EisElle

awwww this is so cute ETA: I'm crying sorry Zu your kuyashii looks so funny, I'm such a bad fanyu

I must be wanna be optimist for once it's summer, Zuzu is in his Toronto cave preparing himself to hoard more gold and everything is well in the world! time for my rose-coloured glasses

ohhhh interesting choice for Shoma! With the good choreo, it has the potential to make him explore a bit more his expression and get more nuanced moves to the music. And I'm glad he didn't joined the Italian warhorse club of the other Japanese men But if he finds a way to sneak drama hands and intense!stareTM in Moonlight Sonata I'm gonna sue Mihoko! now which club will Zuzu join, the Italian warhorse club or the spanish/latin one? maybe both joking

Jack is really enjoying himself with his polls Here one very legit answer for the one about favourite Yuzu jump

yeah, you don't joke with bb Zuzu, little mushroom is scary idk why, but this makes me crack every single time

what if he forgets the right pair tho? we know he uses different earphones for specific purposes/moment of the day/feeling nahh, he keeps his gold shines all safe in his socks (when he's not wearing his OGMs for the lultz) and his silver pile of Skate Canada and 4CC medals where he can see them for kuyashii daily motivation. And if he wants to stroke his ego, he can always stop and admire his plaques in TCC whoa @kiches @lazuliblade are you becoming a living Yuzu-archive like @kaeryth? @micaelis under spoiler because a brief note has turned into a long digression

