Yuzuru Hanyu and other figure skating talk part 12

Previous thread

Uno ubers on here are getting mad, lmao.

Worse things have been said but now dl can't say Uno's overscored in skate canada because he was obviously underscored and fanyus are the worst for not agreeing.

Did someone here ask who was skating to Back to Black or did imagine it? It was Alicia Pineault. And no, it is not worth watching if you haven't already.

the point is that keegan was overscored

I kind of liked Alicia. Considering the state of Canadian ladies, I was expecting a lot worse.

Uno is always overscored. Same with Nathan Chen. I'm trying not to get upset about it but it's not fair to the other skaters. Do these judges all of a sudden have something in their eyes when those two skate?

Pleasantly surprised by Mariah. Beautiful spins. How does Raf exude such sweetness and care when he looks like such a fucking curmudgeon? Her score seemed low to me.

R6 You are a mere mortal who is just immune to their unvarying degree of quality crossovers in skating skills and transitions, of which those two are close to mastering.

Both have brought athleticism and a modern but ballet level artistry to men's figure skating, and should be awarded as such.

High PCS. High TES. We mere mortals and the judges must be humbled to live in an era where such complete skaters never before seen exists.

omy god flutz evgenias got highest goe from her all elements, somethinbg is wrong

34.33 ppcs??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Was Raf telling Mariah she had under rotation(s)? Looked like it with the gestures he was making with his fingers.

Ladies SP

1 Elizaveta Tuktamysheva 74.22

2 Wakaba Higuchi 66.51

3 Mako Yamashita 66.30

4 Starr Andrews 64.77

5 Mariah Bell 63.35

6 Elizabet Tursynbaeva 61.19

7 Evgenia Medvedeva 60.83

8 Alaine Chartrand 60.47

9 Alicia Pineault 59.02

10 Yura Matsuda 53.35

11 Daria Panenkova 51.41

R10 Yes, that's shameful judging. Med's performance was definitely subpar, especially before she finished all her jumping passes.

Ladies SP protocols

I had to watch a Russian stream and didn't get to hear most of the K&C and couldn't understand the Russian commentary. Did anything of interest happen or was said in the Men's and Ladies K&C?I

Grumpy coaches:

So Mariah did have URs on her combo. However, she did a wonderful job interpreting her program and was underscored on PCS.

Medvedeva 34.33 PCS is a joke. Where on earth Wakaba with wayyy better SS and skating a clean program scored lower than Medvedeva in PCS ? Her fans shitting on Zagitova's PCS is the best joke in the world.

Elizaveta Tuk's 3A is ugly. At least she landed it, good job, I'm quite surprised she didn't miss any 3A attempts since the early season. But why 3T-3T combo ?

Reddit loves Zhenya btw, but one poster spoke the truth and wrote that she finally has to learn to skate choreography instead of trying to rack up points. The judges did try to save her with GOEs and PCS again though so pffft.

Wakaba is a world silver medalist and it's sad how her fans were saying after last season that her PCS will rise. Judges be like, bitch clean Wakaba can never outskate Zhenya and Alina.

Med looked stiff and scared during much of her program. She only started really getting into it after she fell on the combo. I really don't get the fan obsession with her.

UGH at Waka's scores, but on a positive note, she looked a lot better than she did at ACI. She had an issue with her instep(?), but seems fine now. Med's new costume blows. It makes makes her look heavy and she is most definitely not.

Why do you say Elizabeta's 3A is ugly? R17

R21 No transitions into it. She took a century to prepare for it. And it looked heavy.

R22 it would look less heavy if she lost 10 lbs. Told you so.

Oh, I guess that's valid R22. I thought the jump itself looked nice, good take off and landing, and also nice height.

Brian obviously needs to separate Evgeniya and Jason. That friendship doesn't seem to be helping either of them.

r22 I agree with both completely but at least it's an actual 3 axel unlike the 3.25's that certain men get credited for quads.

r23 I probably shouldn't say this, but when I was watching Tuktamysheva I kept thinking, "I kind of see what Doug is talking about". There's just something clunky looking about her skating but I can't put my finger on anything specific about her actual skating other than the stalking of jumps.

I liked Med's first costume better. It went better with the music and this dress does not flatter her shape at all.

I attempted to watch pairs but then remembered that Skate America pairs actually managed to make me like skating less so I fast forwarded to James/Cipres. Holy shit, pairs went down the crapper. My first thought was, "Cipres has a really nice, high round ass". My second thought was, "why would he wear a tunic to cover it?". Neither the ugly costumes nor the interpretation, or lack there of, had anything to do with the music. Don't get the craze over this pair. Her movement is so gangly and mismatched with his that I find it distracting. And we didn't even get one of his famous half boners.

R25 Eh, unless one of them is being a tiger mom to the other, the friendship is not the problem nor the biggest factor to why both aren't smashing the competition. Nice try though.

I don't understand what the judges are doing with Zhenya honestly. They aren't overscoring her to the roof anymore, but they haven't clearly dropped her either. Perhaps they're maintaining her scores so that if Alina falters they can get another Russian on the podium without it being too fishy, like quickly replacing Yulia with Adelina at Sochi.

Can I ask why some people call her Zhenya

I just can't at the Med ubers that are gutted and sad for her performance, but are still glad that she had the highest PCS.

R26 Med's new costume is similar to the costumes she's worn in the past. I don't think it fits the program at all but I guess that's the style she's comfortable with--a style that I don't think has ever flattered her body type.

R29. lol. Yeah I'm seeing a lot of that on my tl too. I'm just scrolling through.

R28 Zhenya is the diminutive for Evgenia

Ah of course. I should have known. Russians and their diminutives.

[R27] I meant, Jason is a nervous competitor. Maybe it's contagious.

R29 yeah, most of them are those who made comparison Zagitova's PCS to Yuzuru's to shit on her score and now they're glad their fav got overscored lol. Anyway, your fault for following those acc.

Shoma's new costume looked so 80's inspired. Like modern version of which Brian Orser and Brian Boitano used to wear.

Who on Shoma's team decided that a boring red and black onesie could only be fixed by a purple velvet onesie?? He looks like a teletubby power ranger in pajamas.

R35 But their fav have always been overscored so it just makes it all the more ridiculous.

Anyhow, how did I miss that Uno received +4 GOEs and an avg of 3.9 GOE on his ugly quad flip? Where are the fans that lied to me that the +5/-5 new GOEs will differentiate between the average jumps and the great jumps? What else are the other skaters missing and what do they have to do to make their jumps near perfect like Uno's? And his ubers claimed he was underscored here, sheesh.

R37 Skate Canada must have a soft spot for Uno and Medvedeva. They's strict to every non Canadian skaters except these two.

I'm not liking this new scoring system at all. Bring back the old one and give the 30 seconds back to the men's fs. I find the new system easier for the judges to cheat.

What kind of disaster skate did Medvedeva have to get that score? I'm scared to watch. I bet papa Orser was not happy.

r2 Have you reas this thread? There are no ubers here other than Hanyu ones. There's one person here who said Uno wasn't overscored and judging by the rest of the post, that person made a typo and wanted to say he wasn't undescored.

r40 Fucked up her combo and generally was nervous.

I really hope Brian hammered down into her that "a year and a half to get results" spiel because I'd be crying in my cheeros now. But it's not like she has any choice but to continue under Brian if she wants to continue at all. She burned all the bridges with Eteri.

How to live with the notion that Yuzu will never look at you with such a smile on his face.

What is Messing's fs planned content and does he have a real chance of winning SC ?

Lmao. Yuzu please.

[quote]He also said that there is only one thing worse than getting the second place: winning the race like he did with an awful performance

Lol. He is really out of this world.

Being a perfectionist myself, I love that sort of attitude. I don't see it enough. R42, thats a romantic movie smile, my poor gay heart skipped a beat.

Amazing shot.

R44 Funny stuff. I can't really see him telling Jun that bluntly to his face that his result was bad (the accuracy of a twice-translated third hand report...), but I can absolutely see the person who gave up everything he enjoyed in life to get into a gold or nothing mindset being bewildered over having a party for NOT winning.

R48 Yeah, honestly first of all it's a third hand report so to take with a grain of salt and if true it's clear it was not mean spirited but coming from him being a bit autistic (not sure how to say it otherwise) and not understanding celebrations for things which are not victories. The fact that he added that his own victory with an unclean performance is worse than even a silver also shows his perfectionist mindset at work. It must be tiring being him tbh. Always only aiming for perfection and giving up on almost anything/any normal enjoyment so as to not lose focus.

R44 Lol we criticize Order for being insufficiently warm and huggy. Hanyu as coach would throw down his Irene gloves and walk out of the K&C.

R49 it was just playful dragging. If you read the follow up the person says Max says Hanyu was joking around. It's funny in this case because we know there's a grain of truth. These second hand stories tend to take on a life of their own though - Internet assholes are already calling him a dick.

R50 Lol now I want him and Eteri to meet. The baddest bitches together would be too much. Joke aside there have been several coaching sessions with him and kids/teenagers and he was always really warm and supportive. What I believe he doesn't want is for his direct competitors to be satisfied with the 2nd place because as he has said in interviews in the past, he wants his competitors to bring their A game and then for him to still win over them by skating his ideal skate. That he said that to Jun Hwan (if he did) shows that he considers him as a serious opponent which is nice.

R50 lol. He would say "fuck" right in front of camera and glare at his students until they get burned.

You don't seriously believe I'm a bitch, do you, dickheads?

R52 Imagine Hanyu as an Eteri student. He'd scare the shit out of her with his intense control freak ways and she'd learn to love her inner masochist real quick. It would be the kinkiest of coaching relationships.

R55 More like the opposite. Yuzu is a masochist at heart. He enjoys a bit (a lot) of pain.

So how is Dave Lease going to explain Liza doing well again after he spent so much time trying to paint her as a doper who only skated well because of meldonium?

LOL I didn't remember that - I can't figure out why I'm wanting Med to miss the podium. I like the girl! There's just something about hype that turns me off - I disliked Nathan so much during the Olys and I had hardly heard of him before so I know it was the NBC hype. Speaking of... on Ice Talk, Jackie mentioned Nathan had better practices than he's seen in a long time. He also said he was laser focused on doing what he was most comfortable with, but is training everything.

BUT what I found most interesting was he also mentioned that Raf doesn't like facetime that much, but Nathan told him that they know each other so well he can just tell Raf what issue he's having with jumps in a few words and Raf can correct it just from knowing him so well.

... Soooo they probably are NOT doing facetime coaching and Nathan really is coaching himself (with an occasional "few words" with Raf.) Let's see if he can do better than Patrick Chan at handling his own training.

[quote] LOL I didn't remember that - I can't figure out why I'm wanting Med to miss the podium. I like the girl! There's just something about hype that turns me off -

[R58] Same. I want her to hit rock bottom and spend the next 2 years clawing her way up. I also want Orser to struggle.

A full translation of what Max said about Cha and Hanyu. It comes off as encouragement and good advice rather than something dickish actually.

I simply don't see Med not medalling unless she bombs FS very hard. Her PCS and GOE will save her. SC ladies is a weak field, everyone struggles with injury and inconsistency. Med was just 6 points away from 2nd place and she always gets away with errors. But if miracle happens and she fails to medal, Brian will die of embarrassment. Not too bad "achievement" for him.

Shoma's new costume, thank god.

Even if Med medals, she must know she didn’t earn it.

Uno and Sakamoto basically had the same FS costume and it looked less flattering on him. It's good that he changed it.

R64 Why is it that Shoma never gets homophobic slurs about his costumes like Yuzu does when they are also super frilly and glittery.

Shoma just exudes hypermasculine "Takahashi vibes" with the most stern facial expression ever .

R65 He doesn't have any part in their design and wears whatever is handed to him.

In his recent interview with AERA, the interviewer asked him what he talks about with his male high school friends. He replied something like, "Games and... stuff I can't say. (laughs)" So he isn't completely innocent or the sexless creature people seem to think.

R63, calm down Yuzuru, some people take wins anyway they can get them

R47, that is a very iconic pic. Made me think how these two are actually more alike than appearances suggest. Orser would like to come across as a supportive huggy bear and Mishin is famous for being no-nonsense coach, but actually they're both terribly ambitious and vain about their students, and give attention and support only when students earn it with good performances.

E65. I was wondering the same. R67. I guess that would make sense. And Hanyu plays a big part in what he wants his costumes to look like correct? If so that guy can be a designer after he retires.

The post above was for R65. I hit E by mistake. Sorry about that.

R67 I don't think the average joe who posts on youtube and writes stuff like 'when will he stop with the girly costumes', 'looks like a girl', 'it's a girl top, meant for boobs, why is wearing this' etc. knows that Yuzu is more involved in his costume creation than Shoma. I guess Shoma just looks like a normal dude whereas Yuzu being on the androgynous side needs to only wear plain t-shirts, else the gender brigade is on his ass.

In case anyone needs it, this is the only working stream I've found today:

https : // www . youtube . com / watch ? v = 9OOKBBtJDYQ

Throwback to Yuzu having a meltdown over Javi.

R63 like Hanyu knows he didn’t really deserve the Sochi medal

R63 Not this shit again. If not him then who? Because certainly not Patrick Chan. And thinking it should have been Denis Ten would be even more ridiculous. Yuzu's victory at Sochi was fully deserved. He was heads above everyone in the short and in the free everyone faltered but he still tried to held things despite the falls while Patrick just seemed to give up.

Sorry, meant to reply to R74

Well, Jason did better, I'm glad for him. Did he try and pop a 4s?

R75 Don't bother with R74 . It just comes here mostly to rehash Sochi.

Did you hear what Brian said to him? "The things you did, you did well." That pretty much sums up his performance.

Jason was definitely better than yesterday. He still lacks the tech to compete with the big boys, unfortunately.

Jason was better than ACI too, which is promising. Does Lee Barkell not understand hugs? Jason hugged him and he was like, "Uh, okay" and then tried to shake his hand afterwards. LOL.

R79 Which is exactly what I think Brian was thinking when he was sitting there. He really didn't look happy although he tried to be supportive.

A couple of URs apart, Nguyen delivered a solid performance.

Tomono not good

But Tomono's coach is kinda hot and classy-looking.

R84 with the leather gloves he looks like he's ready to choke a bitch.

Kerry doing a Greese program

the first part used a so slow cover that I was falling asleep

it is basically the same song used 2 twice in a row

Nam has certainly learned how to perform since leaving TCC. So happy to see his jumps finally coming back. That poor kid really went through hell for several years.

Amodio looming good too. What's up with ciaches being hotter than the skaters.

r85 I totally dig that.

*looking good

Desi Arnaz singing Cuban Pete! Didn't expect to hear that today.

Samarin takes the lead with 248 points

Daniel, Daniel, Daniel.

Cha fell on the first quad

Daniels coaches are hotter too then him ?haha

second quad done

R95 aren't they 80 year old? One was Papa Boris

Brian looks quite happy.

165.91 for Cha

80 PCS

TES fell by 5-6 points. Probably a couple of 2 URs

Shoma started brilliantly with 4 quads.

And then now 2 falls in a row

He is very tired.

Cha's 3lz3lo combo is amazingly consistent. Yuzuru, think about a FS layout with 4lo, 3lo, 2lo,1/2lo arsenal. Ditch the fucking 2T.

