Another Story NHK Documentary Summary Pt3
News article of injury at NHK trophy
A serious right ankle injury Hanyu had to contend with.
A great support to him during that time was fellow gold medal rival, this man:
Javier Fernandez
34:47
Just before the Olympics, due to injury, Hanyu withdrew from the public.
There were rumors circulating that he would not be able to compete, and his non-response caused further criticism and slander from some circles.
But he returned.
The third point of view, friends though rivals
Javier Fernandez
The two are friends who for a long time have shared the same coach and a friendly rivalry. How does he see Hanyu’s road to recovery, as a main rival for the gold in Pyeonchang?
A warm friendship that unfolded on the ice, Another Story.
36:06 Footage of Pooh Rain after Yuzuru’s LP finished.
On that day, though Hanyu’s performance was complete, it wasn’t certain whether he would get the gold or not. Because, next to skate was this man.
36:26 Footage of Fernandez taking the ice after Yuzu.
With dynamic quadruple jumps and steps that earned a higher score than Hanyu’s , though he lost to Hanyu, Javier Fernandez brought the first skating medal to his country Spain.
37:16 “He took the gold medal, but I was content. Because to compete your best and place third is much better than for everyone to mess up and winning by chance. All this time we’ve trained together, chasing each other. I was really happy that he was able to come back and compete at the highest level because before the Olympics he passed through such a difficult time.”
37:55 Footage of Toronto
Hanyu and Fernandez’ deep camaraderie began in Toronto in 2012 when Hanyu joined the Cricket Club where Brian Orser was head coach. Fernandez had joined the year before. He was the senior student.
“When I heard he was coming (to the club) I was like ‘huh’? At that time we had only met briefly in competition.”
Orser had a good reputation as a coach after leading Yuna Kim to gold in Vancouver.
38:42 Footage of Hanyu training with Orser at the Cricket Club
But that wasn’t the only reason Hanyu chose this place.
(From Hanyu’s second autobiography Blue Flames II)
Javier Fernandez’ Quadruple Jump consistency was a big motive. I joined the Cricket Club with an eye for this person, really. When I couldn’t jump and couldn’t visualize it, there is someone nearby who can create that image. With Javier there, I feel like I don’t want to lose.
“I understand well what Yuzuru is saying. I was the same. When I wanted to do an element, it’s best when you can watch someone nearby who can do it. But it’s not just looking and copying. If he can do it with that speed, I should be able to do it with even more speed. I should be able to do it better. Yuzuru and I would chase each other and improved like that.”
40:00 The leading figure after the Vancouver Olympics was 3 time consecutive World Champion, Patrick Chan. But Hanyu and Fernandez were close behind in ranking. While working in friendly rivalry at the Cricket Club, they faced the upcoming Sochi Olympics.
40:25 Sochi Olympics Footage Of Patrick Chan’s LP and Fernandez’ LP, showing the errors made in the LP.
Hanyu himself, though he took the gold medal, was regretful of his mistakes, and said that the quality was not ideal.
41:06 “A gold medal isn’t something that comes easy. Yuzuru is strong, it was that competition that made me think that way, deeply. People tend to forget, but that was his first Olympics. (Sochi)
(Patrick) Chan and I attended 4 years before. The first Olympic rises before you and everything looks so big. Amidst that, Yuzuru performed magnificently. Everyone made mistakes, but though he was a first timer, his performance was the best. The results show it. From now on, he will continue to win, he can’t bear to lose. -This is what I thought.”
42:03 True to Fernandez’ words, after Sochi, Hanyu continued to be at the top. And desperately chasing his back, was Fernandez.
42:24 At our training place, we have a place where the names of all the World and Olympic medalists are hung. I always wanted to put my name there. So when I won the World Championships in 2015 for the first time, I went straight there to see it.”
42:45 Shanghai World Championships 2015
Fernandez beat Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu and won. Seeing this result, without hesitation, Hanyu had tears in his eyes. It wasn’t just tears of frustration from losing, Fernandez says.
