Yuzuru Hanyu and other figure skating talk part 5

Link to other thread.

NEPELA entries include

Men:

Kolyada, Voronov, Erokhov

Bychenko, Samohin

Grassl making Sr debut (I think)

Kvitalashvili

Tanaka

Sean Rabbitt

Ladies

Rika Kihara

Tursy

Dabin Choi

Zagitova, Tsruskaya, Kostantinova

Pairs

well, just 5 and that includes Ghilardi/Ambrosini and Jones/Boyadji

Dance

Sinistina/Katsalapov, Zakhorsi/Guerreiro, Popova/Mozgov

McNamara/Carpenter

Kaliszek/Spodyriev

debut of new French teams.

The Team Japan jacket Medvedeva was wearing in her cosplay was Higuchi's. That was an old photo and has nothing to do with Hanyu. Calm down.

I'm so disappointed that I was too late say "wtf you obsessive loons" in the old thread.

My bad. But I've never seen Yuuri on Ice so I just thought she looked like Yuzuru - the hair and the jacket. And after she wore a copycat bracelet that looked like his, of course my mind went to more mimicking. But I don't care - and I sure don't think fans should be upset by any of this - I'll never understand why they might.

Nepala's got some interesting names, I'll certainly watch whether Zag still has her jumps, whether Eterii's name attached will do anything for Tursy, and what condition Tsurskaya's in. Out of the girls, Tsurskaya has always had the most interesting style.

I'll be cheering on my man Samohin, hoping he'll get himself together this season and serves some good camp.

I'm curious to see if Eteri has improved Tursy's skating given Brian & Tracy's limited success with her.

R5. I also thought mimicking since she has done it before. I get more annoyed with her than upset. I doubt Hanyu likes it since he stopped wearing his bracelet after he probably found out she was wearing one like his. I believe he might be wearing it again now. If I found out someone was copying me I would be a bit annoyed too and probably tell them to please stop.

r5 r8 Is it really necessary to drag it out? It's been proven that Evgenia's cosplay had nothing to do with Yuzuru, it's like you're insisting on any excuse to be negative about her and insist that everything in her life is about Yuzuru. It's, well, obsessive.

R9 I have no idea why people find Med so objectionable. She's done a few, at most, questionable things, but who hasn't. She's 18, likes to be a little silly on insta, but at the end of the day, she's the one cuddling in Hanyu's arms, so you guys are just jelly. Just kidding, just kidding! Don't come at me, weirdos!

Here's one of the tweets with people speculating about a possible showing of Hanyu's SP. Others have thought "SP" could just stand for "special" which would just mean it's another airing of the charity show. Who knows?

HANYU FANS ARE SO SENSITIVE

R11 Oh Daitroll, your comments are always recognizably penetrating and insightful.

{R12] Right? You re good laugh. You are not so impervious. You always replay to me when you feel affected so I know I post some. truth hahaha You re jealous brat. About Medviedeva. Who would have thought?

R10 Some find Med objectionable because they feel she's been ridiculously overscored. It has nothing to do with Hanyu.

R14 Oh yeah, I was talking about the bracelet, instagram critics, not the people objecting to her skating. I'm not a fan and don't follow her skating. How ridiculous is the overscoring? I thought it was just on par with everyone else's.

when will those lazy Autumn Classic International organizers put the entries online?

I only want to cuddle in Javi's arms!!

R17 Keep dreaming

Does the ice have a dick? Because that is the only kind of dick Hanyu is taking right now.

Ha! R18. You're his beard. He cuddles me and whispers sweet things in my ear.

R20 He whispers, "You're a chick with dick. This, I like."

r14 The overscoring is on par with other Russian (save perhaps Pogorilaya). And Kostner. And Daleman and Osmond. And Miyahara.(We shall see this season how overscored Tennel will be.) Less overscored than Nathan Chen and Uno probably.

The people who go on an on about Medvedeva don't harp on her skating though, it's omg share dared to buy a bracelet like Hanyu's and show on her insta, she dared to take a photo with Hanyu, she dared to move to Orser like Hanyu, and now apparently she dared to look a bit like Hanyu when she cosplayed as an anime character.

[quote] (We shall see this season how overscored Tennel will be.)

I should have beaten her in the FS at Worlds

r23 Yep, you should have, Loena.

Looks like our old friend Ashley is packing it in for good and moving to Boston.

Well, I was hasty, she's only packing it in for now and seeing where "the new adventure" takes her.

What kind of adventures can you have in Boston?

Terror attack

R27 For a white girl like Ashley, that would be Dorchester.

R28 Stay classy, Daitroll.

h faggot , fuck off

R30. Isn't there a Dai thread she can create? lol.

R31. Jesus Christ. And you say you're a lady?

{R32] ME ? You need Dai blog for yourself. YOu cannot stop talking abot him :) I didtn say a word about daisuke , your t rolling is annoying. Grow up

You re doing it for purpose , faggot?Every my post you bring down to Daisuke. I talked about Boston . It was funny some time ago , but now it is annoying...You troll all the time throwing around those posts about dai without any reason... We know you re one of that fraus who hated on Dennis while ago. You made a point/

I think you feel remorse now when you hated on dennis back then...

R32 That would be a great idea. Daitroll should get its own thread, called "Daitroll: the Madness and the Passion". It will just be Daitroll talking to itself, filled with raw and angry posts like, "i saw best minds of generation;;s destroyed by mad ness, starving hysterical nake d fasdf. DAiskje Dennnis sdf" And then we would troll it by posting normal things like, "Ashley Wagner retired today or yesterday maybe. I don't know." Wait...that would be like this thread.

R34 R35 Aww, don't be mad, Daitroll. You're the thread mascot; we just poke every so often to make sure you're still around.

{R36} make sure i am still around/????You know what I post and when ,,you dont reply to anyobe here provoking with dai to check if its me.. Wy those lies? Come up with better excuse

R36. No idea what she is talking about. None of us here said anything bad about Denis ten. She has the wrong board. She probably thinks I'm you and you're me.

Good grief we need the season to start or Hanyu program thrown at us. We are giving the troll too much attention lol

{R38] One day , couple weeks ago I posted a message that hanyu fans hated on Dennis ten during bosston 2016. And I noticed HOW those "fans" must feel now when ten is dead Since then he hates me calling me dai troll .Why dai? Who knows ... MAyve because dai is back and he seems not to like hanyu to much . So he hates us all :P

A tiny preview image apparently from Hanyu's upcoming calendar.....he knows we know he knows he's cute. Work it all you want, Yuzu. Itsuki is quaking and I'm sure Lambiel is making a spot for this on his wall as we speak.

The ice show costume is still terrible yet great at the same time? Might be the ombre.

R40 Sorry, your calendar image is too PG. The mood of the room calls for *licks finger, tests for wind direction*...ass. Definitely ass. Care to oblige?

R41 Always happy to provide to those in need.

R42 Your kindness will not be forgotten.

Not an ass picture but nice abs.

Huh. Black gloves.

Zach was looking for some gloves.

If DL were to make a FS callendar, which photos would be on it?

And since I don't want the answers to be a million of photos of Hanyu, I've arbitrarily made the decision that his pic will be the shot of his bent-over ass in the purple pants, somebody kindly find it for me. At least one Radford, one Cizeron and one Lambiel please?

This one? Something from 2017 Rostelecom for sure.

A shot of Fernandez in one of his tight black costumes should be in it. Maybe this.

I googled "Patrick Chan Ass" to post his picture as a joke, but all I got were pics of him falling on his ass. Poor Patrick.

As for Lambiel, I don't even require ass from him, just a suit.

I am not a Radford or Cizeron connoisseur so I'll leave them to people with taste in those areas.

I appreciate that Lambiel is attractive, but I don't personally find him wankable. Too clean and needy looking.

I need to go looking for this but I read it on Twitter: Uno and Lambiel performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Winter) together at Friends on Ice.

Speaking of Uno, here's one for the calendar.

Can the calendar have past skaters? I always love some Johnny Weir.

Before he got fat, Brian Orser was quite the twink with a nice ass.

Someone called?

Too subtle?

R10 Yeah, that was SP for “special” and about the charity show.

R53 [quote]I need to go looking for this but I read it on Twitter: Uno and Lambiel performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Winter) together at Friends on Ice.

Are you sure you saw that on twitter? That’s what I posted in our last thread, word-for-word in fact.

R57 It looks like he’s trying hard not to fart.

This is getting too much. Josei Seven printed another paparazzi photo and article saying that Hanyu has been visiting a Toronto-based Japanese acupuncturist to receive ASTR treatment for his pain recently. They named the doctor and said his office is within 5-minutes driving distance from Hanyu’s high-rise. A reporter approached the doctor for comment, but he refused to answer any questions for privacy reasons. They had quotes from a JSF insider about Hanyu’s condition and past care, although they could be fake.

In b4 Hanyu withdraws from 50% of competitive events this season

R59. I saw photos posted yesterday by his antis but wasn't sure what it was about. This is going too far. Poor guy can't get privacy. Hanyu values his privacy very much and this is probably upsetting him. If true I hope he is ok. I hope he doesn't go compete and hurt that ankle even more.

I'm sorry R59! I'm the culprit - I got mixed up about where I saw the quote.

"Shirtcocking in an alley"? Oh Johnny.... I love you but sometimes I just don't understand you......

It's a photoshoot he did a while back.

For GQ?

Rostelecom Cup is so predictable. They had a list of 10 potential substitutes list and they picked the one with 10th score (Julian Yee) to fill their vacant spot.

New GPs assignments:

Yulian Yee at Rostelecom

Vallter Virtanen (host pick) at Finland

Viveca Lindfors (host pick) at Finland

Juulia Turkkila/Matthias Versluis (host pick) at Finland

Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevicious at Rostelecom

Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto at Rostelecom

Spots to be filled:

International Man at Finland

Male host picks at Skate America, Skate Canada, NHK and France

Female host picks at Skate America, Finland, NHK, Rostelecom and France

Pair host pick at Skate America and France

International Ice Dance at Skate America

International/host pick at NHK (it's due to Muramato/Reed's split but I think they may not have a Senior ice dance team ready apart from K/K who have already been assigned at NHK)

Ice Dance host picks at Skate America, Rostelecom and France

For the Fall Fashion Issue of NYMag, after the 2010 Olympics.

Impressive find r58 , that would make on any DL calendar, not just FS!

R59 So basically they're showing the stalkers how to figure out where he lives. I'm sure the third article will include a picture of the building for the less resourceful stalkers.

Nebelhorn entries are out.....quite low profile this year

Keegan MESSING

Paul FENTZ

Thomas STOLL

Daniel SAMOHIN

tArtur DMITRIEV

Alexander MAJOROVt

Nicola TODESCHINI

Alexei KRASNOZHONt

___

Brooklee HAN

Amelia Scarlett JACKSON

Natalie KLOTZ

Loena HENDRICKX

tAlaine CHARTRAND

Amy LIN

Gerli LIINAMÄE

Emmi PELTONEN

Lea Johanna DASTICH

Nicole SCHOTT

Nathalie WEINZIERL

Netta SCHREIBER

Marin HONDA

Mai MIHARA

Alisson Krystle PERTICHETO

Matilda ALGOTSSON

Mariah BELL

Ashley LIN

__

Evelyn WALSH / Trennt MICHAUD

Lana PETRANOVIC / Antonio SOUZA-KORDEIRU

Minerva Fabienne HASE / Nolan SEEGERT

Annika HOCKE / Ruben BLOMMAERT

Alisa EFIMOVA / Alexander KOROVIN

Ioulia CHTCHETININA / Mikhail AKULOV

Jessica PFUND / Joshua SANTILLAN

Alexa SCIMECA KNIERIM / Chris KNIERIM

___

Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER

Shari KOCH / Christian NÜCHTERN

Katharina MÜLLER / Tim DIECK

Jennifer URBAN / Benjamin STEFFAN

Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON

Robynne TWEEDALE / Joseph BUCKLAND

Natalia KALISZEK / Maksym SPODYRIEV

Alexandra NAZAROVA / Maxim NIKITIN

tChristina CARREIRA / Anthony PONOMARENKO

Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS

Still no entry list for Autumn Classic....

R62 It’s OK. I was confused why someone was pasting DL quotes on their twitter.

R66 So Allison replaced her brother and they decided to fill Ten’s spot?

R69 That’s the third article and it didn’t even manage to make it onto their top 30 most-viewed of the day list, although the previous article is on the editor’s choice list. Josei Seven is only the 8th best-selling weekly and on a steady decline. Ten years ago, they issued half a million copies per issue. They’ve been printing under 400,000 copies per issue every year since reporting on Hanyu and printing under 350,000 this year. When the second article came out, their readers questioned why the tabloid was even reporting on a figure skater and following his activities overseas when they wouldn't do the same for someone bigger and more interesting.

What is going on over at GS? The owner of that site started a bunch of threads with polls on jumps, costumes, etc. Is she trying to attract new fans to her site with that crap? I wonder how many people paid the $6 for the competition threads. She is such a control freak, always lecturing people on what they can and can't post in threads.

r72 I saw the dumb polls and thought the same. Maybe I just haven't been paying attention, but she seems even more overzealous than usual about closing down threads.

Strange that they are harassing Hanyu in Canada. And they are doing it since Med went there. Maybe they were hoping for some gossip. But why they are not stopping is the question.

R74 Looks like they just happened to receive pictures of him on one day (all his clothes are the same), and are stretching out their release over a few weeks so they can spin some new bullshit to go along with each set to make it look like an ongoing saga. Unfortunately for them, Hanyu's routine is incredibly mundane, but they've gotta get their money's worth, I guess.

R75. I agree. I find it both pathetic and sad. I am wondering now about his injury. How bad is it really? He was doing jumps at the ice shows. I would think if he was bad he would not do any jumps and take it easy. This is like a soap opera. Hanyu's real life soap opera. : (

Hasn't Hanyu always done acupuncture? I don't think that means anything. We'll see what's going on soon enough. Autumn Classic is only 3 weeks away. If it's that bad, you would think he would withdraw from a rinky dink competition like that. Granted, the kid's shown himself to be a bit of a loon in past competitions but hopefully he's learned to have more common sense after the past year.

r72 With the competition threads locked down, they might be experiencing drop in traffic, which is bad for their advertising. So those polls etc might be a an attempt to boost traffic which would otherwise be happening in the competition threads.

I looked it up, and the first JGP of 2018 has 2.2k posts versus 1.2k posts of the first JGP of 2017. So, the traffic has actually risen, quite significantly.

Shoma seems to be all over the place - interviews, ice shows, outings with DL fav Itsuki. Is this a new thing for him and part of the responsibilities of being an OSM, or has he always been this visible?

r72 I saw a link to their twitter on one of the threads so maybe they're just looking to create fodder for that. I don't get why anyone who posts at Goldenskate would also need to follow their Twitter. But those brainless boring threads seem to be the most popular over there (wasn't there a 10 page thread on what everyone's favorite scoreboard was?) so maybe it's just about creating more activity for the sake of generating more interest in the board.

r79 I wonder why that is. Would there still be an exposure boost from Olympics? Maybe the quad interest in juniors is sparking more interest in the events? A Canadian hopeful keeping the N. American skating board interested? I think if Gogolev wins Junior Worlds he'll be the youngest male skater to do so. Hanyu was 15 and Plushenko was 14 but his birthday is in November while Gogolev's is in December. Is there anyone younger that has won it?

R71 [quote] So Allison replaced her brother and they decided to fill Ten’s spot?

there were 2 ice dance vacant spots (Muramato/Reed and the Armenians). They added Allison and Komatsubara/Koleto. So either Allison replaced his brother or the Japanese team replaced the Japanese team. Ah, K/K weren't even in the replacement list per rules. So Russia did whatever they wanted. But it would be funny if Japanese Fed which barely do politicking had done it for Komatsubara and Koleto...

R75 The photos from the second and third article could be from the same day, but he’s wearing a different hat and getting into a different car in the photos from the first article.

R77 He was seeing a different Japanese massage therapist and acupuncturist in Toronto until Pyeongchang. The tabloid is saying that the previous acupuncturist and his physical therapist Kikuchi couldn’t help him with his pain, so he’s seeing this other person and trying new methods of treatment.

R80 It started before the Olympics. I think it was around the same the time that his brother started “modeling.” Maybe two years ago. The JSF, his agency (USM) and his parents have been trying hard to prepare him to take over for Hanyu. Also, Mao usually headlines The Ice but she had her own tour this year, so it became his (and Zagitova’s) responsibility to lead the show.

R82 Does this mean that Team KoKo will get whatever little funding Muramoto/Reed had? They didn’t place that much higher than the other remaining Japanese dance pair last season, but are they significantly better?

R81 Plushenko is the youngest junior worlds champion. He was about 14 years/<1 month at the time he won it. The next junior worlds is in March 2019, so if even if Gogo wins, he will have missed Plush's record by a couple of months.

R83 is the other dance team still around? Japan gave back the third host pick at NHK in the original selection. Let's see who (national or international) they will choose to replace Muramoto/Reed.

When last month they announced the Team for 2018-19 season, M/R were in "special" group (that's where Hanyu, Uno, Tomono, Tanaka and the main ladies were) while KoKo in "Team A" (that's where Rika Hongo, Marin Honda, the pair were) . I guess that meant M/R were getting more fundings

KoKo result at Asian Open was good. Not that far from Wang/Liu and Parsons which suggests an improvement

2018 Four Continents: W/L 158 P/P 155 KoKo 138

Asia Open 2019: W/L 160 P/P 157 Koko 154

R85 I think Fukase/Tateno are still training in Montreal, but they were Team B.

R83 Shoma is only amusing to me as a sideshow piece, so maybe I'm not seeing it. Why is JSF spending resources promoting such a technically flawed, not particularly inspired skater? I mean, I enjoy his socially awkward persona, but only ironically and definitely not if he's being shoved in my face so often. Even setting aside the whole regional favoritism thing with Hanyu, what about the women? There are plenty of young, talented Japanese women out there who could use a little PCS boost. The talent is much deeper than in the men's field. I hope JSF shifts gears in the next quad.

