Yuzuru Hanyu: 2013-14 Season

[SuzyQ]

I have compiled the following materials that might provide us with the general idea of what has been happening with Yuzuru post-SC up until now.



Transcript of post-FS press conference in Italian:
http://www.neveitalia.it/sport/figu...-a-casa-e-continuero-a-lavorare-sui-quadrupli

Italian! How many languages can you speak? It's so amazing.

Anyway, mighty Google Translation helped me translate this article into English. (Unfortunatly, Google is not good at traslating from or into Japanese.)

Thank you, zydeco88, for your so organized information

Well, it was so excited to see Yuzuru's EX, with 4T, 3A and 3A, and improved expression
And, his last proud and satisfied "I did it!" face It is very Yuzuru.

Good luck for him at the Finals!

No more ice ditch please :no:. It seemed to me (through TV) that French ice was a bit too soft (I don't know really), but the condition was same for everyone. It couldn't be helped anyway. He was just unlucky, but his performance after these two failures was so amazing. He is getting improved at every competition. I'm very proud of him.

 

[ser22]

Sonia Bianchetti after TEB:
Yuzuru Hanyu from Japan won the silver medal, placing second both in short and free. In free skating, Hanyu recovered brilliantly after a nervous start when he singled his opening quad Salchow and then fell on the quad toe loop. My impression was that he rushed to execute these two elements as if he wanted to get rid of them! Never mind, Yuzuru. We do know that you can execute marvellous quads out of the blue. All the other planned six triple jumps, including an excellent triple Axel/triple toe loop combination, were perfectly executed.
His jumps are of the highest technical quality, properly started and landed, without any visible effort. Impressive were also his step sequences, especially, in my opinion, his choreo sequence, filled with original and beautiful moves. Skating to marvellous music, “Romeo and Juliet” by Nino Rota, he was invincible in combining speed, athleticism and elegance. His skating is very soft and graceful and filled with passion. He surely is a natural talent.

 

[zydeco88]

Italian! How many languages can you speak? It's so amazing.

I merely re-posted the links I found on Twitter, nothing really impressive and I can't speak, read nor write in Italian.

Sportiva Shueisha Online Article published on November 18, 2013
http://sportiva.shueisha.co.jp/clm/othersports/2013/11/18/post_276/index.php

This season, Yuzuru Hanyu came in second after Patrick Chan (CAN) at his first event in the GP series of figure skating, Skate Canada, held in October. Even though he left a result by getting onto the medal podium, both his short program and free skate were riddled with mistakes, which, to Hanyu himself, left something to be desired.

Nonetheless, he got off to a convincing start at his second event, Trophee Eric Bompard held in France from November 15. At the official practice session on the said date, Hanyu, with one deft move, effortlessly landed a quad toe and a triple axel, and in that evening's short program segment, he continued to keep up his good form.

"Personally, I was not satisfied with the opening quad toe in the SP," said Hanyu discontentedly regarding an element which, despite its landing being slightly off the centre of gravity, was rated highly and received +2.00 GOE. He also gathered additional points for all the subsequent elements and acquired a new personal best of 95.37.

At the start of the previous season, Hanyu cracked a string of world records in the SP, however, at the dawn of the new year, towards the beginning of 2013, he kept on making mistakes. It was until this season that he felt the satisfaction of having, at last, delivered his short program to near perfection. In spite of this, Hanyu remarked, to his rue, "Compared to last season, I think I move much more smoothly and I've been working hard on my skating. Regardless, I could only surpass last season's [personal] best by merely 0.03 point, so it was regrettable. I have to work a bit harder."

And the one who turned in better score than Hanyu was none other than the current and three-peat World Champion, Patrick Chan. Starting with the opening quad-toe-triple-toe combination, he nailed everything that followed including his jumps as well as his performance to perfection. Even though his technical score fell short of Hanyu's by 0.38, he was ahead in the program components score. He set a new world record of 98.52 [in the SP].

The point differential between Chan and Hanyu was 3.15. "The 3-point margin in the SP is huge. I managed to keep ahead a bit with my elements, but to be able to create such margin with the five program components makes me feel that there are certain things I can't outmatch him. But [in retrospect] at Skate Canada, after the short program segment was over, I didn't aim for anything beyond the second-place finish. This time, it feels like I still have a tiny shred of chance of winning, somewhat."