Both Nam and Jun Hwan became senior when they were still very young, under Brian. Both had a huge growth spurt (Jun Hwan right before his senior debut, Nam later on), so I can see Brian and most important Skate Canada letting Stephen turn senior as soon as possible, even if it's before his growth spurt. Senior men field will be quite depleted in Canada (not that it was so exceptionally deep in hte last years...not to be mean to hard-working skaters, I'm just talking about possible gold medal contenders in major comps), with Kevin with his UR problems on the verge of retiring and Keegan who might be training 4A and be on the raise, but he's certainly not 'young' in figure sakting terms... there are a few promising canadian junior skaters (some turning senior maybe?) but overall none of them with really imressive tech arsenal at the moment, and it looks like US has more depth there at the moment. So the fed might push Stephen a lot, and might also push his PCS. As far as I can tell, it looks like Stephen might be better than Nam in that department, so he wouldn't be necessarily undeserving of that push. It's just that, historically, men don't get the early push that looks so common among ladies. Which is understandable, as there are no doubts that many things evalued under PCS, like SS, depth of interpretation, purpose of movements and so on, need time and experience to be developed and polished, so PCS should naturally raise as skaters grow and trains and learns. It's actually surprising that among ladies the youngest with the hardest tech are so easily rewarded in PCS too (tho not all ladies are equal). This trend looks quite peculiar of ladies, as far as I can tell. In ID and Pairs there are many 'older' teams that are plenty competitive and you rarely see a team winning everything at their senior debut. So history of the sport says Stephen can probably go to OWG 2022, get the experience under his belt, maybe even grab a medal if top guys falter under pressure, and then prepare to claim that elusive gold at next OWG. Right now it looks like he can be one of those rare talent like Yuzuru, that break all the rules and go beyond expectations, but he'll be younger than Yuzu was in Sochi, with only 2 years as a senior at most instead of 4, so that kind of experience could make the difference too. But who knows, if he'll keep the exceptional promise we see now, we could have a big surprise. Hopefully growth won't hit him as hard as Nam. For now, let's enjoy how he'll progress in his JGP. If he wins everything the upcoming season or the next one, like Yuzu did, he'll turn senior in 2020/21 for sure. By then we'll see how the Men field looks, if there would be space for him at the top or not (and if Yuzu is still competing ). With the new rules, BV is gonna weight less and actually I expect less junior skaters will be able to have fast breaktrhough like Boyang, Shoma and Nathan did. Judging will be more conservative towards the 'new faces', just like it was when Yuzuru made his senior debut. Current Jr ladies pushing for quads and 3A are amazing and ngl, I'm exctited about such jumps being executed by senior ladies too (tho I'm less excited when the quad is tiny...a tiny quad might be impressive for the rotational speed, but other than that, meh), but I hope coaches and families are very careful with their daily workload. It's not only about young ladies tho, also about young men training a lot of hard jumps at an early age. Any sport practiced at high-levels is actually unhealthy for kids and FS is one of those sports where having the body of a kid can help, hence the push for intense trianing when it would be advisable to take things a bit slowly. Adults should be very careful not to endanger the kids' natural growth. @KatjaThera I'm not sure if I've understood your point, so I'm sorry if I've missed it completely I think the system is fine as it is, with BV, GOE on elements and PCS for the whole program. GOE are supposed to reward the quality of execution and technique. Chronic bad/flawed technique (assuming all judges know what it is) or mistakes that happen on the day are supposed to result in the GOE deductions, as they reduce the quality of the element on the day. This results in elements being 'punished' with a score lower than the BV. Good basic technique and good execution (resulting in e.g. very good height/distance, very good landing on a jump or a fast, centered spin) result in positive features and increase the score of the element. Same for e.g. transitions into a jump: everything else being equal, a jump out of steps has higher quality than one without because 1) it's more difficult, hence to execute that means better level of mastery of the basic technique 2) doesn't result in a break in choreo and makes the element look 'prettier'. When quality of the element is only average, they check no bullets. An average quality jump is a 0 GOE, it just get the full BV. A bad quality jump, be it for messed landing or poor take off, gets a negative GOE. If an element has a higher than average but not high enough quality to check one bullet but sky-high quality to check another, judges might remember that bullets are guidelines and go for a solid +2 instead of the +1 the element could get if each and every bullet had to be checked strictly and on its own. Problem is that guidelines have proved way too lax, and ISU is not addressing the problem that yes, there can be subjectivity, but there should also be standars for everyone. Otherwise, what's the point in singling out some judges for their 'out of line' scores? Also, in theory components like SS are about the quality of the use of the blades, and TR the quality (besides the quantity) of all linking movements, upper body included. Quality of movements is also evalued as part of the other components like PE and IN (TR maybe a little more about quality per se and other componets as elements fitting the music) and so on. So in theory quality is already assessed both in GOE, where the focus is more on the technical execution per se (plus the fitting the music part, for that specific elelment), and the PCS, where there is more focus on how all different elements as a whole combine with music and the 'artistic' concept of the program. Technique is also assessed in GOE and in components like SS and TR. In theory, with proper knowledge and application of ruels, the better techinque already has enough room to be awarded more than the good technique with the current rules. And when it isn't enough, the range of goe and the bullets themselves can be changed, as it's happening now. Some commentators hinted that the range would be changed to reward more skaters like Yuzuru (I don't remeber who said that they almost felt +3 was too little for Yuzuru's jumps, they would give +5). A skater could hit all 8 bullets and got only a measly advantage on people hitting only half of them for a +2. With new range of GOE and correlation with BV, this will change (the higher the BV, the bigger the change). Possibly, they will also award elements with 'very good basic technique' more than elements 'executed well but with average basic technique'. I think the first talk about new range +/-5 started after Yuzu broke the system at NHK15. Lakernik's Icenetwork article dated 2016 isn't available anymore, but iirc it was the one were he first mentioned the will to change the rules to push for more 'quality' (and maybe also the idea about separate artistic and tech programs). And there was the wave of ladies banking on transitions in and out jumps and arm variations to boost their scores instead of focusing on getting big, clean jumps (I'm thinking about some ugly tano on UR jumps, where a skater focused on adding a tano instead of focusing on working on take off and air position to get elevation and clean landings). I expect many ladies now will have harder time getting full goe because of the bullet very good height&distance (Kaori has potential to go beyond +3 in most of her jumps. I guess skaters like Kaetlyn might, too, and Liza Tuk, tho she maybe would have hard time going above +3 because she lacks steps before her jumps). Some ladies can execute jumps very well, with difficult transitions even and good flow, but their jumping technique only allows them to do small jumps (degree of PR is often correlated to size of jumps, too). As for judges being afraid to give +10 because something better might come later, well, that was what used to happen. Not so much in the last couple of seasons. In ID they were giving away lots of 10s and 9.75, while in other disciplines they were starting giving away 9s and 9.5s. In ID top teams were already maxing out all their scores with almost all 10s (and maxed out GOE*), so ISU now is trying to make it harder to receive a 10 (let's see how long this 'strictness' will last). IMO they should just stop scoring at 9 skates that are very obviously lacking the requirements for 'very good', rather than focusing on the subtle difference between 'excellent' and 'outstanding'... because if you give 9 for 'very good', then of course 'excellent but not outstanding' is gonna become a 10, duh *I find very interesting that in ID has a very different system for GOE than singles&pair, with a 'no higer than' section and as much as 15 positive features. You have to hit more than 8 of them to have +5 but you can't have any negative feature. Looking at that chart, ID looks mightly difficult to judge, my head is spinning EDITED to add emoji, the post looked like a boring wall text, now it's a boring wall text with cute emojis