R87 They have been promoting Rika Kihira and Marin Honda this off-season, so maybe we'll see a PCS boost, but the promotion of Uno has gone to a weird place. I think his agency and family are responsible for a lot of that. Your opinion is shared by many on the Japanese side and there's growing resentment against the JSF and Uno, although I can't tell if he understands what's going on.

R86 thanks for the info. Maybe they will do Autumn Classic?

Something's weird in GS land. I just got a message from GS saying that I can win a season pass if I post a recap of the Bratislava event in the highlights thread. They want 1 long paragraph for each discipline and the staff will choose the winner. That seems like a lot of work for the staff.

I wish there was another alternative to FSU and GS. Yeah, there's Planet Hanyu, but I'm not a superfan of his, so I don't think I'd feel comfortable posting there. DL is fun and all but you can't follow specific threads and you have to sift through so many garbage posts. GS is getting out of control with their rules and moderating. A couple times i would write out a long post only to have it not go through because of some "offensive" word which was not a curse word. And you don't get to revise it, it just disappears. They also warned me once for some very mild criticism of Ashley, lol. I guess gkelly is a big AshWags fan.

r84 Is there a video anywhere of Plushenko winning junior worlds?

Nevermind, there is, I found it.

Plush's junior program contains nothing but jumps. Completely nothing, by comparison, Gogolev's is an absolute masterpiece by comparison. Heck, Jin/Chen/Zhou's junior programs were masterpieces by comparison. It's good that the FS moved forward, whew.

Plus, an early weird transliteration of Plush's name.

This is the Eurosport version of the 1997 junior Worlds and can somebody tell me if this is the same commentator that's still doing the British Eurosport commentary? If so, wow, these guys' gigs last LONG.

R91. I find GS very boring and rarely go there even to read. I am not too familiar with FSU. The only board I post on for figure skating is here. I get a lot of stuff from Twitter as well.

R83. Yes the photos are from different days. I think the first photos he was getting into a dark colored car. The latest photos have him with a white car. He just needs to stay safe. He has so many crazies. The article never should have hinted what kind of place he lives at. Those crazies will go to each one. And I'm sure all eyes will be on him in his first competition

R95 sounds like Chris Howarth. He's been with British Eurosport since 1989!

Simon and Chris . Both of them ve been wiuth us since then

Looks like Johnny has a new house with a pool.

You wish, Eric. You and Hanyu probably.

Is that really Eric Radford? Isn't he supposed to be married and in love with another Spanish cutie.

I love three ways

R100. LOL. Maybe he knows something we don't about Javi. I want to know when Hanyu will come out. I'll give him a big kiss If he ever does. That would take a lot of guts on his part.

The poor intern running the social media stuff for ISU must have been in a bitchy mood... they actually posted the following instead of ignoring the comment!

isufigureskating@chozobo Hello, unfortunately the social media team of the ISU does not sit on the technical panel of competitions so I cannot inform you of the process that has gone on in determining what edge calls have been given in each athletes case. 🙁 For more information on how the judging system of the ISU works and on what basis technical calls are made, please visit our page ISU.org for the relevant communications and the technical handbook.

r99 Good for Johnnny, must feel good to be successful. (Even if those concrete walls look butt-ugly.)

100 Wtf did Javi just post? Omg, lol, now waiting for a picure with Javi having an arm around his gf wearing a long long beard.

Has heterosexuality so clouded Javi's judgment that he can't see with his own eyes that no girl he's ever dated or will ever date is going to be hotter than Radford or prettier than Hanyu? Variety is the spice of life, Javi! Grab life by the...horns, tug at it vigorously and good things will shower upon you!

Didn't Radford post an ig story of him and Javi lounging around shirtless? I would be more supportive of GS if they had polls like, "When Javi and Eric clearly banged during the summer ice shows, who topped? A) Javi; B) Eric; C) they took turns; D) Neither; Hanyu topped them both."

Why has Javi posted an Instagram of himself standing in a closet?

r108 The door of the closet are wide open... Either he's trolling or he's about ready to come out. My cynical self tells me he's trolling though.

R109 of course he's trolling. He's been trolling for the past 6 years by feeling up Hanyu every chance he gets.

Kevin??

Media day only happens in your wildest dreams.

And be ready for more and more rumors made up by tabloids. Either romantic rumors or a fight between two top skaters for their coach's attention.

R111 Horrifying but still better than his old hair.

Zagitova is stunning here. And it's a shame no one has skated to this song.

r112 I was thinking the same thing about r111 The problem with his old hair is that it focused all your attention on his face. I think he's doing the best he can considering his face.

r107 D would be such a waste. If anyone is built to power bottom it's Hanyu.

I just want Yuzuru and Javier to come out already. Does anyone think they didn't do anything while being together for 6 years at TCC?

I doubt it. Hanyu's mom seems to go everywhere with him, he doesn't socialize, and even Javi said he never went to Hanyu's place.

Kevin Reynolds?! I thought he was finally retiring. His skating and looks are dreadful.

Shoma is looking a little better as he ages, but I still see nothing hot about him or his brother, unless you're a 15 year old Japanese girl.

Daisuke Takahashi: could his injury be a sign that his body's too worn down and old to make a comeback? Same with Gracie Gold. She should go to college and stop torturing herself trying to be the skater she was 3 years ago.

Dice Murakami's videos on YouTube have gotten to the point where he's sitting around eating junk food like a binge eater, or showing off that he got a haircut. yawn....

Sad about Muramoto-Reed suddenly splitting up. I think that's the end for their skating careers then.

Vincent Zhou is looking better and more musical already early in the season. If Nathan's distracted by Yale and doesn't get enough training time, I predict Zhou will be the next national champion.

R115 it might have slipped in once or twice.

Karen Chen removed from US International Challeger (well, moved to alternates list)

2 US pairs are removed and one is upped from alternates. Pairs is down 5 teams. It is the minimum to count as Challenger.

A never heard before Estonian girl withdraws from Lombardia.

R116 As much as his mom follows him everywhere I doubt she goes to the locker room with him. Moreover in Javier's book, he mentions Yuzu with a paragraph along those lines "my biggest rival was sharing training, laughs and dinners with me". I really think up until 2015 they were closer but then the competition between them became too heated, add to that fans shipping them and bothering Javi with the shipping and I can see why they grew apart but it's clear that nowadays they are again on good terms.

Not sure that Cha will get that final open spot at Finland GP, but apparently he's doing at least one Junior GP, unless there's a separate guy named Younghyuan Cha. I saw ACI roster float by on Insta-stories but couldn't copy it, but I'm pretty sure all four TCC skaters below were on the list. They could still withdraw, like Karen Chen did from US Int'l. Wonder what's wrong with her?

Cup of Austria (Linz) - 29.08.2018 - 01.09.2018 – Younghyun Cha KOR Autumn Classic (Oakville) - 20.09.2018 – 22.09.2018 - Cha, Hanyu, Brown, Medvedeva (no Daleman - yes Kevin, Wakaba, and Tennell)

Sorry about wacky spacing - and also sorry not to read R118 more carefully. Why would she be moved to alternates?

Here's the link to the roster for ACI

r120 There is another kid - a 14 year old named Cha Young-hyun.

Oh thanks R123 - oops.

Can somebody tell me if Senior Bs always had such strong participation? I remember Nebelhorn often getting a good representation but others? In terms of singles, this year Lombardia, ACI and Nepala look excellent, USIC looks good. Only Nebelhorn looks underwhelming, decent names but 8 entries, what happened there?

I wonder if Nebelhorn is less popular because of the elevation in the mountains. I know they've had some good skaters in the past but the lineup this year looks really shitty, especially for the men.

I think senior Bs became more popular when they introduced the Challenger series. They can earn decent prizes & ranking points, and they are a good way to prepare for the GP. Almost every top skater does a senior B or two now (except for Diva Wagner, that is).

Nebelhorn this year is the trial competition for judges wanting a promotion. They will do the practical exam on Nebelhorn performances. Given the skaters entered, they better start to revive the negative bullets.

r127 Wow, that's... something. I had no idea judges got tested during actual competitions. Maybe that's why so few people entered. On the other hand, the more new judges the better, right?

For those crying for Hanyu's media day: Fuji TV is scheduled to show Hanyu's practice on Sept 8th, so unless it's some old stuff and they're trolling, the media day is gong to happen next week, or the reporters ninjaed their way into TCC and it's already happened. If this is it, It'll be actually about the same time as in 2016.

link to Twitter with the info

R128 [quote] Wow, that's... something. I had no idea judges got tested during actual competitions. On the other hand, the more new judges the better, right?

During the Nebelhorn week ISU is holding the exam for promotion from International judge to ISU judge. The ISU judges are those who can judge at Olympics, Euros and Worlds.

The exam is in 3 parts. The third part is the practical part which consists in "the judging of the Short Program and Free Skating of selected Single Skating and Pair Skating Events of the Nebelhorn Trophy Competition"

r126 So the skaters didn't get any points for Senior Bs before the Challenger status was added? That would indeed explain the shift in participation. I remember a skater I hadn't heard of before, a seasoin or two ago, who got a GP because he was high enough on the world list thanks to Challengers.

Look at the two at the end of the clip.

R132 i'm wheezing lolllll

r132 After the convo here my eyes are telling me they're Javi and Eric. Are they really?

Aw, Instagram tells me it's Eric and Scott Moir. Boo.

R131 They get points from Senior B (if they have enough countries and skaters taking part) but the points available for Challenger are higher. And Challenger scores count towards Season Best lists (which is used to allocate GPs) while scores from Senior B don't (they only count for minimum TES at Worlds/Euros/4CCs but big skaters don't need to think about that).

It can't Moir. He is there too, with orange back, looking at the floor.

Sorry, *can't be Moir.

r137 Ah, so maybe that's who the Insta poster meant. The vid is so blurry and Evgenia covers them too fast to see properly.

R132 omg that's clearly Javi. Come on. Poor Yuzu must be heartbroken. The problem for Javi isn't that he is a guy but that he isn't a tall, handsome top.

It is not scott

Obviously Eric and Javier.

It'd be awesome if it was Javi though, I'm still waiting for that photo with a long beard.

R128. Thank you for that information! I am excited to hear what Hanyu chooses for his music. : )

R140 He's handsome. He just isn't tall enough to be a perfect top. Mind you.

r140 Well, he isn't tall but he's handsome and how do we know he's not a top?

Hmmm. Hard to tell 100 percent. I watched the clip 5 times. I think it's Javier. And if true damn you Javi! Don't go breaking my Yuzu's heart like that! You better never make him cry!

r147 Loool. Eric's bf Lous Fenero is actually nothing I'd be eager to get rid of, so even if it's Javi up there, maybe they're just greeting/congratulating/whatever each other. You wouldn't be fooling around when there's a camera around, would you? Unless it's a planned campaign, of course.

r136 Thanks for the info, I wasn't clear on the details.

r140 Wait, I got confused who you mean. So ok, I wouldn't describe Hanyu as handsome. Pretty maybe. You can't get two guys much more on the opposite end of spectrum than Radford and Hanyu, so if Javi were into Radford type, he might not be into Hanyu type.

But Hanyu and Radford seemed to go along, they'd make a great three-way.

R145 I was talking about Hanyu and how his lack of chance (that we know of) isn't due to being a guy but due to him being a femboy and not a tall and manly top.

Hanyu's tall compared to Shoma - remember him caressing Shoma's neck and scaring the shit out of little Shomita - but maybe now he's had time to think about it... remember Nobu saying Yuzu was a "Dom" and Dai said he was a "carnivore"... They should know..... Hanyu and Uno are my power couple.

Anyway the real news is Javi and Eric sitting in a tree kis.... And that closet!!

Who knew Javi was such an insatiable cockgobbler? My interest in him has been piqued.

How could you forget about Lambiel and Deniss? Part 1. Scroll down for more photos.

I don't know. I find Hanyu handsome at times. Pretty at other times. I think he has genuine feelings for Javier. Like if he could be with him He would. Not so sure on Javier's feelings for Hanyu. I think he cares about him a lot.

I believe Hanyu loves when Javier touches him. Gosh this could be a story made for television. lol

Part 2. They've handwritten some of their answers at the bottom.

R154. Christ! Lambiel is so damn handsome. Are those two together? If so Deniss is one lucky guy.

1. (Lets assume it's true) Two-time Olympic Champion Haanyu, two-time World champion and million-time European Champion Fernandez and two-time Pairs World Champion are dancing around one another, being touchy-feely and stuff, annd only one of them being openly gay, one theoretically straight and one fuck-knows-will-never-tell.

2. Deniss Vassiljevs lives with his (almost) openly gay coach and his bf with whom he moved at the age of 17, is pretty successfully managed by said bf manager, pses for suggestive photos and performs male duos on ice.

Which situation is weirder?

What should be based on it, an anime or a Netflix drama soap?

R152 only 12 years old fan girls ship Shoma and Yuzu and would think Yuzu is manly. Also people confuse him being a killer when it comes to competition with him being some kind of dominant and masculine guy while we have all the proof of the opposite. As if gay men can't be competitive and intense.

r159 As if a nelly bottom can't be competetive and intense.

I want a Japanese-speaker for my Yuzu, having cringed through his English interviews - so if not Shomita, then... uh.... Keiji? I know what y'all think but I think he's cute. Especially with red lipstick and girl's wig. I guess he's manly. Are there manly Japanese anyway?

Wait - Johnny Weir speaks Japanese (and Russian and god knows what else he's a genius...) But who would be the top? Why can't these guys be VERSATILE anyhow? Why be so stuck in the mud traditional ffs (literally).

R159 Agreed, the Shoma/Hanyu shippers are gross. I'm rooting for Shoma and Itsuki.

r161 I thought it was agreed Shohei Ohtani would be great? r163It's all there, right under our noses.

R161 There is a perfect teddy bear for him called Ohtani if you want a Japanese. Although to be fair I think Yuzu's English isn't as shit as what he showcases during interviews where he is under a lot of stress or when he is tired from competition. I have seen short clips of him during practise with Brian and he seemed to speak English fine (with a few mistakes but nothing awful).

r102 Four-ways then, baby.

I haven't seen much of Ohtani but what little I've seen, he seemed more bashful and coy than Yuzu lol. But yeah, that would do - though I think a skater would have more in common with him. He's said when asked the ludicrous question of what kind of woman he's looking for - that he wants her to be a skater and be small and need protecting (ugh)... I guess that's why I got off on the Yuma kick - oh and that pass Yuzu made at him lol.

R166 5 way?

I would want a Netflix original series starring Yuzuru Javier and Eric. It could be called. Twisted Perfection. The Thrill of the Chase or Love Triangle.

The Brokeback Ice Capades

Brokeback My Mountain

R167 yeah Ohtani is quite shy and bashful whereas Yuzu is the definition of a minx. I would love for Japanese TV to have a program where both meet and get to live for one day the life of the other. That little interaction of them 2 years ago and them cheering for each other via media every few months has been enough to sustain quite a number of fans but who would say no to more.

r168 Sure, the more the merrier. You could invite your teammates every now and again too, we're very open and adventurous.

[quite]1. (Lets assume it's true) Two-time Olympic Champion Haanyu, two-time World champion and million-time European Champion Fernandez and two-time Pairs World Champion are dancing around one another, being touchy-feely and stuff, annd only one of them being openly gay, one theoretically straight and one fuck-knows-will-never-tell.

This is just the figure skating version of Call Me by Your Name.

r174 And it got an oscar too. So the key to success is do it again, just add figure skaters!

R173 No! Mike Trout is a whore with tiny meat.

r173 We'll let Shohei invite only the hot ones he can vouch for personally.

167 What Yuma kick? Who made a pass on whom? #confused

R178 Our Shoma/Yuzu shipper saw a video of Yuzu caressing Shoma's cheek and came all over this thread.

Junior GP Linz

SP Men 1) Orzel 79 2) Pulkinen 76 3)Shimada 74 4) Savooien 71 5) Grassl 70

Ice Dance: 1)Shevchenko/Eremenko 64.26 2) Lajoie/Lagha 63.95 3) Kuts/Mikhailov 58.63 4) Campanini/Riva 54.09 5) D'Alessandro/Waddell 50.45

Hanyu's media day is happening at this moment -- Joseph Phan spilled it on his Instastory. We could have word of his programs in 3-4 hours if anything winds up on Japanese morning tv.

R181 Holy shit! Thanks

R178, here's Yuzu's attempt at flirting with Shoma. But will it be the last???

r178 r179 I fail at fandom, I just realized that Yuzu/Shoma=Yuma. I've never seen this video, the "pass" is funny. I think they might be playing up their wedding pose fun, with the cheek caress and then giving each other a crosseye look.

r181 Thank God for younger skaters and their phone-happy fingers!

Just seeing these 6 seconds gave me anxiety. I don't know how he copes with the crazy media attention. I mean look at this shit.

R186. Wow. I feel sorry for him. I can understand a lot better why he doesn't really go anywhere. He is only human. A figure skater. I hope soon they can give this man space and some privacy. He deserves it more than anyone.

187 I really don't think you need to feel sorry for Hanyu because of a media day. It's a controlled chaos, happens once a year when he's in Toronto, and nothing he hasn't experienced before. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought of it as a part of his job, just like his other scheduled media appearances. These reeporters are not the ones invading his privacy.

That said it must be quite a holy-fuck experience for bystanders who have never seen it before like Phan. The way Phan lowers himself as if to say, "Hush, are you seeing the same shit I'm seeing?" says quite a lot, lol.

It's insane. And he is just putting his skates away? Hopefully soon we know his programs. How does this normally work? Will they share with is today or should we expect a later date? (first time experiencing a media day)

Yuzu seems to be going into a major tribute mode.

FS: Nijinsky (rearranged) SP: song called "Autumn" picked by Johnny Weir

otonal for short, good choise , i love this one

Wait, a bit of wrong information.

SP: Otonal, which was Johnny Weir's 2004/2005 LP.

Loool.

I can't.

I guess he couldn't do Johnny's Swan because he had already done it as EX two years in a row.

Ahahahaha.

Unless it's trolling.

But that'd be awesome trolling.