43:10 “Of course he was sad, he wanted to win. At the same time he was happy for my victory. He said to me, ‘I’m really glad you won. Today, I’m not at the top, but I can see this scenery with you.’ I understood well what he meant. --I think from that time, I truly became friends with Yuzuru”
43:46 In mutual appreciation, these two went on to astound the world.
Timeline from 2015
November NHK Trophy Record score by Hanyu
2016 European Championship Fernandez also exceeded 300 points
2016 World Championships Fernandez conquers
2017 World Championships Hanyu conquers
In points and in titles, the two are top level.
The upcoming Pyeongchang Olympics was set as their decisive battle.
BUT…
44:47 News clips again of Hanyu’s injury
The news reached Fernandez, but more than the injury, he was concerned about something else.
"In Spain, it is very rare for figure skating to be reported. On the other hand, figure skating is very popular in Japan, too popular. As regards Yuzuru who stands on the top, they were eager to catch him napping and jealousy or lies were everywhere at the time he was injured, just as I thought."
"Yuzuru is a person who tries insatiably to gain something meaningful from everywhere for his performances. So when he feels down, he feels down thoroughly. I kind of understand they wanted to know the secret of the top athlete and start rumors. But if so, they should have covered him straightforward. Yuzuru himself and his coaches respond to media's requests properly."
Thank you, Javier :thumbsup:
https://twitter.com/330_43_snow/status/1090249263378878464
(yude did such a good translation, I pasted it in here. I hope you don't mind?)
46:23 Did you meet with him during that time (rehabilitation)?
“I did not try to meet him face to face. He would sometimes come to the rink and try to practice, but his injury would hurt right away and he'd stop. We do not talk to each other about our injuries. If Yuzuru asked I would help him with anything, but starting with his mom, he has many people who care for him.
When you are competing at a high level like we are, what is required is to continue to ‘show each other our backs’ (this is a foreign phrase, I think? The nearest English equivalents seems to be ‘catch me if you can’)
“Look at my back. See, I’m keeping my level (high). Actually I thought, because he was down, he can make an unbelievable comeback. Yuzuru can make any negatives into a positive in an instant. He’s a human being with that much power.”
47:25 2014, Grand Prix China, Hanyu had a collision with another skater just before the competition.
Even severely injured, he went to competition with a bandage wrapped around his head. In the 4 years to Pyeongchang, he experienced an operation, and many injuries, but always returned to the battlefield. With this new injury, the media gave attention to young talents such as Shoma Uno and Nathan Chen as the new medal contenders.
Q: Before the 2018 Olympics, who was your rival?
“It is Yuzuru. My rival is only Yuzuru. If I skate my program absolutely perfectly, I can beat Shoma and Nathan. But Yuzuru, even if I perform my program perfectly, he’s always produced higher scores. Always a little higher, a little higher; I could only ever see his back.”
48:38 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics Men’s Individual Short Program
Footage of Hanyu and Fernandez entering the arena. (looking very cool )
Their final battle will begin.
48:50 Footage of Hanyu’s SP
49:31 Footage of Fernandez’ Sp
After the Short Program, Hanyu 1st, Fernandez 2nd. In friendly rivalry, these two who had competed for world titles had their names lined up next to each other.
50:06 “I thought it would be like that. Everyone was surprised by Yuzuru’s comeback, but I thought he would do it, and that I would be closer than anyone else, chasing his back. ‘Good, isn’t this a great battle?’”
50:30 Fernandez watches the Free Program.
Footage of Hanyu’s FP
“This is my first time to see this. First time. I don’t even watch my own. Performances aren’t to be watched, they are to be shown.”
Second Half of FP
“as expected!” (the word is sasuga, but the meaning is not translatable easily)
Spin and choreo sequence begins
“He’s enjoying it, you know when you see it. Just like I said, as low as he falls, he comes back (up)”
Program Ends
Hanyu scored a seasons best score of above 300.
