48 minutes ago, xeyra said:

Boyang's Olympic bio has Yuzu listed as his hero. D'awww.

 

 

 

Bless this sweet, alien child.

3 минуты назад, b138oo сказал:

Anyone has the best chill pills recommendation???? The Oly would be during my orientation, if Yuzu is competing on the team event, and I need some chill pills that are far from alcoholic contents  bc i just moved to another country in another continent and tadaaa the Oly is at noon

I suggest being busy the whole week, taking part in all the activities available in this new place. Doing sightseeing with the new friends can help too. To be so busy that you won't even have time to check your phone. Usually, right after the move, you have a lot of papers and other annoying things to take care. If you are lucky, even in the evening you would be too tired to be very nervous.

34 minutes ago, kaeryth said:

 

awww 

2 hours ago, KatjaThera said:

That top (tshirt?) makes his neck look even longer... I like that little smile, though lol

Now that little smile is very elusive “ a la Mona Lisa “ to me . Is it there or is it not ?  I think I’m very affected by the lack of Yuzu sight so I see mysterious, elusive  signs everywhere 

1 hour ago, Xen said:

2022 is going to be the war between the Yuzu fanboys.

Unless Yuzu tries for a threepeat.

It's already 1 February in Japan so..

Rabbit Rabbit White Rabbit please let Yuzuru Hanyu have his ideal skates (every single ones please) at Pyeonchang 

3 minutes ago, micaelis said:

Unless Yuzu tries for a threepeat.

That would make headlines- the deity and his fanboys go head to head. Granted this time he is going to compete against 2 of his fanboys (Dimitry Aliev and Boyang) at minimum.

51 minutes ago, b138oo said:

Anyone has the best chill pills recommendation???? The Oly would be during my orientation, if Yuzu is competing on the team event, and I need some chill pills that are far from alcoholic contents  bc i just moved to another country in another continent and tadaaa the Oly is at noon

https://www.amazon.com/Plum-Flower-Economy-Size-Wanderer/dp/B0036LMKOO/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1517412123&sr=8-1&keywords=free+of+easy+wanderer+teapills

 

Per my acupuncturist friend's recommendations, these will be accompanying me to PyeongChang.  Take 8 small pills 3x a day with room temperature water.  Don't eat or drink anything else about 10 minutes after taking it.  It's recommended to take them some time before the date.  I'm starting my regimen tomorrow   But take it for a little bit at first to make sure they agree with you. I tried them for a few days a month ago and they seemed fine for me. 

13 minutes ago, MrPudding said:

It's already 1 February in Japan so..

Rabbit Rabbit White Rabbit please let Yuzuru Hanyu have his ideal skates (every single ones please) at Pyeonchang 

2 hours ago, kaeryth said:

Yuzuru's athlete's profile at the official Pyeongchang 2018 website. Take a look at his achievements - nothing below 4th (ignore WTT and team events). They also listed his injuries /sob/.

I'm crying every time I see GPF section. Those 2,1,1,1,1 melt my heart somehow.

Also, please somebody sacrifice your sanity and talk to me about Boston take a look at this and tell this is just a misread of the injury known by us , and not YET another injury he was having at the time...

Spoiler

He sustained an injury to his left ankle at the 2016 World Championships in Boston

 

I don’t think we saw this yet?? 

2 minutes ago, Sammie said:

I don’t think we saw this yet?? 

I think i should go to the doctor and get my heart checked.

22 hours ago, micaelis said:

We're getting to the nitty gritty prefacing showtime.  I thought I might get something going here by airing my feelings about who are the most formidable rivals to Yuzu (meaning those who actually might win, although that's only if Yuzu stumbles or has not fully recovered his full prowess) and inviting comments (I do consider this general Yuzu chat and not grounds for a new thread).  The two biggest threats I think almost everyone will agree are Nathan and Shoma.  They both have scored points that exceed former Yuzu records (former records, since only Patrick Chan has ever broken a record Yuzu set, and that was way back in 2013).  Nathan might seem the greater threat but one must realize that when he's beaten Shoma this year it was by the narrowest of margins.  There is a possibility that Nathan may have peaked too early, as for him this entire season seems to be Nathan at his peak.  Almost certainly the American press is putting forth a narrative of a showdown between the American Nathan and the reigning King of Skating, Yuzuru Hanyu.  In Japan I imagine there is a lot of buzz over a Yuzu/Shoma showdown.  In both those countries the supposed showdowns will probably drive ratings way up, although in Japan if Yuzu is involved the ratings are automatically way up.

 

The outlier of the credible gold medalists is Boyang.  He's coming off an injury but proved himself at 4CC.  His problem is the perennial one with him - his program is controlled by his jumps.  Kurt Browning calls him 'Boing-Boing', which is not too great an exaggeration.  There is a possible narrative here, but not with Yuzu, and that is a quad duel between Boyang and Nathan.  That, though, will be essentially a sideshow.  In any case that finishes off the authentic contenders for gold.

