memae

It's not even just 'very sweet' - it's a glowing example of good sportsmanship, which is always wonderful to see but especially so in figure skating because of all the heightened drama and media fuss to build up bitter 'rivalries' for the sake of views.

I think he meant 2018-2019, so Otonal. Both are ridiculous. The only step sequences in history they can compare to is each other. Still, seems like a fun and inspired endeavour.

I saw it on my Insta this morning. My little Australian heart is so proud.

She needs that 3A. Amber has hers as planned content for her SP. Mariah is on the up and up. If Bradie had that 3A coming together as rumours suggest, it's possibly a good option for her to pursue it so she has it up her sleeve in time for Olympic selection.

It's a sport. Strategy is a huge part of it. I'm not saying that she should be putting a jump she can't consistently land correctly into programs, but if she usually does and she knows she can do it then she should be aiming to maximise her points. We don't see what she's doing in training. She's an elite figure skater. Her coaches are experts. She's an expert. They know what they're doing and they know why they're doing it. They understand what they need to do to satisfy tech panels better than anyone. She could probably see a jump from the corner of her eye without looking at it directly and tell if it's rotated or not, in the same way Ian Thorpe could tell if someone swimming in the next lane had a good technique because of how the water felt as it moved.

I hate the controversies too but we also don't know the context of this footage. That might be the first one that she UR after a few successful attempts, and maybe it was UR because she was tired after doing it perfectly a bunch of times. She get gain a lot of +GOE from other elements but she can also gain a lot from this if she does it well. I hope she does it. She wouldn't be posting an UR jump to the world if she wasn't confident in it.

Even tech panels miss a lot of UR. Honestly, Rika's combination is so fast, elegant, and confident that if she's a bit UR in competition there's a chance it will be missed, and since this season basically doesn't count for standings or qualifying scores for worlds, etc, she can use it as a season to try things out in competition with comparatively little risk (competitively speaking - let's not talk risk of injury). I hope we'll be seeing her try that 4S a lot more now. With less stakes this season perhaps nerves will be less too for a lot of skaters - I hope it means we'll see a lot of them try and achieve new things in competition and that the success of those attempts bolsters their confidence to use them successfully in the next season when (fingers crossed) competition is back to normal.

On Insta he mentioned in reply to a comment that he wants to do Yuzu's (and he wrote 'Yuzu' not Hanyu or Yuzuru, bless him)step sequence from his 2018 SP. I think it's a really nice way of him to pay homage to the programs he loved of other skaters over the years.

I believe he saw an opportunity to get some clicks for his YT channel in the aftermath of that podium too. I

Judging by his Instagram, I don't think he's in Australia. Pretty sure he's in Europe somewhere.

I was there for it and didn't see the clip with the commentary. It's validating to know that I wasn't just outraged because I'm a fan of his and definitely biased. Unbeknownst to me, a seasoned figure skating commentator who has to be objective and fair, had thought along exactly the same lines and been expecting a big score and been confused when it wasn't delivered.

Mine is so bad too!

I quite appreciated that they didn't try to force some silly link but instead were just like "We support athletes".

I really got the feeling that he wants something new. Even if the all we get this season are the ashes of what would have been without covid, I think we are likely to see (or at least hear of) new programs from Yuzu. I want to use words like renew, refresh, rebirth. Not because I think he needs it or anything, but I just got the impression that he burnt out a bit last season and got a bit stuck. I think the return to his old programs gave him the chance at 4CC to catch his breath and almost like purify himself of whatever was weighing him down, and that the next season will be him redefining himself. Although, I do think he has probably already done that within himself - so the season will be more like the debut/unveiling of that to the skating community. I can't imagine he'd do that with recycled programs unless he makes a competitive program out of show or gala programs. I think if Notte Stellata was reworked as a SP it would possibly overthrow Seimei as the quintessential Yuzu program, but I don't see that happening (as much as I wish).

