[Quick translation] El Pais articles before and after Worlds 2017

[banbourg]

I'm gonna be honest, I wanted to post these mainly because someone is apparently walking around calling Kikuchi-san a witch, which is HILARIOUS. The rest of this is old news now anyway, and draws liberally on the Informe Robinson show (about the differences between Yuzu and Javi, Javi saying they're not super close, etc). 

 

T/N: People get referred to by the country of origin a lot in Spanish, which I find sounds ungainly (and sometimes racist!) in English, so I've subbed their names back in most cases. This is quick and dirty - please do point out any mistakes, etc. 

 

El Pais, 29 March 2017: Yuzuru Hanyu, a ‘ghost’ against Javier Fernandez’s skating triple crown

Spoiler

Yuzuru Hanyu, a ‘ghost’, against Javier Fernandez’s skating triple crown

 

The Spaniard is seeking his third World title in Helsinki against the Japanese skater, who resorts to isolation in order to beat him.

 

In the figure skating competitions Yuzuru Hanyu, aged 22, goes around off-ice with a small inner circle that isolates him from the outside world. Witnesses say he is accompanied by his mother, a bodyguard and a person whose presence makes other skaters nervous. Some have described him as a kind of witch, a mentalist who causes rivals to fall during competitions. Reality points to him being more of a spiritual advisor, who is helping [Hanyu] to prepare psychologically for the goal that has eluded him for two years: clawing back the world title from Spaniard Javier Fernandez, aged 25.

 

The Japanese skater, Olympic and World champion in 2014, a being who dazzles on the ice and isolates himself off it, will kick off his reconquest of the Worlds gold in Helsinki this Thursday in the short programme. The event will also determine who gets tickets to next February’s Winter Olympics.

 

The two best figure skaters in the world have an unconventional relationship. They are not truly friends, say those close to Fernandez, or at least they don’t partake in the moments of leisure and camaraderie that colleagues usually share. However [Hanyu] has real admiration for his companion, partly based on how indecipherable he finds [Fernandez’s] success: a sociable person who can be at his level without isolating himself. 

 

The trainer.

 

The mystery that surrounds [Hanyu] was also present when he asked Brian Orser, Fernandez’s trainer, to become his coach. The Canadian coach, as revealed on the show Informe Robinson, was called to a secret meeting in Japan, to which he flew without knowing who he was going to meet. But there was Hanyu, with a single wish: he wanted to train at Orser’s rink with Javier Fernandez. “Yuzuru lives with his mother, is very sheltered, and isn’t social at all,” says Orser. “I wanted to train with Javier because he does everything so easily,” admits [Hanyu] in the same broadcast. 

 

Hanyu’s discretion is such that he rarely allows himself to be seen outside the rink. In the small world of figure skating, he is described as a ghost. He appears and disappears suddenly, leaving his legion of fans to wait until they can see him again. 

 

Javier Fernandez is the complete opposite. He greets the audience, signs autographs and knows that this is all part of his job, though he also stays focused during important competitions. [Fernandez] arrived in Helsinki on Sunday, accompanied by his parents, his sister Laura, cousins, friends and his friend and agent Jorge, who he met in the Blume Athletes Village in Madrid. He lost his luggage, including skates and costumes, during the flight to Finland, which had him worried until he got them back on Monday. 

 

On the ice, Javier Fernandez (who in January won his fifth consecutive European title) will again make use of a conservative strategy in the face of the risks taken by his rivals. And this time he won’t only have to look out for Yuzuru Hanyu, as after three years of duopoly there are more candidates with a real chance of getting the gold: Shoma Uno from Japan, aged 19, and the American Nathan Chen, aged 17. All of them have planned two quads in the short programme, but in the free they will set the bar higher than Fernandez, who has only planned three. Hanyu and Uno have planned to include four and Chen five, which he successfully managed in US nationals. A first. 

 

 

El Pais, 2 April 2017: Yuzuru Hanyu is crowned World champion and Javier Fernandez comes in fourth.

Spoiler

Yuzuru Hanyu is crowned World champion and Javier Fernandez comes in fourth

 

A fall on a quad and an uneven programme leave the Spaniard, who was in the lead before the final event, off the podium

 

Yuzuru Hanyu’s tears as he received the judges’ scores held more meaning than his gold medal in the World Championships. The were the emotional reflection of a king regaining his throne with the best free skate in the world: delicate and forceful like Hanyu himself, cold and fierce like the ice. [Hanyu]’s return to the top at age 22 coincided with the fall from grace of Javier Fernandez, aged 25, the athlete who has dedicated himself over the last few years to writing the exotic story of a Spaniard who triumphs in the cold. He was the leader going into the final event after the best SP of his entire career, but this Saturday ended up fourth, off the podium. 

 

Hanyu was crowned after capping off a great recovery. On Thursday he was only 5th in the SP, over 10 points behind [Fernandez]. But the experts warned not to write off [Hanyu], Olympic champion in Sochi and gold medallist in the last two Grand Prix Finals, where the best skaters in the world compete. 