@salty your post was I wanted to vote for 3F, the always overlooked 3rd jumping pass melting in the choreo, but in the end I went for 3A...its power it's too strong! I love how he steps up into the jump before getting into tight air position and how he unravels so effortlessly at the end...that kind of step up makes the jump look even more impressive when you watch the slow-mo, while live it looks super-smooth, how he achieves height and distance almost like magic! But I also wanted to vote for 4S, that was such a beauty in PC! And it behaved so well! And for 4T, maybe the most overlooked Yuzu's jump after 3F... and where is my poor 4Lo? and 4Lz? those COR practice 4Lz were so beutiful Those polls are too difficult. The only reasonable answer to most of them would be 'none of the above' or 'all of the above'

quoting myself from the gen thread

re: heart rate monitor I thought a chest monitor could be more accurate than a wrist one, so I did a quick search and I was right https://www.wareable.com/sport/heart-rate-monitors-chest-straps-v-wrist I guess for athletes accuracy is the most important thing ETA: this also contains a few details on how wrist monitor works adding a link to a study published on JAMA cardiology for the science nerds among us

every happy Yuzu is a good Yuzu

maybe we should bring the discussion of Yuzu's challengers and new rules here but I'm gonna say this here yes, that's the layback InaBauer (ooooh I should really update Glossary) I agree HYK is full of joy. The original song could be more about hope&longing, but Yuzuru's version and interpretation is hope&joy that blossom and get stronger during the performances (his expression when throwing snow, how he launches in the delayed1A and then right into the laybackIB with that beautiful, beautiful smile...) As for Notte Stellata, I'm probably biased because I fell in love with its spins at first sight LOL (I'm glad if my gif can nudge anyone into giving the program a second chance) First one I've watched was probably GPF2016, and it was my fave for a while, then it was replaced by the WC one was (spin hair! All the clapping!), then WTT...then, when I was wondering how could Yuzu do an even better Swan, pink COR2017 Swan come, the first I've watched live! Then OWG Swan, which by now it's probably become the one I've rewatched the most. It's so serene, the whole performances is beauty and grace Anyway, maybe because of the lyrics, I don't really feel sadness in that program. The lyrics of Notte Stellata progress from "You don't know how much I love you" to "Now you know how much I love you" and end with "you already love me" so maybe I've been swayed by that What I feel is mainly a feeling of wistfulness and almost melancholy but also tenderness. The feeling changes a bit in every performance too. The COR one was a bit more dramatic. In the OWG one I felt there was more softness, and an understated, quiet joy. It felt the calm after the storm, after the pain and the struggle before Olympics and it also felt like a thank you. If HYK feels uplifting, to me the OWG Swan is utterly serene. When Yuzuru spoke about how the title was also connected in his heart to that starry sky he witnessed after the earthquake, I thought that yes, I could really see it: the silence, the darkness all around, and then that finding unexpected beauty even in pain, and with that beauty also gratitude and a tiny spark of hope. In this sense, I feel HYK is some sort of continuation of both Requiem and Notte Stellata. here some more NS gifs just because Probably I should repost all of this in the Notte Stellata thread