I went skating yesterday! In my skates this time because it was planned and not a spontaneous oh-surprise-there's-an-open-rink-here! thing. My ankles are so weak after so long of nothing lol. It was the weirdest feeling. Dance classes have started up again in my area too, so hopefully some of that and some regular skating will mean I'm back to normal pretty soon. I also made the mistake of going back to the gym for the first time last week (I didn't bother during the time when we had to book a time slot because I am a bit like whimsical about the gym - like I'll decide I'm going to the gym on a given day but I won't stick to a time to go) so my legs and butt are so sore and I couldn't really bend my knees. I am acutely aware of which muscles work when I do every little thing on the ice just because yesterday they were very unhappy. I've never noticed before because I've always maintained a pretty good standard of fitness and flexibility. There were kids everywhere too, which I find scary. Especially older kids racing around in rentals even though they don't know how to stop or avoid running into people, and right through the middle of the rink where I wanted to do stuff out of everyone's way. But whatever. I will take whatever ice time I can get. I'm going again today ha!

That was exactly my thinking too. Her poor mother. And poor Katya herself. This is all so very sad.

The comment also mentioned some stuff like how the global skating community always goes on about 'evil Russian coaches' but never the 'good Australian'. So, I think they were referring to Harley Windsor.

There was a comment on instagram (from what seemed to be a burner account, so I take it with a big grain of salt) that her partner used to drop her on purpose and that's why she got the injuries that led to her retirement. I find that to be a troubling rumour, in that if it is true then the skating community here in Australia has swept it under the rug and we had a teenage girl come to live in another country to compete for us and let her get treated so badly, so far from home when she was really just a kid. If it isn't true, it's also especially problematic because Harley Windsor is Aboriginal, and God knows we don't need more false reports of things like violence adding to the racist, false characterization of Australia's Aboriginal people. Her passing is very sad. People will try to put it down to one thing or a reason, like having to retire due to her injuries (and that's exactly what comments on social media are attributing her death to), but in truth there was probably a lot more going on with her that we will never know about.

It will be sad for Nathan if he doesn't get the chance to challenge for the gold again over something like this. It'll be sad for Jason to miss out on trying to make the team to go to the Olympics again. Sui/Han will miss the opportunity to be top of the field at their home games. Boyang will miss the opportunity to skate at his home games too, and it's not like he's out of contention for a spot on the podium if he skates well. I think the ice dancers are a bit safer - ice dancers seem to improve with age. Or, rather, they at least get to continue at that level as they get older because they aren't jumping. It'll be sad for lots of the ladies skaters too - the 3A, Rika, Alysa Liu. I think Rika might be the one who has more longevity but who knows what kinds of jumps 15-year-olds will be capable of by 2026. I would love to see Yuzuru skate at the Olympics again, and I wouldn't be happier than to see him get a 3rd OGM and his 4A. I can't really imagine China letting go of the Olympics. I guess it could happen, but I think there's too much opportunity for PR and to boost a political and national image for China for them to just not have the Olympics again. Especially after Covid. Or at least to give the illusion it's after Covid. I know it's up to the IOC to make decisions about this, but I don't for a second think that countries like China, Russia, and the USA don't throw their weight around and pull strings regarding the decisions. Maybe there will be some stand-in events from different sports. Like, maybe ISU will have an extra event if the Olympics don't go ahead. Around the same time, different place (maybe a former Olympic venue), special medals, a once-off championship that you will never be challenged for, and that we understand in our sport to have stood in for the Olympics. Same qualifying criteria, etc. It wouldn't be nearly the same or nearly make up for it, but it might at least allow for skaters who are at their best in their careers at that point to not entirely miss out. Tara Lipinski peaked for 5 minutes at the right time. The Olympics were a year too late for Patrick Chan (although maybe if they'd been in 2013, Denis Ten would have won the gold). Sochi was right on time for Yuzu (although he has since proven that wasn't even his peak - we're still climbing to that summit). It would almost be a consolation event, but it might be better than nothing.

I mean let's just scrap the summer stuff and combine them in the worst, most unfair compromise ever. I was, of course, very much joking about it and all but I do think, the way things are at the moment - politically and socially - I wouldn't be surprised if some countries or individual athletes boycott the Beijing games if they go ahead. I think they're bound to be controversial - maybe because they don't happen at all, maybe because they do happen but people have things to say and stances to make about it. (This is just based on my observations of current sentiment in media as well as what I hear from others from day to day - I'm not trying to make any political comment about China here).

