Martina

P. 49 In September 2019, after winning the Autumn Classic, the first tournament of the season, he answered questions from the press. P. 50 In September 2018, he won the Autumn Classic, but was only 3.87 points ahead Jun-hwan Cha. After winning two consecutive gold medals, he said he wanted to "enjoy skating without focusing on the results," but his competitive spirit has been rekindled. P. 53 After transferring to an overseas club in the spring of 2012, he spoke about the changes he experienced due to his new enviroment. P. 54 In February 2018, won the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. At a later press conference. P. 57 (not in the original post) Preparation before the competition In my case, I absolutely never relax. I will definitely win, I absolutely don't want to lose. That's what I think, Then, I can generally concentrate. Context: In June 2019, he performed for children practicing figure skating at an ice rink in Hokkaido. During the Q & A session afterward, he was asked, "Do you do anything to relieve pre-competition tension?" and gave advice. P. 58 Reflecting on the 2013-14 season, which saw him win the Sochi Winter Olympics in February and then the World Championshipsat the end of march, he was asked if his ideals would change as he progressed further. P. 61 In February 2018, after the free skate at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, he answered questions from reporters about managing to land his final triple Lutz. P. 63 In December 2019, the day after finishing second in the All Japan Championships, he was asked, "Don't you feel overwhelmed by the high expetations and pressure?" P. 65 In January 2012, after the first half of the 2011-12 season, he shared anecdoctes from before the East Japan Earthquake. P. 67 In January 2014, shortly before his participation in the Sochi Winter Olympics, he was interviewed and asked by a reporter about "the appeal of figure skating."

The Weibo pages contain only Yuzu’s statement, lacking the explanation added by the book’s editor, which places the remark in its proper context. I will provide that here. The preceding pages of the book contain a photo for both the short program and the free skate for each season, along with the names of the programs and a list of all the results Yuzu achieved that season. The quotes are interspersed with photos. P. 26 In April 2020, amidst the ongoing spread of the coronavirus, the JOC )Japanese Olympic Committee) released a video via its official Twitter account, offering words of encouragement to those battling the illness. P. 27 (Subtitle) Beyond the wall there's only a wall P. 28 After the first half of the 2015-16 season, he spoke to a magazine in an interview about his "resilience in the face of pressure." That season, he broke the world record (at that time) twice, with 322.40 points at the NHK Trophy and 330.43 points at the Grand Priz Final. P. 31 November 2019, Grand Prix Series NHK Trophy Short Program. With 109.34 points, he was in first place. P. 33 In September 2017, at the Autumn Classic, he scored 112.72 points in the short program. the highest score in the world for a short program at that time, but still finished in second place overall. P. 35 In June 2019 he performed for children practicing figure skating at an ice rink in Hokkaido. He then gave them advice during a Q & A session. P. 36 Ahead of the 2018-19 season, talk about skating to the music of signature programs by Johnny Weir and Evgeni Plushenko, whom he'd admired since he was a boy. P. 39 After winning the All Japan Championships in December 2014 for the third consecutive year, he was asked about "how to land the quadruple Salchow." P. 41 In the spring of 2012, he left Japan to train under coach Brian Orser in Toronto, Canada. He revealed that he initially couldn't do what could do the children at the skating club. P. 42 In a magazine interview in December 2015, while discussing his "ideal skating"-which goes beyond simly performing flavlessly-he mentioned his "source of inspiration." P. 44 In December 2019, he successfully landed five quadruple jumps, including a Lutz and a Loop, in the free skate at the Grand Prix Final, his first time doing so, but finished in second place. Nathan Chen, who won the competition, set world records for both the free skate and the total score, achieving his third consecutive victory. P. 47 Comment made in April 2017 after winning the World Championships. In response to the question, "How far will men's technique evolve?" regarding the highest level of competition in history, with four competitors scoring over 300 points.

