Hey guys, I know I am late for this, but I thought better now then after the GPF....
I am so sorry for the longest delay of telling you how my trip to IdF went.
It still is somehow surreal to me that this happened at all and I was there. And I saw Shoma in person. :luv17:
So here is my report about IdF, feel free to ask anything.
First of all Shoma is the main reason I went to IdF, so I was happy to see him no matter how the result turned out. And he is mesmerizing to watch even when he is not at his best, but maybe I am a little biased in this point.
When Shoma entered the rink I could only watch what he did. My gaze followed him and I was distracted. He did not even do anything and I was watching him...and his costumes are soooo beautiful, no picture nor video can show the true beauty of his costumes, especially his "Winter" costume looks so stunning, he should get an extra award for his cotumes
You could tell he was not in his best condition when you watched the training sessions . He was shaking his head about his jumps, popped a few jumps, had some falls, the Flip was not working at all. So his SP fall was not unexpected. He was very well appreciated by the crowd, he got one of the loudest cheers of all, beside only the french skaters got more. We spotted Shoma long before his SP in the ranks inside the rink. Shoma was actually more inside the rink than any other skater, only Bychenko was seen before his programs no one else. Shoma warmed up in the rink and watched parts of the Pairs SP and the Men SP first group. Shoma even took a selfie with a fan while warming up. What amazed me is that his surroundings did not seem to bother him at all.
In his FS training he was only about to start practicing his jumps when Samarin's music started, the rest he only skated in circles and talked to Mihoko. I was even wondering if he would jump at all. He was still smiling, but you could see he was exhausted and not pleased about himself.
Again Shoma was in the rink jogging around also after his 2nd group had the warm-up on ice. And there was this funny thing: Some entraces to the rink were closed during the competition and while Shoma was jogging inside the rink he tried to get through a door that was locked and looked puzzled and then had to find the right door to go out. Shoma is lost again - a series
His FS was a pure fight and I admire him for not putting the content down or popping the jumps, his 4Lo was great, can he do this while sleeping? He had not done 4Lo in practice at all. After his FS he slumped into Mihoko's arms.
One thing is for sure, Shoma got the most plushies and presents of all skaters. They had to put it in huge plastic bags and still there was more left. I wonder how he gets it all home, I am not sure if he can keep everything he gets. It is not Yuzu-like mass of plushies, but still...Also Shoma had the most banners of all skaters...
The medal ceremony was a French organizing showing at its worst...who decided those plastic stars were a good idea?

Skaters took it with humor...Shoma used it as a plate for all the stuff he had to hold

One thing is for sure it is a memorable "medal", but not in a good way...I am just sorry for Misha, his last GP and he finally won a medal and then it is a plastic star...oh well...
Btw talking about the organization...in the FS there was supposed to be an English commentator who should translate the French into English, but instead it was another French commentator who let out some English words from time to time...is this supposed to be a translation?
(You can read more about the Men event on my Tumblr here (I wrote that right away after the comp):
https://jennibeultimate.tumblr.com/post/167709255473/personal-recap-about-internationaux-de-france-2017)
I took some videos and pictures of the competition, but I still have not found time to sort it out...