R192 Wow, of all the choices he could have gone with he did the exact thing I DIDN'T want him to do and went back to somebody else for inspo instead of choosing something new...the Nijinsky seems to be a new arrangement, at least. I fucking hate Plushenko, though.

Jeff Buttle and Shae-Lynn Bourne for choreo again, which is good.

People who don't like Nijinski are uncultured swines. A great tribute to a beautiful gay ballet dancer. Plushenko's best program by far. I like him having a program after his 2 childhood idols although who knows he might be trolling. Also he is planning to introduce the quad axel this season. How insane is that. All this makes me think that he is only sticking for one more season.

Here's some footage

Whoa. Whoa.

Nijinsky is a bold BOLD move. Great music, iconic program from Plushenko. But it really easy to ffall short of an iconic program - and he's very likely to fall short if he packs it with quads and attempts 4A.

Otonal - Uhhh, kinda feel sorry for Jeff Buttle for having to choreograph to this. If it's shortened to two and half minutes, it might be ok, but I doubt it will be as memorable as other Hanyu's SPs.

R194 I'm disappointed too. He's a double OGM winner and should not be recycling someone else's programs.

yuzuru hanyu 2018-2019 programs SP: otonal (inspired by johnny weir) FS: named origin (song/ arrangement that is nijinsky inspired)

more details

He is a 2 times OGM he can very well do as he goddamn want and not listen to what boring fraus tell him to skate to. It's clear he wants to pay tribute to his 2 inspirations, give a try to the A4 and retire in beauty because his ankle clearly hasn't healed properly and probably won't at this point. He still cannot jump flip and flutz more than 9 months after his injury.

his planned content for the fs is quite something: 4lo, 4t, 3lo, 4s-3t, 4t-1Eu-3S, 3a-2t, 3a

R200 Lutz not flutz. It's all Medvedeva's fault for making me confuse both.

On Takahashi, Hanyu said the skater is someone he admires and looks forward to his return and skating with him. He's not interested in a battle.

In Lambiel's interview, he said that Deniss' programs are still a secret, but the SP is "groovy" and the FS has a "Japanese-touch." Shimada's SP is Benjamin Clementine's "Adios" (which Shimada chose) and "Invierno Porteno" for the free skate. Kolyada's SP is rock and romantic. Lambiel also did the steps for his FS, which have a latin-feel.

Yep! Hanyu can do whatever he wants as the 2 time Olympic gold medalist. He loves his idols. And he said he was going to do things his way. Can't wait for the costumes.

I don't see the big deal with Hanyu finding inspiration in other people's skates. Doesn't really make it recycling because at least for the Nijinksy program sounds like he's going to use different music and skating now is so different from Plush's and Weir's day that it's necessarily gong to have a different look and feel.

R199 Otonal is a great choice. I think it fits him.

R203 Is it still considered a "secret" if no one cares? Deniss is a promising skater, but he's not exactly at that point yet where people are holding their breaths.

Can't believe he's going for the 4A this season. He's either further along than he let on or he's just trying to talk and will it into existence like he sometimes does.

He said he's going to do what he wants unlike past seasons where he was under pressure, and he 's going to return to his skating origins. He says he is skating "for himself."

R207. Good for Hanyu. I am really looking forward to his performances. This is going to be fun.

R206. I am surprised. I just hope he doesn't hurt himself. That would be horrible.

I can't believe we started today talking about orgies and are ending with all this content.

I don't get the negative voices. Neither of the choices are warhorses, quite the contrary. After I listened Otonal, it's actually beautiful music; it's Johnny's cut that's meh. Nijinsky is great music too and it's supposed to be rearranged too. It's not copying somebody else's music because they were succsesful with it, these are fully self-aware tributes by a skater who really doesn't have to prove his individuality anymore. Which is kinda cool on its own.

Wow at feeling confident in the 4Lo - that was a beautiful jump! Worrying that, at least from the layout above, all flips and lutzes are out. Gotta be the injury which must be chronic, but I wonder how many skaters finish the sport without a chronic injury of some significance, which pains them often - I bet not many - Buttle and Plushenko have spoken about theirs recently, though I forgot the details. And they didn't do the insane number of quads that Hanyu's done, over his career. I really expected him to go to 3 quads with one repeated so I'm impressed at his audacity and courage, now that it's all icing on the cake.

I think I kinda get the 4A though. Keegan Messing is probably going for it this year and Yuzu knows it - maybe others. It's like the last frontier in hitting the record books, and ankle allowing, he probably has the best chance (though I'm not up to speed on everybody else's - Nathan Chen said he saw Max Aaron do one but he's out of the equation - it's been reported that Yuzuru's done them in practice already, so it's not that big a step, when it's all icing on the cake -- if he fails, well, he tried. I remember him being pretty happy when he landed his first quad lutz even though he lost the comp when he landed it. This is bigger than any comp.

But I'm disappointed he didn't go for Carmen -- seriously, I love his choices. His life in skating has been a career-long tribute to Plushy and Weir, so it's a fitting end (assuming it's an end - he could trail off like Javi next season - or even keep going since he's only 23 - who knows? But the continuing injury issue is portentous... Nice comment about Dai ;)

What's more, he's doing 2 tributes. It's not like no-one has ever done a tribute or a program inspired by another skater, but he's dling 2. Which makes it a theme for the season . Which, again, I find cool.

so is he gonna use Edvin Marton's music?

Mm okay, I'm reading more and doing a listen and watching the footage and I'm alright with the music now. I trust Hanyu and the choreographers to create good cuts and good programs. I guess I'm just not enthused about the prospect of having to listen to him gush over Plushenko in every interview he does this season.

The fact he's talking about the 4A at all probably means he's a lot further along with it than he's let on. When he says he hasn't landed it properly yet, that means he hasn't landed it out of a back counter, because he's Yuzuru Hanyu.

What will happen to the backcounter enthusiast if Hanyu does a backcounter 4A???

What will happen to our Back-Counter-3ADLer if he does a a back counter 4A? Why does everyone want him to do Carmen?

Why would anyone want any skater to do Carmen is the real question. That should go onto ISU list of banned things.

R217 R216 I thought people were suggesting Carmen as a joke. Maybe not? Oh dear.

Sorry to disappoint, guys, but unless said backcounter-4A appears between 2 blowjobs on my Tumblr feed, nothing's gonna happen. Or, rather, I will perish from shock along with the rest of FS fandom.

Uuugh, Carmen. The sad part is that it's actually magnificent music, some of the best ever written and on stage it's still great, but watching a skating program to it is a chore. It should be an obligatory -1 in every category of PCSs.

On the 4A, he says he's not quite there yet.and still in trial.and error mode, but enjoying himself and still hoping to do it this season of possible. It's his main motivation. Everyone wants to get their articles out first, so instead of releasing one in-depth article, the journalists been releasing short articles with bits of information and new quotes.

Let's remember one of the saddest Carmen out there. But I guess that you can find some equally unknown girl who has done worse

R21 I think r211 was joking but some people on GS or maybe twitter seriously wanted him to skate to Carmen. But then again, someone else wanted him to do a holocaust tribute.

Schindler's List as SP, Carmen as FS?

People were throwing around El Tango de Roxanne too. Seriously.

He was asked if he would retire once he landed the 4A in competition. He laughed and said he won't know until he's landed it. And it has to be good quality and + GOE.

R223 Or a FS with cuts from Schindler's List, Carmen, and Tango. Daniil could come up with something.

R221 This is blocked for me but I don't need to see it again. The poor guy, okay, it was a sad, disastrous program but what I remembered was Tara/Johnny talking over the skate the entire time, reminiscing about where they were the first time they heard Carmen, saying things like, oh well, looks like he just gave up entirely. It's like, okay, they're not wrong, but LOL, it just seemed so mean to me at the time.

He received permission from Plushenko for Origins during Continues with Wings. I wonder if Plushenko has been dropping hints all of this time. Nothing said about Weir yet but he was also at Continues with Wings, as well as both choreographers.

r226 I just laughed out loud, for real.

R227 I was about to ask if those commenting were Tara and Jonny because they were almost as crap as the poor guy. Have they improved?

Looks like he lost weight compared to when we last saw him. He has 3 layers on and still looks super skinny. Reminds me of him having lost weight before the Olympics because of the injury, although this time it's probably just due to hard training.

He's recovered all of his jumps except the lutz. He hardly feels any pain in his right ankle anymore but he 's going to avoid the lutz to prevent injury. He does feel at the end of his competitive life but hasn't decided when he will retire. Instead, he is focusing on doing what he wants, the 4A, and having fun.

R231 Not unusual, he usually looks that way when he's in competition form. I guess it's back to 1% body fat.

I just want to kiss Yuzuru for these programs. I haven't been this excited in a while. He says he wants to have fun and he should. Does anyone think he doesn't care if he wins? He is so competitive. It will be strange to see a different Yuzuru

R232 if he says that much it means he is still injured and probably intends to retire if he lands the quad axel. It's Yuzuru: he is always lying and minimizing things not to worry his fans, get the fed and the media on his back up until it's too big to hide anymore. Of course he isn't going to say he will retire soon. Too many people depend on him so he will need to carefully think it out. That and he loves competition so much.

r201 That layout is disconcerting. Maybe there is something to that article about the acupuncture if he's entirely avoiding lutzes and flips. But he's also a better edge jumper and he doesn't need the lutz and flip.

One of the articles said that he picked this music leading up to the Olympics and the simple fact that he talked about the 4 axel so much says that he probably already landed it before the Olympics so I don't think the music choices or going for 4 axel is indicative of whether he's retiring after 2019 but if that injury is so bad that he's giving up an easy couple points because he can't even do a "3" flip or lutz he might be forced into retirement whether he planned it or not.

I'm the Carmen troll and I'm joking! Maybe if nobody had ever done it, I think he'd do a great one, but I realize the cringeworthy aspect -- btw, isn't Gabby doing Carmen this year?

Anyway, sorry for causing upset! Though someone mentioned Roxanne and suddenly I could see Yuzuru skating as Sting starts wailing... That would be so hot!!

Don't the new rules give a bonus (10%?) for doing all the different jumps. He's always done all of them, hasn't he? So that's a pretty huge decision, especially if there's the new huge bonus - though I didn't read the new rules and can't remember if it was rejected (or even ever suggested)??? We may not hear the real extent of the injury/pain that is ongoing until the end of the season - if ever - maybe not till he retires, because it makes him seem more vulnerable to his rivals. Or just because that's the way he is.

r237 I thought the Japanese Federation withdrew the 10% bonus proposal

Oh I hope so. At least one quad can be repeated - I hate that they changed the two repeats allowed. But anyway, it is what it is - he got the second OGM and his records will stand, at least, in a way, till the end of time. I don't know why I'm so greedy as a Hanyu fan. I mean, really, I should be rooting for Messing to do the 4A first because it would be his 'only' claim to fame while Hanyu has many claims.

About his weight I've been worried about that too. When he started the ice show season, I thought he looked more filled out than ever. Somewhere around Nagano, he seemed to drop a lot of weight all of a sudden, and maybe more since. I have a female friend who used to do competitive body building and she had to give it up because reaching a certain low body-fat percentage always plunged her into a clinical depression. (this may not be true for men) I'm sure being as thin as possible makes the jumps easier and the ankle pain less, so there's that. Just let Winnie keep your spirits up, Yuzu - you can see the end of the tunnel now.

Maybe Hanyu will do the Nijinsky program in ballet tights.

r240 He changed the title so I'm not sure there's going to be any reference to Nijinsky... But since tights are allowed and Hanyu's all about making his fans happy...

He's got the muscle definition but not quite the heft of Nijinsky - though could you even do quads with legs like Vaslav's? Muscle weighs a lot!

More photos at bottom. Orser might be skinnier, too.

Hanyu's new costume for Nijinsky

Good lord, would Weir go that far, R244? The lace bonnet and ribbons around his arms... I mean, good lord. When was this, 1910? In Orthodox Russia!?!?

R244 Perhaps his innate Japanese modesty will keep him from baring that much skin, so maybe this:

R241 his ending pose is a direct reference to Nijinski and you don't know Yuzuru if you believe he doesn't research everything about the inspirations for his programs.

R244. LOL! Would that be allowed on the ice?

Which is his ending pose R247. The one where he's reaching up like Nijinski does, or the one linked? where I think his bottom half (one of my favorite things) looks pretty-well filled out -- but I wonder if the jacket is to cover how skinny he is otherwise.

r247 I stand corrected. I actually hope there'll be a lot of references, costume included.

I don't know who is worse. Hanyu's fans or his antis. He said he has no desire to set new records under new system and this fan believes he wants to. Sometimes I feel some of his fans put a lot of pressure on him. Maybe I'm wrong.

Are people seriously complaining that Hanyu is skating to western programs and idolizing western people or are the people on my twitter feed just super defensive and sensitive?

R252. It's on Twitter tl too. People complaining that Hanyu is idolizing western skaters. This guy can't get a break and it makes me sad. He has done nothing but try and make his fans happy and he gets shit now from some of them.

That should have said on my Twitter tl too.

I'm surprised about his choices because after the Olympics he said at a press conference that he wanted to continue to skate to Asian music, which apparently in some quarters is still considered to be a controversial choice for figure skating.

Yeah, I was pretty convinced that at least one program would be something Japanese. Maybe he'll keep haru y koi as an ex. That said, he should be able to skate to whatever the hell he wants.

There is a kind of twilight feel to some of the things he said - wanting to see what the new generation of skaters come up with, not aiming to break records, the 4a is his only motivation. It's actually kind of a different Hanyu to me. This is the same guy who a few months ago said, it doesn't matter what the new rules are, I'll win under those too. He seems like he's preparing to let go here. Who knows, we're seeing just a few snippets, and I'm sure his competitive juices will kick in, but he seems to be mentally preparing an exit.

I think. You may be correct R256. I read a translation that he said there is still discomfort on his Lutz I think? He might know he'll never be 100 percent on that ankle again. : (

I saw this in a translation: "4T, 4S, 4Lo are coming back. I am thinking I will not do 4Lz for a while because I have a little anxiety. I sometimes feel wrong when I put my toe in Lz and F, but I don't feel pain."

I hope that's true about not feeling any pain - I was worried watching him skate today. And in one of the ice shows this summer, someone there said as he left the ice, he reached down and grabbed his ankle (I think as if to thank it, the way he did at the Olympics). Another clue, along with those stalking tabloidy people, that all may not be well. But he looked awfully good today -- maybe I'm crazy but it seemed to me he was spinning in the air faster than I've ever seen him, and (from another translation): "He says his recovering from injury has been going well, he has not landed 4A yet but all other jumps including 4Lo got better than even before the Olympics."

Here's hoping.

I am actually surprised Plush was able to keep his mouth shut for this long if Hanyu told him during Ciontu. Or has he been leaving a trail of Russian breadcrumbs we don't know about?

Hanyu wanted to do Nijinsky for a long time but since it's such an iconic Plushenko program, he decided after the Olympics would be the best time to do it. In an interview last year, Plushenko was asked if he had a skating student who could perform Nijinsky. He said he didn't and that only Hanyu could do the program as he's the skater most like himself.

Good job to Conrad getting first place after the short. Shimada had a time violation deduction. Sorry if this was posted already.

Conrad Orzel (Canada) 79.66 Camden Pulkkinen (USA) 76.15 Koshiro Shimada (Japan) 74.78

The protocols for Junior Men yesterday are savage. The first -3 for a fall are appearing (Pulkinen). Theoretically it is ok. A 5 points deduction from a +2 starting GOE which is the maximum they can give to a jump with fall

And Slovenian judge scored a UR jump with a +3 (Russian boy)

English-language news from NHK about media day. Revolution on Ice just tweeted some footage from their show.

R261 What number is that judge?

R262 The +3 to the UR by Savosin is judge 2, Ms. Breda Marinsek.

R263 Thank you. She also gave +2 for the 3A by the other Russian boy while most everyone else gave -2.

R256 Of course he can skate to whatever the hell he wants. Any skater can do that. Gabby Daleman is skating to a version of Carmen that makes her look like she's doing a parody of Carmen though I doubt that is her intent.

But now I've gone from being disappointed to really sad about Yuzu's choices because, from what some of you are posting, it sounds like he really may be at the end of his competitive career and that's why he's going with this "tribute" stuff. I just hope he doesn't do further injury to himself by continuing to skate competitively when there is so much he could still do artistically.

After thinking about Hanyu and his programs. I can't see him saying goodbye after this season. I can't see him ending it with a plushenko and weir tribute. But I agree with R265. I don't want him to injure himself more. I am actually scared of him doing the 4A. I think it's a dangerous jump.

Worlds page is up. Only the Japanese version has the package prices so far.

Cha got Finland

and Fear/Gibson got NHK Ice Dance

Thanks, R268. I'm so relieved. Cha was passed over on the eligible list for Kerry and then for just-about the last place Yee. I was so frustrated. He even signed up for their Challenger, Finlandia (along with Autumn Classic.) So now he's got a full slate which he deserves! And Yuzuru won't be the only TCC skater at Finland - don't know why that matters but everything Yuzuru is somehow fraught. Probably true for all skaters but I don't follow them all. I guess Shoma seems remarkably robust (Worlds disaster a notable exception.) He seems, well, like a bulldozer, trademark Dai (who is another fraught one, if I cared.)

r268 Great news, finally!

r269 Is it possible that he was passed over by Rostelecom because Finland had already invited him and he accepted? Rostelecom would be better for him time-wise, though, but he might push down Erokhov and Dmitriev so that's why he might not have been invited there. Thank God Finland has no horse in this race and what probably matters for them is strong field.

Btw, does anyone find it strange that Kovtun was not the Russian host pick?

I see so many people praising Kostornaia's SP after her performance earlier today... Am I the only one who finds that program DREADFUL? The 0 seconds of music at the beginning where the camera is creepily close to her face and she just blinks, the weird weird music change part that is surely choreographed but she looks like she improvised and decided to stretch her arms, the ultra-generic (and slow) step sequence, and the cheesy butterfly flaps at the end... Dear god, it's one of Dani G's worst. He should be ashamed.

