Martina

Over the past few years, I've read numerous books and newspaper articles, and compiled countless statistics, and what I've seen is disturbing. And the ISU does nothing, or does too little, because the people who run the federation have their own vested interests, and honest and competent judges struggle to get their work done. In 2021, as soon as I read the names of the judges who would be judging the World Championships, I complained about Salome Chigogidze's presence, stating clearly that she was one of the most biased judges around. A few months later, the ISU suspended Chigogidze for national bias, specifically for the scores awarded at that World Championships. If I knew before the competition that she was biased, how could the ISU not know? Why was she allowed to falsify that result? And why was she back judging after just a year? So when someone tells me they trust the judges' scores because they're more competent than us, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. There are many interesting statistics to be done, although unfortunately, for some time now, if you don't have a paid subscription, you can only see the top ten results. With a little imagination, however, you can get a few more answers, because the order can be by score, BV, GOE, PCS, chronological, from highest to lowest, or reversed. If you search for all skaters, you can request the result by "single skater," which will give you the best score for everyone. You can select the season, nationality, competition, short program, or freeskate... by combining the results together, you can see more than just 10 lines.

Because in 2014, the United States had no chance of reaching the podium in any of the other events, so they went all-in on ice dance. And when the United States gets involved in politics, Canada isn't strong enough to keep them at bay. This is the passage from "On Edge," a book written by American judge Jon Jackson. Note that he's talking about a novice competition, not a major competition. And note that the judge he's talking about has judged Yuzu (giving him absurdly low marks) at the 2016 GPF, 2017 4CC, and 2018 OG, among other events. I commented on this book on my blog. The comments are in Italian, the quotes from the book are in English: https://sportlandiamartina.link/2020/12/14/jon-jackson-on-edge-4/ Jenn already answered this by showing you Noriko Shirota's role. I'll just add Yutaka Higuchi's name. Higuchi was the first Japanese skater to train at the Toronot Cricket Club, in the 1970s. He met Orser when he was still very young, and they remained friends. After retiring from competition, he worked as a journalist (in this photo, you can see him on the left, interviewing Yuzu and Mao Asada at the 2012 NHK Trophy) and collaborated with the JSF, connecting Japanese skaters with foreign coaches and choreographers. Discussions took place with Shirota, but the organizational work was done by Higuchi. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Yutaka_Higuchi?uselang=it#/media/File:Hanyu_and_Asada_in_Yutaka_'_s_room_at_the_2012_NHK_Trophy.jpg Yuzu wanted to learn the 4S. I don't know when he started carefully observing other skaters, but I'm sure he had already started doing so at least in his second junior season, since he said he studied the 3A of Denis Ten and Artur Gachinski. Fernandez began training in Toronto in the 2011-12 season. That year, he competed in four competitions where Yuzu was also present: the Nebelhorn Trophy, the Rostelecom Cup, the GPF, and the WC. You can be sure he studied him carefully, because at the Rostelecom Cup, Yuzu won by just 3 hundredths, which made him realize that every extra hundredth can make a difference. If you look at the link, these are Fernandez's 4S, arranged in chronological order. Notice when he started landing the jump, and think about who his coach was. If Orser could teach Fernandez the 4S, he could teach him too. https://skatingscores.com/q/element/?show_ranks=on&underline=&season_codes=all&division_codes=sr&division_codes=jr&event_codes=intl&series_codes=all&discipline_codes=men&segment_type_codes=all&unit_country_codes=all&unit_name=javier+fernandez&element_type_codes=jump&element_code=4s%&bonus=none&sort=chron&limit=10&submit-button=Submit I think there are two reasons. Chan had not the 4S in his programs, and Yuzu wanted to watch closely a skater land the 4S. Also, probably he felt he had to maintain a certain distance, since Chan was the skater he wanted to overtake. We don't know all the details, but Nanami Abe know really well the training conditions in Sendai after the earthquake. She knew this was a huge limitation for Yuzu. And I think Yuzu is capable of showing the intensity of his feelings like no other. Abe was very important to him, but getting results was also very important. And she understood this and put Yuzu's needs first. The relationship remained excellent; Abe's husband continued to sharpen Yuzu's blades, and they later worked together on some choreography.

The +5/-5 system is much more open to manipulation than the +3/-3 system, so older results are more reliable. This doesn't mean they can't be manipulated—Sotnikova's and Davis/White's victories in Sochi are proof of that—but there's a big difference between the two systems. I'll give you an example with a 4T. From the 2010-11 to the 2014-15 season: BV 10.30, points earned with GOE +3 13.30, with GOE -3 7.30 From the 2015-16 to the 2017-18 season: BV 10.30, points earned with GOE +3 13.30, with GOE -3 6.30 (the negative GOE for quadruples was increased from -3.00 to -4.00) From the 2018-19 season: BV 9.50, points earned with GOE +5 13.75, with GOE 5 4.75 This means that the fixed part, the one the judges cannot control (unless the tachnical panel starts making rotation calls based on how much they like the skater), gives fewer points, and the part decided by the judges has grown dramatically in both positive evaluations than in the negative ones. We can make a comparison of this kind for all the jumps. The new system is more manipulable. As for the Gailhaguet episode, I've never found any newspaper articles confirming it. I believe it really happened, but we have no proof.