And so spoke Hanyu who had listened, while nodding in agreement, to Chan's comments at the press conference venue about skating and the ways to improve scores on the five program components."What Patrick said at the press conference is really useful, I'm thinking of putting that into practice," he remarked.

However, the following day in the free skate segment, he experienced an unexpected stumble at the beginning. As he was getting ready for the take-off of his opening quad-salchow, he was struck down by a misfortune: the edge on his left, take-off foot was caught in a rut in the chipped ice rink surface. Consequently, he could not go for the jump.

"There's nothing I could do about it. I just have to nail the next one," and so he switched [his mental] gears, however, he rushed to execute his next element, a quad toe loop, resulting in a fall. Furthermore, despite succeeding on his triple flip, he suffered a point deduction for the wrong take-off edge. He also lost his initial speed in the following step sequence but from there on, he was able to get the feel back for the game.

"While it's true that within a program, you have to keep your focus on jumps, this time, in the practices leading up to this event, I've been working on delivering the jump elements while laying emphasis on steps, skating and choreography. Since I've been training in this way, I was able to put my mind at ease as I moved along the ice," said Hanyu.

At the middle section [of his free skate program], Hanyu landed a triple-axel-triple-toe combination, perfectly enough so as to be rewarded with additional two points and continued to ride out the wave. Afterwards, he beautifully landed four more jumping passes which included two combination jumps and received level 4 on all his spins. For such a well-skated free, he secured a score of 168.22, moving ahead of his previous score at Skate Canada by 13.78. His overall score was boosted to 263.59.

"At the time of Skate Canada, looking at Tatsuki Machida's win at the preceding event, Skate America, I felt pressurized and nervous. I badly thought, "I want to win against Patrick." Post-Skate Canada, Daisuke Takahashi won the NHK Trophy, and I thought that it would be difficult to outstrip his overall score, so rather than aiming for the GP Final, I thought that I should concentrate on what I could do now."

"Had it been last season, in such an event where I miss the two big jump elements in the first half, I would've hit an emotional slump, but this time I was able to keep calm and recovered in the latter half of the program. In a little less than two weeks since Skate Canada, I think I've been able to gradually improve the degree of completion of not only my SP, but also my free skate. So next, going into the Finals, I'm thinking that I would like to produce much better programs."

Standing in Hanyu's way this time was, again, Patrick Chan. Chan received additional points for all his elements in the free, it was a perfect performance which acquired scores ranging from 9.39 to 9.86 on the five program components. His free skate score was 196.75. He achieved a new combined total world record of 295.27 and emerged as the clear winner.

Even if his [Chan's] jumps were to slightly deviate from the axis, their eventual beautiful executions bespeak of the height of his technical ability. With a profound skating capable of varying even the tempo of slow music, he skates while constantly keeping his expressive awareness, even when it comes to the transition between his elements. It wouldn't be a stretch to think that even Hanyu who has been receiving high evaluation on his speed and sharpness, cannot stand head-to-head against him in that aspect.

Hanyu shared his view on this matter, "Skating varies with each person. Patrick's skating requires a great amount of power. Takahiko Kozuka genuinely rides his edges, he has a light and agile quality to his skating. Takahashi's is extremely slick. Of course it's unthinkable to try to be any of those skaters, but if I'm pressed to choose, I'd like to aim for Takahashi's skating style, who's capable of abandoning himself to the flow [of the program] without exerting any effort."

In the midst of going through the experience of competing against the absolute reigning champion, Patrick Chan, this time in the SP, Hanyu was not intimidated by Chan's presence and the pressure from skating at the same competition with him. "To have been able to deliver my performance is a great accomplishment [in itself]," said Hanyu.

"It's uncommon for a skater to be able to deliver both the SP and free skate with no misses just like Chan at this event. So, it's such a great honour to have been present here on the same stage. He's an existence above the clouds, but by witnessing such performances, there's a part of me that thinks, "I have to work much harder."

Additionally, at Chan's words, "I keep myself mindful of the way to use my knees to express the sound, the music" at the post-SP press conference, Hanyu said, "That was dumbfounding."

"Skating is not only about gliding across the ice but also about using the arms and upper body, but in his case, he also expresses the music and the rhythm well with his lower body. It's such a highly-advanced technique and it dawned on me, "He's even capable of doing such thing." Precisely because he's able to do that, he gets a huge point boost."

Furthermore, he also got the chance to listen to Chan's recounting his experience at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, his [first] Olympic challenge back when he was 19.