I did a copy-paste and added a few things. My comments are in bold. When he was two years old, he has been diagnosed with asthma. Sprained ankle when he was 7 years old. His father carried him in his arms into the medical studio of Akira Kikuchi, whom he met for the first time on this occasion. Autumn 2007: Injury at his neck (we know no more details). In this period he won gold at the Novice A National Championship and bronze at the Junior National Championship. February 2009: He aims to reclaim the two spots for Japan at the World Junior Championships, which means he must place in the top 10. He extends his training sessions and ends up with a back injury. A week before the competition, he is unable to land even a 1A. He finished 12th (it should be noted that 4 of the skaters who placed ahead of him had already competed in Grand Prix events or at least one senior ISU Championship, but they chose to participate in this competition to earn international ranking points, given that the following season would be an Olympic season). December 2009, GPF, gold medal An injury at the back forced him to reduce training sessions some time before the competition. December 2009, National Championship (senior), 6th place The back pain continues to be felt, so much so that in training he avoids the Biellmann position. March 11, 2011 Earthquake Not exactly an injury, but it had a very strong psychological impact, and for several days he also experienced significant physical discomfort. We know that between the end of April and the beginning of May, when the WC took place, he had not yet regained his 4T. He also lost the ice rink for the second time, having already lost it once before in December 2004. 2011.11, Rostelecom Cup (Grand Prix of Russia), Gold Medal Injured his hip during the official practice before the competition and competed with it taped up. [It was Kikuchi who recounted the episode in his book in 2019. Kikuchi too was in Russia at the time, and even with the care provided by the Japanese team doctor, Yuzu found it painful just to walk. Yuzu absolutely had to win this competition in order to qualify for the GPF.] December 2011, GPF, 4th place During the commentary for Eurosport, at the start of the short program, Max Ambesi mentioned that he had "an ankle problem." 2012.03, World Championships in Nice, France, Bronze Medal Injured his right ankle before the free skate and competed after receiving a painkilling injection. A post-competition examination confirmed an avulsion fracture. [Correction: he sprained his ankle before the Short Program, not before the Free Skate. This is the reason why he decided to change his layout and to do the combination after the 4T, at the start of the program, instead that after the 3Lz, at the end of the program, when he was already tired. I knew nothing about the subsequent diagnosis of a fracture.] Summer 2012 During a night training session while staying in Sendai—with Orser away in Canada—he fell and sprained his ankle. 2012.10, Finlandia Trophy, Gold Medal In the first season after moving to Canada for training, Yuzuru Hanyu developed a high fever before the competition. Without sufficient pre-competition training, he made his season debut at the Finlandia Trophy (as described in Blue Flame II). During the free skate, he suffered an asthma attack and collapsed onto the ice immediately after finishing, gasping for breath. [During this period, his asthma worsened because he had to adapt to a climate different from the one he was used to. Furthermore, while it was normal to wear a mask in Japan for protection against dust and pollen, that was not the case in Canada; people would stare at him, so for a while, he stopped wearing one.] 2012.12, Grand Prix Final, Silver Medal He was in seriously poor health due to food poisoning, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. He withdrew from the gala after the opening performance. 2012.12, All-Japan Championships, Gold Medal He competed before he had fully recovered his health (*Blue Flame II*; the documentary Time of Awakening). 2013.02, Four Continents Championships, Silver Medal During the long program, he was affected by a minor injury to his right eyelid sustained before the competition. According to reports, he was jostled by people crowding around him at the hotel and hit the hotel glass. Had this injury not occurred, he would have become a Super Grand Slam champion at just 19 years old in 2014. 