EisElle

I forgot they need to be invited t You've just ruined my fantasy scenario Well, I think Boyang has good chances, he's 4th... (if they invite Nathan over him I won't forgive them) What matters the most... just don't give me jumps, give me fluff, Yuzuru!

I agree with you, that kind of of mindset is absolutely terrifying and I'm sure any psycologist would also say it's unhealthy. But I suppose champions aren't ordinary person, and the greatest champions have what would be for most an "unhealthy" mindset. You can't say to them "the important thing is to participate" because for them that it's not enough, it won't ever be enough. They want things. And they won't stop till they get them. They just can't be ordinary, because they can be champions only doing the extraordinary. So it's no wonder, really, that Yuzuru, who is one of the greatest champions, has this kind of mentality. I can't understand it, I admire it but I also think "oh, that's not good" and it scares me, but it makes him who he is, and as long as he can live with himself and his choices, it's OK. He got this gold because he believed not only that he could have it, but that he would. And probably such a faith was only possible because in his mind there was no way out, no safety net, no alternative, nothing else than just make it (which I find awe-inspiring because I love my escape routes too much, which tbh can be as unhealthy as not allowing yourself any) (I had written a longer celebratory rambling about yuzuru's mentality but it's late now and I should go to sleep, maybe another time) As for Yuna... the impression I have from what I've read form her, is that she didn't enjoy competing anymore after achieving what she did in Vancouver. Yuzuru is satisfied with what he achieved, that's true, but he is still the "guy who loves to win". It's just to be seen what exactly he wants to win, because we know that what Yuzuru wants, Yuzuru gets. tbh, I've said this already, he is too much of a Ulysses in spirit to feel truly satified for long with something that doesn't "challenge" him. Till now competitive skating and this olympic gold have been the challenge, and as Plushenko said, Yuzuru is like him, he loves to win. Maybe he will only just settle for smaller "wins", like doing beautiful programs even if they won't be WR, or jumping 4A (LOL, now I call 4A a "small" win ), tho I found hard to imagine a Yuzu who is content with just doing his best and not fight for podium (and the highest spot on it) I think the only thing that can truly keep him him from going back to competing for another season at least, more than the lack of motivation, it's the condition of his body. Only when he will be sure his body won't be able to keep up with what he wants, he will switch to some new challenge. I just hope he won't wait to be like Plushy when he had to WD from Sochilearn form your idol, boy I hope this means his ankle isn't as messed as we think (only slightly messed...enough to still hurt despite painkillers) Still, NO JUMPS, you lying liar stubborn boy not even a delayed 1A. Just...do scruntchy smile and everyone will give you a standing ovation Also....does this mean we'll get Misha-Boyang-Zuzu side by side spirals? Anyway, to end this slightly angsty post on a high note, let's remember that Yuzuru is HAPPY (Or like zuzu says: "HAPY!!!!") ETA: when did I become Romeo&Juliet I'll miss my Notte stellata rank

but he had won the WC in Helsinki and in the past the men who won WC in Helsinki got the Oly gold, so maybe the good omen countered the bad one I usually don't believe in omens but I felt stars were aligning for Yuzu in a way, other than the Helsinki thing I had some vibes of 2002 Salt Lake city (two countrymen fighting for the same medals, the senior edging out the junior), a little bit of 2006 (Plushenko missing GPF), the whole parallel with Dick Button and I add the one with Brian too: 1984-1988 two silver medals, but Yuzu had 2014 gold, so 2018 would be gold too AND IT IS!!!!!! (and Brian vicariously getting his revenge for the double silver how wonderful is that?) Yuzu talking english is adorbs just for the faces he makes, but he's really improved (tho it's sometimes hard to understand him, and with all those camera shutters...) Anyway while downloading the periscope I stumbled in the video of the Boston fs press con....still sad to see yuzu sad, but what a feeling knowing that that is not how Yuzu's career ended! And even if he is injured again, just the look on his face and his attitude are so different (bb has just won his second oly gold after all) I had such a vivid dream of seeing Yuzu wearing that medal (I conjured the dream thinking obsessively about that while I waited to, you know, fall asleep, instead of counting sheep. I wanted to wake up for the FS with that image and I did, just like I had woken up the day of the SP with an image of Yuzuru having skated a clean Ballade. I thought it was good to repeat a good omen) and it was a beautiful sight and I remember thinking "oh, that medal is so shiny on his Seimei costume, they're so well-matched"... only when I saw Yuzuru and Shoma wrapped in those red lobsters I realized I that was not gonna happen and I thought: darn, gold doesn't go well with that colour. They ruined the photos But guess what, on Yuzuru it still looks gorgeous we fanyus are a bunch of moody (and severly sleep-deprived) people. Which reminds me, I was waking up yesterday at this hours. Off to sleep.