"It's something that you only get to hear at the venue of the press conference post-competition and it's really informative. This season, I've gradually become better and better at understanding English, so I've been able to listen attentively to what foreign athletes were saying. It really works in my favour."

This season, it can be said that Hanyu, who passed the same stretch of time together with the reigning world champion, Patrick Chan at the two GP events he was assigned to, has reaped more valuable harvest than victory.

 

[flaneur]

Hanyu shared his view on this matter, "Skating varies with each person. Patrick's skating requires a great amount of power. Takahiko Kozuka genuinely rides his edges, he has a light and agile quality to his skating. Takahashi's is extremely slick. Of course it's unthinkable to try to be any of those skaters, but if I'm pressed to choose, I'd like to aim for Takahashi's skating style, who's capable of abandoning himself to the flow [of the program] without exerting any effort."

Thanks for the interview. I find Hanyu's breakdown of these three skater's SS really on point. All three (mainly Chan and Kozuka) are considered to have the best SS but they all feel different... Hanyu's description of what makes each different perfectly describes what I always felt but couldn't put my finger on. Of the three, Takahashi is the best choice for Hanyu to emulate. Hanyu doesn't have the core and lower body strength to carve the ice that Chan does and Kozuka's SS needs the exactitude built on years and years of foundational skating. In addition, Takahashi fluidity probably fits Hanyu's style the best.

 

[Paola D]

Yuzu is now in Fukuoka for GPF. He left Japan on July 10, so it's been almost 5 months since then. Welcome back home!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbUhkpNx830&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhKPE_yW-tA&feature=youtu.be

 

[zydeco88]

Sportsnavi article published on November 19, 2013
Source: http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/sports/figureskate/all/1314/columndtl/201311190003-spnavi

Yuzuru Hanyu: The Abundance of Newfound Strength
From 18 to 19, The Changing Approach to Competition

Second GP Outing, Direct Confrontation with The Champion
The Enlightened Heart

"The way I maintain my focus may have changed. [It's about finding] balance ... I suppose," uttered Yuzuru Hanyu (ANA), who is welcoming his 19th birthday in three weeks after the conclusion of Trophée Eric Bompard in France (November 15-17), and who has begun to realize the change in his mental outlook. And that is, in so far as this season's Hanyu is concerned, a weighty remark.

This season, Hanyu went head-to head against the reigning world champion, Patrick Chan (CAN) at both of his GP outings. The feeling of rivalry he had towards Chan was something palpable. Last season, at the 2013 World Championships, Chan broke the world-record [short program] score of 95.32 that Hanyu set at the 2012 NHK Trophy. So, prior to his first GP outing at Skate Canada (October 25-27), Hanyu enthused,
"I absolutely want to win against Patrick. Last season, the world record score I had in the SP was eventually eclipsed by him, it's really regrettable!"

And it was not merely a statement. In the six-minute warm-up, whenever Chan entered his line of vision, Hanyu became unnecessarily conscious of his world record standing. As the result, he singled his Lutz and capped off his short program with a third-place finish. It was the fourth consecutive time since the 2013 Four Continents Championships that he made mistakes in this program - any sort of improvement over his personal best receding in the distance. In the free, he fell on a quad salchow and heading into the latter half of the program, was not able to regroup, consequently singling his triple axel. He finished second overall behind Chan by a margin of about 30 points.

Upon returning to his training base in Toronto, he lent an attentive ear to his coach, Brian Orser's advice.
"Yuzuru uses up too much emotional energy. For weeks, he's been fired up about competing against Patrick. It's important for him to relax more and stay focused just before a competition."

Hanyu also offered a similar self-assessment.
"The feeling I had of wanting to win against Patrick was just too strong for my own good. Machida's performance at Skate America also put a pressure on me. I was so fixated on what were happening around me that I lost sight of myself. I should look at myself from an objective vantage point and redirect my heart and mind towards my own interests."


A display of Maturity following a Blunder

With such resolve set in stone, he enters the 2013 Trophée Eric Bompard. In the 6-minute warm-up, he was not in the least bit distracted by Chan's presence. If anything, he was so focused on himself that he had an uncharacteristic moment where he almost collided into another skater.

In the short-program segment, Chan, who skated before Hanyu, improved his own world record with a score of 98.52. Even though the loud and prolonged applause from the crowd caught Hanyu's ear, he maintained, "I was busy focusing on myself the whole time". He remained calm as he stepped onto the ice. Then, he succeeded on landing all his jump elements including his quad toe and went on to improve his personal best by 0.05 to 95.37. For the first time in five competitions ever since the All Japan Championships last December, he produced a clean performance.