2013.03, World Championships in Canada, 4th Place He contracted influenza before the World Championships and was unable to train for about 10 days because of a high fever. He returned to the ice at the end of February, with only two weeks remaining before the World Championships. After resuming on-ice training in late February 2013, he injured his left knee and had to stop training for another week (*Blue Flame II*). During the second half of the 2012–13 season, he not only suffered frequent injuries but also fell ill often (*Time of Awakening*). During the official practice on the morning of the free skate at the March 2013 World Championships, he injured his right ankle again (*Blue Flame II*). This was one of only two times in his senior career that he failed to reach the podium at an international competition. His left knee was at Stage III of patellar tendinitis. Despite everything, he fought to secure three Olympic spots for Japan at Sochi. The other two Japanese skaters finished sixth and eighth. [Correction regarding the result: this is the only World Championship in which he did not reach the podium, but throughout his senior career, he has missed the podium in 7 individual international competitions.] In the summer of 2013, the JSF reached a sponsorship agreement with Ajinomoto, which included the support of a nutritionist for its top athletes. Upon discovering that Hanyu had a digestive issue, Hidefumi Kurihara devised a targeted diet to help him resolve the problem. February 2014, Olympic Games, gold medal Some time before the competition, he experienced back problems, but we don't know the details. 2014.03, World Championships in Saitama, Japan, Gold Medal After the Olympics, he developed tonsillitis and a fever and was unable to train (*Blue Flame II*). Before the World Championships, he sprained his back and injured his right knee (documentary Covered in Scars Behind the Smile). Despite this, he achieved the Grand Slam title in a single season, a feat accomplished by only two skaters in history. [The physical issues led him to miss two of the official practices.] 2014.09, Finlandia Trophy, Withdrew Diagnosed with lumbar myofascial fasciitis, he withdrew and underwent treatment and a month of rest (*Blue Flame II*). [He also has trouble with one of his ankles. In an attempt to avoid putting strain on the painful areas, he moves a bit differently than usual. This causes him pain in other parts of his body.] 2014.11, Cup of China in Shanghai, China, Silver Medal The collision accident. He sustained contusions to the head, jaw, and abdomen, a contusion to the left thigh, and a crush injury to the right ankle joint. Full recovery was expected to take two to three weeks. [While almost all of the physical issues occurred either during the collision with Han Yan or the subsequent impact with the ice, the ankle sprain happened when he fell for the fourth time, on an underrotated 3Lo.] 2014.11, NHK Trophy in Japan, 4th Place He competed less than three weeks after resting following the collision accident. December 2014, GPF, gold medal He has begun performing the Biellmann spin again—a move that was still absent from his programs at the NHK Trophy because he was not healed yet—but already after the short program, he has started to feel some stomach pain. 2014.12, All-Japan Championships, Gold Medal Despite his asthma and a urachal remnant condition that caused pus and bleeding around the navel, he competed with the area wrapped in bandages. He underwent surgery immediately after the competition. Experienced alcohol allergy during surgery, and antibiotic allergy after surgery (*Blue Flame II*). February 2015 When he starts training again after the surgery, he falls and sprains his right ankle. 2015.03, World Championships in Shanghai, China, Silver Medal Following surgery for the urachal remnant condition, the surgical sutures failed to dissolve, causing the wound to become inflamed and infected with pus. The pain was so severe that he could not turn over in bed while sleeping (*Blue Flame II*). He underwent a second operation after the competition. 2015.04, World Team Trophy (WTT) in Japan, Team Bronze Despite being in so much pain that even bending forward or backward was extremely difficult, he competed in the World Team Trophy (*Blue Flame II*). 2015.10, Left foot injury (*Blue Flame II*) He struggled with a left foot injury throughout the entire season. 2015.10, Skate Canada, Silver Medal His asthma worsened two days before the competition. In addition to coughing and other asthma symptoms, he developed a fever above 38°C. 2015.11, NHK Trophy in Japan, Gold Medal He suffered an asthma attack. He scored 106.33 in the short program, 216.07 in the free skate, and 322.40 overall, breaking the world record in all three categories. This was the first time he ascended to legendary status. 