Don't worry, we don't need to leave this place, it's only a temporary detour. Olympics practice thread is there to keep the content of the forum a little bit more organized. Think about a new fan landing on this planet all of a sudden and wanting to read about Yuzuru in ACI or COR or about our NHK meltdown, or now about his new tissue box: without the Event threads they should search among thousands and thousands of pages in this thread! It would be harder and even a bit daunting! instead we have the events thread, so we go and post some things in there stuff like the detailed practice reports (or our complaints for Yuzuru trolling all of us again), so content is a bit more organized and people can find things more easily...and this general chat can take a breath (otherwise we'd have already cleared 4000 pages by now, I think). Of course in the event threads there are also some reports about other skaters, but this is still a Yuzu forum so whenever Yuzu is competing the posts become quite unbalanced (like number of pages of the olympics practice thread more than doubling in a few hours because Yuzuru had a single and very short training session) so come and enjoy Yuzu in the practice thread, there is plenty of our trollKing waiting for you and some cute pics of other skaters that can make you smile all the same (Of course this whole post might be already useless by now and you are happily drowning in Yuzu's practice content, because this reply of mine is slower than the slowest snail ) I'm still thinking about smiley Yuzuru bouncing around on the ice. It makes me emotional, his sheer happiness of being there

I went for a mix of personal taste and reasonable chances...tho I'm feeling very bad for predicting against S/M victory, but with Aliona's issue I see S/H having more chances, tho not getting gold would be unbeveliably kuyashii for Aliona. tbh I'd be disappointed on pair winners only if D/R get the gold, they just aren't my cup of tea among all the top teams And I'm trying not to think about jpn ladies' underscoring

I think the only question now is about FS 4Lo yes or not.... btw I have not commented on Lord Zu's arrival because everything I thought was already posted, be it "OMG he is alive, he is there, this feels surreal" to "he looks GREAT" to ""Sleeves are wrong. Again" LOL....satellites think alike

the video is quite interesting tho it doesn't contains anything new (and I think I've already seen some of the bits or read some interviews from the Delaware university professor and the other lady talking about optimization of rotational speed and how speed increases more if they wear those weights/gloves). Of course it's US video so they are going to use the world saviour a US skater and hype him a little bit more (and I've just read another article about Nathan's "secret weapon". Guess which one? His ballet training It was an exceptionally humorous read because of the stark contrast between what was written and reality Like, are we even watching the same programs?). Nathan happens to be one also of the male skaters who can rotate faster, so it makes sense in a talk about quints, but it makes me chuckle that they couldn't find better landed jumps. Nathan has done some smooth landings on both combos and solo jumps, why the heck did they pick those ugly landings that make me cringe thinking about the jolt of his joints? (oh wait, I know why: they have no idea those are not like a proper landing is supposed to look) (and btw it is just me or the jr skater, Dihn, had a very weird air position in the video? It looked asymmetric, I hope he can fix it or his quads won't go that far)