Uno

TES 101.74

PCS 88.64

Total FS 188.38

Total total 277.25

I think they called him a couple of URs. TES dropped from 107 on screen IIRC

Fall for Messing

Shoma wins

Messing second

Uno's program is boring and empty, Messing's stopped being charming last year, Cha's fucking voiceovers suddenly sound good.

Can't beat 4 quads though if you fall too, so a deserved win for Uno.

4S UR for Shoma

4T UR for Messing, the one with the fall

Cha 2 URs: first 4T and 3S of the final combo

Unclear edge 3Ls in 3Lz3Lo Cha's combo

R107 It was an easy battle for Uno since the beginning. Same with NHK. All of what he has to do is to show up.

Next week: Olympic Champion- Yuzuru Hanyu, 2018 Worlds Bronze Medalist- Mikhail Kolyada, 17-18 JGPF Champion- Alexei Krasnozhon, 4th place at Olympics- Boyang Jin, SC 2018 Bronze medalist Jun Hwan Cha.

As I said Messing would choke in the free and Shoma would win thanks to momentary blindness from the judges towards his quads (triples). Happy to have Cha on the podium but he also really needs to work on his jumps more. I know there is nothing harder than to correct faulty jump technique but still skaters should all strive to do it if they respect the sport and the audience.

So Shoma is Shoma Uno and not Shoma Dos anymore.

What's the point of the deduction for falls if judges' pets can just make up for them in GOEs? That's what I'm getting from this new system.

All the guys, and especially Shoma looked tired AF after their skates. I fucking hate ISU.

I adore Jun, but why does he wear flesh colored gloves that match neither his flesh nor his costume?

I adore Jun too but I mean, his costume is awful too. I prefer the gloves ngl

Nam got another UR call on his EU. Needs to go work on those. LOL.

TCC needs to give Jun programs that are better suited to his age and style. This is the kid that did PBJ ("Spread it like peanut butter jelly/Do it like I owe you some money"). With his hair and dancing abilities, he could totally sell a more flamboyant, campy program. The cinderella shit is not him and boring. Brian obviously put a lot of thought into picking that program for him.

Victory Ceremony

I guess it's party time at TCC.

R119 lol, next to the leprechaun and the troll doll, Jun looks like a giant

Genuine question: Is it correct to say that the new points system allows previous years' underdogs to surge ahead if they have clean programs with fewer quads and emptier programs, while the previous champions with more complex choreography and packed tech content will be panting to keep up and have their scores suffer from it?

I'm confused with this new system. Something seems odd to me. I am trying hard to feel differently but I hate the new system.

r122 Skaters with established reputations tend to get higher scores so I wouldn't say that's true.

However, if all other things being equal, if the disparity between base value isn't too much, in theory, a program with fewer but high quality quads can beat a program with multiple mediocre quads.

r122 Lol, what previous champions with complex choreography and packed tech content? Hanyu's literally the only one, so he's hardly a representative sample.

Med - TES 66.52, PCS 70.56, FS 137.08, TOTAL 197.91; 1st for now. TES went down, so lutz probably got called. Both Med and Brian got flower garlands. Brian said, "I'm not wearing that."

Med's PCS took a nosedive. Glad she had a cleanish skate though. Poor girl looked kind of scared.

They started calling her URs and wrong edges!! Finally . hahahah! Her score 10 points lower after skate lol

I loathe the Eteribots but If Med is willing to put in the work to be a well-rounded skater, I’m pulling for her.

Orser may hang himself with the garland by the end of the night.

Medviedeva can medal here IT is very likely .. 3th can be sure

R130: But would Med deserve it?

R131 We'll have to see after the comp, but it's not like she got any freebies today.

She still got a 9.0 in performance despite focusing all of her attention on the jumps.

YOU HAD ONE JOB, LILBET. ONE JOB!!!

I have not gone through this thread, so forgive me if this has been discussed already

But after the Russian lady won the Olympics by putting all her jumps at the end of the program, the rules have no been changed. In the second half of the program, when skaters get the bonus marks for jumps, skaters are only allowed THREE jumping passes in the second half

So no more back-loading, that is what the announcer said tonight on Skate Canada

Poor Waka:

TES 52.37, PCS 62.41, FS 114.78, TOTAL 181.29 in 4th

Good for Mariah Bell!

Ladies event is again Russians vs Japanese with the American women on the outside looking in ,,,, again

This is totally EMBARRASSING as USFSA has had 13 years to fix the problem with the American ladies being beaten again and again and again by the Russians and the Japanese.

If they women can't get it together, the USFSA should pull the American women out of competitions until they get their act together because this is truly embarrassing.

Yes, I'm sure that will make them more competitive and not kill the interest in the sport even more, R139. 🙄 Who the fuck would waste money putting their daughters in FS if they aren't even going to be sent to international competitions?

Mariah wasn't bad at all.

Less than a point higher in PCS and Yamashita would've won the FS and gold.

R140 the last 11 years the women have only won ONE medal at worlds in ladies event and have SHUT OUT THREE Olympics in a row at the ladies event.

Mako is very good, but I'm so sick of these cookie cutter Japanese princesses skating to Madame Butterfly, Memoirs of a Geisha, etc. So damn cliche and boring.

[quote]the last 11 years the women have only won ONE medal at worlds in ladies event and have SHUT OUT THREE Olympics in a row at the ladies event.

And how many medals do you think they are going to win if they never compete internationally??? Look, I'm no fan of USFS or the US ladies in general, but they need to be competing MORE, not less. That's the way the Russians do it - lots of smaller competitions from the time they are novice age. And they know they have to be as clean as possible, at every competition, to make it to the top level.

maybe the American women are being coddled at the Novice level, because they used to have that killer instinct, so much so other countries Feared the USA women because they knew they were so good.

USFSA really needs to address this problem, whatever it is, Interesting that the slide started to happen in 2007, the year after Michelle Kwan retired.

The Japanese judge gave Yamashita the lowest PCS and was more generous to Tuktamysheva, also gave Tuk the highest GOE I think but nothing outrageous. But this will incense the Uno-haters.

R146 [quote]But this will incense the Uno-haters.

Do you mean because people think JSF should spend more time promoting the JPN ladies, where there is so much depth and potential, instead of Uno and his URs and empty programs? I actually enjoy Uno quite a bit despite his jumping issues, but I would totally agree with this.

Can Jason Brown and Medvedeva can travel more often so Yuzuru can be more active on SNS ?

LOL! R148. Ikr. I was happy to see Yuzuru all over my Twitter tl. Glad to see he is doing good.

R147 Exactly. The grumbling about Uno's jumps and overscoring here are nothing compared to the complaints in Japan and it isn't just about the scores but media attention, too. Yamashita didn't get any proper screen time before the competition, but she placed third at junior worlds last year and has medaled at most of her international competitions for the past three years. And she even shares the same coach as Uno.

I watched junior worlds and I watch the JGP every season, but I don't remember Mako at all. Too many of those girls with interchangeable packaging. Rika was the only Japanese girl who stood out to me (yes, I know she bombed JW...) Wish they could get some edgier programs once in awhile, but it seems like they only do warhorses or sugary-sweet crap like Yura's SP here.

Med's TES would have been lower if they had called her other Flutz. Anyway, the first time her score made more sense a little bit, just thinking she would have scored around 145-147 with that performance made me sick and and reminded me of how overscored she has been for years.

I feel evil. I almost regretted that Golden Bear livestream doenn't show kiss and cry. Elisabetta Leccardi scored only 39 points in SP and the chance of an epic bitch face by Ms Guarnieri were very high

Skate Canada Gala

Majorov

Chartrand

Smart/Diaz

Samarin

Walsh/Michaud

Higuchi

Cha

Lauriault/Legac

Bell

Boikova/Kozlovskii

Nguyen

Les Supremes

INTERMISSION

Balde

Moore Towers/Marinaro

Pineault

Brown

Gilles/Poirier

Yamashita

Peng/Jin

Medvedeva

Sinistina/Katsalapov

Messing

Tuktamysheva

Hubbell/Donohue

Uno

James/Cipres

___

who felt the need to see Majorov? Better follow the order and get Aymoz

James/Cipres free program was really amazing at SC. However I don't like their short at all. The song doesn't work for skating imo and the way the program is built showcases some of their weaknesses especially on her side.

R154 isn't Aymoz our baton twirler? He should incorporate that into his ex.

R156 yes, exactly. Better him and his batons than Majorov and his sequin tie

R150 Where are you seeing the grumbling about Uno's scores in Japan? I thought people liked winners and their little sleepy prince.

Med looks like she needs to take some ballet classes. Has her posture always been this bad? Her positions look awkward.

I loved that R148 (the goof gif that R120 posted.) I was very surprised by it - and I was also surprised that Yuzuru stayed at a party for Jun and actually joked around or talked to Jun! I hope this is a sign he's finding his way, after seeming adrift for a while - and a bit grim - post Pyeongchang/Continues with Wings. I hope he's more joyful going forward.

I also like Orser better after seeing a single tweet:

FigureSkatersOnline @fsonline 13h13 hours ago

Evgenia said she had really bad thoughts yesterday night but asked Brian to have a big talk at 1am and he was really supportive and helped her getting the mental strength for today

R160 It's not the first party Yuzu attends at TCC, they even threw one last year for his birthday and to cheer him up during his recovery period. It's socialising outside of the club that he doesn't do. As for Orser, I would like him more if he wasn't so blatant about his favourites. Of course he would do anything to make his princess feel better but with Jason he is just tense and giving off strong negative vibes.

That's good to hear! After I posted I realized that just because I don't see Yuzuru being joyful - that doesn't mean anything because I never see any evidence of his real life at all lol.

I wish Tracy could have been there with Jason in the K&C (I know she was commentating for tv) and I'm actually surprised Brian showed up instead of just letting Lee handle it - and in a way, it shows investment in him, no? But I agree, just from the camera shots we got, he shouldn't have bothered and made things worse. But I'll be hopeful he isn't too mean to him - I don't think he really has a reputation for yelling or being nasty - but again, what do I know?

Brian acted like an obsequious coward next to Medvedeva as if he was afraid he would displease her and she would abandon him anytime possible. But he looked uncomfortable and indifferent ( sometimes annoyed if Jason had a bad skate) towards JB in the KnC.

I think Brian is not at all optimistic about Jason's chances of getting even one consistent quad. I've watched him for years in the K&C and it looked to me like he was having to really force himself to say positive things to Jason, things he probably doesn't believe given Jason's advanced age. I don't think he dislikes Jason but I think he may find him a bit of a burden given the rest of his workload.

Good points but this was the guy who was gonna take on Boyang Jin - and then didn't. I had assumed that's why he's spent more time with Jason than originally planned, when they said Brian wouldn't coach him but they'd figure it out among Lee, Tracy, Karen Preston? Well, whoever they have there.

I think Brian spent time at SC with Jason because Tracy was commentating and couldn't do it and because it would have looked like hell if he didn't. Jason's fans over at GS are SO excited because Brian was in the K&C with Jason and their interactions seemed so "positive." Heh. Brian was probably thinking "I can't believe Tracy got me into this."

R158 Popular blogs, forums, and any article about Uno or his family.

Tracy was commentating for the Canadian broadcast I think, so couldn't sit with Brown. Barkell and Brown also seemed awkward and I think the TCC team isn't used to someone like Brown's personality. He's been helpful for Medvedev adjusting to Canadian life, and I wonder if Med having a friend and someone to commiserate with about coaching and training changes was one of the reasons why Tracy was able to persuade Orser to accept him.

Actually, nevermind. Brown was accepted before Med.

Well it's now Finland next. I am actually quite anxious. I want Hanyu to do well but at the same time I want him to have fun and skate for himself without any pressure. I wonder if that is even possible with Hanyu.

I kept wondering what Yuzuru is thinking - I assume he must have watched Uno, who looked so winded after his long program I actually thought he was going to pass out at the end there. And it took him quite a while to recover.

Is it really smart to do 4 quads in a 4 minute program, along with all that other crap that they have to put in the program. Didn't Chen cut back the number of quads? I know Boyang said he's planning 5 quads and 2 triple axels, but he's not the most consistent of chaps.

I wish Yuzuru could have a layout that he felt on top of and not requiring every ounce of energy he has just to get through. It's painful to watch and it's bound to be painful and frustrating to skate. They need to give them 15 second back or maybe take out one more jumping pass? I know that sounds crazy with the women having the same (at least I think that's right) but with the girls coming up doing quads, they may need more time for breathers as well. Something is wrong with the new rules, if you ask me.

If Med needs mental help at 1 AM now, what's going to happen at Nationals !?! The 1 AM phone call is disturbing. It puts his demeanor into context. He’s coaching someone with mental issues. I give it to the end of the year.

Would Eteri have taken a 1 Am phone call?!

[R161] Orser wasn't exactly being warm to his Russian princess after her short.

R170. Agree. I also think something is wrong with these rules. These guys need either more time added on or isu takes out another jumping pass. Not sure what they were thinking when making the rule changes. It looks like they were not thinking at all.

Why is Jason Brown in the half with all of the medallists? He sucks big time.

I'm actually liking Raf much more in the K&C these days than Brian. I thought his interactions with Mariah were great--can't stop himself from coaching-coaching-coaching her but then still takes a moment to give her a supportive hug. Sweet.

R171. After everything we saw with her this past off season I better just keep my lips zipped on the mental issues.

R171 Would Eteri have taken a 1 AM phone call from Med? How do we know she didn't do that when she was coaching her? I doubt either of them would have publicly mentioned that sort of thing.

Another recent thing I saw that made me warm a little towards Brian. A poster (GS I think) paraphrased a part of the Team Brian book where Orser talks about how he sees Javi and Yuzu:

"It's in Team Brian 1. Part 5 of the last chapter. It's a message to Yuzuru, and it's all really really touchingly worded. I forgot quite how touching. But yes. Basically "If Javi's like a cute son that I have to worry about, Yuzuru is like the twin brother of my younger self. Every time I look at you, I can't help but sigh in my heart, 'I understand you...' 'So young...'."

Eteri is a strict coach but she was quite warm with Medvedeva before the split, especially compared to her other skaters like Zagitova.

You guys are tough critics. I thought nothing of her 1 am call. She had a tough skate, when expectations are high. She and Orser have tried to portray this as a long game, but I think they're impatient to show changes in her skating too. So she needed a pep talk. So maybe 1 am was a little inconvenient. LOL. But if this is a sign of poor mental health, the lot of them must be nutcases. Anyway, I think Brian/Med look scared to death at the K&C b/c they expect the TES and PCS to go down for her, just not by how much.

I remember reading where Jason said he texted Med's mother all day long - using Google translate. The "all day long" really caught my eye. Three emo's stuck in icy stiff upper-lip Orser/Yuzu land. And Lee Barkell who wouldn't hug Jason back when poor Jason was trying to hug him - oyyy. How heartless. That surprised me.

Since Gabby sort of switched to having him in her K&C every time instead of Brian, I thought maybe he was a big old softie. I guess not. Only Tracy - remember when Yuzu said that she was the only one who caught on to how upset/depressed he was and there's a long heartfelt hug after his free skate at Worlds 2017 when he came back from 5th place to win.

There's not enough Tracy to go around up there!

I saw gifs of Aymoz breakdancing at the reception afterwards. They should have definitely invited him instead.