The biggest challenge are injuries tbh and overthinking

welcome @twitwi I'm sorry you have a bad case of alchol allergy/intolerance, but you're absolutely right, it's not the end of the world and there are many more things that we can enjoy and be happy about! @KatjaThera honestly I have no idea if Yuzuru's case might be more a proper allergy (which is much more uncommon) or intolerance. Tbh, intolerance can develop with time, too, if there is some change in gene regulation. For example, one of the most common intolerances, the one to lactose, usually develops in adults when most people can't anymore activate the gene to produce the appropriate enzyme (gosh I should stop nerding about biology LOL). I also find quite interesting that apparently some antibiotics can worsen people's reaction to alchol. Honestly, our body is so complex, there's so many things that can go wrong, I often marvel at how they all fall into place to keep us healthy One thing is certain: poor Yuzuru, that season he really had the toughest luck as if a string of injuries wasn't enough this is so relatable even if I know that he doesn't wear necklaces in that program (or in the finale), I always feel 'that's something different, what is it?' You're definitely not alone! I'm always: noooooooo so soon? Me needs moar! (I'm pretty sure I've complained 'too short!' + sad pooh emoji in every broadcast thread) I enjoy starting my Haru Yo Koi re-watch with Boston Requiem to wreak my feelings a bit then I watch all the HYK in chronological sequence and by the end I'm wrecked again but from happiness Sometimes I add a Swan here and there, 'cause why not? And gosh, for how much I complain about arms movement not being the most important part of expression, I am hopelessly in love with Yuzu's arm movements AND THOSE FINGERS! I mean, have you seen this Swan caressing lake? And this unfurling arms yes, I know it has been giffed to death already but I had to gif that part myself *fighting the urge to change her sig again* Maybe it's because it looks like his movement starts from his very core and somehow it extends not only to his fingertips but to his whole body. I quite dislike when arms move but the rest of the body is stiff, as if arms were...idk, separated from the rest of the body and the movement stops abruptly at the shoulder, or at the elbow...making arms look like disjointed pieces... (tho I suppose for certain music types that's what people aim for)

Yeah, I think it's for luck, and I guess they get so used to them they'd feel weird without wearing them... I just don't understand why they'd choose unpractical thing like too long/heavy/too many necklaces...then again, it wouldn't be the first time I "can't get" athletes I think Yuzuru tapes his bracelets during comps tho, I wonder if fixing necklaces with tape would be even more unpractical than letting them swing around... On the 'can't drink alchol', was it for People's honour award that they had orange juice for toast? excellent planning there