 

The podium highlights the new landscape of elite figure skating, with three Asian skaters in the lead and multiple candidates for Olympic glory next year in Pyeongchang: Shoma Uno from Japan got silver and Jin Boyang, from China, the bronze. 

 

Hanyu smashed the world record for the long programme, getting 223.30 points (321.59 total).  Fernandez was held back by an uneven free skate (192.14 points, putting him in 6th on the FS) with a fall on his second quad, which wiped out his great SP from Thursday, a career best. His final total was 301.19.

 

[Hanyu], who had won the championship in 2014, has won his second gold in the toughest competition we have witnessed these last few years, with a concentration of talent and a display of athletics never seen before in the sport. It is also a demonstration of his power less than a year out from the Winter Olympics. In the comparison of skaters' strategies, those who went beyond to include four quads in their long programme won, though none with Hanyu's level of mastery. The American Nathan Chen, this season's sensation and whose programme included six quads, came in sixth after falling on two of them. 

 

Fernandez had bet on including only 3, with a programme balancing the artistic components, his real strength, and the intention of skating cleanly. His plan failed. "I think it was a lack of mental determination. I went out into the rink without being exactly clear on what I was going to do." Now, [Fernandez] is looking ahead to the Games in Pyeongchang, which will be celebrated in February, "This takes a little bit of pressure off. I won't have all eyes on me over the course of the coming year." 

 

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Haha. Did they fire the first writer and actually hired a professional for the second one?

 

What did they attribute the falls that Hanyu suffered that, for lack of a better term, "allowed" Fernandez to win in 2015 and 2016? Early testing of shamanism that backfired? By their logic, I wonder what kind of tribute do they think Orser had neglected to pay to be jinxed out of gold not once, but twice? And what kind of insane blood sacrifice did he have to make to see his dream realized decades later twice over consecutively through the same student?

 

Thanks for the effort. You're good at this. :))

[kaeryth]

Thank you the translations!! Ghost!Yuzu and Witch!Kikuchi-san is always amusing to read.

[EisElle]

Thank you @banbourg for your translation 

@¯\_(ツ)_/¯ sadly the writer was the same 😅 which means that:

a) he wanted to troll his readers with his first article

b) he rushed to jump on the bandwagon after Yuzuru won 

c) he had an epiphany halfway on how to do his job properly

d) Kikuchi the witch heard him and performed a spell on him, making the poor guy unwittingly join the army of Yuzuru's minions 

 

Pick your favourite  

 

Btw what is it with Spanish media thinking Kikuchi is a warlock or a spiritual advisor? I remember the Spanish commentators from tdp saying he is a spiritual advisor too... Kikuchi's presence might help Yuzuru mentally too, but it's not his main job there   Is it that hard to see that he actually helps Yuzuru for his warm-up? Tho Yuzuru's warm-up routines are quite unconventional  (tho I'd say that they are very systematic and strategically planned instead ).  And who are these skaters who feel so uncomfortable around Kikuchi? That poor man looks so friendly and polite

 

Anyway, it was an interesting read 

[banbourg]

5 hours ago, LadyLou said:

I remember the Spanish commentators from tdp saying he is a spiritual advisor too...

 

 

To be fair the tdp ladies thought Yuzu's relationship with Nanami Abe was "peculiar" and "distant" as well, so... 

[EisElle]

23 minutes ago, banbourg said:

 

To be fair the tdp ladies thought Yuzu's relationship with Nanami Abe was "peculiar" and "distant" as well, so... 

I guess that's where cultural differences come into play... 

...and of course some people don't hunt the web in search of every snippet of video or news Yuzuru-related 

still, poor Kikuchi 

[xeyra]

1 hour ago, banbourg said:

 

To be fair the tdp ladies thought Yuzu's relationship with Nanami Abe was "peculiar" and "distant" as well, so... 

 

I'm not sure Nanami crying her eyes out after Worlds 2012's FS is exactly being 'distant' but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt because they are otherwise awesome commentators and love Yuzu. 

[yuzupon]

3 hours ago, xeyra said:

 

I'm not sure Nanami crying her eyes out after Worlds 2012's FS is exactly being 'distant' but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt because they are otherwise awesome commentators and love Yuzu. 

 

This is what I was thinking, too. Showing any emotion, particularly near sobbing as she did there (but, Abe-sensei is another one of those who still looks human when crying, I see. Like sensei like student), isn't particularly common in Asian culture in general, yet she was so overwhelmed she couldn't avoid it. 

I also remember how she personally put the bandage on the chibi Zuzu after a particularly bloody fall, even if Yumi-san was also there with them.

So, yes. It's the cultural differences playing, as @LadyLou said, so can't really fault the tdp aunties for that. They also always have hilarious but completely relatable reactions after he skated, so I'll take the quirky comments from them anytime.

[Old Cat Lady]

I'm late to the party but, lol, these articles are great!  Makes Yuzu sound even more mysterious and interesting.