R181: I would lose my mind dealing with Med and Jason. Needy twits.

R180: A 1 AM phone call before Skate Canada FS is crazy.

R181. Tracy is an Angel. So glad she was and still is there for Hanyu.

R183 Maybe you're right. I guess a 1 am call is something most of us would never thinking of doing, but I always give a little more leeway to these athletes. What do you guys think of her chances of making the GPF? Med's next comp is Internationaux de France. Currently, the lineup is:

1tLaurine LECAVELIER ttttttttttttttt t t 2tMae Berenice MEITEt

3tLea SERNA tttttttttttttt t t 4tMarin HONDA tttttttttttttttt t t 5tRika KIHIRA ttttttttttttttt t t 6tMai MIHARA

7tStanislava KONSTANTINOVA

8tEvgenia MEDVEDEVA

9tMaria SOTSKOVA t t 10tMatilda ALGOTSSONt tttttttttttttttt t t 11tAlexia PAGANINIt

12tBradie TENNELL

Good lord. Sorry for the formatting. Here is the lineup:

Laurine LECAVELIER,

Mae Berenice MEITE,

Lea SERNA,

Marin HONDA,

Rika KIHIRA,

Mai MIHARA,

Stanislava KONSTANTINOVA,

Evgenia MEDVEDEVA,

Maria SOTSKOVA,

Matilda ALGOTSSON,

Alexia PAGANINI,

Bradie TENNELL

The psycho Yuzu ubers have posted hundreds of times about his poor mental health, depression, suicidal tendencies, etc. Now Brian's suddenly "coaching someone with mental issues"? LMFAO!!!

R184 I love Yuzu with Tracy.

Bradie and Marin will be looking for redemption too. If Kihira is on, she'll have her 3A, and Mai can be pretty good. A bit of excitement on the female side. So far, the men are following the expected course, with maybe Cha a pleasant surprise?

I think that's the time that Bradie finally broke up the intense hug, and turned Yuzu to look at someone she pointed out in the audience - his mother.

I wonder if Yuzu would have made it long at TCC without his mum and Tracy. And Javi turned out to be so affectionate. Yuzu said he expected a Yagudin-Plush type rivalry.

*Crap - I called Tracy Bradie in R190 - well, they're both blonde I guess.

R187. That face on Yuzuru shows just how much gratitude he has towards Tracy.

17 years old Yuzu already enjoying sitting on men's lap.

Marin Honda lost jumps and has problems with spins. All of her triples are URed. No hope.

Kihira is unpredictable. She has highest tech potential. As long as she skates cleanish, she definitely will win even without PCS boost. But she's inconsistent and I'm not sure if she can stand enormous pressure at her first senior GP.

Mai Mihara is consistent but judges won't give her high PCS. If nothing unexpected happens, she will be on the podium.

Bradie Tennell: if judging panel is strict like SA, she has no chance of medalling.

Since when has Ekaterina Kurakova trained at TCC ?

Golden Bear (Zagreb)

Daniel Grassl FS: 167.95 with 95 points TES

Overall

1) Grassl 250.37

2) Fentz 196.47

3) Kessler 186.48

Grassl FS

4Lz (GOE from -2 to +3. LOL)

4lo

3A

3Lo+3t

3lz+3t

3F+euler+3S. Euler UR. Negative GOE

3Lz

PCS ranging from 6s to 8...

Performance

Judge 1: Grassl 8.0 Kessler 6.5

Judge 2: Kessler 7.25 Grassl 6.0

Skating Skills

Judge 1: Grassl 8.0 Kessler 6.5

Judge 2: Kessler 8.0 Grassl 6.75

I bet the round table discussion was funny...

R194 Isn't it strange that Kurakova is at TCC? Wasn't she Averbukh's pet discovery at some point?

R195 Grassl landed a 4Lo! Good for him.

The quality of stream from Zagreb wasn't great. It looks like there was fog on the rink. But we should just be grateful when below CHallangers events offer livstream

Apparently, Dmitriev is going to attempt a 4a at Rostelecom!

R150 I was impressed by Yamashita's jumps, very light and airy. She was so close to winning, maybe a little publicity would have put her over the edge. An impressive GP debut for her, too bad it was overshadowed by all the Med drama. I have nothing against Med and even root for her to an extent, but not when her whole PR drama sucks up all the oxygen at comps. JSF really does need to figure out how to package these great young skaters they have. I actually think they are quite different and have different styles, but they aren't given programs that help distinguish them. What's going on with Waka? She's coming off a great WC performance and finish, yet her programs are lackluster. At the beginning of the season, she decides to dump her FS because it's too mature for her and then takes on this generic 4 seasons crap? Her costumes are beyond ugly and no one's paying attention to her. I guess she's still injured though.

R194 I'm rooting for Kihira. Her tech is impressive when she's on. I don't even mind the princessy programs b/c she's 16 and they fit her skating style. As she gets older though...

Do some people think that just because skaters have similar grace, one must be "copying" another? I've seen a confession on the fs blog today that says that Cha is graceful and therefore copying Yuzuru. Seems to me like a pretty big stretch but then there are people who think that Hanyu respecting Plushenko is a direct snub at Dai's face.

R199 why bother with that blog? Dumb shit people submit because they can do so under cover of anonymity.

The music for Gala EXs

So Med is going to do it on a song by the Bulgarian twink she was linked to

But we all wait for Tuktamysheva doing Britney Spears

R200 Datalounge: Tumblr Annex

'Jason Brown - Can't Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake' oh god

Let me get this straight: Med's low and supposedly "fair" PCS for her FS at Skcan was basically the same as Satoko's? Say what you will about her jumps, but Satoko's tango is terrific. Fuck that shit.

R201 the music choices are fucking innane. I think I'm skipping the gala unless people think there are individual performances worth watching.

Majorov doend't have a costume for the Gala. He is re-using his FS costume.

R200 You're right. I should know better haha.

R205 Not sure why the medalist was placed so early on, but Cha definitely stood out for me. Kid's got talent. Brown was fun to watch, as he is with Timberlake, and Wakaba stood out as not-boring. Mako has good music but man, she keeps falling. Is this the Machiko/Mihoko curse?

Oh and Elladj was good to watch too, of course. Can't believe that guy's still got it. May not be jumping quads but he's more fun to watch than most of the people here.

I wonder if Hanyu will feel pressured to try the 4A in Helsinki because of the Dmitriev announcement. I hope not.

He feels pressured all the time. He loves it. He's not that fragile.

I finally understand what everyone's saying about Med. Her posture is awful.

R210 I mean pressure to bring it out before he feels he can do with quality, not just land it.

Elizabeta's gala performance is literally a striptease, er, I mean just stripping. I didn't realize it'd go so hard into flight attendant fantasy porn. I can hear pearl clutching from here.

Well maybe my figurin' is wrong but won't Dmitriev go before Hanyu - even in the short? (I'm not sure how the draws work but I thought the lower ranked people got lower numbers, so the better skaters go at the end?

If so, Dmitriev will either land his 4A before Hanyu even gets a chance - and get the record - or he'll fail, and then the pressure's off for a long while. Amirite?

R213 As far as I know Dimitriev is not doing Helsinki gp and Rostelecom is after Helsinki.

Oh wait (hits forehead with hand) - Dmitriev could try it in both the short and the long, so if he misses in the short, and Yuzuru lands it in the short, then he would be before Dmitriev trying it in the long.

Oh well, why am I worried about the one who already has consecutive Oly golds, world championships, etc., instead of the poor guy who only has this one chance to make it to the recordbooks.

And that's true, R214 - and I was worried because Dmitriev was doing some small Russian competition sometime before Helsinki (I think) but would that count since it's not an international comp?

And Yuzuru has already said he wants to unveil his 4A this season, hasn't he?

Wait for Adam Rippon's tweet on Elizaveta.

Ha ha R212. But didn't Kurt Browning choreograph a strip for Yuzu to do to Hello I Love You and the kid was only 17? He had two shirts on, I think, took both of them off and threw them into the audience. He didn't take off his shorts though. Can you do that while wearing skates? Surely she won't be barechested like Yuzu was yikes! In Canada !?!?

R215 Helsinki is right around the corner though. As for Yuzu mentioning he is training the A4 but wants to wait for better quality before introducing it in his programs, you know that this is coming from a master manipulator and liar who literally bluffed his way to the OGM partly by lying about his jump content. Remember that 4L he landed right in front of Raf during practise. It was a gamble he took (he has not recovered that jump at all) and it worked on both Raf and Nathan. In the words of Orser himself 'do not underestimate Mr Hanyu'. And he has experience landing a jump no one ever did before with the 4L so if anyone is in a good place to do it, that'a him. Provided he doesn't injure his ankle further.

I didn't know Yuzuru landed a quad loop in front of Raf and Nathan at Pyeongchang. No wonder Dmitri Aliev said Yuzuru was intimidating during practice.

R211. I don't think Hanyu will bring the 4A in until he knows it is up to his standards. He is such a perfectionist.

According to the Dmitriev article, he hasn't managed to actually land the 4A yet. He has three weeks to figure it out. It sounds like he's ready to just hurl himself into the air and hope something happens.

Hanyu otoh is going for quality (higher quality than his triple axel, I think he said) and wants positive GOE on it otherwise in his book it isn't worth doing. He was cagey about whether he was doing it or not, which means he's probably landing it but not landing it from a back counter. Because he's him.

Elizaveta was embarrasing. it was afwul.That bra with push ups .. untasteful

Yeah I actually preferred Uno's boring jazz to Elizaveta's stripping. At first I was like 'oh cool, yeah it's a gala, no need to do jumps, just make it fun' but it wasn't even fun, just cringey porn moves all the way throughout. At least Uno had good speed and posture to look at. But he's too intense for this smooth, jazzy program. Both of his exhibitions this year are so... ugh. Thank goodness he didn't do the native face paint one.

Good choice on the organizers' part to have James/Cipres at the end. Hubbell/Donohue should have gone second to last, and Cha should have been later in the game too.

I just can't warm up to Messing's programs, either competition OR gala.

R173 pretty soon all the jumps will be quads for the men except the axel

R194 Ekaterina Kurakova is skating for Poland now (I think she switched this summer), so I guess the Polish Fed sent her to TCC.

Has tuktik vamped up her act considerably (I'm thinking of her programs too, not just the ex) or has she always been this way?

R223 Idk about that. Uno's ex last year didn't seem so great too. I don't usually watch galas because I find them boring, but I saw the Olympics gala and Uno was so stonefaced and intense for See You Again. It was a mismatched of good skating and awful interpretation. He's so one note. And yet he's supposed to be most artistic of them all, apparently.

Has he actually done a fun program that needs smiling and fun?

Here's Dmitriev's quad axel (not landed well) from three years ago. He's 26 so if he's thinking of retiring, it may be a now or never thing for him.

Also -- Dmitriev only has one GP assignment this year, so he may never get any other chance for an official international comp.

R227 I think Uno's always been stonefaced, you can't get into "fun" programs unless you have some level of audience interaction, which Uno doesn't. He's started doing it in the ice shows this year, apparently, but I think his way of dealing with his shyness is to just focus inwards. Oh well. I just hope he ditches the tie. That tie offends my sensibilities.

R230 That wasn't a tie. It was a flattened red vine that one of the bullies glued to his costume.

R198 Skyfall was mature, her current SP is flirty, and she has a new MJ ex. I think the "too mature" was a nice way of saying that the original music and choreography was a disaster. It was Hymne à l'amour, not a new or exciting piece. Four Seasons was likely chosen because there was little time until ACI, but I don't why they didn't go for something more modern from the beginning. Yamashita's coach choreographed both of her programs and probably chose the music. She seems to like overdone opera or classical numbers judging by Uno's programs.

R195 Who's Judge 1 and 2, and does the stream give an accurate perception of the lighting? With the fog, it's almost spooky like Halloween.

I think it's a good sign that, in an interview, Uno said that as the headliner, he realized that it was his job to make sure the audience has a good time - that it was the first time for him and a big responsibility (but at least he realized that - which I think is pretty cool, especially for him - I wasn't sure he was capable of it - not everyone is).

And he dressed up like Mario, or maybe it was Luigi, and went for even more "stretching" his skating personality - apparently it was his idea to dress up in drag, and it was a pretty funny drag that he fully invested in - with pigtails and a dress that he flared out with his hands in a cutesy comedic sort of way. Again, I bet there are some skaters who would have said 'hell no'.

I mean, he may never be good at it - a lot of skaters would never be good at helming an ice show, but at least he's trying. And he doesn't seem to be a prima donna or a headcase (and there are plenty of those about), so I still have hopes for him. Not sure he'll ever do a Chaplin routine but god, I hate that cheesy crap anyway. He can stick with warhorses or serious pieces as they seem to suit him (and his coach). I don't know why he couldn't primarily do EXes like that too -- Notte Stellata wasn't exactly an upbeat number but was a great EX imo. He should play to his strengths (and I think he does have some, artistically - he just doesn't have all the bases covered - and that's ok)

R233

Judge 1: Ms. Antica GRUBISIC (Croatia)

Judge 2: Mr. Douglas WILLIAMS (USA).

I am not sure why that camera gives this "fog" on the ice effect! It is weird

R325 Thank you. Doug Williams strikes again! Is there anything we should know about Grubisic?

R234 Dressing in drag is a rite of passage for the Japanese men. Tanaka did it last year, so it was Uno's turn.

LOL @ Reddit. "No more Silver Shoma!" Do they not know that he's won Skate America before? But I agree R234 that Shoma does have artistic strengths, and he seems like a well grounded kid and doesn't take himself too seriously, which I can appreciate considering how shy he used to be.

I feel like Wakaba's skating skills and speed and power should be placing her somewhere closer to Med. Not sure why Med is seen as some sort of goddess on the internet. And people LITERALLY worship Elizaveta, starting with herself, calling herself empress and all. Where does the hype come from? Is she really that good? I thought Yuna deserved the queen title but is Elizaveta really Empress level? All I saw today was a repetition of strip teasing so maybe I shouldn't judge until I've seen some more of her axels.

I think this person believes Med's EX is for Hanyu. What do you all think? This is imo ridiculous. But then again this is Med. So who knows.

R238 that person is a 14 year old girl with an overactive imagination.

That would explain why she wrote that then. lol

Leona replaces Radionova at NHK

Schott and Erokhov withdrew from Finland. I guess no time for replacement now

R237: The popularity is due to their presence on sms.

Right, they couldn't possibly have fans because they are both world champions, eh, R242? 2x in Evgenia's case. I do think Liza is trying to copy Adam and Ashley and be "sassy" and confident, but it is a slippery slope. I got really fucking tired of Adam's narcissism around the Olys. Ashley always irritated the hell out of me and so did the "Diva" moniker.

Gabby Daleman wd from NHK trophy. Not surprising, I guess.

She could have done so last week when she withdrew from Finland as it was obvious she would have not be ready for NHK and therefore allowing the replacement to be notified with a decent time

R243: I’m posting about people who worship them and think these skaters are magical.

Despite being a two-time world champ and Olympic silver medalist, she can barely handle Skate Canada without a breakdown.

The diva, empress thing is played out.

I'd like to know which skaters you love so much who have never ever experienced a difficult time psychologically in their career, R246. They don't exist.