Also her costume makes her look twice as thick as last year and makes her disappear because it's white. Sure, she's a good performer, but among the top lady skaters that's probably the worst SP I've seen for now.

* The 20 seconds, not 0 seconds, dear me.

I'm surprised about Kovtun R270 - but at the 2018 Russian Nationals, he withdrew after placing 16th in the short - and there was some sort of weird controversy about that (though his coach said nagging back injury bothering him ??) People seemed to blame him for being lazy or something. Cute guy, rapper? Anyway, what a shame. I can't find it now, but read an interview with him where he said he expected no GP's and was looking forward to the season anyway - maybe he's doing regionals or challengers or something. I can never find challlenger rosters, if they yet exist.

R265 I don't agree that skaters can skate to whatever they want, especially Hanyu. He said so himself, that he's wanted to skate these programs (not sure he was just talking about Nijinsky or both) for a long time but held off while he was going for his second ogm. He knows that it's risky b/c people will be annoyed it's a "tribute" skate rather than something original to him, that he'll be compared to Plush/Johnny, that he's not using Japanese music etc. On some level, he is paying tribute to Plush/Johnny, but he explained in an interview that this is really a reward to himself, to his younger self, who loved skating and was inspired by these pieces.

Here's the Kovtun interview where he's very candid! He worked with Plushenko a while, then left - he even says it never occurred to him that Carmen was "overused" LOL. He also addresses not getting any GPs and what he plans to do instead. Pretty blunt stuff - gotta love the Russians.

[quote] challengers or something. I can never find challlenger rosters, if they yet exist.

apart from going to each event page and check one by one, if you look at the Challenger Series page on ISU website, there are the Challenger Series Standings per discipline. If you open them, you can see who has been assigned to future Challengers. X means that they are taken part to that Challenger. If the column is totally empty, it means that entry deadline for that competition is still open or that entries have not been announced yet.

Thank you R276!

Random generator of GOEs probably employed this morning in the Pair SP

one of the Russian pairs....twist

Judge#1 (USA): +2 Judge#2 (Japan): -1 Judge#3 (Russia): -2 Judge#4 (Canada):+2 Judge#5. (Austria): +2 Judge#6 (Germany): -3 Judge#7 (Taipei): +1 Judge#8 (China): +2 Judge#9 (France): +3

From -3 to +3

r271 Actually, I feel the same. While Kostornaia's skating is beautiful, that program, music in particular is horrific. The begining is just unremarkable piano sounds like in 90% Daniil's programs and then what IS that high-pitched sound, a kettle whistle? it goes on forever, it's like nails on chalkboard.

r275 I never thought I'dcsay that, but Kovtun looks hot here, in a nerdy way. Thanks for the interview, it was enlightening. I wonder how feasible it is for him to claw back to the GP level or National team. Russia has 3 spots for Euros and Worlds, 2 will be most likely be taken by Kolyada and Aliev, can Kovtun get ahead of Voronov/Samarin/Erokhov?

Hanyu's last two free programs were to Japanese music. It's racist to complain about a Japanese skater giving tribute to a non-Japanese skater or not skating to Japanese music. No one seems to mind that none of the other Japanese skaters are skating to Japanese music, and Madame Butterfly and Sayuri are not Japanese songs.

R271 Does Daniil truly believe in his music choices or is this sabotage?

His program is more like tribute to Plushenko than tribute to Nijinsky. But the main reason is that he likes Plushenko's program so much that he wanted to make a new program of his own based on the program. If he weren't a famous skater, he would have skated to it without permission like he did when he was 10 year old skating to " From Russia with love".

Essentially, it's kind of stealing/ borrowing other's original ideas. That's why he wanted to get permission to skate to it. He wants Plushenko to get full credit for his new program, music cuts and choreo might be way different though. Similarly, if someone wants to skate to Seimei, they might feel they have to get permission from Hanyu.

How many skaters is Danlil responsible for the music for? Can't they hire somebody to help him? Maybe someone with good taste/talent? Reminds me of Yuzuru's first coach (and Shoma's coach) who choose their music, do the choreography, and coach them. (though I think the ladies did a great job with their charges - Danlil? not so much) And he's only 27 or so. Sheesh. What does Eteri do? Stand around and look severe?

To R281's points, I hope I'm not repeating anyone upthread but... in an interview last year, Plushenko was asked if he had a skating student who could perform Nijinsky. He said he didn't and that only Hanyu could do the program as he's the skater most like himself.

R281 What? How would you even know enough at this point to form an opinion as to whether it's really a tribute to Nijinsky or Plush. Hanyu wants Plush to get full credit for his program? That's nonsense.

He told Plush ahead of time as an act of courtesy because it's Plush's signature program. Unless Plush owns the legal rights to the music, he doesn't need his permission.

I took a very long break from following figure skating - is Hanyu really a lot like Plushenko, as a skater?

I suck as a judge of skating - but when I watched Kazuki Tomono at Worlds, I was reminded of Hanyu.

[quote] Can't they hire somebody to help him? Maybe someone with good taste/talent?

Lol. You mean, can't they hire somebody to replace him?

r281

[quote]If he weren't a famous skater, he would have skated to it without permission like he did when he was 10 year old skating to " From Russia with love".

I don't think the situation is quite the same. Going by the title, "From Russia With Love" is from a 50s James Bond movie. Old movie, known movie, basically public domain movie and music. There were dozens skaters before him doing James Bond programs.

Similarily, Otonal is actually not such an obscure find by Weir. Skaters did Otonal before and after Weir, Butyrskaya even won Worlds with it. It's not one of Weir signature programs either. Asking permission was completely unnecessary, I doubt Hanyu asked Weir's permission when he did Notre Dame.

Nijinsky is a different beast. The whole program was almost original music, and the concept of the program wasn't even based on the music. Because of how signature it is, it was good manners to ask.

Seimei falls in beyptween those categories. The music is from a public domain movie, concept based on a movie. But if a another big skater wanted to do it, I guess it'd be good manners to ask. A younger skater? I'd say go for it.

r284. Actually, he's nothing like Plushenko in terms of skatjng style, lol. That's why his version of Nijinsky may actually work.

R284 They're both two-time Olympic champions, remember?

R285 Shimada looked a little bit like Hanyu yesterday and he's skating his free today. Linz is live right now.

LOL, I did know about the medals comparison - but not so much about the style, but the little I've seen of Plushy I don't think he's like Hanyu either, R287. Hanyu is very light, like a fairy :) Plushenko seems heavy - even a bit blocky (though maybe it's age, though I did watch a 19 year old Plushy program, where he did a Biellman!) Body types are so so different. I wonder if Hanyu is a bit like John Curry? (I think that's the style he seems to aspire to). I should hush - I don't know skating at all. But I think he's more like Weir than Plushenko.

R284 Plush's Nijinsky is one of the few programs that have withstood the test of time for me. It is majestic, even when I watch it today - the step sequence, the magnificent spin at the end. Most other programs that people consider iconic look very dated to me.

There are lots of reasons why people compare Hanyu to Plush - in his day, Plush was considered "the whole package" - the kid with both jumps and a certain flamboyant style. Plush's ability to do the Biellmann was also something people pointed to as an example of the incorporation of more feminine elements into men's skating (this might also be b/c at the time, some people also thought K. Witt skated like a dude). All that aside, I don't really see Plush in Hanyu. There's a wildness about Hanyu that Plush never had - maybe it's because he's so thin, but sometimes watching him makes me think of a leaf being blown about by the wind. He's airy, light and fast. Plush was certainly showy, but it was much more formal and controlled.

Thanks R290 - that's very interesting. I read an old interview where Hanyu said when he tried to skate like Patrick Chan, whose style he admired, he was worn out after about 30 seconds. It made me think that Hanyu could actually do those deep edges and heavy, controlled skating, but it didn't suit his physique or stamina. Though he's very fast - you'd think that would be tiring too, but he was fast as a little kid. That was Plushy's first impression - he's thin, he's fast, he's gonna be a great skater. When Hanyu was 8 or 10 or so.

I forgot to add, the difference in their styles is why I think R287 is right - rather than a copy, or a tribute, the two Nijinsky programs could be more of a conversation or an exchange between two skaters across time. How romantic!! Lol.

The poor Turkish guy got his ass/back hurt tonight.

R284 as several posters above have said Yuzu and Plushenko's skating styles are really different. Yuzu has this lighter ethereal quality to his skating. Nijinski is one of the few programs from Plushenko where you could see more than an amazing athlete but a dedication to tell a story through a program so I'm not surprised Yuzu loved that program so much as a kid. Apparently Yuzu also cried when Plush performed it for him at his ice show Ciontu last April and Plush was really touched to see him cry like this. I also think Yuzu is closer to Weir when it comes to skating style but with the competitive spirit and athleticism of Plush. By taking inspiration from both, together with his incredible talent, he has managed to become probably the most well rounded and beautiful skater ever.

More footage. The step sequence at :57 is looking good.

Sorry, I meant to post this video.

I have never been interested in ballet so I can't tell if there are any balletic materials in Plushenko and Hanyu's programs but it looked way diffrent from basic ballet movements that I sometimes see on TV.

JGP Linz 1) Pulkinen 223.95

2) Koshiro 220.45

3) Savosin 211.10

4) Orzel 200.46

5) Grassl 191.38

Oh shoot - Conrad Orzel 4th in the Linz Jr GP. Thanks for the headsup upthread about Koshiro Shimada, the live stream, and that he's reminiscent of Hanyu. I thought so too. I think Orzel had two quads but was beaten by skaters with none, esp the winner Pulkinen. I wonder if that would have been true with the old values before the ISU rules change.

I thought Koshiro was better than Camden. Stephane is doing a good job with his guys...the ladies, not so much. Koshiro & Kazuki are the only 2 Japanese guys who interest me after Hanyu.

Roman Savosin has improved a lot - I didn't enjoy him at all last season. I'm not quite feeling Daniel Grassl despite the hype, yet. His FS music is too mature and overwhelming for him. But Lorenzo Magri seems to be a pretty good coach (is he family?)

R296 That's so beautiful. You can see that Yuzu feels that music with every fiber of his being. He's so unique in how he moves around the ice--that's what I love most about him.

Orzel's second quad was all -3/-4 in GOE. He got less points from that than Pulkinen's 3Lo and Koshiro's 3Lo/3Lz

And then Orzel did 2 single jumps

In the combo, he fell, he got an unclear edge called, one under-rotation and one downgraded.

Important question: I liked Koshiro's skate, but why does his ass look so deformed? Is he wearing diapers or is that its natural shape?

who is the guy in the K&S with Koshiro?

R296. Thank you so much for posting that video. Hanyu imo is a rare skater. Like the poster above said he feels the music. I love his emotions and has anyone ever cried watching one of his programs? I cried on two. Hope and Legacy and Romeo and Juliet1. If he could make me cry I knew he was a special skater.

[quote]Important question: I liked Koshiro's skate, but why does his ass look so deformed? Is he wearing diapers or is that its natural shape?

I didn't notice, but I saw a Japanese girl wearing a butt pad at Skate America once so maybe something like this...

I don't know R304 but he was cute. They said he was coached by Lambiel so I was looking forward to seeing him. So - did he change coaches or is that a Lambiel assistant? I thought Stephane only had Deniss.

Koshiro's bio says

Coach: tStephane Lambiel, Robert Dierking, Anna Bernauer

I think the guy in the K&S is Robert Dierking.

r303 Well, we have the precdence of Adam Rippon. It could be a combination of prominent butt muscles and very thin wait and stick legs. (I'm assuming he's not wearing any ass gear.) (That came out so wrong.)

So, Orzel was clean in the SP but once he had to skate a program with. quads, he fell apart? That's so Canadian. Gogo being an exception that prooves the rule.

[R296] He doesnt fit to that music . Otonal is like made for him, but this one ..dunno. That kind of music requires not so soft body movements like he is known for , plushenko was more sharp.

Rippon doing NIVEA ad about body shaving cream

I'm thinking (hoping?) Koshiro has more growing to do. His face is smaller than Hanyu's - and like Hanyu, his hips are noticeably bigger than his tiny waist, but in his case, you're right, they look misshapen. Hanyu's hips are glorious, like a supermodel's. I can't think of another man with curves like that!

Maybe in another life, I could understand why Yuzuru likes Plushenko that much as a skater. Weir's skating was at least unique and memorable but Plushenko ? Well, he was consistent and he surely had charisma on ice, I just can't stand his shaky jumps and heavy skating. Maybe I could love him as a stud, but never as a skater.

R310 Nijinski is more than Plushenko's intense or 'tough' moves, it's a tribute to a genius chameleon dancer, one in a century genius and gay as a rainbow to boot. I think Hanyu doesn't need to do what Plushenko did to make this work. He just needs to immerse himself to the music and the character and from the video posted above I can see he is doing exactly that.

R313 Agree about Weir and Plush. Not remotely a fan of the latter either.

r314 Since r310 doesn't show up for me, it must be the Daitroll.

Plushenko's general style was: ramrod straight, puff up your chest, wave your hands sharply, twirl fast. He had tons of charisma though and was very memorable. Nijinsky is actually a bit different from his usual chest-puffing, hand-waving, there's actually more of a program to it.

Just compare it to Plushenko's Tosca. Where the frenetic Plushenko-style step sequences have absolutely nothing tondo with the music.

Hanyu actually chose the one truly great program Plushernko's done.

[R314] Maybe it is too soon but in that step sequanc i havent seen " a tribute to a genius chameleon dancer," :) Whats more i didnt see any tribute in plushenko program so fine.. Why those big words? I just judge interpretation of the music . Thats what counts

R313 I think it's part crush part admiration. He looks so bloody happy and giddy like a school girl everytime he is near Plush. I side-eye his shit taste in men but what can I do when it makes him smile like this.

And that Faggottroll should fuck off me WHATEVER I SAY , he is annoying and boring

[R316} Faggot you re just jealous, i have seen HAnyu 4 times in Europe and you ?? Only on bad stream??hahahah get a life, troll. I have seen HIS ASS LIVE and his curves hhahahhahahahahahaah Not many to appreciate , he is tall as me , but still , what do you have to tell??

Plushenko probably thinking: 'stop it Yuzu, I'm a straight Russian man' but no one can say no to Yuzuru the hug monster Hanyu.

Plushenko was pretty interesting up until about 2004. After that, his schtick got old fast. Can you imagine any of the boring top skaters today doing something like this?

R316 I agree. Wasn't a fan of Plush and Nijinsky was the exception for me. I don't find Plush to be an appealing person either. He just posted an ig video with his son that is very uncomfortable to watch. Daitroll's attempts at normalcy/fitting in with the crowd is always undermined by the undercurrent of cray clearly crackling beneath the surface.

R318 Eww, sorry.

[R323} Daitroll's attempts at normalcy/fitting in with the crowd is always undermined by the undercurrent of cray clearly crackling beneath the surface"......... haha I dont wanna fit in the crowd like you, faggots...Bleee...I just saw hanyu life and you losers HOW MANY TIMES did you see him ?? I find it hilarious Not even one, i bet and you cannot afford tickets...

And your last things to do is posting pictures of his ass. what a sad life you have...

I am now convinced dai troll is the pathetic 'ferret-face Hanyu' poster probably buttmad that his attempt of getting Hanyu content on the main thread backfired on his dumb ass. I'm also convinced he is a Europe based Japanese male fan of Dai. I have an idea of whom actually. The only way to treat this type of pests is to not engage when they start trolling. Otherwise let it wander.

"he is a Europe based Japanese male fan of Dai. " hahhhaa me japanese man??? hahahaPLEASE MORE INFOS LIKE THAT PLEASE , we are dying of laughing, your love for Dai is remarkable, i bet you love watching at his ass as much at hanyus..

R322 Thanks for this! LOL between this and sex bomb Plush was pretty interesting pre 2004 now that you point it out.

R323 some more Yuzu's Plushy love especially for you, my friend.

R329 What have I ever done to you? A peace offering.

R323 I just found Plush's IG and saw that video with his son. That poor child.

[R326} HAAAAA PATHETHIC HANYU UBER, WHO FELT OFFENDED (WOW)WHEN I SPOKE THE TRUTH ABOUT FUCKING UBERS LIKE HIM WHEN THEY WISHED THE WORST TO DENNIS TEN WHILE INCIDENT IN BOSTON< SO NOW YOU RE SATISFIED WHEN HE IS DEAD, FUCKING LOSER??? FUCKING ASIANS , PEOPLE KILL in JAPAN BECAUSE MORONS SO CALLED FANS THERE ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH THEIR LIFES THEY DARE TO SAY WHAT THE WANT

I accept your peace offering. Here have mine. No one can resist feeling up his waist.

I am really excited to see what Hanyu does with the fs. I should go watch plushenkos version since I am not too familiar with it.

Does anyone know if ACI will be streamed live? Maybe from the ISU YouTube channel?

R333 That is not "feeling up" waist. Only platinum level heterosexual patting you see there!

R331 They were posting stuff like that on his skating school's IG as well. Apparently it's standard practice with him and his coaching staff to just force these kids into the splits. Just the most recent of the many reasons I find the man repulsive.

[R326] REMORSES????HAHAAHAH Call me 10troll , if you want , not dai , fucking loser. I have nothign to do wit dAi. JUST BECAUSE YOU HATE ALL OF SKATERS LIKE DENNIS TEN AND TAKAHASHI , because THEY HAD skirmishes with HANYU . But you wont coz Dennis TEN IS DEAD, so you shed hate of dai on me YOu re pathethic JUSTL LIKE UBERS FROM JAPAN>

Daitroll is trump! Posting in all caps.

Seriously I'm putting it on ignore. Denis ten is gone and he should not be brought up like this. Nobody said anything bad about ten here.

I hope Sasha Plushenko writes a Mommie Dearest-esque memoir in 20 years. The kid's been exploited from the moment he left the womb.

R336, I've seen much, much worse on youtube of Russian gymnastics schools. It's the Russian way of doing things. It's weird seeing adult Russians on Goldenskate extolling this method, people who were subjected to it as children, who refuse to see that it's abusive.

Hanyu is remarkably flexible - I wonder what his childhood training was like. The little I've seen of clips seems much more easygoing and haphazard than the Russian method.