2015.12, Grand Prix Final, Gold Medal He had a ligament injury and continued to apply emergency ice packs before the competition. In the end, he broke all three world records once again, scoring 110.95 in the short program, 219.48 in the free skate, and 330.43 overall, once again cementing his legendary status. [He also had a cold.] January 2016 The pain in his left foot is so intense that he has to take painkillers in order to perform in the planned Winter shows. During training, his quadruple jumps disappear, and he falls on his triple Axel. To alleviate the pain, he turns his ankle outward when walking, which causes him pain in other parts of his body. 2016.03, World Championships in Boston, USA, Silver Medal He had a ligament injury in his left foot and was unable even to put on his skating boot. His hotel room door would not open, so he missed the shuttle bus to official practice. The zipper on his Seimei costume broke, along with many other mishaps. It was a World Championships he would probably rather not look back on. Nevertheless, he delivered an outstanding short program, scoring 110.56, just 0.39 points below the world record at the time. (he also set a world record in the short program) [Correction: The problem with the costume occurred before the short program. There were also some tense moments with Denis Ten]. 2016–2017 Season The ligament injury on the top of his left foot from the previous season had not fully healed and affected him throughout the entire season (*Blue Flame II*). [Before the Autumn Classic International in September, he experienced back pain—linked to the unusual movements he made to protect his left foot—as well as ankle trouble. In competition, he avoids the Biellmann spin] 2016.12, Grand Prix Final, Gold Medal He experienced gastrointestinal discomfort before the free skate. (This was revealed by someone connected to the event on Twitter; Japanese media did not report it.) [Oh! I knew nothing about this.] 2016.12, All-Japan Championships, Withdrew He contracted influenza accompanied by pharyngitis before the competition, and his high fever would not subside, forcing him to withdraw. February 2017, Four Continents Championships, silver medal He was experiencing back pain. Both during the FS and the gala, in his "Notte stellata" performance, he replaced the Biellmann spin with an A-spin, and in the gala he also replaced the triple Axel with a poorly executed triple toe loop. 2017.03, World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, Gold Medal He suffered from asthma in the two weeks leading up to the competition and had another asthma attack during official practice on the second day. His free skate score of 223.20 once again broke the world record he himself held. 2017.09, Autumn Classic International in Canada, Silver Medal His knee injury was severe. For the short program, Seimei, he temporarily lowered the planned difficulty, changing the layout from 4Lo, 3A, 4T+3T to 4S, 3A, 4T+3T. Nevertheless, he scored an impressive 112.72, breaking the world record. To this day, it remains the highest short program score under both the old and new scoring systems. 2017.11, NHK Trophy in Japan, Withdrew He had a high fever and was unable to walk in a straight line. Despite not having recovered, he took part in official practice. While practicing the 4Lz, he injured the ligaments in his right ankle upon landing (*NHK documentary*). 2018.02, PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Gold Medal The ligament injury in his right ankle had not healed. He took large amounts of painkillers to compete and became the first men's singles skater in 66 years to win back-to-back Olympic titles. 2018.11, Rostelecom Cup (Grand Prix of Russia), Gold Medal He fell while practicing the 4Lo during official practice. The ligament injury in his right ankle recurred, accompanied by an injury to the deltoid ligament and an injury to the peroneal tendons in his right ankle. He stood on the medal podium using crutches. 2019.03, World Championships in Saitama, Japan, Silver Medal Residual pain and inflammation in his ankle joint remained. He still needed two to three months of rest to recover. May 2019, Fantasy on Ice Tour He take part in the tour after a 10-day, forced break from training, with his left ankle not yet fully recovered from a sprain and a swollen hand—the result of a fall while attempting quintuple jumps in an effort to increase the scale of his jumps and land the 4A. December 2019, GPF; Silver medal If we want to list all the serious issues—not just the injuries—he competed without his coach until the evening before the free skate program, because during a flight connection in Germany, Ghislain Briand had his wallet, containing his passport, stolen; Briand then had to return to Canada to get a replacement. And on at least three occasions, he encountered flight-related issues that caused him to arrive in the host city a day later than planned: at 2012 Skate America (a lengthy customs check caused him to miss his flight), at the 2013 Grand Prix Final (due to air traffic issues), and at the 2021 World Championships (an earthquake led to the suspension of Shinkansen train services, including the one he had booked to reach Tokyo’s airport; by the time he arrived at the airport, his plane had already departed). 