"It's a completely different feeling from Skate Canada. Even though my score fell short of Chan's, I personally feel that I've done the best I could. I thought that I shouldn't worry about the placement and just show what I can do, show the things I've been building up on in the actual performance," said Hanyu as he beamed a smile.

Additionally, he displayed his maturity in the free skate. Immediately before the take-off of the quad-salchow he has been so adamant about, he hits a rut in the ice surface - an unfortunate development which caused him to single the jump. He then rushed to execute a quad toe, which he normally excels in, resulting in a fall. However, from that point on, things changed for the better.

"It couldn't be helped, I have to nail the next one," such words have been drilled many times over into his mind, and with the arrival of the second half of the program, he delivers a power-packed performance, nailing all the other elements perfectly. For such elements incorporated in the latter half as a triple axel out of a difficult transition, a choreographic sequence performed with overflowing verve and a well-stabilized spin, there were judges on the panel who awarded him with the highest GOE rating of +3. In the end, he turned in a combined total of 263.59, a high score just 0.7 point shy of his personal best.


"I want to win, it was really regrettable - but my performance comes first"

"In the previous competitions, I would feel disheartened whenever I missed a quad, but I was able to sort out this issue and get a grip of myself as I headed into the second half of the program. I've been practicing real hard prior to this event and this is the product of that hard work. In practices, I've been working on the way to deliver the jump elements while giving a thorough attention to spins, steps and choreography. That's why I was able to move better during the actual performance.

Similarly, Coach Orser, with a squint creasing his face, said this.
"All this while, Yuzuru's been too preoccupied with jumps and that's caused him to leave out some choreographic details. This time he had a strong and passionate skate until the end. Yuzuru's still 18. At the age considered normal for a skater to be still competing at Junior level, he's already among the top in the Seniors. He's at a phase where he's gradually maturing, mentally as he gains more competitive experience."

Orser further commented.
"I, myself, won the Olympic [silver] medals at the age of 22 and 26. By having more confidence in your training and controlling yourself as you go into a competition will you come to have that mental attitude of a champion. As someone taking on a guiding role, I want to guide him to the Olympics."

A day following the conclusion of the competition, Hanyu took a fresh look back.
"It's a huge accomplishment to have been able to deliver my performance without getting carried away by Patrick's great presence. In the free, I believe that I'm capable of breaking 100 points in TES if I land the quad salchow. Instead of being overly conscious of Takahashi, Machida and Patrick, I should focus on my own performance and of course, it'd be great if it shows in the result. That's not to deny that I want to win, that I'm full of regrets, that I want to become stronger and that I want to see a gold medal after a long while. It's just that I've come to think that if I perform [to the best of my ability], I definitely can win, so I want to focus on myself. [It's about finding] balance. I think the way I maintain my focus may have changed a bit."

The difficulty of standing atop the World Championships podium for two consecutive years and the heavy-bearing pressure to continue on improving world records were some of the things he got to experience after he turned 18. The last day of the Grand Prix Final will be his birthday. Trophée Eric Bompard is the event that serves as a reminder to the nineteen-year-old Yuzuru Hanyu of the abounding newfound strength [he has acquired].

 

[yude]

Thank you very much for your great works, zydeco!!

I wish him good luck on GPF and hope he's going to have wonderful 19th birthday :yay:

 

[phaeljones]

Thank you, Zydeco!!!!!

Yuzuru is finding his safe mental and spiritual space to skate and knowing how to do it! It is then that he is truly great and at his best. Go Yuzu!!! ******CYBER CHEERS FOR THE SENDAI PRINCE********

 

[emdee]

What a spectacular skate from Hanyu.
I know some of you here dont care for the program but it allows him to skate with controlled abandon and carries viewers along with it.
I love the choreo from Buttle.

 

[msteach3]

What a spectacular skate from Hanyu.
I know some of you here dont care for the program but it allows him to skate with controlled abandon and carries viewers along with it.
I love the choreo from Buttle.

I simply can't understand what there is to not like about this program. It has excellent choreography, fun music and Yuzu rocks it with energy and musicality. What a great performance today! He deserves every single point he earned. Good luck in the free!