Generally, the most powerful federations are the Russian and the US. Another federation that's very active behind the scenes is the French one. Partly, it's a matter of political alignment: the Russian federation can count not only on the favorable votes of Russian judges, but also those of Belarusian, Georgian, and so on. And with so many judges voting a certain way, it's harder to see that the votes are odd. The US federation relies on the favorable votes of Mexican judges and, in many cases, those of Canadian and Japanese judges, depending on the skaters in question. The Italian and Israeli federations seem to operate differently depending on the competition, but they certainly seek strong allies. There may be actual agreements, but also more subtle influences. I've read judges state that when a judge is inexperienced, he tends to imitate what more experienced judges do, and from there, it's not far to being influenced. Then there's the matter of reputation. When a skater is touted as a great champion, judges tend to raise their scores. How come this didn't happen in the last part of Yuzu's career? Because the US federation, aided by the press, repeatedly emphasized that Yuzu was old, no longer in peak condition, that his routines had become repetitive... A couple of Yuzu mistakes, and the fact that he was no longer the strongest became common belief. And the Japanese federation sabotaged him in turn because its directors never liked him. After Sochi, they only had Yuzu, so they were more or less fair, but when Uno became strong, they saw an opportunity to surpass Yuzu and began sabotaging him, as we clearly saw at the National Championships. There's also another issue: if a skater has very difficult technical content, judges tend to raise his scores. Among the men, this means that those who perform 4Lz or 4F have higher GOEs and PCSs than they deserve, while the other quadruples are considered easy. Zagitova did all her jumps in the second half of her programs, Shcherbakova and Trusova had quadruples, and Kostornaya the 3A (Kihira also had 3A, but her federation never loved her, and anyway, the JSF means nothing compared to the Russian federation). Yes, we can consider ourselves lucky that Patrick wasn't Russian or American, although Yuzu might have won anyway. They hadn't yet realized Yuzu was so strong, so perhaps they wouldn't have used enough manipulation.

No, youre right. He broke the Zayak rule in that program. In the previous phrase I wrote "free skate", I forgot to repeat the detail in the other phrase. The Zayak rule works a little differently in SP and FS. It's rarer for the rule to be broken in SP, and the chances of changing a layout are lower, so at Skate Canada, Yuzu didn't realize the problem until he saw the score. With the new layout, the 4T in combination, he eliminated this risk, but I'm sure that if he hadn't changed the layout, he wouldn't have made that kind of mistake again. At Skate Canada, he should have left the 3Lz alone. He would have had a slightly negative GOE, but it would have been entered as a triple jump, and the toe loop would have been called as a 2T + COMBO. He would have gotten roughly 6 more points.

Yuzu will soon upload Prequel to YouTube and it will be available for everyone to watch for a week:

Yes, Yuzu was clear-headed; he was careful not to broke the Zayak rule. One of the many extraordinary things he did was to repeatedly modify the layout of his free programs to correct a mistake, but he only broke the Zayak rule twice: once when he was 13, in a novice competition, and once when he was 15, in his second senior competition. But both could be true. He was clear-headed in understanding how to modify the layout, but the determination to try that risky layout came from the thought, "I either do it now, or I'll give up the competition." He still didn't win because Chen's PCS were inflated (and it wouldn't have been the last time, nor the worst time), but he tried.

For some time I too struggled to understand this. YOLO = You Only Live Once. There are moments in which, if you want to achieve something, you have to take risk.

This article only scratches the surface. It's nice to see that the press was aware of the problem, but they've written far too little. Perhaps if they'd covered it more often and in more detail, we'd have more fair scores.

I'm happy that I'm not his mother, I would not have survived to some competitions. If you wants serenity, it's ok. We all have our own way of supporting him and receiving from him what we need. I prefer to know everything and be close to him in thought even in difficult times, but it's a personal choice. There's no one way better than another.