R245: TCC is turning into a great freak show this season. I wish these skaters no ill will, but I check this thread to read the daily crazy in Canada.

Interesting IG update from Kori Ade now that we know she's left 7K and her split with Brown wasn't as amicable as first thought.

[R249] Her rink kicked her out.

It's too bad Jason is too nice to spill tea. I really want to know what went down now. I suspect her victim antics are just that.

Med basically dominated the last quad, starting from her last junior year and some of you are questioning why she's so popular? She's not my cup of tea and I hate that she's so overscored (still), but seriously, no need to downplay her accomplishments by attributing her popularity to sns or anime or whatever other reasons people have come up with.

R250 I haven't heard about this until now (that they kicked her out). Do we know what happened?

R251 Tell us more!

I mean R250

R252 The main reason Medo is so popular on sns is because she attracted the kpop and yuri on ice crowds by posting a lot about her love for both. Since then she's gained an army of die-hard fans. Her achievements are only secondary to them. And recently with her move to TCC she gained some Western Yuzu/Orser fans who suddenly find her skating amazing by virtue of her being coached by Brian. She has some Japanese fans too but a lot of Yuzu jfans hate her guts since the whole faoi debacle.

R238 It reads like a bad fanfic. Does that 14 years old girl know that the song Medo chose is by that Bulgarian teenage twink she has been 'friend' with since early this year and with whom she actively interacts on sns and behaves with like she used to with Yuzu. If anything wouldn't he be the obvious recipient of her feelings.

R255 FaOI and Alina/Masaru put the nail in the coffin, but she lost a lot of general Japanese skating fans after the hotel/presents video and the Lipnitskaya fans were always against her after Lipnitskaya left Eteri.

When I knew Kori 15 years ago, she was a really cool and nice person. I hope she still is and that whatever's happened with her students and rink were just bad luck.

R252 R255

Let's not forget the bandwagon fans that only like the medals and get on the hype train of queens and winners, who will believe world records or spun narratives. (This isn't special to Med and Alina only, but for Hanyu and Nathan as well.)

Like the amount of people after Olympics who started rooting for her just because she was the queen who was robbed of OGM, or on the other side the new fans of Cinderella Alina. It's funniest when these new fans try to make it seem like their fav Russian girl is the underdog in the narrative.

R258 Please, tell us more...what about Jason??? As sweet and amiable as he appears or tortured and straight?

R259 This explanation of her popularity I can buy. Why would kpop fans slavishly follow a figure skater because she's into kpop? Lots of skaters love YOI and they don't gain legions of fans b/c of it.

R258 What really happened with Jonathan Beyer in that bathroom in Grenoble??

R260 Ofc her having medals played into it but I remember how she gained tons of new fans because of yoi and among those fans were kpop stans who discovered she also liked exo. I mean Yuzu as well gained a lot of fans due to yoi but it's not like he has sns or actively talked about the show like she did. Finally her being a weaboo and doing exs like Sailor moon also contributed to her popularity among that group. All in all it went like this: "oh there is this world champion in fs and she loves exo and yoi and is a weeb like me, yasss queen, I stan." I have seen this first hand on Twitter.

R255 R259 Yeah, say it louder for the people in the back.

[R258] Someone needs to get Jonathan drunk at an upcoming competition. It doesn't take much imagination really. Kori's star pupil had just skated poorly in Japan and she went directly to France where her other star pupil crashed and burned. She wasn't in the mood for TSL.

R160 She didn’t say she asked him to have a big talk at 1 a.m., she said she’s really thankful because he talked with her UNTIL 1 a.m.

r246

[quote]I’m posting about people who worship them and think these skaters are magical.

Eh? After all those 12 Hanyu threads here, you're throwing stones at people who "worship" other skaters? Nothing can beat shit that goes on here, let's be real.

r238 I fucking hope she's 14. Last time I heard this sort of shit from 12- yo one Direction fangirls.

r260 The key is success. If a successful/famous person turns out to be a fan of something, they become "one of them" but because they're successful/famous they're more worthy of being followed.

It's really unfair how attractive this man is.

R267 Aww. Thanks very much! So glad to see I have a fan in this shithole forum.

R256. I had no idea that person is 14. Makes sense with the tweet now. I have no idea if she knows about that singer friend. The comments are just as bad as her tweet too. I read them and think what world are you guys on? But then I have to stop myself and think it's vthe teenage world.

R269 Oh geez. I don't know whether that person is 14 or not, I was just saying this is the kind of thing 14 year olds say.

For those who care, here is Med talking about the Ex and dispelling rumors about the Bulgarian twink. Sigh, I try to defend her, but she comes off as just...so aware of her own mythology. It's getting a bit tiresome.

R268 Sorry Alex I was talking about this delicious Spanish specimen right here.

R270 The more she speaks, the more she makes me root for Alina and literally any other girl over her. Is it her mom's or Eteri's fault for enabling her pretentiousness and princess like mindset for so long.

R269 Just realized you addressed your comment to R256 and not me - but since I'm the one who started the 14 year old comment in R239, I just wanted to make clear I don't know who that person is. Maybe the other posters do and s/he is a 14 year old. It's crazy that people come up with this dumb shipper shit based on NOTHING but "read[ing] between the lines."

R260 and R261, Jason was about 5 when I quit training at the rink where Kori then coached, so I don't have any good dirt on them. Kori's cool though (or was anyway). She's extremely gay friendly, and I was jealous of all her students because they got to take hip hop dance classes as part of their training.

R270 Spreaded by mass media??? lol Rather, spreaded her Med herself. Be more careful with your SNS posts gurrl.

Russian shippers are so loud that media asked her about Yuzuru everytime they interview her. I remembered reading a post PC interview where they asked her "How did you meet Yuzuru Hanyu? Did you remember the first time you met him? Did he introduce himself first ? How about about skating together with him for a gala ?". And recently, at Skate Test they asked her if Yuzuru and her hanged out often?"

ISU : In a program containing Falls or Serious errors (errors that impacts the integrity / continuity / fluidity of the composition and/or its relation to the music) the score nine-fifty (9.5) or higher should not be awarded for Skating Skills, Transitions and Composition and the score nine (9.0) or higher should not be awarded for Performance and Interpretation.

Shoma FS: 2 falls

Judge 1: 9.0 Performance, 9.25 Interpretation

It makes sense, doesn't it?

R276 Thank you for finding that. I had asked about this earlier. Are they hanging their hats on "should" so that the rule is basically an advisory?

So Evgenia says the rumors are false with her and this boy band guy but never did that when it came to Hanyu? I'm liking Zagitova more and more these days.

Med writes fan fiction about her and Hanyu, she likes to imagine she's Victor and Hanyu is Yuri.

Med muscles her jumps with her arms instead of her legs. Zag makes much better use of her legs when she jumps which is why her movements look so much better. Also, Med's posture is not great and her costumes are very unflattering.

Link with streaming info and a time conversion table for Helsinki.

Make sure to read through the thread as the poster makes some corrections to the conversion table.

I don't see what's so wrong with what Zhenya said. She's annoying but she hasn't actually said or done anything yet that crossed the line imo.

Why only choose between Alina and Zhenya? I'd take the other ladies any day.

r268 Lol, gurl, you should give up trying to find logic here. The hypocrisy here burns. First they whine whine whine about how poor Yuzu is hated and his words are twisted and then they say even worse shit about Med and twist everything she says or even doesn't say, based on their inane version of reality in which Med's world revolves around Hanyu. (They just hate the fact that she trains with him, and Orser's sin s devoting his attention to anybody but Hanyu.)

Luckily I like Hanyu way too much already because otherwise the crazies here would totally make me root against him. I'm not surprised that many do root against him though. Finland can't come soon enough so that everybody will turn their brains towards some actual Hanyu content and not towards imagined slights against him by Med/Orser/Javi/Uno.

That was directed at r283, my badd.

I'd like Med if I didn't hate her skating - hunched, small jumps, iffy if not wrong edges, a hideous bent-arm tano, and a history of being overscored out the wazoo. Personality wise, I'm not sure what to think - but there are things I like about her open, rather blunt style - the fake gun shot to her head after the SP being an example. She can make fun of herself and she's only 18, so a lot of the shit, I can overlook. Or is she 19 yet? Well, anyway, the skating... ugh. She never should have got where she did (or maybe she was better when she was younger - I didn't pay attention then.)

Well, I guess I like the girl herself but don't want to see her beat others that have been skills because unfairness pisses me off. I've been taking everyone's word about Uno's because I personally don't see what's wrong with his edges or pre-rotation or saved landings - to me, Nathan's landings look a lot worse and he's king of the quads, so, well, if I knew more about skating I'd probably dislike him getting the scores he does too. What R276 said pisses me off - why are the judges so stupid that they can't follow really simple rules that even I could apply?

* "been skills" should have been "better skills" - god I need an 'edit' button on here (or better still, the discipline to proofread before posting) - sorry.

R286 Med looked better on the ice when she was younger because she was smaller and so it was easier for her to use her arms to rotate quickly and get herself into the air. But that technique doesn't work as well when you get bigger and heavier and now the muscling of her jumps is very evident. And yes, her hunched posture is also not attractive.

R284 Honey, you're not superior to the any of the other posters here. If their comments bother you so much, go post in the other figure skating thread.

R284. Hanyu has not done a thing that I know of to cause people to question him. Evgenia is strange. I stated above that she never said the rumors were false with Hanyu but does for boyband member. Why is the question. We know she is capable of saying that's false.

R284 you complain about what is posted here, but you participate in this thread too and you keep coming back, so get off that high horse.

I don't know, R284 - in terms of sentiments expressed here circling back to Hanyu, I think you're talking about a small minority of posters. We're all haters to some extent, but for different reasons. I'm sure you've expressed criticism of skaters/coaches here that isn't rooted in your appreciation of Hanyu. I think it's like that for most of us on this thread. As for Med, I think she just has her own army of ardent antis.

Here are nice pics of Jason (no, they are not ass pics, sorry).

R290 Even if she outright didn't say it, she has also reiterated that Hanyu is a friend a few times too. Sometimes there's too much reading below the line.

Hanyu have done a lot of questionable things according to antis. Likewise, others perceive Zhenya's actions and words based on whatever narrative they construct despite it all being speculation. I think there's a willingness to look too deeply into what she says or does and spin it badly concerning the people around her, that's what I find ironic about the Hanyu fans who bitch about his antis turning everything he does into shade too.

Yuzu denied having anything with Medvedeva. She could and should do the same to put a stop to all her mad shipping fans many of whom are Russian. That she had no problem doing so with that Kristian guy but can't seem to when it comes to Yuzu tells you she doesn't want to because she loves being associated with him. Many people were patient with her but when the full extent of her Yuzu obsession was discovered a few months ago, a lot of Yuzu fans (especially Japanese/Chinese) just had enough. And I don't see how you can compare their behaviour. Yuzu has no sns and would stay completely off the radar for months if not for the media or other skaters posting pictures with him. And have you ever seen him shipping himself actively with another skater for example? Ok, she is young but half of the current ladies are her age or younger and all display more maturity than she does.

Can I fall asleep not?

Who looks that gorgeous after crying as much as he did pre Pyeongchang podium.

A video of Yuzu calling himself a cat. The Olympic channel sure knows how to get those likes.

Medvedeva addressed the rumors about her and Kostov because he’s popular in Russia (he was the runner-up last year at Eurovision). Nobody ouside of the FS fandom knows about Hanyu, and the FS fandom is extremely small, especially now that the Olympics are over and the next Olympics are far away.

r290

[quote]Hanyu has not done a thing that I know of to cause people to question him.

That's what fans say. To the minds of fans their idol never does anything questionable. It has been brought here how others questioned his confession about his suicidal thoughts or not saying something about Denis 's death or about not having an interview with Takahashi or just recently, about his words to Cha. Don't take me wrong, I think people who demean Hanyu because of that are stupid fuckers - but the thing is some people here do exactly the same thing to Med. It just comes across as hateful jealousy of some kind.

And no, I won't get off my high horse.

R299 The Denis Ten thing is stupid. It happened during the off season and Yuzu has no social media. Should he have called a press conference or create a Twitter just to mention how sad he is about his death with crying emoji faces. Orser posted a message on instagram that included his name at the time. Takahashi is the one who has been a dick to him since he was a teenager and did not post a single thing about him winning the Olympics but somehow it's still Yuzu's fault. And the thing with Cha is first of all a third hand account, apparently said jokingly and if anything it shows Yuzu encouraging JunHwan and taking him seriously as a rival. And he was actually being mostly self deprecating about his own bad fs at Aci. Again, nothing comparable to Evgenia 'I love myself' Medvedeva and her attention whoring ways. And no I didn't start to dislike her because of Yuzu but because of her nasty behaviour with Yulia at the time. A lot of people knew that she was a bitch since long ago.

Jc. Calm down Yuzu. do you really need to stick out your butt like this.

R300 What did Med do to Yulia? I mostly follow the skating and not the skaters so all this is news to me.

R299 Why do you hate Hanyu? And why do you insist on posting on a Hanyu thread if you hate him and his fans so much?

What's going on in Japan.

R302 It's second or third hand accounts but since we are believing those when it comes to Yuzu it's only fair to do the same for her. There are several stories but one is that right after Yulia left because of her mental health issues, Medo apparently became the queen of the locker room, throwing things at Yulia's former locker and throwing her skates at her picture on the floor (like playing darts) and encouraging the other junior girls to do the same. That's why the 'why didn't you let Alina in Juniors one more year' didn't surprise me and if you notice when asked if she said it she didn't deny it. Unfortunately I don't see her maturing and becoming less entitled in tcc. And no I don't wish her ill (unless it's wishing ill to prefer that other skaters win over her) and you won't see me go and bother her on her social media because I'm not a bullying asshole but I will also not pretend I am ok with seeing her associated with Yuzu constantly. She and Misha are 2 people I wish to see and hear less of, especially in association with Yuzu.

R298. To me it doesn't matter how big or small a fandom is. Hanyu denied the rumors. Evgenia should have done the same. It is as if she doesn't want to lose her connection with him. At the ice show didn't Hanyu stay away from her? I could be wrong on that one. R299 the Denis ten thing is ridiculous. I thought Brian posted something on ig on that already? And why anyone would question his suicidal thoughts is beyond me. He obviously was hurting very deeply. R304. I'm with you. I don't hate Evgenia but imo she has caused Hanyu stress. He had to deny rumors with her. Something she should have done. I am also not ok seeing her associated with Hanyu.

R302 I'm not r299 but nowhere does r299 say they hate Hanyu, in fact they've said the opposite. People are entitled to be critical of him and his fans and entitled to like or dislike him to varying degrees. If they're just being assholes like the person who keeps bringing up the "undeserved medals," then block them.

God, some of you are pathetic, childish, mentally ill and gullible as fuck. You'll believe any bullshit rumors just as long as they fit your narrative.

R304 I'm not even a Med lover, but those locker room stories sound completely apocryphal.

R305 She said they were FRIENDS. How much more obvious can it be more than that. Doesn't need a yes or no, especially since she obviously had a crush on him and can't believably deny it.

Hanyu hung out with her at galas. They are/were friends. It's not her causing him stress, it's uptight fans who hates him dating and the MEDIA spun tales about him and his friends which caused him distress. He explicitly stated it was the magazines! It's this stardom and idealism that has him having to draw the line between who he interacts with publicly.