Great, more threads to drown in lose myself in to have fun in! Thank you thank you I worry about them, after so many months without practicing their "Yuzuru Hanyu" they might have forgotten it. It took them so many years of hard work... But Nathan is bringing his diving suit fashionable costumes, no more pit stains there (granted, there will be others) I'm late to the party, but here my thoughts on today's updates on Yuzuru My first one is whoa! Yuzuru is going into Olys with barely ONE month of on ice-training, even less of quad jumping. And he's going to do 6 freaking quads across SP and FS. I repeat, 6 freaking quads. ngl, I will mourn the absence of 4Lo if it isn't consistent enough for Yuzu yet, and I will mourn even more if he will have only one 3A in the free, but tbh it's already mind-bloggling he is going for 4 quads in the free. I'm sure that, in his shoes, a lot of athletes would have been in a slump mentally, nevermind think about skating a 4 quads layout. (Boyang skated a 4 quads FS after only a few weeks of training, too, but let's not forget 1) Boyang is younger, he healed faster 2) Yuzuru has a past of injuries, and more important a past with right ankle injuries, so he needs to be extra cautious and hasn't taking any chance, because he knows how much it sucks to injury yourself again when you are in a rush to get back 3) this Olympics means a lot more for him than for anyone else 4) he had a plan that got screwed big time 5) he has been off ice way longer) I mean, just think about all of that: while other skaters, his direct competitors, where practicing and competing and getting medals left and right, Yuzuru was there, looking at the ice with longing, thinking about his ankle, his stamina, his recovery lagging, his training lagging even more, with the freaking Olympics he plans to win getting closer and closer (and people dismissing his chances more and more). Missing GPF and then missing Nationals again and he couldn't still skate as Nathan won US Nationals. Seriously, just think about that: as Nathan did his clean 5 quads FS, Yuzuru still wasn't back on the ice!!! and he was there watching and for sure reading everything people was saying and Yuzu had to fight through all of this and then go back on the ice and be patient to get his 3A and his quads (and his 3Lz) back and he had to accept that there were some things he simply couldn't afford to do in those few weeks, things he had spent a lot of efforts and sweat and blood into acquiring (like the 4Lz) and he had to let go for now, because OLYMPICS were right there and he was running out of time. How could he even think about doing team event is beyond me. Seriously, this guy! I'm so GLAD he chose to have another precious week in Canada. As Brian said, every day is precious (it wouldn't be this precious, had Yuzu been healthy all these months, but if you have only 3 darn weeks on-ice of course even one freaking day more matters!). That he hasn't lost motivation, that the delay in his recovery hasn't made him lose his hopes, that he has not surrendered despite the clock ticking is astonishing. IT.IS.ASTONISHING. Just the amount of mental strenght it requires....argh, I want Yuzu to publish a book about all of this and people to translate it in all languages because it would seriously be something everyone needs to read! LOL that's my feeling too, poor Shoma And off ice most of the time he still looks like a lost child in supermarket, looking for his parents (who was saying it's a surprise that he hasn't been kidnapped yet?) OT I find Shoma's tendency to look like dozing off when off-ice both endearing and somewhat annoying, when he does that e.g. at press conferences. I mean, a bit more of effort there wouldn't be bad, he is an adult now and press cons last less than a hour. It's not like he's the only one who's tired after competition! For different skaters things work in different ways, imo Boyang looks a bit more like Yuzuru when we talk about their mindset, he has something he's aiming for and he's quietly but steadily working towards that, without anything else steering him away from that. Right now, it doesn't looks like he's much interested in "I want to do better than x, y or z", but if it happens in the process of him achieving his own goal of course he is happy. To me, Shoma looks like someone who needs to see a clear "physical obstacle" ahead of him, something (or someone) he can fight against and he works to conquer it. It is possible he might also need a similarly external "physical proof" to be sure that he did well (I have read somewhere he is very hard on himself and he might sometimes doubt of himself? Maybe now his confidence is growing). With Nathan I feel there is a different kind of drive, it's more like "I love jumping quads, and quads are worth a lot of points, cool, I can win!" rather then "I'll do more quads because I want to win and be the absolute best in everything". But I haven't read many of his interviews so maybe I'm wrong. It's somehow funny that, despite being hyper-aware of what and who surrounds him, Yuzuru's main motivation still comes from within himself and his mindset of constant evolution (I also wonder how much that mindset was actually born out of necessity, so he could survive through the hard times he has faced, starting from the "challenge" of his asthma), tho of course seeing others land difficult jumps lit a fire inside him. But his long terms plans were already set even before Boyang came with his gorgeous 4Lz3T, and way before Shoma and Nathan were in the picture as multiple quadsters. RE: individuality/age even if it's true that Yuzu has started being more actively heavily involved in things like his program choices after Sochi, he has always had a rebellious streak and he has always been quite headstrong in what he wanted. Trusting someone else's choices isn't the same as not minding what they choose at all. I have always got the feeling that Yuzuru goes along others' plans only when he can find some kind of solid logic that can counter his own inclination, if his inclination is to do the opposite those other people want. If you want to get him do something, you better persuade him, because he won't follow you if you just say "I know better, trust me". you have to explain: "do this because of this and that". For example, while he did trust Brian about the skating skill training, with the promise it would make everything else better, he still insisted on the 4S in 2013-2014. I don't see nor Shoma nor Nathan going against their coach about a jump and he wasn't even 19 when he insisted on that (also, don't forget RJ2 was his own choice, too, and he went as far as writing a letter to beg David to choreograph that program. Again, he was still 18 when he did that, but he already had a vision of what he wanted to do for his olympic season). With Jeff and PW, the reasoning might have been: I can challenge myself and explore something out of my comfort zone. Of course he wasn't going to trust people he had barely met, but he believed they could give something to him and he took all the opportunities. That's why I think he, more than anyone else, has a strong mind and a strong will and a strong individuality. That's what makes him different. Also adding to the "what would happen without TCC": stamina obviously improved both thanks to having more training hours and getting to work on ss under the guidance of a former ice-dancer (while in Sendai he had to do the most of his few hours of training, so he jumped, because jumps were worth more points) and of course the TCC team had loads of experience, both as athlete themselves and as coaches (as coaches a bit less, Brian had only started with Yuna). Getting to work with so many professionals and specialists at once was important to get to an excellence level in different areas, too, a bit like when you go from school to university: at school you study a bit of everything, you get a general knowledge of many different things. But in uni you can maybe study the same subjects, but in much more depth. Nanami-sensei and even all the coaches he had before knew skating and its elements and gave him the basis, but the specialists are like uni porfessors, they are specialized and their knowledge of specific elements is way greater so they can see and resolve issues other people can't. Also, never underestimate the importance of TCC privacy policy. We know Yuzuru can suffer from external and media attention. The media blackout during these last 3 months has been really impressive. Yuzuru wanted to focus solely on his recovery and training and TCC granted him exactly that. I don't know if other rinks would have been so effective. The coaches personal experience as skaters (Brian's in particular) and, again, as the one as Yuna coaches might have weighted a lot there. To end this longish post: remember, at Autumn Classic Brian's pre-competition talk to the press was about first pancake, and first pancake was. Now he says he is not worried and all of this will raise Yuzu to another level...