[R338[ You re dumb as my cat. no not heRE, DUMBASS,,,,, BUT SOME HANYU UBER HERE WAS SO OFFENDED WHEN I TALKED BAD ABOUT UBERS WHO INSULTED DENNI TEN 2 YEARS AGO >>HE WAS ONE OF THEM. HE KNOWS THAT I TELL THE TRUTH, THATS WHY HE CALLS ME DAITROLL,

R336 I'm repulsed by him too. Also, I've always hated his hair.

Instead of paying tribute to the child abuser, I wish Yuzu would do a tribute skate to Javi to thank him for not leaking the extent of his injuries at the Olympics.

r326 You guys are overthinking this. Some people are just dumb asses. Why do you attribute Dai Troll/ Ferret Face to any particular fandom? Before I blocked him, I don't remember him expressing a fondness for any skater and I'm pretty sure he's American. He's a strange combination - he seems to be interested in gossip about some rather obscure skaters and uses fan specific skating terms but doesn't know what the terms actually mean. I've only seen him talk about actual skating twice and both times it was obvious that he didn't know wtf he was talking about. The second time I only saw it when someone referenced one of his posts since I already blocked him but I can't imagine that his posts that I missed suddenly became intelligent.

I guess this is the DL side game. Who do you think Dai Troll/Ferret Face is? It crossed my mind that he's the illustrious elite skater Ic3Rabbit. I don't really read his/her posts either but from the few posts I've seen their posts have a similar quality

R343 Plot twist - you are daitroll and blocked yourself. What a nut!

[R326] I am still laughing , motherfucker . Ic3Rabbit???? who fuck is this? IS this one of nicknames for faggots like you? IS he talking bad english like me as you say?? ?hahahahah??GET A LIFE My boyfriend posts here as well , YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED .. Jealousy is a bad thing...MAybe you one day will see Hanyu live, asshole . But watch out , you dont have much time

And you talk to yourself, my BF knows that stuff and he knows how to check it, you pretend you re one peson, what a lame story

Stolbova/Klimov confirm the rumored split

"We have not even met since that time, Fedor did not get in touch, there was no interest either in my state of health or in my future plans," Stolbova said. "After the incident, I was left alone with myself." But I did not even have a thought to complete a career. "

r339 I always thought it was creepy that in all the clips I've seen of Sasha Plushenko, he was only smiling once. The rest of the time he looked miserable.

r347 Sad but we saw this coming. Didn't realize their relationship was that bad

R348 IIRC some years ago, in one of her weird interviews, Nina Mozer (their coach) said that if they had not been skating together, they would not even talk to each other

r342 To be honest, it's easier for me to imagine Hanyu taking on Plushenko's Tango Amore than any of Javi's programs.

r343 Are there any rumors which elite skater lc3Rabbit is supposed to be? The only one coming to my mind is Sean Rabbit but he's an actual current skater and surely too busy actually skating to hang out on GS? I feel like actual elite skaters would go crazy reading GS.

R350, he said he skated at Sun Valley this year, so he might be in this photo. Who looks to be the biggest cunt?

The second on the right. Well, or the second on the left

The pig-tailed 2 year old. Those things are assholes.

r352 I thought he was the first on the left.

Isn't a she, anyway? She posted about tampax tampons on GS thread about what female skaters should wear when they have periods

r350 Could be Sean Rabbit. Spending hundreds of thousands on a hobby when your mother has a degenerative disease and starting a GoFundMe rather than devoting your time to a real job seems pretty cunty.

I tend to think Ic3Rabbit is just some nobody that skates in the same rink as people that you might have heard of, if he skates at all.

But if a skater doesn't have a job or school on the side of full time training, I don't see why they wouldn't have time for the internet. Alexei Krasnozhon said in an article that he read something on Goldenskate. Hanyu is the most famous figure skater in the world, at the top of the sport, and goes to school and he still lurks on the net.

please more . maybe they you will find happines.. in japan there re no psychiatric hospitals anyway? japan ubers are fucked up, they hated on skaters who didnt get along good with hanyu for instance , what losers. too much video games and iphones. Brain dead idiots

r356 Making over 4k posts within a year and a half can hardly be called lurking.... Not that I have any high ground to stand on. But this person once said he/she used to skate compulsory figures so I don't think they're any of the current skaters.

Whoever IC3Rabbit is, they really like Jeremy Abbott and Ryan Bradley. If you really want to get under his/her skin, just post something mildly critical of Jeremy, lol.

Read more of the Spur interviews. Deniss is focusing on the quad toe loop and quad salchow. Salome Brunner did most of his SP while Lambiel choreographed his FS with contemporary Japanese dancer Kenta Kojiri. Also, Lambiel taught him to separate his whites from blacks when doing laundry.

R293 Wow, do all medics look like that in Austria?!

R303 You can see the weird butt padding during the medal ceremony.

R351 I think Rabbit also said he or she went to university full time while skating and skated at international competitions (any competition where there was one non-American?), if that helps narrow down the Sun Valley list.

R359 Bradley was one of the Sun Valley skaters. What does he know about tampons?

Where do Stephane's other students live, are they all in one big house or is there like a dormitory or guest house nearby? He has that British junior boy now too, Luke Digby, plus Koshiro, and Diana Nikitina (though she seems to be back in Latvia for now). The Swiss skaters still live at home, I assume. I'm very curious about that whole setup.

More and more articles coming out with pieces of information. Hanyu says he hasn't been the type of person to watch other people's programs nor his own since middle school, with the exception of Weir, Plushenko, Yagudin and Honda's. He still watches programs from the 6.0 era, like the Salt Lake Olympics performances and earlier seasons. He loves the performances from that period and it's when he developed his own interest in skating. Today, he also watches a lot of ice dance, pairs, and other performances.

From another article, he said he was taken by the beauty of the androgynous nature of Weir's program.

R362. Thank you for posting this and the link.

I'm also not a plushenko fan. And I don't like what I've read about how he treats his child. Maybe Yuzuru doesn't know about what has been reported in regards to how plushenko and his wife treat their son. Yuzuru seems to love children and I doubt he would approve of plushenko if he knew.

And I see more Johnny weir in Yuzuru than I do plushenko.

R362 Thanks! There doesn't seem to be much news today for non-Japanese speakers. I've rarely heard Hanyu name Honda as an influence. Was that a surprise? I thought Hanyu was known to analyze his own performances pretty closely or did I read what you posted incorrectly?

R364 He did name Honda. I think Hanyu has named him before but usually in the context of how Honda paved the way for other Japanese male skaters. He usually doesn't mention Honda's programs. He said that lately while he's analyzing his own programs (probably on youtube), some recommended videos will come up (usually Plushenko's) and he'll get sucked. Into watching all of the videos and that's how he ends up watching the programs.. The link didn't work last time so here it is again.

There are tens of articles out each hour. The media is stringing it out and it's impossible to keep up. Each article is a little different with different quotes and questions. I think Sports Hochi has the quotes verbatim, but even they have divided the interview into eight or nine articles today and it's still afternoon. Television news is also doing the same by showing slightly different footage and angles.

I think you guys are reading too hard into Plushenko's "Yuzuru is the closest skater to my style" comment. It's pretty transparent for a proud past champion to proclaim that the only person that can come closest to imitating him is the current world no.1. It boosts up Plush as someone who's untouchable by everyone except maybe Hanyu.

r366 That's a really good point. But, "Yuzuru is the closest skater to my style"? Wtf is Plushy talking about. Sometimes I think the closest to Plush's style was Evan Lysacek. Take that, Plush.

In what way did the American closet case robot Lysacek ever resemble Plushenko's classic Russian skating? I don't like Plushenko (post 2004), but what a stupid comparison.

r363 For a moment there, I read it as "In what way did the American closet case robot Lysacek ever resemble classic Russian robot Plushenko" and thought, wait, uh. Anyway, ramrod straight hand-waving and fast twirling. Just with less charisma, lol. Not that I think Lysecek ever had it in him to skate around in a drag or a muscle suit.

R363, how does Plushenko treat his children? Does he beat them?

R370

Even if Sasha actually enjoys all the forced training, the fact that they film him constantly is creepy. He has no say in the matter. There are plenty of other skaters' offspring who are involved in the sport but you don't see them being shoved in your face 24/7 like this.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R371. Oh my. Poor kid does not look happy at all. Maybe the boy doesn't want to be a figure skater and his parents are forcing him to do this.

Not to be that person who puts the blame of the man onto his wife but in Plushenko's case I find his wife much worse than him and from what I have seen she is the one pushing the most for her son to be a skating champion and constantly filming him. She is a self made woman and a millionaire with this typical attitude of the newly rich and she is the one wearing the pants/has a huge influence on her husband. There was an interview with Plush for Ciontu a few months ago where he called his wife his God. Also she was the one boasting about their brand of tough love in raising Sasha on TV not even realizing most normal people found what she was describing as child abuse. She also used to be a bitch with Plush's rivals and even with Hanyu initially until it became obvious Hanyu is the biggest Plushenko's fanboy.

Oh please, R375. She's horrible, but he chose her. They are both equally responsible. If he didn't want his son raised like that then he wouldn't be actively participating. Give me a fucking break. Plushenko also posted on IG after that interview and made it clear that he sees nothing wrong with being that strict.

R373 I think that tabloid stuff is widely exaggerated but what I find disturbing is that they have the kid participate in shows at 4 years old and have his future career forced on him. I know that in elite sport everybody started at roughly that age, but usually it's just play until they show actual talent at a later age. If something is forced and feels like an obligation from the earliest age, how high is the risk they'll come to downright hate it? And frankly, living up to Plushenko's legacy would be a tall order for anybody, much more his son. I think they run a risk of majorly fucking their kid up, if they don't drop their ambitions.

r374 To me it looks like something normal to him, like my dad made me swim across the pool when I just wanted to fart around in water, but he only brightens up when the dog comes up. But then my dad didn't make me swim in a show afterwards.

R376 I literally wrote that he called her his God so yes he definitely loves her and agrees with her choices. I just feel that based on what I have seen of Plushenko, his interactions with Weir for instance that he would maybe be less leaning towards his asshole side and more laid back if not with her. He at least seems to be able to have genuine emotions for other people sometimes even though he has a bad case of narcissim while she seems like a robot who only shows love towards him. Even with her children she seems really cold. Anyway they are 2 peas in a pod and I feel bad for both their kids. The older one seems to gem zero attention from his parents while the younger is forced to endure a life no kid should endure in the hopes he can become Plushenko 2.0.

And oh, how did she use to be bitch to Hanyu initially, r375? Inquiring minds want to know!

r378 Isn't the older kid Plush's son by his first wife? Perhaps that's why he's ignored by the second one?

R379 I cannot find the direct quotes or articles but she used to comment around Sochi iirc how none of the current skaters including Hanyu had anything on Plushenko because he used to do 4-3-3 jumps and they no, without mentioning that with the new rules doing triple combinations was useless. And that basically even if Yuzu had won gpf, Olympics and worlds in the same season like Yagudin did in his time, Plushenko was still way superior. Anyway I think she stopped because of how Plushenko himself kept on praising Yuzu constantly and cheering for him and as I said that she learned that Yuzu is Plush number one cheerleader.

r381 Yuzu did win gpf Oly and worlds in the same season like Yagudin.... Sounds like a bad case of "nobody ever will come close to my husband". Spouses and parents are the only ones actually entitled to this attitude, so, whatever.

R381 Sorry probably my bad wording but I meant that she said that after Yuzu winning those 3 competitions back to back, a feat her husband never managed to but Yagudin did. So she was probably a bit bitter on his behalf. I think she used to bitch more about Yuzu but since I can't find the quotes in the sea of threads from goldenskate I only mentioned what I was more or less sure of.

So Yuzu is again wearing his bracelets. Makes me wonder if him removing them wasn't just a show to get fans off his back after Medvedeva and Misha were seen with theirs. Who knows maybe he is actually dating her. I still believe he is gay but wouldn't be the first time something like this happen. Nijinski himself was gay and dating a man until he gave in to his stalker fangirl (who pursued him throughout Europe using her family's money) and married her. He was basically a zombie afterwards, in and out of mental hospitals for 30 years, so I don't wish his fate on Yuzu but that would make quite the parallel.

R384. Omg no on the in and out of mental hospitals. I also think Hanyu is gay and won't ever come out. If Hanyu ever reads this thread: I will personally kiss him If he ever came out. Shows a lot of guts which I believe he has.

Regarding the bracelets. He took them off. Med then removed hers afterwards. Now he wears his again. I am also hearing med is dating that one direction wanna be.

I'm back in fucking middle school where bracelets are a sign of a relationship.

R386 When she walks around wearing his varsity jacket we'll know for sure.

R387 Wearing his varsity jacket or carrying his Pooh tissue box?

R386 I often feel I'm reading comments by middle schoolers when I lurk on GS or FSU. Which is why I'm very grateful (most of the time) for this thread.

Orser used to wear one of those bracelets. Almost the same as Hanyu's. He had it on at Sochi. Look at him sitting there, flaunting his bracelet on camera.

R389 You must be unware of Tumblr. Good for you.

Shoma has a necklace much like Yuzu's (the black v-shaped front one he's had a long time.) He probably wouldn't care if Shoma copied his jewelry though - he's not liking tweets of shippers and posing for Weibo teasing/bullying things. I never quite got the point... Maybe just - if you won't help me out by putting me in your personalized ice show, me your lifelong confidante (who I claim to be BFF) -- then I'll use my association with you another way.... (talking about Misha not Med - she's just oblivious I think, and now appears to leave him the fuck alone at TCC and good for her, Jason's there and he's everybody's BFF)

[quote] Orser used to wear one of those bracelets

So is Horser dating Hanyu? Or Medvedeva?

r379 - Hanyu wrote in his book that Plush's wife chastised him for giving Hanyu pointers on his jumps.

R380 - Plush had a kid with his first wife; Yana also has an older kid from her first marriage.

r393 - I think Orser's bracelet was from Yuna's time so he was dating Yuna.

I remembered reading Shingo was injured. I saw him skating around in media day so he should be okay now.

Also he has the exact same necklace as Hanyu. He usually wears two necklaces, if I'm not wrong, the other one is similar to one of Hanyu's necklaces too.

Damn. Plushenkos wife sounds like a real bitch. He married her So it makes one wonder if he is also an ass. I'd say yes.

Clip from interview that will air tomorrow.

Those necklaces the Japanese men are wearing are the sports "medical" magnetic type of necklaces and the companies sponsor them.

Apparently Hanyu has no problem with copying and wearing the same as long as it's a guy. If it's a woman that is where he draws the line.

I'm flattered when a guy mimics what I wear. If they liked shipping posts of me with them I would be ecstatic.

Oh Yuzu, the closet kills...

However, what would happen in Japan if he came out? He goes on and on and on about "honoring" that people's medal of honor, the olys medals, his other tributes. I keep wondering what does that mean? Just a boilerplate answer? Or an intention to devote himself to greater causes forever and live like a monk. Sometimes I wish he'd get reminded that it's not that big of a deal. Dick Button survived getting beat up at the Ramble in Central Park at midnight...

Oh well, maybe for a Japanese, it really is that big of a deal.

R400. I could be wrong but I think he means doing things for greater causes. Maybe helping areas hit with disaster. Maybe something towards the environment. I doubt he meant being a gay man and having to marry as a straight guy. I would actually be shocked if that is what he meant.

I'm not sure how people in Japan would react of he came out. Maybe most assume he is? Not sure. It might be a don't ask don't tell kind of thing?

R400 Dick also survived being married to a woman for many years. Hanyu needs to get himself one of the Christian fundies that are so prevalent in FS, who will interpret his unwillingness to go near their ladyparts as an example of his purity and respect for them as servants of God and not just sex objects. Should ask grant for pointers.

What's eventually happened to some former multiple-gold winners -- Bruce Jenner? Michael Phelps? Mark Spitz? I can't even think of others though I know there are a lot. Oh, Katerina Witt - she seems ok. But it seems a recipe of building way way up to an awful let down. Still, probably depends on the personality and character of the athlete. I don't really think Yuzuru is an NPD (but I wouldn't be surprised to find a lot of them are - like DL-fave Caitlyn.)

Why do Japanese wives have a reputation for being drill sergeants? I think it's old-timey misogyny, the way comedians used to always make jokes abut their horrible spouses - Henny Youngman's "Take my wife... please" and the mother-in-law jokes.

Still, even Yuzuru engaged in it in an interview with Nobu (when he called him girly for the way he ate cake.) He said he wanted to do something... and Yuzu said, "Will your wife let you?" And Nobu said something about her, Yuzu said, "Are you gonna be ok when you go home?" Oh it went on for a while but I could tell it was a trope there. (or maybe he knows her and she's a bitch lol, but I think from their jokeyness it was just a typical theme).

Didn't someone here predict that Javi would soon be posting pics with his gf after the closet case jokes and face caressing with Eric Radford? Right on cue...

The hydroblade + stag leap here is beautiful.

Oh Javi, why did you put that old closet photo on your Insta anyway?? And Eric actually posted below it, asking if he was coming out of the closet with a smiley face. That actually sort of dashes my hopes - but then there's that video of them snuggling behind Evgenia's roving camera... hmmm. That girl may come in handier than I thought.

And here's a photo showcasing Koshiro's weird hump - like Adam Rippon's but odder on such a skinny minnie. The second Japanese with girly hips. I don't think he's quite as pretty as Hanyu but there are a lot of similarities. (I think he should have won - but he's several years younger than Camden who will be too old for juniors next year - but big boy Conrad won't)

Oops - take out spaces ?? or maybe you can't post links to this - I'll stop trying after this attempt

www. gettyimages. co. jp /license/ 1025600826

R406 It looked like baseball pitching lol.

< and << for almost every girl tonight

Lol Yuzuru and Shoma's necklaces are not even close to being alike. They're from different companies and have completely different designs. After his Oly silver a lot of people started wearing the same thing - I think Kazuki Tomono wears the exact one and a lot of juniors are now seen with it, not to mention his coach and brother. I guess Shoma is a big ol' philanthropist who dates everyone!