I didn't see him denying a relationship with Med in the media to get back at Med, it's a fuck you to the gossip magazines, much like how he straight up said no about the girlfriend years ago and apologized to his friends and fans for the bother. Maybe he even privately apologized to Med about the rumors!

About how he treated her at FAOI is mere speculation because I didn't see anything darker and deeper than normal.

R309 Lol. Why would he apologize to her when she was the first reason for the rumors in the first place. Constantly shipping herself with him for years. She brought it to herself and to him and if anything she should have apologized but ofc she won't because she loves this.

R307 R308 If you don't believe the Medo/Yulia rumors which come from several sources then you have no right to talk about the Yuzu/Jun Hwan one as if it's a fact.

R310 Because it's a Japanese thing they do? Like, Hanyu doesn't even need to apologize to absurd fans and he did, so I don't think it's too much of a reach if he did to Med. But I also don't think Med needs to apologize. Shipping yourself is wishful thinking of a teen. Twisting everything she does into more and to what isn't there isn't on her.

Kailani Crane (AUS) has been assigned to NHK trophy, taking Gabby's spot.

R310 I sincerely hope you are under 15. Otherwise you need to go see a therapist for your obsessive tendencies. Or even better, leave the house and make some friends to understand normal human interaction

R310. I don't think Hanyu apologized to Med. Reason being is because as soon as he denied the rumors Med removed the bracelets. Maybe she was thinking she better because he obviously isn't happy. I look at Zagitova and see someone younger than Med but acts so much more mature. Probably the reason I don't give a pass on Med because of her age lol. I just feel she should know better.

R301. Is that a new photo? I love this. It's like what are you wanting to tell us Yuzuru?

Run throughs for Helsinki

R297 The Olympic channel's translation is slightly off. He didn't say "I make so many people work for me." He actually said, "I do what I want."

R314 You have it the wrong way. She started wearing the bracelets and the Sendai rink gloves right after after he denied the rumors (and he stopped wearing his bracelets and gloves until after she stopped wearing hers), and interrupted the ice show to force him to take a photo with her when he had been avoiding it, and that's why people were not happy. Then everyone who had not been following her social media before found out she had been subscribed to shipping accounts and liking shipping comments, art, and memes for years, which itself could be characterized as an innocent teenage crush, but one of the memes was offensive to Miyahara (and Wagner) and she was liking those comments even after committing to TCC (and started subscribing to shipping accounts again?). The Med/Hanyu rumors also started years ago in the Russian not Japanese press, and her agency tried to sell her in Japan from the beginning by emphasizing that connection with Hanyu.

I agree that people are overreacting about the SC interview and her late-night chat with Orser, but you're also misinformed. And as I said before, Med lost more favor in Japan over a different incident over a year and a half ago, and it didn't involve Hanyu or Hanyu fans in any way, so it's not as though anyone who doesn't like her is a Hanyu fan (or anyone who does like her is not a Hanyu fan).

And it's hard to misinterpret Hanyu's words if you read what Max actually said which wasn't a couple of lines. It also wasn't witnessed by fans and broadcasted on televisoon, or said directly by Hanyu on social media, unlike Med's case, so you cannot compare their situations.

Sorry, the last two paragraphs were for the poster brining up Cha.

R317, what was the incident a year ago which lost Med favor in Japan?

People who are offended by the Hanyu/Cha story are either imbeciles or crazy antis who will hate Hanyu no matter what he does/says. I don't agree with some of the Med hate for the Hanyu/bracelet stuff, but it's not like those people are coming from out of nowhere - as R317 said, she invited it, her people promoted it. Just because some of the Med haters go crazy overboard doesn't mean people who dislike her for her attention whoring or her skating are just Hanyu ubers (although, to be fair, some of you are).

Dirt Czar, what's the best way to watch Dai this weekend? Are there people who will stream this? I don't have access to FujiTV.

Hey the Shibs appeared in one of those try not to laugh videos.

Elizaveta Tuk is getting more and more annoying on SNS. I wish she could shut up and skate. Can't get why everyone worships her and her trash posts, kiss her feet while bashing Vincent Zhou. Her new EX is horrible and cheap af.

Do those TCC/Orser fans choose to overlook on purpose his behaviour with Jason or even with Gogolev when he isn't the perfect quad machine he is supposed to be, to keep the witch Eteri =/= papa bear Orser dichotomy alive.

R322 Someone posted in a previous thread her tweets about Jimmy Ma, Nam Nguyen and Bychenko and I thought they were pretty mean and unprofessional - these are people she skates with, some of whom are struggling and trying to get back into the game. No need to punch down. I thought she handled the Doug Haw stuff well. Is this sassy thing her new schtick?

R304 Thanks. I was blissfully unaware about most of that. I sometimes wish Med had won that OGM so that she would not have come to TCC and then Yuzu would not have to deal with all this craziness.

R323 Jason's fans think Brian was very positive with him in the K&C. That's because they aren't Hanyu fans and haven't spent years watching Brian in the K&C. They don't understand that Brian saying "The things you did, you did very well" is not necessarily a compliment (Jason had a 4S planned in the FS and instead did a double).

[R325] I am a Jason fan and I think Brian was fine with him in the K&C. Not positive, but straight shooting. Jason didn't do anything to be complimented for. He needs to hear it like it is. I'm all for Brian or anyone else in the K&C being honest.

Jason also doubled his second 3A. There's nothing to be excited about about a senior men's program with zero quads and one 3A, even if it was relatively clean.

R326 I'm also a Jason fan--not an uber fan, just a fan--and did not have a problem with Brian in the K&C either. My point was that Jason's uber fans really, really think Brian was very, very positive in the K&C and are very, very happy because they were very, very worried about this. I didn't want to burst their bubble so I didn't make any comments at GS about this. I do think Brian likes Jason but I suspect he also thinks that getting a consistent quad while maintaining the quality of the rest of his program is highly unlikely.

R327 Oh yes, forgot about that second 3A that he doubled. Not good.

Idk why Brian looked awkward and miserable or in someone's words "scared to death" in the K&C with both Jason and Med, especially with Med. I find it ridiculous because he sounded positive and talked big about her progress, he should have been excited for her score. On the other hands, she looked confident and I bet she was expecting at least 145pts for that performance.

Something seems off about Brian this season - he looks a little exhausted/over it and it's not specific to any student. Maybe he needs another vacation.

Sometimes someone captures him just right. He's not a model but he has some beautiful angles.

Then somebody else rotates the photo ninety degrees and makes it better.

Brian may be burned out from the Olympics. He said he only took one week off during the entire year leading up to Pyeongchang.

R332 He's not a professional model but he could certainly be one. The camera just loves his face.

I do agree that he looks exhausted and we're not even halfway through the season. I wonder how Brian's partner feels about him running from one skating competition to the next almost 9 months a year. I mean I feel like I've seen him at 3/4 of the competitions since the start of the junior season in the summer and the only one left where he doesn't have a skater is nhk. Then probably gpf, different nats(russian/japanese on christmas), euros, 4cc, worlds, wtt. Then three months where he travels around doing seminars and lessons until it starts all over again. Every time I hear someone mention they saw Brian after a competition he's always at the bar. All of that and the surgery he had to have last year does sound like a burnout waiting to happen.

Well, you all have excellent timing (or horrible timing if you’re Hanyu) because there’s a new Med-Hanyu scandal today that could end in an actual lawsuit! It has more to do with Med’s sponsor than the skater herself, and involves the ad she shot shown onher Oct 2 IG and the smoothie she promoted before. Even her Japanese ubers are livid with her agent. The company has already taken everything down and I can’t dig deep into the dirt right now, but they used Hanyu illegally and to a lesser extent Mao, Zagitova, and two actresses in their ads with Med. It’s a known shady company selling shady products (diet cleanse drinks) with a terrible message, and I don’t understand why Med’s team got her involved.

R319 She posted a video of herself and Bobrova running across a hotel corridor blowing bubbles, and the footage showed that she’d dumped her gifts and letters in the hall. It would’ve been forgiven as a difference in cultural attitudes had the language in the follow-up not made it worse. After she’d been warned, she posted a photo of herself doing her Sailor Moon ex to appease the Japanese fans instead of apologizing, and said the presents had been placed outside her room because her room was too small. But the gifts weren’t neatly organized against the wall but scattered in the middle of the hallway like garbage, completely blocking the way. She also said that the hotel or show staff helped her take care of the mess instead of just cleaning it up herself. This made people think her love of Sailor Moon and Japan was just a marketing ploy by her team and she didn’t truly respect her Japanese fans. She deleted the video but the follow-up is still on IG.

R320 Recording isn’t allowed in the arena. You might find some Chinese fans streaming the Fuji broadcast somewhere, but I think only the Men’s FS will be live. Most likely, you will have to wait for someone to upload videos to twitter or youtube after it’s shown. Last time, a Japanese news show did show his FS live on the regular Fuji channel, but they announced it shortly before they went on air so it was missed by most people.

R335 I think he always gets to travel first class though, which probably helps a lot. And he's known for being a party animal and hitting the hotel bars when he travels. I too have wondered how his partner feels about it but maybe it's the perfect arrangement for them.

R336 I wonder what Mother Hanyu thinks about Evgenia?

R332 He would look much better if it were not for his double chin, it looks cute sometimes though.

R336 I'm getting tired of her already and I became aware of her off-ice persona only recently. I wonder if Brian knew what he signed up for.

R337 What's this about Brian being a party animal? I've heard about the bar drinking but not the party animal bit. Spill!!

R339 His weak chin and piggy nose are the cutest parts of him.

R340. R336. And to think I cheered for her at the Olympics. Jesus Christ it makes me wonder why she moved to tcc. Maybe part of it was to have better training but I think there was another reason. I wonder if Brian is even aware of any of this. Yuzuru? Aware? I hope he is completely off sns during the skating season.

That’s such a bullshit story. The gifts and flowers that skaters get are always put in plastic garbage bags and skaters (except for juniors) are rarely, if ever, come to collect them themselves.

R336 That story about Med and the gifts in the hall shows how clueless (and young) she can be. Watching Cha at SC, I was impressed with how he took a few moments when he came off the ice to receive and acknowledge the gifts from the audience who were above the K&C.

R344 Yes, the gifts are usually placed in clear plastic bags for the skaters. So if there was video showing them scattered around, that means the skater or someone else would have done that. Whatever happened, it looks very disrespectful to the fans who gave her those gifts.

Really touching story showing Yuzu's sensitivity and how he uses skating to show his emotions.

I just saw a video of little Cha saying he wants to be at least in the top three in the Olympics when he grows up. He talks like such a thoughtful, mature boy even as a tiny little kid, it's pretty incredible. You can hear the cogs turning while he tries to be careful about his words. He looks quiet but doesn't seem to be painfully shy or anything. Surprisingly levelheaded for a seventeen-year-old.

Oh god, I just remembered that Zhou is about the same age. The difference between the two. Lol.

Has Elizaveta always been this way on SNS? I just saw her post about how she's the smart dog in the middle eating the meat that two dogs are fighting over, and those two dogs are Zag and Med. Someone nicely said they love her but this is uncalled for to say names like that cuz everyone's just doing their best, and she responds with "god dammit" and says if they can't see that she's just joking it's their problem. Sounds pretty childish and defensive. Now I'm starting to get annoyed with her praising herself as empress in every other tweet. She can't even be queen - she has to be empress! gods I miss Yuna.

Rivaland Global is a two-person diet food company in Mie Prefecture known for their “Princess Enzyme” and “Enzyme Jewel” drinks. Their English page: rivaland.jp /shop/ “The princess of the world, diet, beauty, products and good health, I will deliver the love of RIVALAND Butler.” “Let’s fasting diet!” “Everyone is already starting secretly!”

At the end of July, Medvedeva posted a photo of her herself on instagram with Rivaland’s Jewel Tropical smoothie. On October 2, she posted a photo from the film set of an “awesome and exciting” project for Japan. A bottle of Princess Enzyme was on her kitchen counter in a recent Japanese news segment about her life in Toronto. Now Rivaland has released ads of Med in the dress from the October IG post for their “botanical cleanse” sets. A quote from one of her ads: “I want to become prettier so (extra-large font) he (/extra-large font) will compliment me.” They’ve also appointed her as their “Official Ambassador,” resembling Hanyu’s P&G “Thank you, Mom” ambassador campaign.

Not long after Med started endorsing their diet drink on IG, articles touting her IG and use of Rivaland smoothies, that also claimed that Hanyu was using the company’s products, suddenly appeared across sports and gossip sites, and twitter (affiliates). Some of these articles claimed that Mao, Zagitova, and two famous Japanese actresses were also using the diet drinks. (In Mao’s case, the articles almost seemed to be dissing her. One said she needed the diet smoothies because she loved eating too much and couldn’t control her weight. Another kept describing Med as “the skater who surpassed Mao,” while emphasizing her close relationship with Hanyu.) Of course, none of these claims were true and they used photos of Hanyu, Zagitova, and Mao from other publications without permission. Most of the articles disappeared or eliminated the parts about Hanyu and Mao yesterday, after complaints were made directly to consumer affairs and the JSF.

It’s quite possible Med and her team didn’t realize Rivaland was exploiting Hanyu & co, but her agent never should’ve allowed her to sign with them. How can she and TCC continue to emphasize her new healthy approach to food to her young, impressionable fans when she’s endorsing starvation and products that apparently just cause diarrhea? (She was also wearing Nike, one of her other sponsors, in the Jewel Tropical Smoothie post.) In another ad on the company website, a former idol exclaimed she weighed too much at 48kg and lost 2kg in just two days using the company’s drinks and fasting. The other girls on their IG (@rivaland_ojyosamakouso) are even skinner than Med and look suspiciously like they’re from the water trade. Product reviews also show that the company doesn’t answer phone calls or emails, making it impossible to cancel subscriptions. They don’t even use product numbers, which might also be an illegal business practice.

Rivaland also misspelled Med’s last name in English and Japanese in two ads, and have an adult toys/goods twitter tweeting her campaign…

Here’s some of the ads on Rakuten using the Grand Prix to sell the products she’s endorsing:

[quote]Now I'm starting to get annoyed with her praising herself as empress in every other tweet. She can't even be queen - she has to be empress! gods I miss Yuna.

You know that you can unfollow her, right? Since you (and many others here) seem to prefer women who are a blank slate without opinions or a personality, who never make jokes or speak at all.

Well, with the current rub to usd conversion rate Med cannot afford to be too picky about the endorsements.

R349 Are you the 'stop slutshaming' poster? Maybe you should stop for a moment and consider that some people don't like attention whores regardless of their gender. Personally Adam Rippon's twitter kind of turned me off to him because of the same issue as with Tuktik. Some may find it empowering, I find it offputting.

R349 You type fat; 10 lbs to be exact.

R346. Thank you for sharing. Hanyu is a beautiful person. He seems to care about the people he knows so much. All he has ever known is skating and again shows his emotions through skating.

R346: Pull yourself together. He must have been an extra kind of mess.

If Orser is hitting the bar at night, it’s no wonder the conversation with Med lasted until 1 AM.

Is this a Japanese-based company, JDC? Why would they diss Mao in favor of Med like that? It seems to me that that would turn off Japanese fans that they're trying to sell that junk to. Distasteful.