Better than Nathan and Boyang!

I'm so relieved that we have confirmation that all the other quads are good (not to be taken for granted these days) I'm relieved his 4Lo is good too, it means not only that ankle is 100% healed but also that there aren't many issues with using that right foot for the 4Lo take off too That 4Lz isn't going that well isn't a surprise, it's the most recent jump he added to his program, and he has done it only once in competition. Per Yuzu's words it was a moody jump even when he was healthy, after that long off-ice time it likely is the hardest jump to recover, even without taking into account that it adds much more strain on his recently injured foot, too, because of the insane time of flight he has on the jump (with his darn pure picking technique and delayed rotation) No wonder if he/his team think re-training the jump in barely a month, when there is so much to be done, it's an unnecessary risk to take. It's a matter of "not enough time/higher risks in terms of stability and injury" vs "being the 4Lz", and I'm sure Yuzuru pondered everything and if he's not going to bring the 4Lz to Olys it is the best decision in his current situation, without doubt and if instead he's going for it...well, it still would be the best decision, because it's Yuzuru we're talking about tbh some of his 4Lz landings (WTT practice, some COR) looked like accidents waiting to happen to me I love his 4Lz but I feel less panicked more calm if he isn't going to do those kind of landings after his recent injury. Of course such landings can happen with other jumps, too, but they are more frequent with a new jump Also, that Brian is surprised by Yuzuru's training going well actually makes me a bit because it means he (Brian) himself wasn't feeling that optimistic when Yuzu first went back on the ice...