If they used ethanol as disinfectant, then it makes sense if he couldn't drink anything containing ethanol...tho maybe it would depend on the alcholic content of the drink (for example he might tolerate a sip of beer but not vodka) and how fast is the absorption and so on. Or, if there were additives in the disinfectant (e.g. common denaturated alchool contains various additives) one could be allergic to any of those, but not ethanol itself...Just like some people might be allergic to sake but not beer if their body is actually reacting not to alchool but to rice. But I suppose that, being in a hospital, they checked properly... If Yuzuru is really sensitive to ethanol, it could be that he lacks some specific enzymes and then it doesn't matter what is the source, he just wouldn't be able to break down ethanol as other people do, or not as fast. We need certain enzymes to metabolize substances, people who produce less of those enzymes/can't produce them(*) can have what looks like an 'allergic reaction'. Apparently, lack of enzyme needed to break down ethanol is more common in people from Asian descent that in other populations (this discussion reminds me of when we talked about the genetics of odourless sweat LOL) *because of genetics or because of gene expression (that can be influenced by things like diet, stress or e.g. being on meds)...many 'allergic' people are merely unable to activate certain genes as efficiently as needed... ETA: there is difference between 'allergy' and 'intolerance'. The first involves immune system, the second doesn't, it's just 'lack of ability to metabolize properly', tho sometimes symptoms are similar. this is a bit offtopic (tho on topic about allergies and Yuzuru has some of them ), but for example it looks like babies born from caesaerian section have higher chances of developing allergies when they grow up(and developing allergies to many different substances) because of the lack of exposure to certain bacteria that would happen when a baby moves down birth canal (example of having the genes but being unable to activate them). Sometimes our body needs to be challenged to become stronger ETA2: ethanol itself is toxic to the body, but we can usually metabolize it fast enough so we have no visible negative consequences. When this doesn't happen, we merely see the effects of that toxicity. ETA3: products of its partial methabolism can be toxic too if they accumulate. The enzyme I was talking about (the one that some people, particularly Asians, produce less) is involved in metabolism of a subproducts of ethanol metabolism that isn't processed fast enough. Just for the sake of accuracy Those pics really show the kind of forces applied on their bodies while jumping/spinning... they're hilarious, and a bit creepy and definitely weird, but really, imagine the kind of strain that make a face almost unrecognizable! And skatets execute those elements making them look easy! And to the music beat! Side note, I always wonder why so many skaters wear necklaces that move all around their necks...when I run, I always pin my hair so they don't get in my eyes and I can barely tolerate even earbuds wires swinging around and I'm not spinning around insanely fast... don't they feel like choking? And some of those necklaces are also long enough to get past their chin (Yuzu in PC while bending down after FS, COC after the crash). Isn't it dangerous?

So totally made up facts + old rumours... It would be so funny if Boyang trolled everyone going go TCC

quoting myself from Coaching changes: we don't know Only rumours so far, started form TSL, who sadly were quite accurate when talking about coaching changes thus far. My hopes are dimming but I still need someone from Chinese fed or TCC to speak up before I let go of that dream Is it true what Jack says here? I remember that post, and to me it sounded as Boyang's heartfelt 'thank you and goodbye' to his old coaches, not a 'thank you Lori and goodbye Canada, now I'm gonna go back home'...if it's really been removed, things are even weirder than I thought I'm really curious about that post now...

we don't know Only rumours so far, started form TSL, who sadly were quite accurate when talking about coaching changes thus far. My hopes are dimming but I still need someone from Chinese fed or TCC to speak up before I let go of that dream Is it true what Jack says here? I remember that post, and to me it sounded as Boyang's heartfelt 'thank you and goodbye' to his old coaches, not a 'thank you Lori and goodbye Canada, now I'm gonna go back home'...if it's really been removed, things are even weirder than I thought So, now that Nastya T. is training in Plushy's academy. I wonder what kind of programs they will give her and who is the coach supervising her training day by day, given Plushy is often busy for his iceshows...I hope she'll get all the care she deserves, and most importantly that she can be healthy. From what I've read on GS, the 'health issues' could be pneumonia or something to do with her lungs, not ED as I'd heard before...or maybe both...maybe the move is, among other reasons, to allow her to take it slow to allow her to recover at her pace

how she talks about that, it's so scary to me. I could never be an athlete, and I really admirre their incredible endurance and willpower but gosh, why are athletes like this? just take care of yourself! And Alina is so, so, so young! Dear, you've won the OGM already, even if you want to keep winning, please think about your body, and your future after competitive career, don't neglect treatment now even if you think you can manage. Heal first as much as you can, or at least don't train as hard! Figure skating is already so hard on the body even when the body is perfectly ok...please try to stay healthy! (and where are the parents? Ok leaving freedom of choice to your children, but they still need proper advice )

