^ Thank you for sharing the videos! I had only seen bits of the cooking video before.
And here's the Home Sweet Home documentary Fuji TV aired at the end of June, complete with English subtitles. Thanks to izayukam for translating!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x23dllg_daiuske-takahashi-uchi-kuru-english-subtitles_sport
A very well documented article about the severity of Dai's knee problems
http://www.insideskating.net/2013/1...se-healing-process-and-long-term-consequences
As I've mentioned before, the accident in November 2013 was the result of severe pain he started to feel as early as November 2012, after NHK Trophy. This was published in December 2013 and not many details were known, but right now it's safe to say the bone bruise was located very near to the previously injured knee so the inflammation persisted for as long as he continued to stress the knee joint. If the contusion was lower on the tibia and not near the knee, the chances to heal and skate without pain would have been much higher.
The article offers a lot of explanations both from a medical point of view as well as Dai's own.
Contributor: Naoko Utsunomiya
-- Bringing out the men’s figure skating to the place in the sun --
I want to stand up and give a big hand to Daisuke Takahashi. He finished 6th place in Sochi but he is in another league with what role he has been playing. He was the first Japanese man who reached the Olympic Podium and got a bronze medal. He became the World Champion right after, another great achievement of Japan’s first.
However, I think his greatest achievement is not about his rank order. Takahashi brought out and haul up the men’s figure skating of Japan to the place in the sun. I believe that is what’s truly amazing.
Now he is a star. He is capable to draw a large audience. But he was fighting against the headwind until the end of his late teen, because people only paid attention to ladies’ skating, not men’s. News media were not much different, ill-balanced. Reporters flock around the ladies and shoot questions non-stop at them. The men didn’t get such treatment. Takahashi was standing in front of just a few reporters. It is an unforgettable image that he was giving them an intimate and enthusiastic explanation about his new program.
In his competing career he was also fighting against the lack of interest of people. Along the way of this fight to turn it around he became stronger. In short, He won his battle.
Nowadays the popularity of men’s figure skating surpasses the ladies’. Daisuke Takahashi is the one who turned the tide. No doubt about it.
He fully deserves this break but to be honest both Japan Open and WTT in the future will feel very strange to me without him, Mao or Akiko. It's very hard to imagine team competitions without them.Just read on JO/COI page the list of Japanese skaters. Dai will not attend. Sorry because I love him and I'd like to watch him skating "for ever" but I know that he had the idea to stay away from skating "for a while" after FOI (BTW, ioanap thanks a lot for links!!) - IMO he wants to detach himself from ice to rest both physically and mentally.
^ Thank you for the additional info, ayarose. Just looking at that list makes me wonder how on earth did he win the 2012 GPF, perform two clean programs with three quads at the 2012 Nationals and manage to stay on his feet in Sochi, where his condition was worse than it had ever been. Furthermore, he had to attend numerous other competitions (Japan Open, WTT) and ice shows that could have been exhausting for a sane skater, let alone for Dai's tired body.
Most of the time, the underrotated and / or two footed quad was the only consequence of the severe pain he was going through because he could otherwise perform effortless triples. Coach Nagamitsu was right, he can do miracles.
In my opinion, the accident in 2008 was the result of both physical and psychological strain. 2007-2008 had been an incredible season and he was winning medals after medals, breaking records. He was the number one favorite going into the World Championship but by that time he was caught in the middle of a scandal between his manager and his coach Nikolai Morozov. He gradually became unhappy with Morozov's services and it all culminated during Worlds, where he finished 4th with a score that was way lower than the record breaker at the 4CC. No doubt he was extremely unhappy about his result and ultimately decided to break off the contract with Morozov. As a consequence he found himself without a "high profile" coach and that was not a good thing as the Vancouver Olympics were getting closer. He was constantly pressured to find another coach at the expense of breaking up with Utako Nagamitsu but he vehemently refused to leave her behind because he felt he owed everything to her.
As the Japanese media were labeling him "the ace" and following his every step, having everyone's expectations set high on him to win the next Olympics while he was still feeling disappointed about the outcome of the previous season and the break up with Morozov (who made a habit out of badmouthing him and his team in the press) and finding himself in a very disoriented state, the accident was almost like an inevitable occurrence. The heavy pressure he was dealing with was the perfect condition for a serious, career-threatening injury to happen. After all, he wasn't practicing quads when he tore his ACL, it happened on the landing of a triple axel.
will ask my friend in Japan get it for me right awayDai on the cover of World Figure Skating magazine
https://scontent-a-fra.xx.fbcdn.net...589_505989479538622_4089046828290321612_n.jpg
It can be ordered here (worldwide shipping)
http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4403310893/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_s-A8tb1RCJVNW
So we can say that Daisuke did really miracles in Sochi, experiencing severe pain, fighting like a tiger with such poetry and artistry.
Just read on JO/COI page the list of Japanese skaters. Dai will not attend. Sorry because I love him and I'd like to watch him skating "for ever" but I know that he had the idea to stay away from skating "for a while" after FOI (BTW, ioanap thanks a lot for links!!) - IMO he wants to detach himself from ice to rest both physically and mentally.
Wish him to find what he needs and to feel calm and serene. Dai can take all the time he wants, we will be here waiting, for ever proud of him.
:thumbsup::yes: re miracles: not only in Sochi but also at the Nats two months earlier. :yes:
I am heartbroken as I'm reading the latest news because Dai does not deserve any of this. He's only gone from scandal to scandal this past year and this is the last thing he needed right now.
Yesterday Shukan Bunshun published this article claiming Dai was sexually harassed by the president of the Japanese Skating Federation Seiko Hashimoto at a party in Sochi, after the closing ceremony. According to the magazine, she was forcing him to kiss her and he persistently refused, even turning his face away from her. At first Hashimoto denied the claims saying it didn't happen, then she said she didn't force him but the magazine eventually published pictures of her hugging and kissing him.
Further details here.
I am speechless.
This is crazy!!!! I am so sad for Dai. I hope this will be over soon. He is not the one at fault. Crying!I read this in Shukan Bunshun yesterday but tried not to think too much about it. Then my friend linked me to the pictures today and I was immediately heartbroken. Now I am slightly enraged because it's about politics and he doesn't deserve to be dragged into this. Dai is too kind so I'm assuming he eventually obliged just so she wouldn't be embarrassed in front of everyone else. But still. It's ridiculous.