for me he became "skeleton guy" I still can't believe he chose those two costumes. One, I could bear with it. But why both? Kinda funny in that video Nathan says he's the only guy who can do "all 5 quads" Only, there are 6 types of quads #AxelErasure I will fight you (I bet that when there will be a US guy jumping gorgeous Axels suddenly the jump will become the greatest thing ever)

There aren't enough emoji to convey my level of squishiness rn This is one of the things I admire the most of Yuzuru, he wants his programs to be more than the sum of technical elements and choreo, more than skating to background music, more than a puzzle of disjointed parts. It's a vision that makes things harder for him, but it's why he stands out so much in my eyes re: Takahashi's pov I like the analysis of the strenghts of the skaters, how he says Yuzuru is good at "drawing in" and everyone is a fan of Javi (judges too...is that a bit of shade? jk, we know perrformance is Javi's strenght), and the words Daisuke has for Patrick are touching. I don't quite understand that part about Nathan's steps and what they have to do with the (un)famous ballet background, unless it isn't about some interesting choreo. I'm quite amused my view on Shoma's vs Nathan's momentum is quite the opposite tho. US media are hyping Nathan for gold, he has the highest BV (his fluid layout only lets us wonder "how much higher?) and despite not having delivered his best till now he IS unbeaten. Imo Shoma is the one going into PC with the lowest momentum between the two of them, because he lost to both Nathan and Boyang and the last one in particular was quite unexpected, so internationally he has lost steam. Tho his stamina really looked good during 4CC fs and he has the chance of redeeming himself at the team event (and I sincerely hope that he will, and maybe disrupt the "unbeaten" US narrative as a bonus ). I wouldn't say Shoma is like Sochi Yuzu at all. If anyone has to be "Sochi Yuzu", imo Nathan might be the closest. But still, it is a bit of a stretch because of what's happened thus far (this season and the previous ones too). Also, note that, per his owm words, Takahashi the skater had a mindset completely opposite to Yuzuru re: his rivals, only now he is a commentator he can focus more on the good qualities each skater has (which is Yuzuru's default mode) Re: skipping team event I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision at all, with Yuzuru taking so much pride in skating as a representative of his country. So I believe it was the wisest choice to be made under the circumstances (which we can only guess). Ngl, it would have been better for my peace of mind if he were doing the team event, too, it would mean everything else (ankle, stamina, training) was great for sure... but before I was super worried about him doing the TE and tiring himself and straining his ankle (Ambesi's words of doom about higher risk of re-injuring playing in the background)so I'll gladly take this as a half filled glass... and a chance at being a productive human being for another week. and I was wondering why NHK would broadcast a Yuzu documentary only a couple days before TE SP...now it makes sense, it's like a lifesaver thrown to keep people afloat for another week Totally unrelated: That feeling when, scrolling down your TL, you read pH and think Planet Hanyu... only it was an article on glass electrode and pH measurement I'm a chemist, this should really NOT happen I am torn between and going just

Ouch, 4CC pairs & ID hated me I've sinked out of top 5 Congrats to everyone who stole my spot had a good round! Looking forward a stress-free Oly team event (tho for the singles event I'll only die more, but what can you do)

The new banner!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so beautiful and airy and bright and Yuzu looks so otherwordly gorgeous I absolutely love it! What an amazing work! Gosh, this means Olys are really here