2019.12, All-Japan Championships, Silver Medal Possible asthma (though there is no concrete evidence. This was the only competition in which he wore a heart-rate monitor). Due to the competition schedule, he traveled from Canada to Italy, then back to Canada, and from Canada to Japan within five weeks. Unable to adjust to the time differences and facing a graduation thesis deadline, he developed a mild loss of appetite and reached a state of physical exhaustion. [For sure he was jet-lagged.] September (or perhaps October) 2020 Intense training on the 4A leads to periostitis, and all the quadruple jumps vanish. 2021.03, World Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, Bronze Medal He suffered a sudden asthma attack before the free skate, to the point that he was at risk of suffocation. 2021.04, World Team Trophy in Nagano, Japan, Team Bronze He experienced gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhea. [Due to the quarantines imposed by competition organizers and governments, he had to adapt to food different from what his nutritionist had prescribed, and this caused him problems. During the official practice sessions for the gala, he repeatedly attempts the 4A and injures his right knee. When he shows it to Yuka Sato during the Stars on Ice tour, she is taken aback—and she was right to be: that knee was a sight to behold.] Summer 2021 training the 4A, he sprained his right ankle. 2021.11, NHK Trophy in Japan, Withdrew Two weeks before the competition, he sprained his right ankle while practicing the 4A and withdrew from the event. He subsequently developed esophagitis and a fever (*All-Japan Championships interview). [He withdrew also from the Rostelecom Cup.] 2021.12, All-Japan Championships, Gold Medal He competed after taking painkillers. During official practice, he did three 4A attempts. In the actual competition, he landed the 4A on two feet, while the rest of his performance was flawless. 2022.02, Beijing Winter Olympics, 4th Place During official practice before the free skate, he sprained his right ankle while practicing the 4A. Despite the injury, he competed in the free skate. He fell on the 4A and 4S. In the second half, however, he executed two quadruple jump combinations and two triple Axels perfectly. He took seven painkillers before the exhibition gala but still insisted on performing, presenting skating fans with the beautiful and ethereal Haru yo, Koi. [Correction: the first 3A was in the first half of the program]. 2022.03, World Championships in France, Withdrew He announced his withdrawal because his foot injury had not yet healed. Events he had to skip because of an injury: · 2012 WTT · 2012 GPF (only the gala) · 2013 WC (only the gala) · 2013 WTT · 2014 Finlandia Trophy · 2014 Cup of China (Medal ceremony and gala) · 2014 National Championship (only the gala) · 2015 4CC · 2016 4CC · Summer 2016: Fantasy on Ice tour · 2016 National Championship · 2017 NHK Trophy · 2017 GPF - To be precise, having participated in only one competition, he did not qualify, but to qualify he only needed to finish fourth at the NHK Trophy, which meant he had to obtain at least 245.96 points. The last time he failed to achieve this score was at the 2014 NHK Trophy, three weeks after the accident with Han Yan. · 2017 National Championship · 2018 OG – Team Event · 2018 WC · 2018 Rostelecom Cup (only the gala) · 2018 GPF · 2019 4CC · 2019 WTT · The 2020 WC was cancelled because of the covid. The same happened to the 2020 Autumn Classic International, to the 2020 GP competitions (4 competitions were held, but it takes a lot of imagination to call those competitions "Grand Prix" events) and to the 2021 4CC · 2021 NHK Trophy · 2021 Rostelecom Cup · 2022 WC Note: I have listed the Four Continents Championships in non-Olympic seasons as events missed due to injury—provided, of course, that the skater did not participate. Given how close the 4CC is to the Olympics, those aiming for an Olympic medal typically skip it. In the other season, usually he wanted to compete. For instance, at the 2015 Grand Prix Final, Yuzu had stated his intention to compete in the upcoming 4CC; however, it was only at the National Championships—by which point his Lisfranc injury was causing such severe pain that he could barely skate, though no one else knew—that he announced he would focus on training between the Nationals and the World Championships, opting to skip the 4CC. As for 2012, he was not selected by the Japan Skating Federation, which generally prefers to send at least one skater to the 4CC who will not be competing in the World Championships. Having placed third at the National Championships, Yuzu was sent to the World Championships but left off the 4CC roster (the previous year, after placing fourth at the National Championships, the opposite occurred: he was sent to the 4CC but not to the World Championships). The list of issues—which is almost certainly incomplete (and I haven’t even mentioned nosebleeds before competitions or stomach aches caused by pre-competition nerves)—refers solely to the competitive period.

