I just love your description of his style. The sort of rare gem only the young and the restless, the effervesce of youth can bring. Hanyu skated with purpose, a mission set out to prove; with the sort of yearning, wondering, adventurous samurai spirit pushed his performances to a level beyond a routine and medal. The honest transparency you mentioned give clues why Hanyu attracted so many new fans and brought back old fans to this forum and on all those youtube views/comments reveals the potency and infectious of this style and approach.
I also hope he get to keep this style, although it would certainly be difficult with growing physical maturity which would hurt his flexibility and balance in all areas. Growing self awareness and maybe something to loose now. Although given his track record since the Junior days, this FS skate style is hardly developed over night, this was not a once in a life time skate, the sort of lucky skate where others were not in their best form. Hanyu is not an over night sensation, he has been quietly working at it while his rivals been getting over marked since early in the season (Artur, Javier, Florent) it just takes the judges a little while to recognize these merits and let the righteous win eventually. His FS is the best skate of the competition for me, and it shows why PCS is an accountant's game and a fallacy of the COP system.
Thanks, os168
Gosh, I hope the pressure to win medals now is not going to make him more cautious in his skating. I just don't want him to become cautious and careful like Patrick Chan, Takahashi, and so many other skaters. It's hard to get into the skating when you know the skater is thinking too much and being too careful and you're sort of wincing with them and being anxious with them as they are going from jump to jump. I really like how he goes accelerating into each jump and even if he falls, it's okay, because he immediately lands another amazing jump.
I hope he stays with his current coach. She seems to really understand him well. I don't mind if he loses the biellmann spin and ina bauer and the a-spin. I'd love to see him develop his footwork more while keeping that "as light as a feather" quality and speed that he has. Especially in that short program of his, Hanyu looked like a blue leaf floating about on a snowy wintry day. I really think that that footwork sequence was exceptional and yet still filled with so much potential. Maybe he'll develop more of a dramatic, storytelling artistry? like Paul Wylie and the other great skaters from the 80's and 90's?
I miss the old days when the skater who skated the best skate of the evening also got to win the gold medal. It's kind of a bittersweet win if the judges give you first place, but the crowd gives its disapproval and tepid, polite applause.