I'm so sad about S/K and S/B. They are probably my faves among Russian pairs and ID teams They have been working so hard to get the chance to go to Oly and then, all of a sudden, someone tells them they are not "suitable" for ?????reason. That's the thing that really makes it hard to swallow, that Ksenia, Ivan and their partners (and us) aren't given any clear reason. And the confusing reaction from ROC is pretty bad too. You can't say one thing one moment and take it back the next one. that's not how a serious government body should work (but ROC has lots of faults in the whole doping story, so...) I hope IOC will say something more about why they singled out some athletes like Ksenia and Ivan so out of the blue, because right now it looks like an awful injustice. Asking here because I haven't seen the Russian J Nats performances, but why was wild child Nastya Tarakanova so low in the rankings? When I saw the results I thought she had had a meltdown but I've read the protocols and she didn't have any major mistake... the goe on spins looked pretty low tho (as she usually has lovely spins) I'm so sad I won't get to see her at JWorlds Well, more chances for Rika and the other Japanese and Korean girls to get on podium At least I won't be debating on which of my favourite jr ladies leave out of my dream JWC podium, now they can fill those 3 places quite nicely

LOL they're really doing the best they can with that material from August... I'm wondering how much yuzu stuff they usually hide from us hungry fanyus keep for themselvesThe drought season really blew the lid off. Awww Brian being the good mama coach for his kids skaters RE: "people" talking about what skaters coming back from injury should do with their layout BTW, since this is going to be my 1000th post, which in my book is quite an achievement, I’m trying to write something worth recording for posterities. (I was totally anticipating this) So here we go, essay under spoiler not to bother who doesn’t want to follow incoherent ramblings and creepy endless gushing

Thanks @Joey This round of prediction was so difficult and kind of sad for pairs and ID (men too, tbh, expecially when you think last year it was basically a World Championship minus Javi and Mika)... but that means more medals for those who usually don't medal in a major comp I'm going to trust Jason to finally put together two solid skates and snatch the bronze. And of course I hope Boyang will finally be in good physical condition! Anyway, the gold is Shoma to lose, given he's going to be the one with both highest bv (or Boyang's higher? I haven't done the math, but usually Shoma gets more GOE so...) and PCS, and with his strategy to go back to his old layout I'm hopeful that this time he will be clean(ish) again in the FS I'm rooting for my predicted pair podium to get on podium because I like all of them. My aussie bbs had a good season till now, and for Ryom/Kim it would be amazing to get a medal! now I hope I haven't jinxed them all And ouch I hadn't realized there were no chinese pairs at all in the competition... for the jpn ladies to sweep podium! Mai please please give me two beautiful skates please make judges repent that they didn't give you your rightful pcs during GP seires and you, Kaori, girl, don't implode I feel bad leaving Liza out of podium tho now look as jpn ladies all splat no please no

Adding to @CupidsBow's remark, for general italian audience everything animated is usually seen as something for a younger audience (comics too), so if people like my parents read of a supposed connection of an athlete with something animated (hence not so serious because it's "not for adults") they might frown or feel amused but take the athlete less seriously. I know it's unfair but it's the same reasoning of people dissing Yuzuru because he carries Pooh to the boards. tho when I moved from my hometown to tuscany, where the biggest anime&comics event is held, I've noticed people there had a more open mentality. I suppose it's the same in the biggest cities too.

Mm, there are some innaccuracies (e.g. gpf Barcellona was in 2015. But the most relevant is that Yuzuru has never skated to YOI theme, it was a fan montage) and, as a stickler for writing and choice of words, I wish the author could have chosen different terms and phrasing in some passages... but other than that it's a very good article for readers who have no idea of what they are missing It focuses on what brought Yuzu to who he is now, some of his achievements and his stardom (no Pooh mention tho but it links to the NYT article). It's funny that to show Yuzu's character it links to the yuzu-cat video Imo the best part is Ambesi's quote. Nothing we don't know already, but always nice to read his "technical omnipotence and artistic excellence" (how many hours Max has spent searching for the perfect formula, I wonder )