 

[sky_fly20]

Congrats Yuzu
now get that Olympics Gold Medal :yay:

 

[giulia95]

YUZURU be proud of yourself and keep fighting!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[emdee]

Wow another explosive skate from Hanyu - he really went for it in spite of falling in the first quad. Congratulations!

 

[yude]

Congratulations on your winning at GPF, Yuzuru!! :yay:
I'm so happy for you and proud to be your fan!!

And HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY!! (it's already Dec.7 here) Wish you health and a great season!!

 

[Lunna]

Congrats Yuzuruuuuuuuu! I just hope he'll keep the momentum till the most important part of the season
Can smb translate the winner's interview please?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZSujLWf0jA

 

[zydeco88]

Can smb translate the winner's interview please?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZSujLWf0jA

Here you go :

Interviewer: Everyone in the arena, this is our winner, Yuzuru Hanyu! Congratulations!
Yuzuru: Thank you! Thank you very much!
Interviewer: Wow, it certainly feels like you gave it all you've got. How do you feel?
Yuzuru: Well, regrettable, that's what I honestly feel, but since I've received a good evaluation as reflected in my score, I'll take this cue as an opportunity to do my very best to become much stronger.
Interviewer: You beat the world-reigning champion, Patrick Chan to win this GP Final. What do you think?
Yuzuru: The reality hasn't really sunk in, but I personally feel I did well in the short to the point that I can say it's almost the best I've had. So, I'll just keep sticking at it and produce a good performance in the free next time.
Interviewer: You achieved an all-time high in the SP, [a day] after which you went into the free skate. How did you feel going into the free skate?
Yuzuru: Well, I was slightly nervous, I suppose. Understandably I was trying not to listen to the scores [as they were being read out], but since the announcement is done in Japanese, I ended up hearing them out of the corner of my ears anyway. When my turn came around, I was like, "Oh, wow, great ovation. He must've been clean," and sneaked a peek.
Interviewer: Really, everyone in this arena has been giving wonderful cheers of encouragement. Did you find it encouraging?
Yuzuru: Obviously the ovation after Patrick's performance sent me into thinking "Ah, I need to perform as good as this", it did put a pressure on me. After that, my name got called out and before I got onto the ice, I received more cheers than what Patrick did after his performance and it really gave me the push. So, thank you very much.
Interviewer: Mr. Hanyu, at the end of your performances [in this event], you would carry a bunch of flowers in both of your hands as you returned to this 'Kiss and Cry' area. It was really an impressive sight. Was that your way of expressing your gratitude?
Yuzuru: Well, this time I was the last to skate and had to pass a long stretch of time, so I was just doing my best to pick them up *crowd: chuckles a bit at his joke*, I really felt that I had to give my very best response to the gifts I received. I've gratefully accepted them.
Interviewer: And so, Sochi Olympics is drawing near. Please tell us your goal from now on.
Yuzuru: Right, well, I don't really know whether it's been decided for sure I will go to the Sochi Olympics, but the next competition is just around the corner. Drawing on this understanding, I will properly strive to do better in the short and steadily land the quad salchow in the free.
Interviewer: Lastly, please give a few comments to all the audience in this arena.
Yuzuru: Today, I would like to say that I'm truly grateful for all the support I've received.
Crowd: *gives an applause*
Yuzuru: Thank you very much. Um, well, throughout the Grand Prix Series events, I was unable to execute quad salchow properly, so it was a bit disappointing. Going through each and every event, which concludes here in Fukuoka where, I believe, I've put out my best performances so far, [from now on] I would like to give my level best so that I can become much stronger. Thank you.
Interviewer: Congratulations! This has been Yuzuru Hanyu!

 

[Becki]

Yuzuru, such a humble, honest young man!

Happy 19th Birthday

 

[giulia95]

Yuzuru, such a humble, honest young man!

Happy 19th Birthday

I wish you to stay strong and healthy and to sing a lot of Japanese anthems all over the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKn9UM1JvSU

 

[Becki]

I wish you to stay strong and healthy and to sing a lot of Japanese anthems all over the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKn9UM1JvSU

^^ He will go down in history as one of the finest male figure skaters ever, I am sure of that =]

If only Yuzu was a couple years older and can speak fluent English...his smile melts my heart Fan girl alert!!

 

[coppertop1]

Happy birthday, Yuzuru! Nice birthday present to win gold at home, beating Patrick Chan! He is an excting skater, I wouldn't be surprised to see him dominate the next Olympic cycle.