But it's hard to imagine Med helping to write the copy for the ad. Good point R350 and if she's pragmatic (which I doubt), she must see that she's probably not going to maintain her level of fame much longer - certainly not when all the Japanese and other Russian whiz kids hit the seniors next year. I have my doubts that Zags will even last, and I think she's a superior jumper (and at least equal in components - or should be.) But I'm one of those who just doesn't see what's so great about Med. I think Orser made a mistake, not just because of the tackiness, but because of her likely trajectory.

R355: Med does realize the wiz kids are coming up. That’s why she moved to Toronto. Orser and Wilson run the major ice shows. She may not be the center of the skating universe, but she can keep a place in it.

Yuzuru is in Helsinki.

R355 Sure, no one expects Med to write the copy for her ads, but she does have a responsibility to vet the companies/products she's promoting. It's her name and her reputation she's attaching to these things. Maybe she doesn't care and just wants the $$. As JDC points out, a big issue is why she would endorse such a shady product to begin with, especially when she's been talking so much about how she's learning to be healthy now and made such a big show of eating that watermelon. So her new diet regimen is to eat whatever she wants and then drink her reverse bulimia shake? It's the Canadian way!

R344 How is this a bullshit story? The "apology" and reference to the whole incident is still on her instagram.

R356 Do Orser and Wilson run the major ice shows? I really don't think so. They get to participate and choreograph, but I don't think they make the decisions re who gets invited. I think her desire to prolong her career is sincere and I doubt she moved all the way to Canada to get invited to ice shows. But if that's what she wants she should talk to MIki Ando about how you can secure a spot for at least 20 years. LOL.

It's nice to know I can always come to this thread when I need a good laugh.

R344 You missed my link to her IG, where she acknowledged the video she took and deleted due to the reaction, and the mess made in the hall. This was after WTT 2017, not that long ago, so most who follow singles have watched or are aware of the video, unless they just started following figure skating. Gifts are collected into bags and taken to the skater’s hotel room, where the skater sorts through what they received and often takes photos of the presents.

R355 On their website, the company is listed as having just two employees and based in the boonies in Japan, but if that's true, it's very odd they were able to reach out to Med's agency. The ads she shot, which must include a commercial because she said they were filming, was done in Toronto with a full Japanese crew. (Med tagged a Toronto-based hair stylist.) If the company gets in serious legal trouble for the affiliates, the worse that would happen to Med legally-speaking is losing some of her pay associated with those affiliates, unless Nike gets wind and objects to her wearing their products while endorsing the drinks (most of the affiliates used her photo with the Tropical smoothie where she was wearing Nike). The bigger issue is the hit her reputation will take peddling unsafe diet drinks from a shady company. There's no doubt Rivaland will be getting into bigger legal trouble for their business practices and safety of their products in the near future.

The Mao dissing is just strange. Someone trying to spread a conspiracy theory that Mao was actually responsible for the Rivaland ads and exploited Med, was also spamming every forum and blog discussing the ads.

R358 / R36 I guess after the story about what she did with the gifts in Japan - and the shit involving rude tacky posts she "liked" and/or rude behaviors she's participated in since the ice shows (and before), the product endorsement seems par for the course -- so I didn't even think of it as anything but typical Med. But you're right - it's quite unseemly.

And that probably sounds meaner than I intend - she got famous really really young and that tends to be, well, not the best thing for maturity. She and her mother need to find a source of advice (NOT Misha Ge btw). Maybe in those "all day" texts with Jason - or all night chats with alkie? uncle Bri?

I think Med is a bit naive... not surprising, if we consider her age. I still think her heart is in the right place and she' s not the scheming bitch some of you make her out to be, but perhaps she needs to use her brains a bit more. It's tough being popular, today you could be riding the wave, tomorrow you' re persona non grata. It's why I think Yuzu is smart for staying off social media.

Aww here's Boyang in Helsinki - apparently at the airport - still wearing his little neck pillow thing. He looks different - maybe it's just the mushroom type haircut but I think his face looks fuller. It seems strange to see him - it's like he dropped off the face of the earth, though I guess he did that ice show series with Nathan and Shoma in the summer.

If Shoma looked like he was gonna drop dead after putting 4 quads in his program, will Boyang really succeed with 5 quads and two 3As like he said he was planning in the new 4 minute time limit? Even Nathan just did three in his FS at Skate America (though I think his opening 3Lo was intended to be a quad).

I can't wait for Helsinki content. I'm very curious about Boyang and his program. Is his trying to distinguish himself by being the new Nathan? I certainly hope not. Last season he made a lot of progress with his performance. I was hoping to see more of that from him. I think he can be more than just a quadster, but who knows. We only got to see blurry footage of him this summer from one competition and it wasn't a great showing.

R363 I feel like it has been thousand years since the last time we saw him. He's less active on SNS than before. 5-quad program is his initial intention, I'm not sure he will do it this time. We will find out soon.

Poor guy, he never gets benifit from home ice inflation at CoC and now CoC even doesn't exist. I hope he will do well and and say fuck you to whoever insisted he only could get better if he went to Orser.

As a change to Medo's diarrhea inducing product endorsement drama, have some Alina promoting Shiseido.

R366: That’s a great endorsement. Good for her.

And here's Junhwan Cha in an ad for sportswear/jackets. (he's shows up third)

Why does he keep wearing all black clothes 2 sizes too big almost any time he is off the ice. Look at the sleeves of his cost. I understand travelling comfy but at least choose the right size and maybe some other colour than black or grey. It's like he completely wants to hide his form. This size issue is also true for his suits. I guess with his body build it must not be easy to find something fitting but I'm sure it's not impossible either. Go for female pants and jackets, Yuzu.

R369 Huh? I though it's normal that jacket has super long sleeves ? My jackets sleeves are always longer than it should be and it didn't bother me at all.

Kevin Reynolds has to ditch his FS because he couldn't secure the music rights to it. NHK - his next comp - is in a week.

Poor Kevin. He's having an awful season. 11th out of 12 at Skate America and 8th (of 18) at Autumn Classic. Maybe he can just use last season's free skate for NHK?

Or he could find a suitable cover for it? Music copyright is my theory as to why too many skaters use some of the worst covers for some of their music instead of the orginal.

More tidbits from Brian's book: After he resumed training post injury, Hanyu had not been able to skate the SP clean until his actual Olys performance.

Here is a more detailed translation of the passage in Brian's book about Hanyu and Brian's father.

R371 I was wondering how he was able to get permission when he announced his FS music. I'm surprised the negotiations weren't settled before he went ahead knowing how careful Hanyu had to be with with Hope and Legacy (same composer).

R373 The song is from a Studio Ghibli video game and not as iconic or widely known as the songs from Ghibli films. I don't think a professional cover is available or legally possible to use.

R376 In that case, Kevin and his team are dumb as fuck for not securing rights before using that song. Ghibli and Hisaishi are notoriously hardass about the use of their music.

So is this Yuzuru's planned program? I'm new seeing this.

R378 yes, that's what he declared when he filled the form today

Full data for everyone is here

r378 Wel fuck me, there go my hopes for a clean FS. The dumb risky 4T-3A and new for him 3F-3T, both in second half. Well, at least if he fucks up his second 4T, he can try 3A-3T instead of 3F-3T as plan B. But, still no lutz whatsoever. Weird, I thought he felt more confident about 3Lz than 3F and injury-recovery-wise, aren't they about the same?

Lol. The only planned content of Yuzu I trust is the one I see him actually jump on the day of the competition. Boy is a player. Iirc in Pyeongchang he had written down the 4loop as his first jumping pass in the sp although it was clear he always intended to jump the 4S. However I really believe he will go for that 4t 3A combination. It's been his baby for some time now.

What is the point of having combo as last jump pass in SP when all of jumps are in the first half ? I don't see the combo matches the music as he said.

And fuck you 4T3A seq.

R380 The problem with Yuzu's lutz is that he has such a deep edge and delayed rotation on it that it takes a toll on his ankle by twisting it unnecessarily. Although yeah I also don't trust his flip much. Anyway let the guy have some fun. He has nothing to prove anymore and it's very obvious now his ankle isn't completely ok and won't be.

I am actually laughing at Virtanen writing down 4t+3t combo in the SP

R380 I'm still pissed off at 3lz. I hope muscle memory doesn't let it go and he won't forget how to jump it when he's fully recovered because he has such a beautiful lutz. Anyway, maybe he will retire after this season so it's not that important.

That plan will get turned on its ear when he puts the 4A in. It might just be a troll layout now for all we know.

r386 He'd better fucking not. He needs clean/cleanish skates to get the reeputation boost and PCS at the beginning of the season, once he has that secured, he can start playing around and fucking up. Preferably at, well, 4CCs is a good time for fucking up.

I thought "SEQ" meant you screwed something up?

R387 Guy is 2 times OGM and still not getting the pcs boost. At this point he will never get it and I think he doesn't care. I actually love how stubborn he is about his jump layout in the sp for instance. It really proves it's not all about maximizing points and winning anymore. The fs layout is a troll one for sure. Anyway he has repeated constantly and as recently as September how his main goal is the 4A. Of course he also loves winning but I really think it's not the most important for him anymore. Skating his ideal skate and jumping that 4A is what keeps I going. When I think that I will be in that ice arena this weekend to see this chaos live, I'm getting sweaty palms though.

R388 A jump sequence is when you you have the Axel as the second jump. The other ones are called jump combination

In the protocols the +seq means you have screwed the jump before when it is between 2 jumps. For ex 3F+seq+3T would mean you have fallen or made a step out between the 3F and the 3T and therefore the second jump won't count

Thanks R390 - I thought Yuzu was putting in something wrong intentionally.

Yuzu's face while writing down his layout, probably.

I'm curious to what place he will finish with this layout. It does look like a I don't give a fuck anymore Yuzuru.

Good lord, how is this guy going to stay upright. He's got two quads, including the fucking 4t3a after his step seq. I hope this is a troll layout. I'm sure he wants to win still but he's obviously set on doing it his way.

r389 To be fair I'm not in favor of OGMs getting a boost just because they're OGMs - besides I actually do think Hanyu got one after Sochi. But clean/ish skates to get the momentum going are essential for anybody these days, that's Chen's strategy and it should be Hanyu's. Hell, he can try that 4A at the GPF. He might still win even if he fucks up, because everybody is bound to fuck up. [ /pessimist]

But would he be worried about Dmitriev saying he's going for the 4A - he only has one GP, Rostelecom, so to be sure Hanyu beats him for the world's record first 4A, wouldn't he need to try it at Helsinki? Dmitriev will skate before Yuzu in the short - and likely in the FS as well.

Or maybe he's not worried about that. The guy said he'd never landed it before (but he's 26 and his opportunities for even trying in an international comp are drawing to a close - i.e. he only was given one GP assignment - maybe none next year.)

The first 4A will be landed at Mentor Cup, Bavarian Open or something like that, without a stream or video recording. And we should all trust the technical panel wasn't blinded by the Golden Bear fog

Those layouts! No wonder Brian has been looking so tired lately.

R397 LMAO. Thanks

R395 Why would a 2 times OGM who said he is only going to compete 'a bit more' and is focused on landing a jump not landed by anyone yet care about creating momentum and pcs boost. It's obvious he is passed that. And anyway what better momentum is needed than the guy who competed injured at the Olympics after 3 months off the ice and won the event by the biggest margin across the 4 fs categories.

Boyang Jin: 4Lz, 4S, 4T+2T, FCSp, StSq, 4T, 3A+1Eu+3S 3A, 3Lz+3T, CSSp, CCoSp, ChSq -

Kolyada: 4S, 4T+3T, 3A+2T, FCSp, ChSq, 3A, 3Lo, 3Lz+1Eu+3S, 3Lz, StSq, CCSp, CcoSp -

Number of FS quads planned: Hanyu/Jin 4; Brezina/Cha/Kolyada/Lazukin/Tanaka 2; Krasnozhon/ Virtanen 1; Bychenko, Harris 0

I will make my GP debut this week. I am 29 year old. I don't know what is a quad

R402 I'll be crossing my fingers for you, Philip, when you jump your EU. Judges have been really tough on those.

r400 Lol, his attitude after the ACI clearly showed he's not past that. But if hammering on about him being a 2 times Olympic champion will make you feel better if he looses by 2 points which he could have got in PCS if he had better momentum, go forth.

r401 So Bychenko's not doing any 4Ts? Last season it was quite reliable. Wonder if he was injured. But after SA, it's probably a wise decision, we may expect a clean skate, hopefully.

Krasnozhon has a 4S? Why did I think he only has a 4Lo? Which he's not doing I see. I dislike his skating, I wonder if he's capable of proving me wrong and being watchable.

Cha has 3Lz-3Lo combo and yet he's doing 3A-2T? Is he incapable of 3A-3T?

And fuck me sideways, Kolyada's given up on the 4Lz abd bringing 4S instead. Since when does Kolyada have a 4S?

What an exciting, wonderful mess it will be. May the Force be with Hanyu and hold him upright, somehow.

The last time Hanyu did a 3f3t was 9 years ago and he got an edge call. Haha.

Haha.

"For me, 'beauty' is success itself", "Truly beautiful people are those who are also successful at what they do" - Alina Zagitova (at some interview for Shisheido).

Waaaat, how was this girl raised?? So, failure is ugly and you're only beautiful when you win? Granted, it was translated from Russian to Japanese to English (I think), so who knows what she actually meant, but that's the first time I hear someone go "What is beauty? Success, of course!!!" I just imagine her taking pictures of her golds and posting them on Tumblr with an ~aesthetics tag. How peculiar.

Eh, I'll choose to believe that what she meant was that one should let one's actions speak louder than their looks or words.

R404 His attitude after the free at ACI indeed let people think he was back to his old self but clearly this layout shows the opposite. Especially the short. If it was all about winning he would definitely not keep his combo in the first half but he keeps it like this because he wants to commit to the choreo in the 2nd half. That's why I still believe that while he likes winning and winning with a decisive margin, it's not the most important to him right now. And yes I will keep mentioning his 2 Olympic golds because the fact that you believe he is in any place like Nathan or the younger skaters is laughable. Are you Nick Zaccardi from NBC?

R407 I think it's a cultural misinterpretation issue. There is a very famous sentence from one of Dostoevsky's novels which all Russians know "beauty will save the world". It's about how beauty both external and internal are essential for the human heart. And I agree. The arts exist partly for that reason. To 'purify the soul' by looking at or listening to beautiful things. Ofc in that context it works on a superficial level as well with her promoting a cosmetics brand.

Tecnical Panel in Finland GP

technical controller: Ms Chihee RHEE (South Korea)

technical specialists: Mr. Sarkis TEWANIAN and Mr. Clarence ONG

Ong is the gay Aussie flight attendant who never got above Australian National Championships. He already called at Asian Open this year

Tewanian is Polish. He called at Minsk this year. He served with Amano at 2018 worlds and 2016 Euros destroying the poor girls.

Ladies have the same specialists. Different controller: Rita ZONNEKEYN from Belgium

Zonnekeyn is also Controller for Pairs. Specialists are Simon Briggs and Igor Bich

Dance have Hal Marron as Controller, Sergei Baranov and Candice Towler Green as callers.

R407, you're ridiculous. If it was Hanyu who said it, you'd have probably found a way to spin it in his favor.