 

Javi and Patrick are essentially outliers.  For them gold is probably only possible if Yuzu and the other three have a collective meltdown.  Javi is, of course, coming off a very impressive win at Europeans, nailing his sixth straight European title.  That probably has him more than ready for PC, but while his quads are acceptable they are not as numerous as the other four and none of the contenders have quads as impressive and GOE-earning as Yuzu when he's skating inspired.  Like Johnny Weir said - "It's not the quads, it's the quality of the quads".   And, I might add, the quality of everything else.  As for Patrick, he's added some jumps but his forte has always been his PCS points.  The thing is that Yuzu is a most definite rival there so when push comes to shove if Yuzu is skating more than clean, Patrick doesn't stand a chance.  Javi and Patrick, if they skate at their best, do have a shot at a podium position, just not the one with greatest altitude.

 

At one time I thought Mikhail Kolyada had a shot for the gold or at least a podium position, but while he took gold at the Russian nationals, at the GPF and Europeans he only bronzed.  I think part of his problem is his FS program, which is done to a medley of Elvis songs.  Quite frankly neither his costume nor his clean-cut boy next-door looks match the music and I think some of the judges are put off by the discordance there.  As a point for comparison look at Yuzu's  Parisian Walkways and Let's Go Crazy.  In both those programs Yuzu embodied the music both choreographically and visually.  Now, I might be wrong about Mikhail, but that's my feeling here.  As one who is old enough to remember the first time Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan show in the USA (although I've never been an Elvis fan - For me the music I want to listen to has always been classical), I have first-hand knowledge of the Elvis mania that swept the country at that time, a mania that was strengthened when Elvis was drafted and without hesitation he went and served his country, a move that cemented his reputation even amongst those not given to admire his performance content and practice.  As I said I might be wrong here but the discordance between Mikhail's looks and his program I think might weigh in the minds of some of the judges.  On top of that he's not solid in his jumps and does fall sometimes (although Yuzu is hardly immune there).

 

In summary my feeling is that Shoma and Nathan have the best chance of dethroning Yuzu, with Boyang a possibility there also, but I think that is dependent on Yuzu and the other two having an off day.  I will be surprised, however if Boyang doesn't make the podium, as both Nathan and Shoma are inconsistent enough to make for a vacancy there.  Patrick and Javi have shots for the podium but gold is very unlikely, for reasons stated above.  Mikhail is an outlier even for a podium spot.

 

So that's how I see things.  I'm sure there are others of far greater expertise disagreeing so I most definitely would welcome them to the discussion.  We're close enough now that discussion of what the results might be is relevant as since the regular season is behind us all the data is there that we need to make predictions.  The Joker in the deck, however, is that the star of all these proceeding, one Yuzuru Hanyu, has been out of the public eye for nearly three months.  As I said about this situation in an earlier post, Yuzu is essentially beginning a second season.  I don't know if that situation has ever occurred before (there is a parallel with Evgenia's situation this season, though, and also with Boyang's much briefer absence, making this very much a season of the walking wounded).  For me, the one bit of information I am most anticipating is whether Yuzu will be in the team competition.  I do wish they'd hurry up and put that issue to rest.

 

In general I agree with you although I disagree about Javi not having a chance to win gold. During worlds last year, if he didn't make those mistakes he did during fs, he could win his 3rd consecutive world championships. 

Javi doesn't is lagging in terms of BV, but he's not as far back as Patrick. And since he doesn't need to worry about team competitions, he doesn't need to worry about the fatigue.

 

As for Nathan, I'm not sure about the part where he peaked early. I felt that his performance after US classics have been going downhill till GPF. US nationals is where he performed well again, although I'm not sure how much nationals inflation and lack of competitive stress contributed to that. So I feel that there's a chance that he might peak at the right time.

 

19 hours ago, Sammie said:

Wow his strong muscled spine.  

The one that made Nobu 

 

2 hours ago, xeyra said:

Boyang's Olympic bio has Yuzu listed as his hero. D'awww.

 

 

For this reason, and Boyang's adorableness, I'm rooting for him to podium at PC. 

7 minutes ago, singcarcom said:

 

In general I agree with you although I disagree about Javi not having a chance to win gold. During worlds last year, if he didn't make those mistakes he did during fs, he could win his 3rd consecutive world championships. 

Javi doesn't is lagging in terms of BV, but he's not as far back as Patrick. And since he doesn't need to worry about team competitions, he doesn't need to worry about the fatigue.

 

As for Nathan, I'm not sure about the part where he peaked early. I felt that his performance after US classics have been going downhill till GPF. US nationals is where he performed well again, although I'm not sure how much nationals inflation and lack of competitive stress contributed to that. So I feel that there's a chance that he might peak at the right time.

 

 

I am expecting nothing less than a well skated event.  Since men have been a mess all season the olympics could be the perfect storm for these guys to pull it together.