R406. It's gorgeous. Hanyu looks happier than ever. I think having the pressure off of him has even made his skating more beautiful. Never thought that could be possible. He seems like he is now enjoying himself. He deserves this so much.

R412 His skating radiates absolute joy. So very happy for him.

r405 It was me, I just predicted he'd be wearing a beard in them.

I dunno, posting all those lovey dovey photos would be quite normal, if so many of them didn't look like photoshoots. You know, give a camera to a third person, find a romantic background, strike a romantic pose that pretends the camera is not there. Maybe he really wants to get the shippers off his back, but then the closet photo is just egging them on. Maybe he just likes trolling.

R414 yeah, the posey shots are a bit much.

Nothing Javi ever did with Hanyu (at least on camera) ever made me think he was gay or bi. That 2 second video with Eric though...I'm keeping my eye on you Fernandez; you might be interesting yet.

Just saw Kostornaia's skate and say what you will about Eteri, but these little juniors she's churning out at the factory - Shcherbakova, Trusova and Kostornaia - are pretty amazing. They need to replace Daniil though, and not with Averbukh.

R416 Eteri must have a huge pool of talent to draw from to end up with skaters that talented. You can only do so much with coaching; the natural talent has to be there.

I just thought of something regarding Hanyu's program choices. If Lysacek bothers to watch FS, what will he think of the most popular skater in the world with two OGMs to his name paying tribute to Weir AND Plushenko?

Weir who? The only Otonal I know is the one by Maria Butyrskaya

r418 My gimp has no time for TV or the internet

He'll just snort another line and keep on takin' it easy.

Who is the most reviled male skater of all time? Evan must be up there.

R415 you sure about that. Personally I always found there was some weird unresolved sexual tension between them although I don't believe they ever acted on it. But there are so many videos of them either touching each other randomly or checking each other out. I don't get any 'brotherly' vibe out of them.

r419 Those must have been some really heavy duty earplugs you were wearing there for a couple of years, Evan.

Re Eteri and R417 - Alena Kostornaia was coached by Elena Zhgun in Moscow from 2012 to 2017. She had an injury in 2016 and finished 16th at the 2017 Russian Junior Championships. Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov became her coaches in 2017. (wikipedia) - I wonder if Eteri can just about get anybody she wants in the whole country in her brood - didn't Zags have to beg her to stay on at one point? Next year I think Kostornaia can compete as a senior - her long in Linz today was gorgeous (no quads - and after Conrad Orzel's nightmare fall from 1st to 5th, will they go out of style anyway?)

And about that - I somehow made it through a couple hours of Dave Lease's show - Meghan Duhamel was the cohost along with Jonathan - anyway the reverberation was horrible - but she did say she was on a bus with Eteri at a comp at the exact same time some of her girls were doing their competition. She and Dave were thinking Eteri just "oversees" everything and decides who stays and who goes, the executioner so to speak.

Oh, and Dave said that according to Orser (or maybe Med herself), after Med was 2nd in the short at the Olympics, Eteri had a temper tantrum and refused to speak to Med for a while.

[R405] Javi wears his heart on his sleeve, which makes him such a wonderful entertainer, but rather cringey when he’s off the ice. (I love him anyway, but dude! Restraint!) And of course, wearing his heart on his sleeve makes his bond with Yuzu so compelling and intriguing and, well, shippable. Sometimes I’m scared he’ll break Yuzu’s heart with all his girlfriend photos and SM gushing to her (amid reposting old photoshoots where he’s posing inside closets).

I wonder how Javi met his girlfriend. She’s not a skater - apparently she just graduated from nursing school - and his last two were. Did they meet through his friends in Madrid or his sister (who is a nurse, and now qualified to be an ISU judge/tech specialist)? I’m a Gen Xer, and rather private, and I only use Insta for photo editing (and my SO doesn’t do social media), so I know I couldn’t handle being Javi’s SO. Tapping that glorious ass comes with a price.

According to the tag in the latest photo with his girl at [R405], it was taken by a professional photographer. He’s from Madrid, and I assume he’s friends with Javi. Nice that he followed the smoochy couple to Canada. At least he didn’t tag along with them to Santorini.

Really, what I need to know from Javi is not his love life, but his programs this season, and who will be performing at his ice shows later this year. Even if he’s only going to Europeans, his routines need to be worthy of a #graciasjavi hashtag (and a seventh title, obviously). Maybe he’ll take a page from Plush and do “Best of Fernández” - but across the two programs, since the FS is now only 4 minutes. Could you imagine a POTC/Guys and Dolls/Malagueña/Chaplin/I Love Paris/Barber of Seville/Man of La Mancha/Black Betty mashup? (As long as he’s wearing tight, tight pants and turning on that Javi Charm, I’ll probably end up thinking it’s amazing.)

r423 Put it this way, I don't think anyone who's ever thought Fernandez and Hanyu have fucked or wanted to fuck would be lacking in evidence. It just never occurred to me that Fernandez may have had opportunities to take in cock without a nosy mother or presser lurking in the midst with some other dude not named Hanyu until the Radford video. I just don't think that hard about Fernandez, I guess.

r425 Didn't Meghan say something bitchy about Sui/Han? My twitter feed was all aghast, but I didn't care enough to sit through a whole viewing of TSL to find out what she said.

r426 whatever she did before, her full-time job now seems to be following Javi from ice show to ice show to skate camps for the sole purpose of cockblocking him from any real action with his skating friends, forcing him to resort to back stage cuddles and face-cupping while Scott Moir pretends not to watch (or is waiting his turn, can't tell from the vid).

R427 I don't follow pairs at all so a lot of what Megan said went in one ear and out the other, but what I remember wasn't what I'd call bitchy about Sui/Han -- Meghan was just wondering aloud why she is always injured. I think she commented that there hadn't been a single year that she hadn't been hurt - and then she remembered that there might have been one. Also, she thought they would manage to get back in shape and compete at Four Continents. There might have been more -- you wouldn't believe how horrible the sound quality was, though it didn't get bad till 20 minutes in.

They discussed the safety of girls and quads and Meghan thought a certain type of girl would be just fine -- not the frail, super-skinny ones maybe but the compact muscular types like herself -- she wasn't allowed to try quads for a couple years and was furious about it, but finally they let her and, like she promised, she was fine. She said it was all about body type and knowing how to take care of your body, eat properly, work out, etc. Oh lots of stuff about pairs but like I said, I didn't know who they were talking about, for the most part, but I do know who Sui/Han are.

Oh now I remember - about the American pair - the Kneirems? Both Dave and Meghan were sort of sick of the lovey dovey crap and were hoping like hell that they'd get back to a program that wasn't based on their deep love for each other - does that make sense? That the girl one really has a lot of fire in her personality but it had been dampened out with all the sickening romance. If anything, I thought they were bitchy about them - and it seems like they dished some dirt about a couple who split up - that they'd never gotten along or talked to each other except when they absolutely had to ??? Can't remember who they were but that was pretty gossipy, in a catty way.

Meghan's candor is a nice break for the fans who have to listen to the fakey "we're all a big family" talk from most skaters, but isn't bitching about her colleagues to a YouTube gossip monger beneath her? I don't understand what she gets out of this.

On that split up couple, Meghan said the guy treated the girl in a rotten way and he dropped her without warning out of nowhere, and she was reeling, not sure what to do next, and Meghan didn't blame her. Sheesh I wish I remembered who they were talking about - she really slammed the guy. She has some real scoops about the pairs, more than other disciplines. She was rough on Eteri, not just the bus incident because Meghan couldn't believe that Eteri didn't bother to be at their event - but also the strictures on those young girl's diets - and they talked about poor Zags thinking she shouldn't drink water because of water-weight build up and Meghan talked about how dehydration can effect the brain, performance, etc.

How many girls are doing Romeo and Juliet this season? Kostornaia seems like the most complete and mature skater of the juniors and she's also not super skinny, just skinny.

It's strange to hear Duhamel talk about musicality and artistry because I thought her skating or choreography was always kind of flat compared to the other top pairs. I think Arutyunyan was a much bitchier but also more honest guest.

r342 Stolbova/Klimov?

R426. If Javi ever hurts Hanyu I will be very upset with him. I would love to see Javi do pirates of the Caribbean. Dress as a pirate. Oohh. He plays Jack Sparrow.

That's interesting - she's so cute, I just go along, but I've been hearing that ppl don't think she and Radford had chemistry. That was something she brought up with Dave - that the Russian pairs, and especially the pair with one named Tarasova (and Morizov?) - anyway, she said they were so perfect in matching up their moves and jumps etc. - but had no chemistry between them because they would never look at each other while skating and they wouldn't engage the crowd - that they should work on the charisma part of their skating, and let the audience in. Oh something like that - she went on and on - it was 2 hours and she did most of the talking lol.

Maybe R434, I just didn't take note of the names because I've never seen them skate.

And Javi certainly has the looks for Pirates of the Caribbean, but he has a tenseness or nervous quality to his performance - maybe it's worrying about the technical elements and if he was just acting, he could relax. I kinda hoped that movie that Yuzu made was just the beginning and he'd go into films but maybe that's just because he looks SO much like anime characters I love. He's got a lot of personality in the adverts, when they show the behind-the-scenes stuff - I really think he could do it. And it would be easier on his ankle!

r426 r435 C'mon guys, Javi's not allowed to be straight/gay/bi and not want to fuck someone who may or may not be pining for him? Even if it's your precious Hanyu. Geez. The guy is a hermit and lives and breathes skating. There are some people who may not be into that...Crazy, I know given the succulent package, but can't fault Javi for wanting different things.

r347 Javi has already done a Pirates of the Carabbean program.

For the uninitiated

I think Javi also did a Pirates thing with Miki for an ice show.

Doesn’t Duhamel have some pairs to train? I thought it was announced she started coaching one of the top Canadian pairs, maybe M-T/M? Having her, Savchenko and Trankov as coaches at the same event would be epic. I can only imaging the bitching in the post-competition interviews.

Thank you. I didn't know Javi did pirates. I never watched him skate until this Olympics.

R438. I know people here say Hanyu is strong and not this fragile person. I believe he is strong in certain things. I believe he also is very sensitive and gets very emotional and possibly his feelings can get hurt easily. I know I said before I think Hanyu has or did have strong feelings for Javi. Not sure how Javi feels. And yes Hanyu is precious. : )

Sorry to take away from the Hanyu and Javi talk, but how much longer do the top men have until the quads catch up with their bodies? Hanyu's injury seems more or less semipermanent since the age of 22, and I've heard lots of talk about how Uno is destroying his knees landing all those quads he's better off falling on. Nathan's already got hip issues, even 16 (17 now?) year old Cha has a chronic hip injury that he seems resigned to carry for life. Will Boyang outlast them all due to his great jump technique? Will the new rules really make things easier on them?

I think every one of them has significant problems - Nathan Chen said he had eight major injuries by age 18. Kolyada used to have a quad toe and a quad salchow I was reading somewhere but some awful injury or another screwed him up, so now he's just trying the quad lutz (very inconsistently). And his jumps are absolutely breathtaking when he lands them, so I can't imagine technique is the problem - and Hanyu's famous for his, as well. I'm pretty sure Boyang has had some kind of issues - I really do believe 100% will damage a ligament or wrench their back or screw up their hips or 'something' -- Dai, trying to regain his jumps, has had more than one injury just in these few weeks he's been trying to get back into shape. It's kind of ridiculous, really.

Oh and on Hanyu - I think he's very highly-strung but I'm not sure he's fragile emotionally. Maybe. But he's very very open about it, his struggles, his fears, etc., and that tends to be a sign of strength, if you ask me. When you can name a problem, you can address and fix it, and I think that's sort of his modus operandi. What jumps out at me, over and over again, is how funny and quick-witted he is. That's another strength -- almost anything can happen and he'll make a quip about it, like when all those cameras were clicking at him while he was sitting on the bench dealing with his boots - he made a joke asking if they had to make so much noise w/their shutters -- well, something like that. He mimics people, he caresses Shoma's chin to get a rise out of him, he just bubbles around like a little sarcastic minx, doing spontaneous whimsical things constantly. He's just hilarious.

I want to believe he'll be fine when he's ticked all the boxes he has in his life plan for skating. He knows he can't compete forever - he's said over and over, "I just want to skate a little bit longer." It's probably for the best. Some other awful thing will happen to his body, just like all the other ones. Oh well, there are other even worse dare-devil sports - boxing, racecar driving, ski jumping, mountain climbing, skateboard flipping off that curved thing omg... Part of me will be relieved when he retires though - I always hate hate hate to see them start sliding downhill when they've been great - like Mao and so many others. I kinda hope this is his last hurrah with the tributes - and he's already carefully planning Phase 2 of his life.

r445 Unfortunately, we're not going to know the full impact of all these quads until this generation of skaters retire and there is some data on the kinds and extent of injuries/pain they may have. There are some people ringing the alarm bells now, but as with any competitive sport, no one's going to listen if quads are what you need to win. Even under the new rules which seem to encourage clean programs over the risk of failed quads, I doubt would significantly decrease the number of quads among the top men. And even if there are significant and chronic injuries among the quadsters, I imagine it has to be realllly bad for anyone to do anything about it. Even before the quads, skaters retired with chronic injuries - Plush and his gazillion operations, Tara had chronic back pain for years even though she retired very young, Evan our beloved non-quadster punching bag said he had 15-20 concussions and had to retire due to a hip injury. I mean I could go on and on. It'd probably be easier to name people who didn't have significant injuries but I can't remember any. I feel like it's an issue that's talked about a lot but nothing meaningful is really done about it, especially if you have people like Meghan and Brian saying, it should be okay if you just know how to train. Maybe some people are just lucky, but thinking you can completely prevent injuries with proper training sounds self-serving and ignores all evidence otherwise. Unless something drastic happens, nothing will change, especially when you have someone like Hanyu at the top, who's reckless with his health and is known for continuing to skate through serious injuries.

r444 You're missing r438 's point. Javi isn't obligated to stop living his life on the off chance that he might hurt Hanyu's feelings. No one is beholden to live a certain way because someone "might" be harboring a crush on them. No one is obligated to return anyone's feelings no matter what their orientation. People who condemn Javi for not wanting to fuck Hanyu are overprotective nut jobs.

r446 r447 The only top skater I can think of to do quads and remain injury free is Patrick Chan. Javi seems to have avoided major injury. I don't think the quality of technique has that much to do with preventing injuries - Hanyu has the purest technique and the softest landings and he's been plagued by injuries. Nathan actually has good technique except the axel. His landings are heavy but so are Chan's.

The new system isn't going to do anything to prevent injuries, especially if the judges don't follow the guidelines. Even if the judges do follow them, it isn't going to limit how much they practice, which is where most injuries come from. You could argue Nathan's injuries come from the sheer number of quads he does but the new system actually encourages more different kinds of quads which means training more overall quads in practice. And as r447 mentioned, injuries were around long before quads became prevalent - it's the nature of sport.

Hanyu is frequently injured yet has always spent far less time training on the ice than most skaters. He and Sumoto or one of the other younger Japanese skaters have complained about how the shortened free skate is much more difficult to do than the original 4:30 program. We could be seeing even more injuries this season with the men.

JSF president Hashimoto was recently appointed Chief of the Joint Campaign Office for Prime Minister Abe. In April, she criticized the Finance Ministry’s inadequate handling of a sexual harassment accusation against the Vice Finance Minister, made by an anonymous reporter in a tabloid magazine. “The Ministry of Finance is completely out of touch with public perception. They need to shape up!” (The minister made some lewd comments and asked the reporter if she would start an affair with him while they were at a bar.) That minister was forced to resign.

Another attempt at billiards by Uno with Kotaro Takeuchi.

R449 Wait, what? Our old friend Seiko Hashimoto who once tried to force her tongue down Takahashi's throat and was photographed doing so is holding forth about sexual harassment? I'm very curious about this woman. Not only did nothing happen to her as a result of that incident, she seemed to get more powerful. I'd like to know how she does it!

Is GS run by a bunch of crazy people who want to invite more crazy people to join their little forum? Apparently, one of the admins sent a personal email to some crazy Russian nut they once banned, inviting her back and saying all the mods really liked her. Apparently, they liked that she said stuff like this (translated in the tweet): "Yuzik (Yuzu’s derogatory nickname in Russian blogs) will think nothing about advertising himself on other people’s death, he hasn’t done a single charity show while professing to be an earthquake victim." LOL.

R430 Lees detests the Kneirems. And they detest him with the same passion

R436 yes, Tarasova/Morozov are not full of chemistry. But their main problem is that their FS have been hideous (the Candyman last season but also the one before) and they aren't constructed to highlight their strengths.

R442 M-T/M are coached by Duhamel's husband

R434 When discussing S/K, Duhamel threw around the gossip if Stolbova is dating Nikolaj Morozov. But I don't think she

R449 You forgot to add the important detail, which is that Kotaro Takeuchi is the owner of the dick upon which Shoma's head was so securely nestled in this pic.

R451 Paula Slater is the owner of GS. And WTF is she up to now with that email?!

r454 Maybe they want some nutjobs to liven up the atmosphere? I noticed in the Yuzu program announcement thread that a new person has joined by handle "IAmAFanyu" and Mathman gave the standard cheery welcome. So if Hanyu fans still join up and there's quite a number still posting there maybe they want some antiHanyus to offset those, to be provocative and to ramp up post count?

That contest they announced to win a season's pass, to post a summary of the Bratislava event describing all disciplines focusing on highlights... you know how many responses they got? Big fat zero.

It's puzzling to me. Judging be the post count in the locked-down jgp competition threads, the traffic is healthy, but their desperate attempts at boosting it up suggests otherwise. Maybe post-count isn't everything? Maybe the number of individual visitors has gone down?

I am very curious what will happen once the senior season starts.

And if we're following Plush's parenting methods, here's an insta of a family boating/mushroom picking trip where Sasha actually looks like he's having fun. There's another vid showing off the mushrooms they picked, and wow, it's already mushroom season in Russia?

I also found a vid in which Sasha does look happy when he's skating. It'd be sad if he came to hate it because of expectations placed oin hi,. We can also see glimpses of Plush's skating school.