Seems like the one thing everyone who has seen Yuzu up close confirms is that he has flawless skin. Bless his genes.

Starting order

Harris

Lazukin

Krasnozhon

Cha

Virtanen

-----

Brezina

Boyang

Tanaka

Hanyu

Bychenko

Kolyada

Ladies

Kim

Panenkova

Peltonen

Wang

Lindfors

-----

Hongo

Shiraiwa

Hendrickx

Zagitova

Sakamaoto

Kostantinova

Imagine having to deal with this media and fan circus constantly while other skaters can just pass by and focus on themselves.

R417. I wonder what he thinks. I assume he wishes he could just go somewhere without the media right in his face.

Can you believe he turns 24 next month.

You could be write but I think it was in the Kenji's Room interviews - Kenji asked Yuzu why he loved skating as a child, and Yuzu said he liked it when everybody looked at him. (not too remarkable an answer, especially for a child, but remember when the crowd was cheering for someone else when Yuzu was on the ice and it made him mad so he popped out an enormous 3A to get their attention? - he wasn't a child then)

* Oh lord - I need more coffee - "write" should be "right"

R420 Barcelona 2015. I saw that axel in person, he got what he wanted, everybody stopped chanting "javi javi" and went "ooooh, clap clap clap" at the pretty shiny thing Yuzu threw them.

R420 Wanting to shine and be the centre of attention on the ice and enjoying being under the media scrutiny while off the ice are 2 different things.

Look at all their faces (and is that his mother with the glasses straight across from him?) He's said or done something to make them laugh or smile. He's so personable and funny, in these situations. Maybe he doesn't have the personality for tv or movies, but it seems to me he might -- and I'd sure love to watch him after retirement doing something like that instead of behind the scenes as an executive at some school or giving seminars/classes or whatever it is he has up his sleeve.

A little bit of reporting from the practice at Helsinki today: Kaori had a bad fall on a combo and needed an ice pack on her head (see link).

Yuzu had trouble with his 4Lo and his 4T+3T combo which he couldn’t land. He took a fall and hit the boards on the loop (but the person who was there watching said he seemed ok after.)

Also reported: Kolyada seemed shocked at the horde of fanyus when he got to the venue for practice. Oh, and the women seemed careless about staying out of others' way during practice, especially Zags - but the men were more careful to watch out for each other (maybe because at the higher speeds, when men collide, it can be more dangerous, e.g. Yuzu-Han)

R424 Nope that’s not his mum

Video from Max: "During today SP run-through, #YuzuruHanyu has perfectly executed 4S(+5) and 3A(+5). Then The two-time Olympic and World Champion opened up the 4T(no value in the short program). Unlike the Autumn Classic the combination is now placed in the second half (1:22)"

Also check out @arichieti on twitter.

His mattress and P&G commercials are out, as well a 8 or 9 minute talk with Matsuoka.

Video from Max: "During today SP run-through, #YuzuruHanyu has perfectly executed 4S(+5) and 3A(+5). Then The two-time Olympic and World Champion opened up the 4T(no value in the short program). Unlike the Autumn Classic the combination is now placed in the second half (1:22)"

Also check out @arichieti on twitter.

His mattress and P&G commercials are out, as well a 8 or 9 minute talk with Matsuoka.

Judges for Men at Helsinki

Judge 1: Mr. Albert ZAYDMAN (Israel)

Judge 2: Ms. Dan FANG (China)

Judge 3: Ms. Julia ANDREEVA (Russia)

Judge 4: Ms. Francoise DE RAPPARD (Belgium)

Judge 5: Ms. Tarja RISTANEN (Finland)

Judge 6: Ms. Karen ARCHER (Great Britain)

Judge 7: tMs. Vera TAUCHMANOVA (Czech Republic)

Judge 8: Mr. Nobuhiko YOSHIOKA (Japan)

Judge 9: Ms. Wendy ENZMANN (USA)

Only Cha won't have a judge because there is still the Belgium judge intended for Jorik Hendrickx (and South Korea didn't nominate any judge for Dabin Choi in Ladies to switch on the male panel when Cha replaced Jorik)

That last landing looked hard on the ankle - ai yi yi. I selfishly wish Yuzu would stick to three quads - leaving out the loop, which I assume he feels like he needs in order to have four quads and keep up with Boyang (and later, Shoma and Nathan.) Oh well, none of my beeswax but it sure seems like he's in it to win it, because if he only "real" plan was to land the 4A, you'd think he'd avoid the loop to better protect his right ankle.

Aren't there only 5 skaters who ever go for 4 quads (and only Chen who goes for 5 or 6, and he probably feels he has to, I'm assuming because of Yuzu and Shoma, since he can't match them on components).

Anyway, so Yuzuru is planning 4 quads because of three other men? - Boyang, Shoma and Nathan - and that's it?? (I think Zhou does four - not sure, but it feels stupid to say that Yuzu is worried about Vincent but what do I know). OR is it simply that Yuzuru would feel like he'd let the cosmos (and himself) down if he scaled back?

Oh well, I feel like Orser trying to hold Yuzu back lol - it's not my business but it worries me so much, this uber-quadster rivalry (or race to the hospital) thing. Especially since they lowered the values of quads and only let you repeat one type. And I'm not just worried about Yuzu - Shoma looked so utterly exhausted at Skate Canada and I've never seen him look like that before. It's like they're on a quest to damage themselves unnecessarily (and possibly drag up and comers with them). I'm more understanding of Javi sticking with three now. Is this madness?

Otonal practice run through.

So he changed his SP layout to do a combo in the second half? Of course. lol

R432 Thanks for posting that. I so love the way he moves around the ice.

Just seconds into the second half though, so it doesn't reaalllly count. I'm sure he slowed down the music a few seconds too so you can still hear the shu and paa of the combo.

He skates like a girl

May be nothing but Junhwan was seen heading to the medical centre after official practice.

Orser said no quad Axel this weekend. "Not here! Not this time around". Dmitriev said he's putting 4A in his free skate at Rostelecom but his father said they’ve got three weeks to "conjure it out"

"Dude pull up your pants" ??

R436 You say that as if it's a bad thing.

R439 There is nothing wrong with his pants and what you think you are seeing isn't that because you can clearly see the line of his butt through the pants and it's much lower than the part that is uncovered.

I hope he never stops training in those delicious pants.

Oh I agree R440 - that's why I put the question marks. It's like his chest - it's like his body kind of bifurcates because of the muscles (and being so thin I guess). Well, everybody's does - but it's especially noticeable with him because there's not the fat there to smooth out the two halves (well,I think that's what's going on) - his thighs look more muscular to me, but he says his muscles go away really fast when he isn't working out.

His body is honestly so beautiful. Strong thighs, bubble butt and small waist.

Did Kolyada skip practice?

R444 He's in Group 2 for run throughs so that's likely why you're not seeing him in the videos for Hanyu's practice group.

R445 Thank you. Someone on twitter was saying he was missing at practice but he was at the draw and they may have confused him with the other group.

R446 Unless I'm mistaken, I saw reports on twittee that he had a flawless run through of his short during practice today. Tbh I see him as the major threat to Yuzu here. Not Boyang or Jun Hwan.

R447 Thank you. I'm starting to see videos now. I also think he's the biggest threat and surprised about the lack of attention.

I don't know about you all but I'm sure going to watch this competition while smoking a huge joint because I cannot with the anxiety.

From Twitter @schumino1

Mikhail Kolyada skated his SP. Beauuuutiful 4T-3T, huge 3Lz, too beautiful 3A, magnificent Stsq, FSSp, CCoSp. Clean!

Boyang skated his SP. Super beautiful 3A was the only jump he attempted. Stsq was sooo cool and every movement looked refined. Think we can expect a great performance from him

Same person said Michal Brezina skipped this practice session.

JunHwan skated his SP. Very beautiful skating. Doubled 4S, 3Lz-3Lo bit shaky, nice 3A, really nice Stsq, CCoSp. His performance was really nice!

R437. I hope Cha is ok. Has there been any updated word on him?

Someone said he'd been coughing a lot during practice yesterday - maybe he has a chest cold?

In the comments under this Instagram of Yuzuru fiddling with that belt he wears around his chest, someone said it might be a vibro-tactile feedback monitor (instead of a heartrate monitor which could be worn on the wrist.) Why would he need heartrate monitor anyway? (and I have no idea what the other thing is)

Nice frontal pic anyway. Love those pants - why don't the other guys wear tight ones like that? (or do they and just don't wear them as well?)

In the words of the devil himself performance trumps winning.

[quote]Yuzu: I said this at ACI but after all if you don’t win, there’s no point. However, even above the mandate of ‘I must win‘, the one thing I will not sacrifice is performance. So even though it was tough, we decided to include the quad with everything else in the second half.

Seems like Yuzu doesn't have a bodyguard with him in Helsinki to keep fans at a distance and fans can't seem to take a chill pill when they see him. Wtf jsf.

[quote]Thank you. I'm starting to see videos now. I also think he's the biggest threat and surprised about the lack of attention.

Because he chokes every fucking time he competes? I would put way more stock in Boyang. Of course the judges will try it with Mikhail and throw stupid points at him no matter what, just like Shoma. I hate watching competitions with those two (and Nathan).

R456. It's pathetic that they do this. I agree with that person. He may have to bring a bodyguard back with him to keep these people at a distance.

Jc Yuzu. He is doing it in purpose, isn't he.

Ladies have started

First group is the Peltonen vs Lindfors Finnish bitch fight

and I won it. Clearly.

Peltonen 59.90

Panenkova 58.23

Kim 55.38

Wang 53.76

Lindfors 52.95

No-one got over level 2 in the step sequence so far

veeery strict technical panel. It is good. Just like SC and SA. The buddy of Amano, polish judge loves level 1 and 2

when they pressed them, Polish one was rolling out his eyes while making comments to the other specialist. He already looked bitchy

*presented

Hongo

Level 2 in the Step Sequence

Fall on the solo triple

TES fell big time. They called URs like there was no tomorrow

51.11

Shiraiwa goes into the lead. 63.77

I expect Alina to get uncalled and high levels tho. Only then will I applaud the panel. Let's wait and see.

Step out for Loena on the 3F

A couple of rotations in danger

TES goes down. So URs called

63.17

Zagitova popped the second jump of the combo

Step Sequence Level 4

TES at same level of Shiraiwa Way ahead in PCS

68.90

She is in tears

Sakamato

3Flip fall

Fall hard in the combo. UR also

She is crying a lot while leaving the ice

Sakamoto 57.26

Let's face it, Zags is going to run away with this thing whatever she does. if she sits on the ice and spins on her ass she will get a level 4. The PCS for that shit program. For those in blocked areas, this livestream works for me:

https : / / www . youtube . com / watch ? v = Phos - LR0WZA

And Kostantinova also goes down on the ice

Kostantinova 62.56

4th

I dont understand level 4 and such high GOE for Zagitovas step seq. Ridicolous

Panenkova should have been a lot higher compared to some of those crappy performances.

Ms. Elena FOMINA , russian judge givers her 9.50 for that crappy performance

I hear the tech panel was having a heated argument. R463 Is this what you were referring to or was there more? I just tuned in for the last few ladies. What a shitshow.

R480 No, they didn't seem to have an argument at that point. they seem they were joking

I don't have high hopes for the men staying upright. According to Jackie Wong: "Hearing from a few folks in Helsinki say that the sheet of ice at the competition was just laid down three days ago, so the conditions may not be most optimal at this point. Hopefully the ice will get better in the next day."

Fuck! Next victim.

I give you results from European championships 2019: !.P/C 2 S/B 3 G/B

R484 I love how 30 year old Guignard/Fabbri have "suddenly" found the skating skills, interpretation qualities, etc in less than 3 months.....

Why do so many FS fans on Twitter/Tumblr write in that sickeningly over the top way, as in R483's tweet? It gives me hives.

Just watched the ladies SP. Fast forwarded through much of it. Not surprised Zag is in first given how everyone skated.

According to Jackie Wong: "Hearing from a few folks in Helsinki say that the sheet of ice at the competition was just laid down three days ago, so the conditions may not be most optimal at this point. Hopefully the ice will get better in the next day."

r483 looks like she's in Finland... Is Oda in Finland too? Commentating?

if you want to see the faces of the judges and tech panel, start from 0.30 when they are introduced.

Yes R489 and he was in Montreal for Skate Canada (photos from Helsinki and Montreal in his Twitter.) Shuzo Matsuoka is there in Helsinki too - they were a Japanese program talking about Hanyu (well, that was the only word I could make out - maybe they talked about the other Japanese skaters too)

Surprised Alina is struggling with her lutz (today and in JO she was flat), I know she had dodgy technique but she always managed to leave the ice with an outside edge before. She was lucky not to get ! today. I hope her coaches don't let her form a bad habit and correct it.

Took quite a fall during this practice; stopped and went to the boards for a bit. Then returned to skating and seemed okay (I hope).

For anyone interested in GS drama, they closed the Russian Ladies thread because of too many reportsed posts and posters broke rules about talking about competition outside the locked thread. Also a poster who stated that GS needed help to pay bills since fanyu exodus got deleted.

Med fans have their own site. If GS drives Russian ladies fans away too, they'll struggle even more. Lmao

There werent many of them . Only 2, 3 . But those people started to talk about NOT deleting any posts about Medviedeva a week ago during the event as well...So they closed it

R494 The woman who owns GS has become more and more ridiculous about not discussing competitions outside the paid forums. And it has really affected the quality of the discussions you see there now.

We have to wait 2 days to talk about ice dancing ! hahahaha Because the competition is over at sunday lol

r491 I've posted the video below. It also has some footage from various practices and interviews including from Helsinki, and a little bit of Bourne and Hanyu working on Origin choreography. The segment was mainly about Hanyu’s 4T-3A, but Matsuoka was also showing off his calligraphy skills again and talking about three personal rules (“Yuzu rules”) he feels Hanyu always follows.

1 “Never-ending yaruki” – Endless motivation.

2 “Ayatsureruna” - Don’t be manipulated or confined by the rules. Whereas others are playing it safe due to the rule change, Hanyu manipulates the rules.

3 “Yuzuru wo koero” – Surpass Yuzuru Hanyu.

That video posted after that news segment on the same account (@yuzu_pino) also has some footage of the media and fan circus. Hanyu said jokingly, “I feel like a tourist attraction.”

One of the fans closely resembles our French stalker. Same facial features, hair color, glasses, grey coat with burgundy jacket underneath. (0:34) youtube.com / watch?time_continue=34&v=kFuxFVYEiGs

I wonder where Hanyu's personal warlock/faithful retainer/physical therapist Kikuchi is? He hasn't shown up yet this season. Not quite the same without that cute old Japanese guy with his giant backpack.

That should be "ayatsurareruna," sorry.

Thank you JDC! Now I know more of what they were talking about. They didn't mention the other four Japanese skaters in Helsinki, did they? (but maybe they'll do another segment on them - Yuna Shiraiwa had a bit of a breakout skate, didn't she, especially since Kaori and Rika faltered? Jackie Wong was impressed - btw, he's getting a bit silly with his Twitter games with Tuktamysheva but ok I guess - I mean, she started it)

I forgot what the French stalker did! (I can't keep up with all this drama oy vey)

[quote] They didn't mention the other four Japanese skaters in Helsinki, did they?