I struggled with all of this in competitive swimming. My coach made me swim with a broken finger (from a skating accident, funnily enough). When I was a bit older and no longer with that coach, I trained half a season with a broken rib (and when that got better my season ended because I then broke my arm). I couldn't even sit up to get out of bed. I had to roll over and slide out. I couldn't do tumble turns at each end of the pool. I also once trained with a partial Achilles' tear, sustained during training (we were running around then jumping up on the blocks to dive in and sprint, repeat, repeat, repeat). That's all the worst of it. But I definitely hurt in some way every session I ever did. Chafe on my ribs. Tendonitis. Also just the physical and mental pain of hard work. All of this encouraged and normalised by coaches. It was a good thing if we trained so hard we missed 10 minutes in the middle of a session because we needed to spew. It's no coincidence that I have broken so many bones (13) so easily. People think I'm clumsy. I'm not. My bone density is terrible. My diet was terrible. I ate for energy rather than recovery. I hated being bulky. My size was constantly commented on (I was very muscular), which is real tough when you're in a swimsuit 5 hours a day and while there were times I was able to eat pretty well and be healthy, I trace my years of eating disorders back to always being around people commenting on my body, particularly coaches and other adults like trainers. I was in a sport that people immediately associate with big shoulders and appetites but somehow my big shoulders and appetite received so much judgement. I couldn't have been good at my sport without that muscle but for some reason there was so much focus on my body instead of what it was doing: swimming really fast. It's like I needed to be strong but wasn't allowed to look strong. When I wasn't winning, the muscles weren't worth it. So I would stop eating, lose weight, then slowly gain it back, win again, lose again, starve again. My coach always told me to eat "better" and never taught me how. He focused on energy and so did I because I was always hungry. I was not getting enough iron or calcium. At times I wasn't getting enough protein to maintain my muscle mass. I failed so many classes at school because I couldn't remember anything and ended up repeating. I am in my 30s and my bone density is a major concern. And this is in swimming. It's not even an aesthetic sport in the ways that skating and gymnastics are. You literally win by being the fastest. It's not up to interpretation. I can't even imagine how bad it gets for skaters in a sport in which the way you look can tie to how you are perceived and affect your points, and also in which some coaches limit how much water their athletes drink because of how much weight matters. This is why I was so excited by news of this secret Bradie 3A endeavour and then Amber's instagram post. Strong, grown women being strong and proving that they can get it done through strength rather than a technique that relies on small stature and low weight. Amber is nearly as tall as Yuzu, just by the way. She's at least 15cm taller than the Russian girls.

Or we could just have a dream, impractical solution: Tokyo 2022 Winter Games

I hope so too! How wonderful it would to see some ladies skaters who are adults debuting some 3A or quads in the future. A 3A and some consistency would do wonders for Amber. I wonder if knowing she can do a 3A will give her the confidence to hold things together better?

I think for a lot of people, 25 sounds like a good age to get married until you actually are 25 lol. I always thought 25 would be perfect, but now that I'm a couple of years passed it, I'm glad for it. I mean, I do have mixed feelings about it, but I do think I have grown to appreciate who I am because of who I grew into with the independence of not being married. I would have been happy to marry at 25, and I'm sure I would be happy now if it had gone that way, but I am very okay now with not having gotten married at 25. 25 sure seems old and grown up before you're 25. I don't think you realise quite what you're still going to be capable of or what you're still going to be passionate about or wanting to do past a certain age when you're young and thinking of the future. Yuzu probably looked at other skaters before him. It is a sport marked by short careers. He still had the motivation to overcome his injuries where a lot of others tried but ultimately chose to retire. He probably thought after a 2nd OGM he wouldn't hunger for more - what more is there? Well, we know now. And we know he wants it. I think the more he worked on improving overall and on landing the 4A, the more he's realised he not only can keep going but that he really, really wants to. He had no way of knowing that when he was younger, when he still thought of 25 as old.

It also might be a comment about age and wisdom in a way. Not many people have experienced true, profound romantic love by the age of 25. And even if they have, there's something to be experienced in romantic love as it grows with time.