Artem Kovalev was at the JGP in Linz and they said Plushenko is one of his coaches. How come he never goes to any competitions for his students? He went to Skate America with Serafima...that's it. Supposedly he was too busy with shows and prior commitments before. But he's on a fucking mushroom hunting trip? If he wants to have a skating school & let others do all the work, that's fine, but people talk about him as if he's already established himself as a great coach. Meanwhile, all his high profile students left after a few months (I don't count Adelina since we all know she's never coming back to compete).

R451. All I can say is wow. I don't do GS and now I'm glad I don't. Are they that desperate for posters that they would allow someone like that back? I wonder if any of the Hanyu fans on GS have said anything? Maybe not. They're probably not allowed.

Another nugget from the batshit crazy GS Hanyu anti "Hanyu is an underfed stripper boy who will be milked by his new coach & fed and then thrown away like garbage nobody will remember." So unhinged I had to laugh. Maybe GS wants to bring her back because she is also a huge Dai fan and they want to stir up trouble with his return. Who knows, but it reeks of desperation. I'm not a big enough Hanyu fan to go there exclusively, but PH is organized and well run. I wish there was an alternative like that to GS.

I follow that let's talk person on Twitter...she seems like a real cunt. How embarrassing that the mods of GS have nothing better to do than send out desperate invitations to banned members. What is wrong with them?

R460. I just saw that on Twitter and was about to post that here. So they are another Daitroll? I believe they are certifiably nuts after what have seen here and on Twitter. There are some that even make Twitter pages full of Hanyu hate. Can you imagine someone having that much power that you have to make a whole Twitter account for the person you dislike?

Well, we have someone here who hates Daisuke so much that he watches all his interviews and analyzes them in great detail, and posts about how much he dislikes Daisuke on an almost daily basis. So yes...yes, I can imagine people being that insane and hateful.

r460 Lol, that comment must have been from like 2012. When he got WRs with Parisian Walkways maybe? Or when he had already beaten Daisuke at Japanese Nationals?

But to be honest some comments about Eteri and her girls are the same. Even here. Well, maybe nobody's calling the girls strippers so it's a bit better.

r463 I think you're getting your posters mixed up here. The one posting all the Daisuke interviews was the Daisuke fan who wanted to make some point, defending Dai from some "accusations" that weren't really a big deal in the first place. I don't think anyone here cares enough about Dai to go after him "on a daily basis."

R459 should have been on GGMB...the mods banned people for some of the most insignificant shit. The tables were turned on Joe, the main mod, who was banned from his own webpage.

r466 Whatever happened to GGMB?

r466 What was the mod banned for?

What is GGMB?

r469 gymnastics gossip message board (unless I'm totally off and you guys are talking about something completely different).

r469 It's starts with G and FS people visit it so I assume it was a gymnastics website. Interest in gymnastics and FS often go together for many people.

I didn't know "let's talk"was still active. I thought she shut up and slipped back into obscurity after Daisuke's retirement.

Wasn't Dave Lease somehow caught up in that whole mess at GGMB too? He used to be one of the mods, right?

R465 No, r463 is another Takahashi uber. They've made similar comments about Takahashi being attacked here in DL on multiple threads, also one of the posters who constantly complained about the Hanyu ubers.

S-Park interview with more footage of Hanyu and talk about the axel. There were 70 media persons at media day.

[R474] oh, thank god you didnt say it is me.. Another dai troll....wo . hahah your obssesion is unbelievable.... i a m scared for peopel who REALLY love him and appreciate him, I bet they re scared to talk here coz some uber hate everything about him

Nobody here minds people talking about Dai. I know because I've talked about him. They mind it when the Dai crazies come here for the sole purpose of defending his honor from some imagined slight.

GGMB was a gymnastics board with a FS section. There were some funny posts in DL a few years back about GGMB, you can search for them.

Just venting. I hate seeing on my Twitter timeline. Yuzuru fans saying stupid stuff about Johnny weir. They probably don't know anything about him except his nbc commentating. Yuzuru thinks highly of weir and I doubt he would like to see his fans do that.

Advertising nowadays is pretty targeted and based on detailed analytics, so I don't think the sheer number of posts on GS is an indicator of how well they're doing, especially if they are authored by the same small group of regulars and GS isn't getting new visitors. Advertisers usually go through an advertising network company (it can get even more complicated than this, but that's the gist) and give them information about their target audience - demographics, interests etc. The advertising network companies look at the analytics to find the websites with visitors who would fit that profile. You know the ads that follow you around everywhere, no matter what website you're looking at, ads that reflect things you considered buying or searching for? Every user has that kind of imprint and that's one of the things these advertising network companies look at when they decide whether to buy ad space on a website. Could be that GS visitors don't attract a wide variety of advertisers because they are confined to a very small demographic or a demographic that isn't valuable to advertisers. In fact, if the regulars just post more often taking up more bandwidth but the website isn't attracting new and diverse visitors, I can see why GS is in a pickle.

I remember the days at GS where one of the moderators (I can't remember which one) posted that if anyone wrote something disparaging about Davis and White, they would be in trouble- the moderator said that they would look up their IP Address and turn it over to the FBI, who would come knocking on their door. These people are crazy.

I know GS mods can be cray but Jesus, is the idea of a joke completely lost on you, r479?

R480 Given the level of cray I see in FS and on GS, I wouldn't be so sure that was meant as a joke. You're thinking too much from the point of view of a normal person.

r477 Don't worry, they'll be loudly straigtened out by Hanyu fans who do like Weir, especially now that the great leader (Hanyu) is doing a Weir program. For most speaking out against Weir will equal to speaking out against Hanyu, if I know internet.

r418 And you might be a bit too set against them to be able to see past your notions about them. Even assholes make jokes sometimes, and the FBI mention should have clued you in.

to make this hairstyle look even worse, he should try going blonde

A lot of Hanyu fans hate Weir, but I think it's got more to do with "look at what an upright moral person I am" than anything else. They have little else to puff their feathers about so they post loud complaints about how Weir is the most vile person to grace figure skating and Plushenko is a child abusing monster and Hanyu knows nothing about these things because he's sweet and innocent and would never idolize them if he knew how "annoying" Weir commentates or what tabloids say about Plushenko.

r483 Oh good, another self-aggrandizing message, I was afraid he was getting sick or something.

What was Vincent's secret poetry Insta account called again? I could use a laugh.

R486 Hope it helps!

Thanks, R487. Oh god, it's actually called @artworkofthemind. Could he possibly be more pretentious?

"Am I not more than flesh and bone, a conscience and bundle of heartstrings sewn?" Yes...yes, he could.

And was the autograph session at Garden of the Gods some official event, or did Vincent just show up with a pen and offer to sign stuff for people? I could see him doing that.

r488 If it was written in 1822 you'd be learning about it at school.

R490 yeah sounds like something that cunt PB Shelley would write.

r491 Maybe that's where he took inspiration from.

Actually, if Vincent's poetry, whatever its quality, was not accompanied by his "I'm so great" and "It's all about me" outings, I'd find it endearing because it's so teenage angst.

R492 actually I would find it all forgivable, including the narcissism and pretension, if he weren't a dickhead Trump supporter from Palo Alto.

R484. And I bet these so called fans of Hanyu don't know much about Weir except from nbc. If plushenko and weir make Hanyu giggle and laugh then they should leave them alone. I bet they feel Hanyu needs protection from plushenko and weir too. I am a huge Hanyu fan but some of these fans are out of their minds.

I remember one time before Hanyu's ice show some Hanyu fan was claiming weir was a spouse abuser. They have no idea what they are talking about.

R494 Totally agree on all points. Especially how they all know Weir only from NBC. These types seem to be mostly teenage girls who do a lot of projecting.

What's wrong with Johnny's NBC persona? I think he's a fine commentator.

R496. I would like to know the answer to that question myself. Apparently some Hanyu fans wish Johnny would shut up or better yet get replaced.

Host pick at NHK

Rika Kihira

Sota Yamamoto

Johnny's commentary are rude and dismissive sometimes, like, I remember he said that Jason Brown was a waste of spot at gpf (implying he is useless wihout a quad). Also Johnny and Tara (she's even worth) talk during performances about other skaters and on unrelated topis. And they were talking about invincible Nathan the Quad King non-stop ans than ditched him as soom as he bombed his sp. So imo, yeah, he's a meh commentator.

Wishing for Johnny to shut up is not a crime. Wishing for Tara and the third guy to shut up is a sign of common sense. Johnny is the most bearable of them but the amount of useless prattling is the main reason why so many fans avoid their coverage if they have a choice.

Johnny's wardrobe and hair make me cringe. I'm not against flamboyancy & I loved him as a skater, but he just looks terrible with those weaves and hideous taste in clothing. It's no wonder nobody wants to date him.

Johnny does not really talk that much during the skating. Overall I'm fine with his commentary. Tara and Terry Gannon are likely just doing what the NBC producers are ordering them to do. In Tara's case, it's to relate her experiences as a skater (relevant or not) to whatever skater happens to be skating. In Gannon's case, it's to not allow too many seconds of air time to go by without saying something. Years ago Gannon did not do this so my assumption is that now he's being told to not shut up.

r502 Which is puzzling because FS fans hate it - and how many people who are casual "just turned on the tv and fs was on" viwers watch?

Here's a primer with helpful hints about where/how to view skating competitions, since some of you have asked about streaming.

R504. Thank you for that link. I asked a few times about streaming.

R502. Yes. I am in agreement that nbc is telling that what they need to be saying. They have to satisfy the U.S. base I guess.

r498 For those who know these things, is the Sota/NHK host pick surprising?

It's not that surprising, actually. Sota has had a pretty strong comeback and it's not like they can give the spot to any other stronger JPN male figure skaters. And Sota is one of the fan favourites -- just watch his Japanese Nationals performance and the ovations he received.

Takahashi's not eligible? He'd be a fan/ratings magnet in the absence of Hanyu no matter how he skated.

finally got around to trying to watch the video in r132 but it says that url signature has expired. You think Med took it down after fan reaction?

Was Javi just cupping Eric's face with his hand? If so, that seems to be a gesture that Javi grew up with. I've seen pictures of his sister doing that with him and him doing that with Hanyu.

[quote]Was Javi just cupping Eric's face with his hand?

Yes, but they were also pantsless and rock hard. Boy, did you miss out!!!

Started watching TSL. They knew about Hanyu's love of Weir but expressed surprise that Hanyu would do a tribute to Plushenko. I thought Hanyu's idol worship of Plushenko was well known in the skating community even outside of his fandom. Is this something that you non-Hanyu fans didn't know? Seems odd that with the connections that TSL has that they would be surprised by something so well known.

R509 This one works for me.

R509 Strange, it doesn't work as a link on DL. Try copying and pasting this link without the spaces

http : // streamable . com / 8c4e7

r513 thanks! One of the comments said Eric had his hand around Javi's throat which would indicate play fighting but I think it's just the lighting and Eric has his hand on Javi's arm. Looks like they're starting to lean toward each other when the clip ends. Not exactly the same gesture Laura does toward Javi either... hmmm

I just watched the latest TSL and it seemed like Jonathan had no idea that Plushenko was Hanyu's idol - but I thought Dave knew. He even went into an explanation of why - that Hanyu maybe wasn't so much enthralled by Plush's skating, per se but by his determination to win and his belief in himself. And I think someone upthread nailed it - he probably had a big ole first crush on him, as a kid of what? 8 or 10? Plush is such a big personality.

I saw an interview of Hanyu raving about Weir, meaning the actual skating. He said "I'm a man but I find Johnny Weir so beautiful." I that Johnny is the skating inspiration - though Hanyu has that speed and wildness that is probably just all his own, because it reflects in his off ice personality I think - racing mind, constant observation and joking about everything he sees, etc. He's a bit hypomanic but I don't think bipolar, like somebody once said lol. But definitely bouncing off the walls sometimes. Anyhow, as he ages, he gets more controlled, a la Weir. I don't know what I see of Plushenko in Hanyu's actual skating -- nothing I guess, but the gritty determination and belief in himself, I guess that.

Oh and I wish that Eric/Javi video was still up but my faint memory is their faces were very close together like they were making out - or about to. I think Javi was up against the wall and Eric had his face right up in Javi's? It did NOT look like anything non-romantic but then, when you catch an instant of interaction, I mean, it could mean anything - like Eric was teasing him. I saw Scott Moirer teaching Johnny Weir a ballroom dance and my god, Scott was practically turning it into foreplay - so maybe there's a lot of that heavy-petty type of horsing around. I mean this is figure skating not rugby, so why not let your freak flag fly (and go along with the vibe no matter what you are in 'real life')

Hanyu literally said he likes Plush because he wins. That's it. "I like that he won twice, so he proved that it wasn't just a fluke. I wanna be someone who wins twice like him."

R516 Hanyu always behaves like a shy maiden with Plushenko: blushing, looking down shyly, not knowing what to say although he is normally very good with words, so I believe it's a bit of a mix of crush and hero worship and not just admiring him for being a strong competitor. I mean he cried a river over Plush skating Nijinski for him at Continues show and was sitting during all the practise Plush did of sex bomb during fantasy on ice last year. No wonder Plush has only good things to say about him. The best skater in the world is literally obsessed with him. Must be nice for his ego.

I wonder if part of him knows it's a safe crush, with all Plush's wives - well the two of them - and if he let himself move on, it might be more than he could handle. Javi might be the same sort of thing. Those are the only the only two he really fangirls out over - well, with Javi it's more like big-brother worship (an incentuous sort but still celibate I 'think') He knows Javi's dedicated either to women or the closet, so that makes it safe for him too. Plus unlike with Ge, they really did sorta grow up together so it must feel like brotherly love.

Does Hanyu only see Weir as this beautiful skater? I am curious if anyone knows how important Weir is to Hanyu. I heard he cried during Weir's Ave Maria.

There aren't as many PDA's with Weir - which makes me think Hanyu might be uncomfortable if Weir took it the wrong way. I do think he's just as enthralled with Johnny, after seeing that show where he admitted finding him so beautiful (they were showing a clip of Johnny skating the swan thing.) They hug when they first see each other and stuff like that, but it seems he puts an extra bit of distance between himself and Johnny.

Just conjecture though... Maybe all he really yearns for is a butch type like Plushy.

R520 Can you please not lie about the pda stuff and sound like one of Yuzu antis who said he doesn't like Weir because he is gay. They must feel like even bigger idiots than ever now with Yuzu inviting him to his special ice show and skating a tribute program this season. I don't think Yuzu cares about putting distance with him and they hug plenty when they see each other. He probably and rightly so feels like they are both not what the other is looking for in a guy.

I just said there "aren't as many" PDA's... I'm a huge Weir fan and quit watching figure skating ever since his last Olympics because of the way he's treated. You said what I tried to say, however inelegantly - "they are both not what the other is looking for in a guy" (and that's why there's not AS MUCH gushing, blushing, crushing... Sheesh, you can't color one mark outside lines without a gatekeeper crashing down on you here. I said he said I THINK HE'S BEAUTIFUL - shit, he hasn't even done that with his beloved Plush.

Where are you guys finding these anti-Weir Hanyu fans? I regularly go to Yuzu's threads on Golden Skate and FSU and I've never seen any anti-Weir posts - other than some of them not liking his costume designs. I've even tried to find Hanyu-related, and well, ANY kind of interesting skating stuff, on Twitter and I don't read Japanese and have found practically NONE. And certainly nothing bad - Iron Klaus or something like that - I like her/his tweets.

And I found one blog on Instagram once that was ok. What do you do? Search for his name on Instagram? or Twitter? That doesn't work for me - just Japanese writing on Twitter and photos on Instagram and Tumblr and you can find the photos with a google search. I'll never understand how people spend a lot of time on those sites - except for links to hard news items - I've figured out how to use it for that.

I read Japanese and the number of Japanese antis he has who spent their days inventing new crap about him is crazy. A few months ago some of them tried to turn him into a homophobe saying he doesn't mention Weir as much as Plushenko so it must mean he doesn't like him because he is gay. Sorry for the overreaction but when you see on a daily basis the kind of bullshit his antis are sprouting you become a bit overprotective, especially because those assholes also lurk English websites to try and find dirt about him.

Is she ok? She has been posting non stop tweets like the one below for the past few days. I always thought she was the humble and reserved type but I guess not.

R525 well, she thought it was funny.

Oh that's ok R524 - I overreacted myself. I've been jumped on for over-posting about Hanyu so I'm sensitive here. That original thread (before this one was created with his NAME at the start) was agonizing -- like you can only mention Hanyu in passing even though he's the biggest name in skating BY FARRRRR for now and probably some time into the future. If you can't talk about Yuzu but you can go on endlessly about junior ice dance teams and their fucking coach changes, then I'd just check out.

I have no idea who any couples or "teams" are -- though I admit I regret not following Charlie White because he seems like such a sweetheart. Anyway, Yuzuru is fascinating whether you're crushing on him or just agog at what he's accomplished and his many idiosyncracies. Only Weir and maybe Uno and Lambiel are even remotely interesting imo -- but then I only came back to skating for PyeongChang so maybe I'll branch out eventually....

But Johnny's my first and main love -- he's more interesting that Hanyu, just not as relevant to actual skating anymore.

Charlie White is a huge tryhard. He weaseled out of any potential controversy while competing, and now just repeats on and on things that we have heard a thousand times before on US politics and Trump. No initiative whatsoever

I do GS and I'm a PH denizen I haven't noticed any anti-Johnny sentiment amongst the Hanyu fans either. Fans are 99% on board with the choices, they actually stopped agonizing over music already and moved to agonizing over costume and the possibility of a 4A.

r524 Yeah... His homophobia makes him skimp on compliments for Weir, but it won't stop him from dressesing like Weir, doing spins like Weir, skating like Weir, impersonating a dying swan like Weir...

I'll had that, as a big Yuzuru fan, I understand he doesn't do social media, but his silence on media day over Denis Ten's death doesn't honour him. he's 24 and the biggest active figure skater. Offer your condoleances, dude

r530 Two months after the fact? It'd look too much like he was doing it just for publicity, if I'm honest. Unless he was asked about it, of course.