I've seen on twitter there was a FaOI Shizuoka broadcast today, maybe on a local channel...does anyone know if It was the day we've already seen or another day? (And if it was another day, will we have a chance to see it eventually?) ETA: very important thread

that performance is uploaded on DailyMotion too (the uploader of the video, Acco Yama, has a lot of YT videos of Daisuke T. too, I was going through them yesterday). Tho the performance is different, in the one on DM he doesn't get lifted (and there is a bit less body stroking I guess, LOL) the link was in the blogpost I had linked here I have to say it's...weird? idk. LOL I guess I'm not much into that genre On the other hand, the second half of Okuni's dance in Hyoen is amazing @Eclair maybe you've missed it, we have discussed Shoma's new SP in the two Heroe&Future threads too, along with Shoma's two EX

on paper, yes, it does look harder. For example, Zhenya's jumps (or one could speculate, many tano ladies' jumps with transitions in and out) probably wouldn't clear bullet very good height&distance and she'd be capped at +3 despite all other positive features... (btw, her 3Lo hasn't even ever got all +3 under old rules, so weird...if any of her jumps deserved full goe without question, those would be her 3Lo and 3S...) In general, I think the new rules give more weight to basic technique and cleanliness. Things like transitions in/out and arm variations are being treated more as some choreographic afterthought. I can see why they'd go for clean big jumps, but imo they kinda forgot jumping out of steps requires skills too, other than making jumps merge better in the choreo for 'artistic' purpose. If they're really gonna reward clean, good technique I'll be happy and consider these rules as ISU trying to push skaters to get good jumps first, then go and add all kind of transitions (pretty much what Yuzuru did, making his jumps solid first and then adding difficulty, matching his jumps to his ideal as his technical skills improved)... opposite to the current trend of just learning to rotate fast, get the rotations for the BV, maybe huge PR too, so they can land unimpressive 'jumps' consistently and rely on everything else to make the element 'look good' (and score well). But I fear it will only mean boring jumps are gonna be over-rewarded. Rn the reward of adding transitions to a jump has shrinked from 3 bullets to 1 (not one of the relevant ones), arm variations and delay have disappeared and kinda (maybe) put in a very unclear bullet, matching music apparently means just hit some strong music cue rather than enhancing the music structure in a meaningful way, and requirement to show mastery in jumping out of steps was deleted from SP. Overall, now skaters have very little to gain in trying to make jumps part of the choreo. One could say it would still ve rewarded in PC, but would it? We'll see how things will go. I think judges will be cautious at first, but I'm fully expecting to see +5 thrown out at some favourites by the end of this quad (more so if ISU is really going for a drastic change in the format of SP and FS after 2022). This because 1) bullets themselves are unclear and 2) those are, as Bianchetti kindly reminds us, guidelines.

Wasn't the camp in Qingdao organized by the fed tho? weren't we saying that Boyang 'had' to attend because of fed, when we still were expecting his move in June? Ah, couldn't they just tell us yes/no? Fed, TCC, Boyang, anyone? No reason needed (tho it would be a nice addition), just if Boyang is going or not

Thank you satellites for your insights on 'Yuzu'. I'll add them to our Glossary for clarification. The puns with yuzu the fruit are funny tho. I wonder what role Brian had in that product, all eyes on yuzu indeed. A pity they'll probably won't sell it in Japan confession: before Yuzu, I had never known about the yuzu. Sadly here it's very exotic. You can find many foods with lemon, lime, grapefruit, bergamot, chinotto, cedar and even pomelo, but no yuzu. So when I was in Milan for WC and I found a yuzu praline in a chocolaterie, I had to try it di LOL. I wouldn't have if not for this weird connection