53:11 Fernandez begins his FP
Q: You skated right after Yuzuru, were you influenced by that?
“No, I wasn’t. There was no way he wouldn’t do a good performance on that stage. So there was no influence. It was time for me to rise to the occasion. That was all.”
53:48 There was a jump that Fernandez couldn’t complete according to plan, but he finished his performance without any other mistakes.
54:07 Shoma’s LP ending footage
He was third after Shoma. He was on the podium with Hanyu Yuzuru.
Just before the podium the three medalists who were rinkside…
Javier Fernandez hugged the other two.
54:35 HUUUUUUGGGGG
And Fernandez said something that couldn’t be heard.
54:55 “You are SO BAD!” -from Hanyu, he couldn’t stop crying. What was said was not told till now.
55:18 Fernandez rewatches the medal ceremony and smiles.
Q: What did you say here?
55:25 "First of all, I congratulated Hanyu and Shoma on their performance and their medals. And to Yuzuru I said, ‘I’m proud to have competed against you. This is the last time I will compete with you. I’m going to retire.’ I hadn’t told anyone else yet. I had planned to compete at Euros, but Yuzuru is a Japanese athlete and cannot go to Euros. So this would really be the last competition. I thought it’s now or never, and told him. He told me I’m the worst. Because of the timing. But it was after the best competition. To the person I wanted to tell the most, in the best place, it was really good.”
59:37 Fernandez officially announced his retirement 9 months later. The news that surprised the world was shared first with the one who contended with him for the Olympic Title. Best rival, best friend. (aaaagh, crying!)
57:00 Closing words.
Hanyu Yuzuru, who even other Olympic contenders call the strongest skater, ‘the only one who can surpass Hanyu is Hanyu.’ Who even now will not loosen his grip on the top.
Even after winning the Olympics consecutively he continues to put pressure on himself. How far will he progress from here?
57:45 What to expect from Hanyu now? Answers from Plushenko, Button and Fernandez
Plushenko: When Yuzuru enters a competition, he’s there to win. If Japan will let him concentrate on the Olympics, at least 4 consecutive wins is possible. 5 is not out of the question.
Button: Hey, who’s saying that?? He’s already exceptional. Let him do whatever he likes.
Fernandez: First I want him to heal his current injury properly. If his injury heals, then onward and onward as much as he likes. When the time comes to retire, I want him to look back for the first time. Where he’s climbed is a path that will be spoken of forever and somewhere there is my name, I hope he won’t forget.
59:05 They’ve spoken. So Hanyu, how far will you go?
END
Translation Notes will go here:
1. I obviously can't do a summary right. Instead I did something that isn't quite a full translation but is too long for a summary. Sorry! Aaaagh it took a long time and I'm already seeing mistakes that I'll try to clean up as I find them.
2. if you see any translation mistakes etc, please comment or PM me and I can fix them.
3. About the word 'rennpa' which means 'consecutive wins', I used both that phrase and 'Defense of title' depending on whichever one seemed most normal in the sentence. But the japanese wording the whole way through is 'rennpa'
4. I did not try to read anyone's lips in this translation except for Dick Button's 'Come on!' which was clearly audible. It would have bee nice if it wasn't over-dubbed.
5. Not a translation note, but Mr. Button is a salty Grandpa!
6. In English, 'showing your back' is either a sign of disrespect or cowardice. the term 'Watch my back' means support or defense. Though the literal translation of 'senaka wo miroyo' (what Javi says he and Yuzu expect from each other) is 'watch my back' it's more akin to the terms 'catch me if you can' or more playfully 'eat my dust!' I wonder if Spanish speaker can tell us if this is a Spanish turn of phrase?
7. It's funny that in Japan, Plushenko's name almost always comes with the title, 'koutei' emperor.
8. is there a better translation for 'taoshigai' than worthy victory?