Thank you. Yes, it's a good list, but I will integrate it in a few day. It's simply incredibile that Yuzu was able to compete--and he didn't limited himself to compete, he won a lot--with all these injuries.

Obviously, these are just my hypotheses, but the questions might be as follows: 1 - Which of your programs is your favorite? 2 - ??? 3 - What is the most important place to you? 4 - How do you spend your free time? 5 - Who are your favorite skaters? 6 - What are your favorite programs? (Note that, many years later, he would go on to skate to the music from the first of the Plushenko programs he mentioned, as well as the music from the Weir program.) 7 - What is your favorite sport? 8 - Who are your favorite athletes? (I don’t know the other two, but Ichiro is a legend of Japanese baseball.) 9 - I have two theories here: either what he would do if he were to be born again, or what he thinks I will be doing in X years. 10 - Who are your favorite artists/what are your favorite works? (The first two are musical groups we know he loves; the other two are anime—the second of which he has mentioned on other occasions as well.) 11 - What is your favorite food? (Not gyoza?) 12 - What other sports/sporting activities do you enjoy practicing?

Ok, I will take in mind that you're interested. When I will have time again...

The list ended with Beijing; I had focused solely on the competitive career. If you read about that sprain too, you made it all the way to the end. Maybe sooner or later I’ll write it again, but right now I can’t.

And unfortunately, it’s not a list I saved in a file. It was something I wrote specifically here as a reply, so that text is lost forever. I would have to compile the list all over again, and as you’ll recall, it was very long 😢

I replied to this with a really long list two days ago. Now I don't see my comment anymore.

Those Olympics took place in Russia, and Russia had never won gold in the women's event. Many considered Lipnitskaya the favorite over Sotnikova, but it is always good to have multiple athletes to rely on if possible. Lipnitskaya made mistakes and took herself out of medal contention, while Sotnikova’s rapid rise provided a safety net for Russia. That is somewhat similar to what the United States did in the most recent women's competition. In the 2023–24 season, Isabeau Levito was clearly the leader of the US team and a strong medal contender for major events. While she truly deserves high PCS, her jumping technique is among the ugliest I have ever seen. Within a few months, Amber Glenn stabilized her triple Axel, and her federation threw its support behind her. In the 2024–25 season, Glenn won the Grand Prix Final with higher PCS than Chiba—something that defies logic. Glenn herself acknowledges that she does not skate as well as Chiba. She has the 3A and—barring errors—a higher Base Value (BV), but Chiba is the one who deserves higher PCS. At that Grand Prix Final, Glenn scored in PCS 1.69 points more than Chiba across the Short Program and Free Skate combined. Had their scores been swapped—which would have been far more accurate—Chiba would have won the competition. At the 2025 World Championships, in the US, with Levito and Glenn both making errors, the technical panel failed to call Liu’s under-rotations, and she emerged as the new champion. The US arrived at the Olympics with three potential title contenders. If one of them faltered, the others were there to step up. It is true that Sakamoto made a costly error—otherwise, she would have won—but when a nation has multiple medal-worthy athletes (like in Sotnikova and Lipnitskaya case), the chances of winning increase.

No, I hadn't seen them. Thanks for the links. Consider the previous seasons' medalists. The 2014–15 season saw the dominance of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, but the following season she failed to replicate those performances, and Russia could no longer rely on her. Who came before Tuktamysheva? Russia managed to secure an Olympic gold for Adelina Sotnikova, but then she disappeared. Lipnitskaya suffered a serious injury after winning just one World silver medal. Aside from those three, medals in preceding years had gone to Asian skaters—Japan’s Mao Asada and Miki Ando, and South Korea’s Yuna Kim—as well as Italy’s Carolina Kostner. Few other skaters won anything; no one won gold, and no one claimed more than two medals across the Olympics and World Championships. On the men's side, following a period of dominance that began with Urmanov—think of the Olympic champions: Urmanov (1994), Kulik (1998), Yagudin (2002), and Plushenko (2006), with Plushenko also coming agonizingly close to gold in 2010—and a haul of countless medals, Russian skating was in a slump. Skaters like Kovtun, Kolyada, Voronov, and Gachinski—who vanished immediately after winning a World bronze—stood no real chance of winning major medals. With no contenders on the men's side, Russia needed a champion among the women, and at that moment, Medvedeva—with her ability to consistently deliver clean programs—was the perfect fit. Later, when Chen became competitive, Russia and the United States simply ceded the other nation free rein in the discipline where they themselves lacked competitiveness. They didn't get in each other's way, allowing Russia to win the women's events and the US the men's events without interference. Japan? Compared to them, it didn't matter. Korea? I believe it is the nation that treats its own athletes worse than any other. No, because each analysis takes a lot of time, and I didn't manage to look at the women as well. Real-life commitments come before any online chatter. I, too, sometimes disappear for a while because I’m too busy with other things. Just go at whatever pace works best for you. Yuzu is much happier now than he was during the last four years of his competitive career, and what he’s showing us is extraordinary. That’s why I’m glad he’s a professional now—though I will never forgive the ISU and the JSF for the suffering they caused him and all the medals they stole from him. So, if there’s a chance to talk about what happened during those years, I won’t shy away from it.