He relied on painkillers, as he did a lot of times during his competitive career. I'd prefer he didn't need them; I'm worried about the long-term effects of all these painkillers. If you're up for a long list, I can list quite a few physical issues Yuzu had to overcome over the years. Let me know if you want to read it. Painkillers aside, how could Yuzu go on like that? He is stubborn. When he wants to do something, he really does his best. Probably he has an high pain threshold, but mostly is stubbornness. No, he can't change the format of the performance. He loves to skate in an arena full of people who wants to see him. Take that away from him, and you take away what he loves most. A recorded show isn't the same. A video, as Ikue, is wonderful, but he wants to perform in front of the public. I saw him live two times. At the 2019 Grand Prix Final: short program, one official practice (the one in which he tried the 4A) and free skate, not the gala: that day I was at work. There were a lot of strong skaters in all the competitions. No one was comparable to him. He was magnetic, he was able to catch my eye even when he was at the side of the rink, drinking water, and at the same time one of the other skaters was doing a quad at the center of the rink. I learned in that competition how overwhelming his presence is. In 2022 he went pro. I saw all his solo show from my computer. Prologue only some time after the show, but for Gift, Re_Pray, Echoes of Life and Realive I bought the ticket for the livestream every time, this means 9 tickets. For the other shows, two times (Echoes day 2 and Realive day 1) I was able to watch them on Asahi in real time, I watched all the others when they were aired some times later. So I know what he did. I saw everything. I won the tickets for Echoes of Life in Chiba, both days (but I bought also my ticket for the international livestream, as a support for Yuzu). Chiba was the third city of the tour, so I already knew the story. This aided me a lot, because I was able to understand what was happening even whithout the English subtitles. And... it's totally different. From a screen, the shows are wonderful. From a cinema (two days later I went to a cinema in Kyoto and I watched the delayed viewing) they are even more beautiful, because you feel the atmosphere with the other fans. Inside the arena... it's totally different. The light are brighter. The colours more intense. The music wraps the people. There is a sensation of the space that you can't feel from a screen. You see Yuzu's speed, the beautiful transitions from one move to another that sometimes get lost when in the video there is a camera change. You feel to be part of the shows, because the lights often go over the public. You feel the emotions of the people sitting near you. It's totally different. Without the live performances, what Yuzu is doing would lose a big part of his meaning. The emotion would not be the same. Think to a detail: no one knows whether Yuzu will be able to skate a clean show or not. He too doesn't know it. And this feeling is an important part of the show. Really. When in Gift he started the six minutes of warm up, I was worried as I was worried the year before, when he was about to skate in Beijing. In a video... would he show a flawed performance, or would he skate again and again until he will do a perfect performance? There can't be the same tension in a recorded show. Another thing: he loves challenge. He could do easier shows. But he doesn't do them. He needs to be challenged, otherwise he would lose interest. At the 2017 Autumn Classic International he obtained 112.72 points in the short program. The Total Element Score, with three jump elements (one combination), three spins and one step sequence, was 64.17 points. For the free skate he decided to avoid the 4Lo and the 4Lz because he felt some pain to one knee. And he lost his concentration. He did countless mistakes. The Total Element Score for eight jump elements (three combinationa), three spins, one step sequence and one choreo sequence was 67.02 points. Less than three points more compared to the short program, but with a lot more of elements. Because on his mind he perceived the program as easy, since he had decided not to do the most difficult jumps, he was unable to concentrate and made mistakes that he normally does not make. When he doesn't feel challenged, he is not able to skate at his best. So we have to accept that sometimes he will be injured, and that, prayers aside, we can do nothing. To be his fans means, among all the beautiful things, also accepting this truth. From time to time, we will have a new trauma because we will discover something painful.

Same. We can't know when something wonderful will disappear. The only thing we can do was to wonder. Would his ankle heal? And would heal in time for the most important competitions? I'm happy that I was not a fanyu at the time of the 2014 Cup of China. The other injuries were devastating enough, that one would have been a nightmare. Anyone who doesn't follow Yuzu's career closely can't imagine how much criticism he's received, how many senseless accusations he's faced. But when we look at what not jealous people but others say, then he has received enormous praise, because everyone realizes what he does, how he does it, and who he is as a person. It was Yuzu who sprained his ankle. I don't know wether you saw the video of Yuzu walking in the backstage, at Notte stellata, with the ice on his ankle. And in Notte stellata he avoided the 3A and did only two 1A delayed, a 2T and a 3Lo. When he skated Requiem for the anniversary of the earthquake, the 3A was not so good. In Realive, for Otonal, he did only 3Lo, 3A, 3F+2T. His layout in his first senior season was more difficult, because then the combination was composed by two triple. We know that he wants to restore all his jumps, he was clear about it in Radio Members. But with his ankle is really difficult. We can only hope.

I, too, was sad to see that some people who had written so much in the past, produced analyses, videos, and texts... at a certain point stopped doing so. There could be many reasons for this, but it's still a treasure we're losing, because none of us can know everything, and by talking to each other, we learn so much. Years ago, I read some old forums, precisely to understand how people reacted in real time to episodes that, for me, were part of history. It helped me better understand the doubts and fears that so many had experienced. These doubts and fears haven't disappeared just because Yuzu is now a professional. In a recent interview, David Wilson stated that he was supposed to fly to Japan in January to choreograph Yae no sakura for Notte stellata, but that they had to abandon the project, and work with Zoom on a later date, due to yet another sprained ankle.

Chan had amazing skating skills and a wonderful 4T. His biggest flaw was the axel, he did a lot of mistakes on it. Fernandez has excellent skating skills and he was really good in connecting with the public. Uno's butt sticks a lot. And in order to raise his BV he cut transitions and skated a lot on two feet. He knew how to skate, but to be able to do more jumps, he simplified his skating. The judges should have noticed this and lowered his PCS scores, but they didn't. And his 4F was a really ugly jump. It was always cheated, but the judges gifted him huge scores. There are a lot of skaters better than Chen in spins, transitions and body movement. He learned to jump, and in his programs he did almost only jumps. But he was from US, and between the US press who praised him a lot and US federation who was able to influence the judges, the results were the ones we know.

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