doing - some of that footwork is to die for because he's so expressive. He needs to work on his jumps but is Eteri's little girl technique going to cut it for a man with his strength? And someone who wants to last longer than 2 more years. Surely she'd have one of the top guys already if her style of coaching was effective for men. I like the idea of Ravia Walia. What about Alexei Mishin? Tukta is looking great but Mishin prefers working with male skaters and he doesn't have any of the big guns at the moment. He coached Plushenko and Yagudin. It might be a good match.

I mean, he does have the glasses. But also I just want someone to do it and I think he's the right fit.

I really just want to see Nam Nguyen put on some Gryffindor robes for his EX program.

This is what I think too. At this stage I think a 4A is perhaps more likely than another quad lutz from him, just in consideration of the points, being first, etc, as well as his lack of fondness for toe jumps (esp flip), getting injured practicing his quad lutz, and then how phenomenally good his axel jumps are.

I think we can acknowledge it now, and for a few years to come. But he's not going to be unique there. It's complicated to make comparisons of athletes from different eras when all of the stuff about 'level of competition' gets brought up. Like, yeah, obviously today's athletes are capable of so very much more than those before them. Sport wasn't a profession in the past. Athletes still had jobs to go to so they couldn't train full time. (A lot like many women's sports at the moment!) They almost always paid their own ways to events. Skaters didn't have the opportunity to practise all year round. The equipment wasn't what it is now. I'll bet a number of them coached themselves. The science around nutrition, training, injury recover/rehab, and movement was next to nothing. But, those athletes were the best among a range of competitors within the same context. Considering all the factors, what they were capable of is incredible. There's too many variables at play to really compare them to the athletes of today. I do get what you're saying, of course, but I think people can be too dismissive of sporting achievements in the past because they compare the context or field of competitors to what they are now. We don't know how Button and the like may have fared as professional athletes given all the opportunities of today's elite but they were the best at their time for a reason. They did what they needed to do to be better than their opponents. It's impossible to say how they'd go now if only they'd been born decades later, but that level of drive and diligence that made them elite athletes in their era would still be part of them. I think calling a 4A the 'cherry on top' of Yuzu's career is accurate. It's not a competitive highlight of a career, after all. But when you're already as decorated as Yuzu Hanyu, surely contributing to a pivotal point in the sport's history is the next challenge to aspire to. He has the best 3A that's ever been seen. It almost feels like the 4A should be his. I don't think he's chasing it simply to be the first to do so, but because he'll do it in a way that makes it 'his' jump. It'll also be a good way to bring the two sides of skating back together - right now it feels like people are pushing for skating to focus more on the athleticism or people are adamant that the performance and artistry is more important. If he can land the hardest ever jump the way that he most often lands jumps - beautifully, with carefully, artistically considered transitions - it'll make it clear that you don't need to skimp on artistry to have athleticism and vice versa. As for the sketchy rotations, I think as more and more skaters land quads (in both men's and women's skating), judges won't have any choice than to start really cracking down on it. Especially when scores get tighter and dodgy judging is questioned more and more.

They have very different meanings. In "not exactly legendary" the meaning is "not legendary". The use of 'exactly' there is to make it sound more gentle, and less harsh. "Ofc he's legendary" means that there is no doubt that he is legendary.

I think this is the key here. Guaranteed if Yuzu does land a 4A it's not going to be in a vacuum and done just for the sake of doing one, and that'll be what helps him truly hold onto his place at the top of the sport - not just at the moment, but historically. It'll be what sets him apart from the (very few) others with similar achievements. If he does it, it won't be replicated for a long while. If he's the standard to surpass it won't be just about being able to land a jump.