totally unrelated to what's going on in the thread rn, but I was catching up with a tv series. Why has it anything to do with Yuzuru, you ask. Well... as they say, once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern. It all started with one of the characters saying this: "Great ideas are like great athletes. Efficient, elegant and powerful". Then, in the same episode, Tigger and Pooh were mentioned A few episodes later that feeling when you see this ngl, for a moment it freaked me out, I thought Yuzu would burst on the scene and jump a 4A So, a tv show that had nothing to do with Yuzu turned me into a puddle of Yuzu feels Guys, I need help

Anyway, I feel a certain irony in guessing gold right for the most unpredictable discipline (hint: Men) but failing at Ladies's (Evgenia till her injury was such a safe bet)

I went for Javi gold so I know I don't jinx him CoC doesn't count ok? Misha managed to grab a place on the podium, I guess that's something... but I had for pairs silver Vanessa&Morgan I was ok with them ruining my prediction getting gold, now I can't even console myself

Yuna Now I'm even more at some professionals that let/suggestivo to move the blades off the gravity centre. I know the placing of the blades can vary a bit, but I guess it is because different body types require that (e.g wider hips vs. A slimmer frame). Even walking on the ground the placements of feet is important and any pathology can create problems to the rest of the body, I can see why it is so important to have the blade exactly where it can sustain the body weight in the most balanced way.

Please note that I am a chemist, not a physicist, but I had my share of physics, statistics and analysis at uni. But this is not the point (and ipse dixit doesn't applies to me just as it doesn't apply to some professor, head of some figure skating department of some University). That article lacks even the basis for being called a scientific research. Pretty much like @Neenah and others pointed out, even not taking into account the ridiculous puzzling datas they gave in that article (and those they didn't give) and how they are absolutely contradictory, it's the whole (lack of) scientific method that discredits the content (and who wrote it. And the institution behind him, too). About that (allow me to call it dumb) reply from the poster who claimed you shouldn't use gifs to measure jumps: it's not like in real time people are watching gifs, but they still think Yuzuru's jumps are bigger than Shoma's. Then what about all the other people who made the calculations and found Yuzuru jumps quads of 60 cm height, or more? And what about that 4A simulation from Asahi, did they take their 3A datas from a gif too, and got fooled? Just wtf! It's not like giffing a video suddenly makes a 48cm jump became a 60 one! Of course to make the accurate calculations you don't use gifs, if they have not enough quality and don't allow you to do your measurements as accurately as possible. But even in gifs you can have a rough estimate of height, using the body of the skater as a unit. And no, I usually don't watch how high the head of the skater reaches, but how high his skates get, and I relate that to the skater's body. Also, small jump from a shorter person "looks" much much bigger than a smaller jump from a taller skater.* It's a matter of relationships, like when you see Yuzuru next to Satoko and he looks tall, but then you see him next to Ondrej and he looks so tiny and short and want to cuddle him, but it's because we as human beings are used to measure the world comparing things, no using some absolute scale. *So If that doesn't happen...well... it means something is very off, and maybe the taller skater isn't jumping smaller at all some other boring musings under spoiler ETA: I edited a comparison because dragging Yuzu in comparisons about heights is always a good thing