We've all been there, more or less. Whether we follow figure skating or it just happened us to see him by chance, something strikes us, we start researching, and we're hooked. You're not alone in saying you've never been a fan like this before. This is true for many of us. One of the beautiful things about this community is that we help each other find new information, share what we know, or figure out how to navigate a language we don't know and buy what we're interested in. We'll always be worried about him. He always gives his all, and the risk of injury is always present. And if it were to happen, we'd know about it afterwards, because he never spoke before, when he was still injured, when there was something he had to do and for which we had high expectations. Respect for his competitors? Yes (except when it is the rivals who forget to respect him, which has happened on a few occasions). Chen has my respect, his coach no. And a lot of judges and ISU (and JSF) officials don't have it. It takes time to learn to distinguish jumps, and you only do it if you're willing. You don't need to know the jumps to appreciate the programs and competitions. Seeing if rotations are complete is not easy, especially if the missing part is around 90°. Is it more? Is it less? Small differences in rotation can have huge effects on the score. Chen's jumps had the virtue of being stable. He almost always landed them. They weren't big, he needed a long preparation, and the exit was always a bit rushed. He put his free foot down as soon as possible because he had not a good running edge, but fundamentally his technique was correct. He simply didn't deserve high GOEs because his jumps lacked amplitude and there was a clear gap in his programs: long preparation, then jump, then immediately put the foot down to avoid losing balance, without doing anything difficult, and then another preparation for the next technical difficulty. Yuzu made more mistakes, but his programs were a continuous flow from one movement to the next, because when he didn't make mistakes, he deserved much higher marks than Chen. And the marks, if assigned correctly (even in the PCS), should have been enough to compensate for Chen doing one more quadruple. Malinin jumps like no one before him. Right now, and with these rules, he's the strongest skater. Which doesn't mean he's a complete skater, but figure skating hasn't required completeness for years. It requires quadruple, and for skaters who are more or less at the same level in quadruple, it's a good thing to have the right passport. The judging system can be improved, but there will always be problems. The one you noted is one of the most complex, but something can be done. Chopin's Ballade in 2015 received a huge number of 10.00s. The Ballade in 2020 was a better program. The judges couldn't give the Ballade a 10.50, but they could have given that program the same marks they had in 2015, and given programs skated at the same level as the 2015 Ballade a 0.25 or a 0.50 less. Instead, in 2020 they slightly lowered the marks for the Ballade and raised the marks for lower-level programs. This distorts the results. If the judges maintain the correct level difference between the programs, the judging system works. If they lower the scores of the best programs and raise the scores of mediocre programs, they make the difference in value disappear and distort the competition results. Years have passed, but I still want to say a few words to certain people. And in one case, I'm truly hoping that justice will take its course, even though it's clear that politicians are very good at evading legal trouble. I fear his perfectionism tends to affect him too much. But I also think that turning professional, distancing himself from the toxic world of competitions and meeting artists with whom he can be himself, have helped him a lot. Much of the negativity of the past has disappeared; the important thing is that he doesn't get injured again (and that the tabloids go bankrupt). - The +5/-5 system is much more easily manipulated than the +3/-3 system. - The US Federation started applying much more pressure because they needed a champion and finally had a skater who, with a little help, could win. On the other hand, the JSF, which had never liked Yuzu, found a potential medal contender in Uno. For some time after Sochi, the JSF could only count on Yuzu for the world medals, so sabotaging Yuzu meant winning nothing. Uno's arrival prompted them to think they could have a champion they liked better because he didn't think for himself as Yuzu, but did what they wanted. - The judges, even the honest ones, stopped giving Yuzu the highest score because they expected the impossible from a two-time Olympic champion. Look at the competitions. Anyone who performs a short program with 4T and 4S, one of the two in combination, and completes the program well, is praised for having performed a very difficult program. When Yuzu did it, his jumps were considered easy, everyone assumed he could do them, after all, he was a two-time Olympic champion, and since they thought his jumps were easy, they gave him marks lower than the ones he actually deserved. Yes, Beijing was important because Yuzu finally understood that for us he as a person is more important than any medal.

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.