I don't think you get what I'm saying. Of course he's a legendary athlete. But do you think for Yuzuru Hanyu that it's enough? I highly doubt he's satisfied or he'd retire and save his ankle so he can still walk when he's an old man. There will always be someone coming up to do better and he knows it. He's setting a benchmark but one day someone will reach it. There will always be comparisons to other people who had similar achievements. I even said that people will always talk about Yuzu's OGMs with reference to Dick Button or as "the first since", and then you did that in your list. And there will always be people with their doubts about scores and inflation and corruption or with their comparisons to previous scoring systems. His 4Lo is going to get lumped in with the others, like Shoma's flip and Chen being the first to get all 5. He's always going to be the first Japanese skater to win the men's OGM but that's special for Japan more than for the sport in itself. Almost anyone who isn't American or Russian is going to be the first from their country to win the OGM. I truly think that a 4A is going to be a defining moment for the sport and I don't think it'll be something that is quickly replicated. I also think if Yuzu wants to transcend the very exclusive group of multiple men's skating OGM winners to stand alone as the pinnacle of the sport, and I think that he does, then being the first person to land a 4A is the way to do it. If it wasn't for him, no one would think it even possible. If he lands it, he'll have done the impossible. It'll be one of the biggest contributions to the sport in its entirety - it's beyond specific competitions and scores and nationality. It will set him apart for history because it's not a score someone can beat and it's not a number of OGMs or WCs that someone can beat. There's a gold medalist every Olympics. There's only one person being the first to do the impossible and land a 4A. It'll be a pivotal moment in the sport and if he does it, it's his for history.

My perspective comes from my own experiences in other sports, as a spectator, athlete, and coach. Every sport has a Yuzu Hanyu - someone who can make people who know nothing about the sport sit and watch for a few minutes in sheer awe of what they can do because they're just that good at it. Tiger Woods, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Leisel Jones, Gary Ablett, Federer, Serena Williams. I will watch anyone in any sport whose athleticism impresses me the way that Yuzu's does. Yuzu certainly has a legendary status at the moment, but will that persist after decades and decades the way that Dick Button's has? Winning is a normal part of sport. There are incredible athletes in all sports who win multiple events or Olympic games or other kinds of accolades. Many of them do that despite illness, age, injury, and corruption. It's incredible, of course, but not unique. Records are only going to get broken. But being the first person to do something considered impossible or a milestone in the sport itself - that's huge and that's not something that anyone else can have their name next to. If he's the first person ever to land a 4A then that's his forever. Not the first in 66 years or the first in 90 years but the first ever. I don't know how many Olympic medals Dawn Fraser has but I know she's the first woman to ever break 60s for 100m freestyle. That's nothing special now - 11 year olds can do it. But it was a tremendous milestone for swimming and it's going to continue to stand out in the history of the sport. Other historic sporting moments would be the 4-minute mile and the 10s 100m sprint, or the perfect 10 in gymnastics. None of those are very exciting anymore but they are still considered turning points for their sports because they opened up giant possibilities for the future. I don't think landing a 4A will be a greater achievement than 2 Olympic golds and 2 WC and all the other wins and records Yuzu has earned over the years, especially considering all he was working against to get them, but I do think it will be more memorable as the history of the sport continues. It may very well be just the cherry on top, but on paper it'll be what separates Yuzu from other skaters who have won multiple Olympic gold medals, broken multiple records, won world championships and GPs. Even if he does win another Olympic gold (and it's certainly possible), he won't be the first or only to do so in skating. It's been 90 years, but they'll always have to say "the first in 90 years".

Honestly, I think he cares more about the 4A than going to Beijing/medalling at Beijing. He's already got 2 Olympic gold medals. It's great, but it's not exactly legendary. He's not the only skater in history to have done that and in other sports there are lots of athletes with multiple gold medals. Landing a 4A in competition, however, will be figure skating's equivalent to breaking the 10s barrier. It will be a historical moment for the sport. I think that's what he's after. Of course, if he does land it, then he's going to be all the more capable of succeeding at Beijing. I think he could get to Beijing. His biggest competition, currently, is Nathan Chen - someone who can't take an Olympic spot away from Yuzu because they compete for different countries. But getting a medal also depends on injuries and how well everyone else does, and he can't control either of those. I hope he does what Leisel Jones (a swimmer) did at her last Olympics. She already had multiple golds and world records, so she went and was more relaxed than ever and able to enjoy the other parts of her Olympic experience. The world's best athletes are plonked into Olympic Village for what is not only the highest level of competition for all their sports but a giant celebration of elite sport and the coming together of people from around the world. His skating is especially beautiful when he's relaxed. He'd probably do even better than normal just because he isn't trying to.