RE: the unfamous article I know most has been already said, it has been said like hours ago, but now I have time to write my bit, so bear with me So that article is saying: skater A has bigger jumps than skater B, which means he has more airtime. skater A rotates faster than B Both are doing 4 rotations if rotational speed = turns per second (or any other unit of time) = n°of rotation / airtime it means that n°of rotation = airtime * speed skater A is doing n°rotation = longer than B * bigger than B so the same article is telling me skater A is be doing more rotation than B Those two things just cannot coexist. The End. Of course there are many more issues that have been already mentioned, like the lack of info about the method and the sample chosen, and the choice of the sample itself. tbw, a one jump-sample isn't nearly enough to make any conclusive analysis. Not to mention that the numbers are joke. If that "analysis" had been posted by a fan on a forum it would have been called a troll, because that's exactly what it is. But it was published by a supposedly trustworthy professional. Too bad "ipse dixit" doesn't work when you have numbers and evidence against you. So, one of these two must be true: 1) this professor is a fraud and can't do his job and doesn't even know how to do his job (doubtful) or 2)he has 0 work ethics. Either way, he should just be fired. If that's the kind of people who help Shoma with his jumps, I'm not surprised he has hard time getting better or that he needs to go to USA to have some serious jumping training. I can't see any purpose in that kind of article if not to shade Yuzuru on a level that not even NA press has reached (or dreamed. Or maybe they dreamed of that, but couldn't find anything they could use). If even the US press couldn't jump in and criticize the quality of Yuzuru's elements (of any of his elements) and they only try and play the inconsistency card or at most "he has hard time keeping up with Nathan on quads" (or scoff at Pooh), you know any other criticism has not even the faintest basis, or they would been already attacking full force by now. Just till yesterday I was thinking about how glad I was that jpn media were, after all, still supportive of Yuzu and not trying to force the rivalry with Shoma anymore, I was even feeling bad for having been so distrustful, but this is disheartening. And counter-productive, because Shoma, among the top 6 or 7 male skaters, happens to be the very one with the smallest jumps and more questionable technique (yes, Javi has some questionable take-offs himself, but he jumps big). I understand that they want to support their skater, but why like this? Why don't they just trust their skater a little bit more? And actually help him to work on his weaknesses? without e.g. suggesting him self-harming temporary measures like moving the placement of his blades, that caused more strain on his joints and pain. I know Shoma has a great relationship with Miyoko and she seems a nice and kind lady, but I really wish he could change environment. I remember watching a documentary in july, where he talked about his blades, and there was this professor that said that they took care of Shoma to prevent injury and so on, and I felt still a bit doubtful but relieved that they were not overlooking anything and knew what they were doing, but now I have this terrible feeling that that professor was the same professor who gave that idiocy of an article to the press and I just want Shoma far, far away from him On a side note, I'm not sure "height" of the skater is the main factor in how high skaters can jump (and how much air time they can achieve), but of course it can factor on e.g. rotation speed (and so the minumum air time they would need), if we talk about a skater like Caro vs one like Satoko, who is not only shorter but also way slimmer. iirc it was mentioned (here?) that the fiber composition of your muscles counts a lot. It allows some people to get more "spring" on e.g. jumps, and iirc in part it can be modified with proper training but in part is also genetic (I don't remember where I've read this tho). So there are short people who can jump big. Anastasia Tarakanova is listed at 1.52 m of height, Satoko at 1.49, so only 3 cm of difference. I would expect they could potentially jump quite the same, having almost the same height, but no, there is a huge difference in the height and ice coverage of their jumps. Same with Sasha Trusova, she is small and rotates fast but she doesn't jump as small as Satoko (she doesn't jump small at all). Rika Kihira is listed 1.52, too, and she manages to do a 3A and she isn't even as thin as Satton (meaning she probably can't rotate as fast), so obviously she needs to get much more air time and she does. Mika is 1.67 m, which isn't the highest among men, but he jumps really really high. So imo it's still possible to make jump comparisons among skaters with different body type. Tho the "visual impact" can be very different depending on body type, of course. Am I explaining myself? Of course, body type (meaning height but imo most important shape and...let's call it "radius") has an obvious mathematical correlation with rotational speed. The thinner the axis, the faster the rotation. About that there's nothing much skaters can do, if they are already fit (and obviously athletes are fit, it's not like they can lose some fat here or there and reduce their "radius"). So it isn't surprising that Satoko, being so "small" (in radius, an in weight too) can rotate really fast. Faster, for example, than Wakaba that has a completely different body. But it's because of their muscles and bone structure e.g. width of hips (you can't make your hips shorter, they're just the minimum radius you'll have and you have to work with that).