R530 Why does Hanyu have to publicly offer condolences either on social media or a day that has nothing to do with D10? Does he have some responsibility to be the public and symbolic face of mourning for the figure skating world, even for a skater he might not have even known that well personally?

I think that message that Orser put on his Instagram or whatever, on behalf of all of TCC -- and he signed Yuzuru's name first! -- I think Yuzu saw that as good enough. I mean, he's said that whatever he says or does, people will hate him. If he'd said something, it wouldn't have been enough - or it would have been phony sounding - or it would have been rude because of.... oh hell, something or other.

I don't blame him for letting Orser speak for him. It was 'something'. I don't think he should have felt required to have the Japanese federation release a statement from him - that's going too far. Did every Japanese skater issue an official statement? I bet not. Only Hanyu gets hated for what he doesn't say - and for every word he does say - and for every choice he makes - and for every choice he doesn't make.... Even if it's not true, it's what he genuinely believe (I happen to think he's right - he can NOT win - and in this case, it was stepping into a snakepit, considering all the controversy surrounding them.

If Javi died, I wouldn't expect Hanyu to make a formal statement but I'd know he was terribly hurt. WTF difference does it make - what has happened to people in this facebook oversharing era?

R523 I haven't seen those (anti-Weir, anti-Plushenko, Hanyu is racist for not using Japanese music, Hanyu is a homophobe) comments in Japanese and learned about them here. R524 That's surprising. The antis are very homophobic and always making fun of Hanyu being gay, but I guess they've never been consistent.

r530 He did through Orser. He doesn't have an agency. I think he was also trying to be respectful and avoid the Boston incident being brought up and overshadowing the tragedy of Ten's death.

There's a new version of Fernandez's commercial for Huawei.

R530 Not everyone is Misha Ge.

"The antis are very homophobic and always making fun of Hanyu being gay, but I guess they've never been consistent"

They aren't. Almost nobody in Japan doubts his sexuality. Or they don't care. There are one thousand ways to discredit him. They would rather distort the facts about him including his personality, jump technique, relationship with others,... than "accuse" him of being gay.

Does the FS fandom consist of a bunch of 12 year old girls whose lives and every thought and emotion are on display and made real only through social media? Do people understand that publicly offering condolences through social media or some other avenue just to check off the condolence box is completely meaningless?

I don't understand these public mourning fetishists who dwell on who has or hasn't issued statements about Ten's death, as if posting "RIP Denis, crying, broken heart emoji" in any way changes the senselessness of his death or the devastation his close friends/family must feel.

R536 Hanyu being gay and a secret Korean are some of most used talking points by his antis. While many people believe he's straight, many (men especially) also think he's gay and there are hundreds if not thousands of articles and forum threads questioning his sexuality. It's almost impossible to read something and not see a comment below calling Hanyu ゲイ, ホモ, オカマ. I thought you might be joking but you also claimed the Japanese are more interested in Hanyu's personal life than Otani's.

R538 A secret Korean? I've never heard that one and I love it.

R538 A secret Korean???? Lol. Koreans hate him more than they hate anyone else.

r540 I'm pretty sure the cray Koreans hate Sotnikova and Medvedeva (who was first to beat Yuna's record) more than they hate Hanyu...? Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. What reason would they have, other than him being Japanese?

I hate medviedeva and sotnikova and i am not korean

R541 I don't know who the crays hate more, but the historical hatred of the Japanese can't be underestimated and there's also that issue of the second ogm with Hanyu. The hatred of Sotnikova and Medvedeva is pretty intense though. I always felt bad for Med. She had no personal involvement in that Sochi mess.

r543 Why would the fact that it's the second ogm would be an issue for Korean crays in particular?

Because Yuna deserved one and didn't get it? And they probably think Yuzu didn't deserve his first one - but it begs the question of who did then? The only Korean in the hunt then was Denis Ten? (and is he half or whole Korean - though grew up in Kazakhstan?)

R544 R545 Yes, Hanyu's crime was getting a second OGM when Yuna was unfairly denied hers. I saw comments like this all over the interwebs after Hanyu's win. Weren't Yuna's fans leaving death threats for Hanyu on the official Olympic SNS IIRC?

Asians fans are fucked up, hanyus and yunas fans , both of them leave death threats for other people.. they re sick

R546. I also heard there were death threats to Hanyu on the official Olympic sns. People are sick.

I only know of those ridiculous Twitter antis that dedicate their page to Hanyu. Those people have no life. Now I read he has tons. I would be scared knowing about these sick antis if they were after me. And it's true Hanyu can't win no matter what he says or does. I feel sorry for the guy.

Between the Dai fans, the Yuna fans, and the Patrick Chan fans, poor Yuzu had a rough start to his skating career. And it appears it's still continuing to be difficult, at least in the foreign press. I never would have known, if I just stuck to Golden Skate, FSU and Planet Hanyu since PyeongChang. So when he said he was "hated" - I didn't understand at all. So sad. It's almost like he deserved that second OGM just because of karma - not that he didn't earn it - he DID earn it.

Sorry - I'm a real novice at all this - but what does "sns" mean?

R550 Social Networking Service. For me, it's just a shorter way to say social media.

I didn't know there was such a thing as official Olympic sns. Were the death threats in English or Japanese?

Oh and this is post 552 - could somebody start a new thread? I'm not sure I can.

Oh god my brain sucks - I thought we just had 8 more posts to go but we have 48 (I think??)

I've been reading the news. With the calamitous weather in Japan right now, I hope Vincent is doing alright. Thoughts and prayers! We're here for you in your time of emotional discomfort and we hope your feelings can meet closure.

R539 R540 As R538 said there was at some point a crazy rumor (more like bullcrap from his antis) that his mom is a zainichi korean. Honestly their imagination is without limits when it comes to inventing crap.

Well, according to Google translate, this Instagram post says that Brian will fly to Moscow with Evgenia to reveal her short and long programs at some sort of event - Sept 6 thru 9

r556 Russian test skates, probably. I sometimes like watching clips from those because skaters usually don't have a costume yet and often skate in training clothes.

R556 Yes, this was announced earlier - that Orser/David Wilson will attend the Russian test skates with Med and Orser will go to Nationals with Hanyu.

R538 I'm curious now, the male antis who are calling Hanyu gay (and I'm assuming they mean it in a derogatory way, not the DL wet dreams we have here) - who do they hold up as a paragon of masculinity in Japanese skating? Do they have to go all the way back to Minoru Sano? Don't tell me it's Takahashi.

r558 Maybe they're not even FS fans, just jocks on general boards.

[quote] who do they hold up as a paragon of masculinity in Japanese skating?

Me, my laugh and my flying hand at second 0.27

r560 Itsuki's career as his brother's mouthpiece looks to be in danger, people seem to find Shoma entertaining.

R556 Lmao at photoshopped pic. I won't be surprised if OrserMed would become a trend among Russians fans. Their shipping has no limits. I saw them publicly ship underaged Alena Kortonaya with a Russian male senior skater ( saying she was a hottie), Zagitova with Daniil. I don't think they have any problem pairing a gay old man with a straight teenager girl. Lol.

Someone mentioned making new thread. I just did that.

R562 You're not the only one laughing at those photoshopped pics. That one with Med "leaning" on Orser--I have no words.

R539 His antis (and Japanese internet trolls in general) are just as racist as they are homophobic. Not only do they claim he must be a secret Korean because he went to Orser and complimented Yuna’s skating, they also claim he’s Korean due to the way he once held a glass of water. R555 Yes, and a prostitute! Or was that his sister?

R538 Many of the male general public believes he’s gay and assume any man in figure skating is probably gay. But the ones constantly leaving the nasty comments in actual figure skating threads and articles are Hanyu’s dedicated antis.

I think I’ve figured out who Dai Troll is and she may have just slipped up. I agree that she could live in Europe and have an Asian background, but not Japanese nor an actual Takashashi uber or anti-Hanyu fan. Also, most likely a woman pretending to be a man posing as a woman. She’s been posting under multiple accounts (including from one which claimed Dai Troll is a man, I think) and I see at least three different ones just in this thread.

R524. It's ok. I also tend to get over protective of Hanyu. I don't even see all the stuff you do. I can imagine how horrible it is when I read what they say about him on Twitter I just can't believe it. I have even asked myself why? What on earth did he do? So yeah I totally get you being a little over protective

That should be r558, not r538. Sorry.

R565. Are you a detective? lol. That troll is becoming too much. if they would just post normal then I would have no problem. They can't or won't do that and they start trying to insult the poster.

{R565] [ R65} posting under multiple accounts (including from one which claimed Dai Troll is a man, I think)...at least three different ones just in this thread.????? you must getting bored , really. Try more...I cannot post as many persons here , how is that even possible? I have no account here to be banned at first .. You re taking to yourself, which you proved right now,. Thats because someone posts nicer things about Takahashi, doesnt prove it is me...I didnt say simple positive thing about dai.. Try more, i will read . Ive been watching us open, so amuse me, troll.

r568 I prefer trolls to be over the top cray like Dai Troll/ Ferret Face. Some of them are very entertaining. And the ones that aren't, you can block with confidence that you aren't missing out on anything interesting.

My personal pet peeve are hypocritical gate keepers like 4everChan or the ones like CanadianSkateGuy who just trolls half the time but within the confines of run of the mill dipshit so dumber people actually take them seriously.

{R570] Our little troll with little asian prick got angry. Coz I said once again that asians fans are fucked up and they re sick so , again we have a proof..What a surprise... Truth hurts??hahahaaha

Out troll always starts being annoyed when i post something he doesnt like , so then he starts with calling me off. ///what a bore

I remember perusing the Korean boards some years ago to look into this so-called Hanyu hate from Korea. There is a famous claim about his arrogance due to snippets from interviews and on-ice behavior, but it's drowned out by overwhelming defenders. The antis are just a small crazy minority, as with any country. I can see why they'd be sensitive to any Japanese skater saying anything about Korea though, given the sore past where Japan always seems to resist apologizing about colonizing Korea and still continue to hide the fact in their history textbooks. You can't hold the colonized to the same standard as the colonizer and call them equally hateful if the colonizer is still throwing tantrums over statues that commemorate sex slaves. By all means, it's hilarious and telling that the Japanese antis' way of degrading Hanyu is by calling him Korean, because I guess to them Korea is the lesser race? There's a very large majority of middle-aged men that really, really hate Hanyu for looking gay. Maybe it threatens them. Maybe they hate that so many women love him?

The Hanyu-loving, Plushenko-hating, Weir-hating, "Hanyu must skate to more Asian music" fans I've seen mostly on Twitter and Tumblr (they seem to share demographics?). They seem less specifically fans of Hanyu than self-professed fans of figure skating in general, and they tend to skew teenage, female, straight, white, and Japanophile. They don't know any older skaters other than what they've seen on ice shows in relation to young Japanese skaters.

R565 Are you talking about the obsession with D10 and the out of nowhere posts on the death thread complaining about Hanyu fans?

R573 After 4CC 2017 in Korea, he was interviewed by Japanese media, one of questions was: Q: Your feelings after finishing in 2nd? H: I'm upset because Japan's anthem can't be heard. ( which must be interpreted as" I'm upset because I didn't win" ) He didn't mean anything but his antis tried to convince everyone that he didn't respect Korea and Korean people when mentioning Japan's anthem. And everyone believes it. Yeah, they are that DUMB. It's about politics so I bet you know how bad it was.

If you can read Korean, you will know how badly they bash him. "They" aren't necessarily his antis, some people are "victims" who believe what antis said. 90% of Korean comments below YT videos, topics or articles about him are negative and nasty. They put name of Japan's anthem ( Kimigayo) and his last name ( Hanyu) together to create a nickname, something like Kimigayu ( sometimes "kimigayo dude" ) to mock him.

R565 Or are you saying someone was upset after being shouted down in the first thread for misusing a compound adjective and decided to seek vengeance on overprotective fanyus in the subsequent threads?

R575. Omg. How awful. My heart just hurts for this guy. So this has been going on (antis) since he became a senior skater? I don't know how he does it. Maybe that's why he finally broke down at his show and decided to trust his fans and tell us what he has been through.

Do you seriously believe that Yuzuru is the only famous person who has antis? Or that he spends his free time (what free time?) worrying about what some fucking crazies on the internet type in Youtube comments? For god's sake...get some perspective. And some fresh air.

Of course Hanyu isn't the only famous person with antis. But this is a figure skating thread. I think this would be the thread to talk about a skaters antis.

Is this all we're getting from Hanyu's media day this year? Maybe I'm misremembering but I thought we got more info the previous years.

So what's this I hear about Med's fans leaving GS to form their own forum? What went down?

R581 Oh my god, are they really? Well, good for them.

R574 That one. There are four different accounts that have been called Takahashi ubers. I don’t think they’re all the same person (for now).

“Dai Troll” is the poster who brought up Denis Ten. Her English level varies depending on how much effort she’s putting into being this character that day.

Synesthesia from Golden Skate who wrote the essay-length posts about Takahashi. I was able to identify her because she made a very similar post (maybe even a copy and paste) about Takahashi's press conference in the GS Takahashi fanfest.

An account that started out talking about Japanese regional ties that some of you accused of being an uber. It probably was Synesthesia with a different account. I think she’s also appeared under other accounts but probably isn’t Dai Troll.

Another account (r463 R578) that’s been claiming in multiple threads that Takahashi’s been attacked here, even when no one is talking about him.

I don’t want to reveal too much yet, but Dai Troll’s posted under at least two other accounts pretending to be different people since my last comment and appears normal most of the time. I blocked Dai Troll from the first thread she appeared and forgot about her, until she accidentally posted a Dai Troll comment under one of her “normal” accounts.

Lol Misha. He must really be pissed off at Yuzu for not tolerating his attention whoring any more.

"by the client" sounds so formal. Say "by her and her team"

I'll play the Misha Ge apologist agsin: maybe he's pissed at tweeterers that they bunch up on him every time he mentions Hanyu, not at Hanyu. That said, if the client's decision and that costume had nothing to do with Hamyu, I'll eat my hat.

C'mon somebody spill why Medvedeva fans want to leave GS.

@OlympicCityUSA

This #LaborDay weekend, @govincentzhou stopped by the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center to sign autographs, and it was so much fun! Our favorite moment? Finding out about the inner-poet of Vincent. "During the day I ask, 'why do I skate,' during the night I ask, 'why do I exist."

I exist to grace the world with my thoughts

[quote]There are four different accounts that have been called Takahashi ubers. I don’t think they’re all the same person (for now).

Can you wrap your little mind around the fact that there might be multiple people here who actually like Daisuke and some of them might not even be "ubers" or trolls? I am definitely not the "Dai troll" (blocked her crazy illiterate homophobic ass), and I don't consider myself an uber, but if someone posts a hundred times that he doesn't care for Dai, then I'll call out his equally annoying posts if I feel like it. And if you think we're all just one person posting under different IPs...LO fucking L. Are you paranoid or what?

r486 where did you hear the rumor about the Med fan split? My guess is that they're leaving for the same reasons that everyone is unsatisfied with Goldenskate. Easiest way to figure out for sure is just PM her biggest fans on the board.

Except for being overly uptight since it became more popular, Planet Hanyu is well run and organized. It would be nice if they could just be a general skating board with a section for Hanyu. Not sure how those boards are financed though so maybe it isn't worth it for the organizers to absorb other disgruntled fan groups.

r586 I agree. It seems like Misha's just defensive about the fact that he gets accused of using Hanyu for attention every time he does anything that can get at all related to Hanyu.

[R589] I am not " illiterate homophobic ass". Second. I have nothing to do with Dai. He , that hanyu troll hates him and he is one of those sick asian fans who re fucked up and they think everyone around hates Hanyu (lol). Koreans, Dennis Ten, Takahashi, their fans, whats more, evens japaneses now.

Link to new thread.

I don't know what to think of the Misha instagram post. I don't think he had too many people giving him crap when he mentioned Hanyu's name. He should have said Hanyu's name and just ignore the few that harass. It's better than saying that skater imo.

Nobody cares what he choreographed for his clients. How stupid of him to write that getty p/s. Better not to mention anything or write something like "my client loves this music so she decided to skate to it"

R590 This is where I saw the posts about Med.

Misha's English isn't the best, so maybe he doesn't understand how harsh "other skater" sounds.

Gubanova's SP. She looked much thinner than last time I saw her.

R589 I named the accounts that have been called Takahashi ubers, not people who have said that they like Takahashi or his skating (which is a lot of people here including myself). I didn't say those other three accounts were Dai Troll or that Dai Troll is an actual uber. But interesting reaction.

R589 Also interesting because you’ve been very catty about all of the other figure skaters (calling them stupid, a troll, yuck, etc.), yet you’re offended that a poster who’d stopped talking about Takahashi a while ago (and has mentioned him less than you’ve expressed your dislike for Uno) said they “didn’t care for Takahashi”?

Ge's post reminds me of someone who's been asked not to mention a person's name, perhaps by that person - or perhaps by his coach - and he's making a bit pouty point of that. Somewhere I saw a group of photos of skaters who had copied Hanyu's ombre light blue Chopin shirt - Misha Ge the most obvious among them, but there were quite a few, including kids. And Hanyu himself took the Chopin piece from Mao, right? And others? Is this girl skating to Seimei lol??

Anyway, I hope Misha stays in China and doesn't come to Canada often - like he did a while back, I think to teach for Brian. I know he choreographed the ice show Brian produced in Korea. Surely Brian can use somebody else. Misha has shown his colors. Not that he isn't talented - he's just a user. And was he really that "big" as a skater (I'm new to following skating). I would imagine post-skating careers are difficult if you're a middler or lower level skater, so, well, I hope he just fades away from my mind -- I'm still angry at him for the stupid Weibo post, and to a lesser extent, the bracelet and inconvenient photo stalking, though a video showed her more in charge of that... Sorry to bring it up again - I just find it strange. Not like trying to get closer to someone - but more like trying to get revenge for something (like not being invited to someone's personal ice show while a certain Takahito Mura was...)

We should end this on a high note.