We weren't mentioned??? Why??? We are 8th!

Oh no! I don't watch the couples - pairs or dance - can hardly keep up with singles! But I'm most dreadfully sorry. God, at least somebody is trying pairs/dance for Japan - will they even field a full team for the World Team Trophy?

R501 That segment was Hanyu only. Japan is seven hours ahead of Finland, so Ladies started at midnight. It's morning now and we may see news footage later today on the ladies but pairs is kind of doubtful. There have been a number of news articles on the Japanese women and Zagitova in the last hour or two.

Western Sectionals is also going on. I'm posting about it in the other thread. We'll need a new thread here soon.

Tuktamysheva is trying to appeal to Japanese fans and @aice_skating is now writing her Japanese tweets.

Uh, no. Now I know why that account name looked familiar. aice_skating is a famous Uno/Takahashi-Mao uber and extreme anti of a number of skaters. Most of her tweets are hating on Hanyu (including telling him to die) and some of the Japanese women (Miyahara, Higuchi). Someone needs to tell Tuk.

R506 Doug Haw should tell her. She seems to appreciate his advice.

Someone tried to tell her. She went with the "everybody is entitled to their opinions" route.

The queue at 6am to see the men's practice at 7. Yuzu mania or is this typical?

R509 I thought it was a little silly considering seats are assigned but turns out men’s practice started at 7.30am so that makes sense

Boyang didn't show up for morning practice. Someone mentioned yesterday he looked off. Yesterday, someone said he fell on his quad lutz - and another person said "Super beautiful 3A was the only jump he attempted."

The few times I've seen him in practice videos, he looked sort of depressed or something. I think he had a pretty bad skate at the Chinese competition this summer - and when you think about what happened at Worlds (9 points deducted for falls) and coming 4th at the Olympics which may be the most painful thing that can happen... and then if the truth really is that the Chinese vetoed his move to Orser - well, I'm turning into a conspiracy theorist.

Maybe he'll come back later today and smash it but he does seem out of sorts and I don't think he tends to be a nervy skater, like Kolyada or even Chen.

Boyang's bad skate in China was like 2 months ago, and WC was when only dinosaurs remember, I doubt Boyang looking out of sorts has any connection to those. But if the training isn't going well...

But than again Hanyu's practice sessions aren't something to write home about either, and to the best of our knowledge, nothing is amiss. Maybe Boyang just suffers from jetlag.

Harris can't reach 60 points.

Let's wait for Virtanen

Lazukin clean with a quad and 3+3 combo in second half

82.54

Krasnozhon

no quad planned

skating skills not great. he looks worse than last season

GOE on spins not high overall

Step Sequence Level 2.

74.05

Cha

only problem was the combo with step out. I think they called it UR

TES goes down even more. SO I guess also the Quad was called UR

PCS increased to 39 compared to Skate Canada

82.82

Virtanen worse than Harris.

He gor 2 invalid jump elements (popped both Axel and 3L into a 2L)

BREZINA very solid again.

He is going to go into lead over Cha with this.

93.91

Highest PCS he has ever got in career

BOYANG

Combo 4L+3T....bad landing of the 4Lz with hand down and fall on the 3T. Maybe UR

4T done well

bad strategy. After that landing of the 4Lz he should have not tried the combo and saved it for the second quad

3A good

choreo looks better than the usual one he is given.

one spin is level 2. Step sequnence is called level 3

he is behind Brezina

85.97

Tanaka 80.60. Fell on the Quad. Rest ok

Hanyu

4S perfect

3A good.

4T+3T. Quad good, 3T had a problematic landing

Step Sequence level 3

Pooh everywhere

Someone, please, save the poor flower girls that are getting pooh thrown on them from all sides

106.69

PCS 47.60

TES 59.09

Ha ha hany Ubers say that Yuzuru is underscored? Lol Shaky landing with 3A and +2 GOE? 48 PCS with such program? Dont come here saying that he is ALWAYS underscored

Bychenko 73.something

Kolyada bad bad

step out in the 4T

popped the lutz

3A good

I can't believe someone here thought Kolyada was a threat. He fucks up EVERY time.

81.76 for Kolyada

Kolyada gets +43 PCS for that? I cannot believe it

Some suspicious GOE and PCS for all men. Panel is less strict here it seems.

Protcols

Yes, they seem not so strict like in canada or America.

Tarja RISTANEN gave +5 GOE for Hanyu's 3A. And the most funny thing that japanese judge gave him 9.00 for SS . They are all weird

+43PCS WTF ?????? OK I get why Nathan and Shoma get overscored, they are World Champion and OSM. But Kolyada ???? Last season boosted his PCS more than anyone else. This season he could pop,fall left and right but still get high PCS.

And this tweet said exactly what's going on with new GOE scoring.

R529 Tarja Ristanen....at Milan Worlds she gave a +2 to Kolyada in a jump with a fall. She has the tendency to click on wrong button!

yes the Japanese judge gave 9 to SS to Hanyu and 8.5 to Boyang

The scoring of Kolyada and Uno (in general) pisses me off so much that I see red. I fucking hate favoritism.

R533 But only favouritism to Uno or Koylada gets you mad? When Yuzuru is overscored , thats fine? When yuzuru screws up , his score is high as well. When kolyada, uno , chen or yuzuru deliver, they get very high score. Live with it.

Does Yuzuru hold the new world record for the sp?

Reporting from Helsinki Ice Hall. Yuzu is so beautiful in real life. I was so stressed he would not be clean, I didn't enjoy the short properly but apart from the landing of the 3t it was beautiful. I hope he can have a mostly clean free tomorrow. Cha is also a beautiful skater to see live. Boyang is also fun to watch and has improved so much in skating skills. And I was a bit sad for Kolyada. He and his coach seemed so disappointed. No one understood Keiji's score. Will report further later.

Thanks to the poster(s) doing the recaps here. Sometimes they are more entertaining than the performances themselves.

R536 Thanks, and enjoy yourself!

There is no reason to feel sorry for Kolyada. He's weak and a headcase and he's always been this way. ALWAYS. Yet the judges go nuts giving him high PCS no matter how horrific he performs.

R538 Jesus, just like Zagitova. Dont you undestand that ?

R535 Yes. Previous (new) WR was Shoma's Lombardia 104.15. No one besides them has hit the 100 mark yet.

Another thing I want to report is that the ice looks indeed pretty bad. Poor skaters. Also for those complaining that Yuzu fans are bad fans who leave the arena as soon as he is finished, I did not see that at all today. Everyone was cheering for all the skaters and giving them a lot of applause. The only difference is the number of gifts. Also some young Chinese fans are going a bit overboard with their screams for Boyang but Japanese fans are as expected well behaved. Last but not least I forgot to mention him but I really enjoyed Lazukin's short program. He has good flow on the ice and is very pleasant to watch. I found Brezina's score a bit too high on the other hand.

[quote] No one understood Keiji's score.

because the speaker wasn't loud enough?

When does the ladies FS start?

R542 Because it was a bit too high for what he put on the ice.

R543 17:30 if I didn't mix it up with SD

In half an hour R543

R542 thanks. His PCS were in line with what he got at Nepela last month (where he didn't fall there but he popped the quad into a 2 salchow). His SS were judged higher at Nepela, all other Components were -/+ 0.1 within the Nepela marks.

R519 Those flower girls will treasure their Pooh-grabbing moments forever.

R545 Thank you. How are you guys able to watch, if you are?

I watched on my laptop at work (had to go into the office today) using my NBC Gold pass. I was so worried about Yuzu that it was hard to watch. And he ended up setting a World Record! lol

There is no such thing like WR in figure skating. lol

R548 This person is rabbitting if you want to join

R550 So disappointed Yuzu didn't bomb, aren't you? Pathetic.

Thanks, guys. I figured out how to watch on cbc with the Hola vpn.

R552 what bombing has to do with my answer? Not only hanyu "has WR" . I laugh everytime when i hear about those world records. Theres no such thing in figure skating

I knew something was missing, and it was the gloves. He looks perfect now!

Kostantinova 0.15 ahead of Sakamoto whose qualification chances are now problematic. A 2+3 may not be enough

Wonderful commentary by the Brits on Yuzu's performance:

I just love the way Yuzu has to give his Pooh tissue box a squeeze before every skate.

No URs called on Kostantinova? BS.

146 for Zagitova. 1 UR called in the first combo but it was obvious even without slow motion

*second combo

I guess may have been downgraded because TES fell by almost 4 points

146 is too much for this, too much

Good job by Brezina btw. Imagine how even more wonderful he could have been if he were wearing a costume. It just pisses me off that men can get away with looking like my cousin Matt while the girls always put such an effort to look fabulous.

Press Conference for the top three men. Yuzu got most of the questions and he answered most of them in English.

R548 this is way late but this youtube channel streamed today’s events live. hopefully they’ll do again tomorrow for men’s fs and gala. they’re a zagitova and hanyu fan

R563 Brezina literally just grabbed any shirt out of his closet. It was annoying to see even with the great performance

This is the second time (1st being Mako) where a little push by the JPN Fed on behalf of its ladies would have made a world of difference.

R566 Nah, I'm not too annoyed by the costuming. Maybe some of them just don't have the funds to go all out.

German and Austrian judges gave PCS to Sakamoto over Zagitova

Slovakia judge put Kostantinova's PCS over Sakamoto. Not even the Russian judge went there. Slovakia judge was in happy mood, only Hong got scores below 7 from her. She was giving 8 even to Kim and Wanf

I agree with the criticism of the men's costumes. And I don't believe this is a money issue but rather a laziness one--they just don't want to make the effort.

Made a new thread.

Who's the Scotsman commenting on BESP. His accent is hot.

Some asshat yelled "YUZU, AISHITERU!" (I love you, like marriage proposal, soulmate level love) in the silence just as Bychenko was about to start. Hanyu shushed her. Now she's probably ecstatic because she got acknowledged.

Indeed, there must be a lot of fiction writers in Russia. I wish they can come up with fresher and more interesting ideas instead of these boring ones.

R573. Very disrespectful. Not only to Yuzuru but to the skater skating next. Some of these fans are crazy and makes me embarrassed sometimes to be his fan. But I love his skating too much to just quit.

R574 I think they're also saying that Kostantinova is Lakernik's granddaughter. Don't know if that one came from the Russians though.

'she became really adult' goodness why did they make him sound like a 50 year old pervert

Spot the outliers

Finnish judge doesn't like Brezina

Belgium and US judge don't like Boyang. Czech judge likes him a lot

Israeli judge likes Cha. Belgium and Czech judges don't like him

British judge despises Lazukin so much that he put his PCS below Virtanen! Has LaTuk insulted him yet?

Belgium and Finnish like Tanaka

So happy for Brezina!

I can’t seem to find the clip again, but some of you will like this: An announcer talked about how much she admires Hanyu’s butt on TV yesterday. I think she said something about its perkiness and roundness…?

Tuk’s Japanese translator aice skating has cleaned up her twitter, but has asked the skater to find a new translator though not before some Hanyu and Miyahara fans started blocking Tuk’s account. What makes this stranger is that aice is not even a Tuk fan and was anti-Tuk while Mao was skating competitively, and was just grumbling about her not being as good as Mao when tweeting about Skate Canada. Why was she chosen again?

R578 It's really interesting. After Hanyu and Brezina, and to an extent Jin (USA and BEL judges put him in 5th), judges were all over the place in their rankings. BEL judge in particular, was super idiosyncratic. BEL's top 5: Hanyu, Brezina, Lazukin, Tanaka, Jin

R579

[quote]Why was she chosen again?

It seemed pretty random. She tweeted to Tuk something along the lines of, "I love you, can I translate your tweets." Tuk responded, "Why yes!" And then the shit hit the fan.

Slowly making my way through ladies. I don't like Zags - she is boring as fuck, although she is not technically unskilled. Fuck the ITA, SVK and RUS judges who put Sakamoto in 3rd. I hope Sakamoto makes it to the GPF over Med, but it's not looking that likely given Med doesn't have a lot of competition in France.

Gogolev at Sectionals. Better than when we last saw him. I see Lee Barkell is a hand shaker. Jason Brown learned that the hard way.

I read somewhere that Conrad Orzel landed (or tried?) two quads - yet his score is a good ways behind Gogo's. Damn he's pretty - I wish he'd have a breakthrough. I think this is the last year he's age-eligible for juniors. I'm even more worried for Shinzo - not sure he was even at Sectionals but I still cringe when I remember Orser's expression after Shinzo's skate at Minto.

* Oops - Shingo! (Even I know Shinzo Abe isn't a figure skater)

R583 Orzel's solo quad was called UR and with -2 GOEs. And the 3A had many -3 marks

Thanks R585. Oh well... maybe he's too big for men's singles in the quad era.

R584 He had to pull out of Tokyo Block because they thought he might have a stress fracture in his hip, so couldn't move onto sectionals.

Oh no... Poor little guy. He has had a lot of bad luck.

Morning practice before free skate - looks like they're all there - even Boyang.

Yuzuru: Morning official practice 3lo 3f-3t 3a-1eu-3s 4t 4t-3a 2t 4s 2s 2s 4lo 1lo 1lo

Here's his 4Lo:

God here's a stunner (link) - I think it's a different 4Lo than above (sorry but my ocd is bothering me with two threads up and running - we need to get this one capped off! - imo) - during his run-through, Yuzuru put his hand down on 4S: Yuzuru HANYU (JPN) 4Lo 4S(hand) 3Lo 4T 4T+3A+SEQ 3F+3T ChSq CCoSp

"Boyang JIN (CHN) 4lz (Fall) STSQ 3a (SO) revival from Chsq overslept... But it is still early in the morning (16 o'clock in China) so the jump is not the condition. After all, it was big to have finally gotten rid of the comedy tone"

"Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) 4s (Fall) 3a + 3t? CHSQ 3a 3lo 3lz + 2t CCSp Ccosp Zakitowa refused to co-starred Kolyada. It seems #GPHelsinki that the condition is not bad."

Pretty big crowd for final day men's practice

Kolyada can soar too.

Origin run through Part 1

Origin run through parts 1 and 2

Ending bows - and then to boards where Brian pats Yuzuru on the waist. He sure has gotten affectionate lately - holding a little Pooh of his own, poking Yuzu in the tummy and Yuzu poked back - I noticed in the K&C yesterday, Yuzu seemed closer to Brian than Ghislain - he sat closer to him and talked to him more. I mean, maybe he always did but to me, if seems different. Brian disappointed in his other acquisitions and appreciating his crown jewel a bit more?

Ok I'll hush - sorry to post so much...

R595 I was thinking something similar yesterday too--that Brian seems closer and more affectionate towards Yuzu than ever. Did you notice how proud he looked when Yuzu's scores came up? Sweet.

R595 R596

I was thinking that too. Wonder if it's related to that story from the Japanese book that came out, about Brian's father's death and how perceptive and supportive Yuzu was. They've seemed more openly affectionate with one another since. Or maybe I'm veering into Fucking Fanyu speculation territory, who knows. Anyway it's good to see Brian happy in the K&C instead of stiff and uncomfortable.

let finish this thread before the FS!

I definitely think Brian looked happier at this event with Yuzu and Cha than he did at Skate Canada.

Keiji was a mess. Dai is looking better & better.