BTW, Last month, There was a very interesing article. The Ice Castle will soon open a new rink at Shenzhen,China. I don't know anything or any link between this news and these two's training abroad, but there left a lot to think.
So this might mean that Han Yan and some other Chinese skaters will have free training courses at Ice Castle every year from now on. Do they know how lucky they are?
And yes, the Chinese fed covered for all the expenses. I am very happy that he eventually got a chance he deserved.
I don’t see why he “deserved” to train at Ice Castle for free + to stay in some nice villa for free. So Patrick, Joshua, etc. did not “deserve” to have their expenses covered? This sounds unfair to other skaters.
What kind of evidence you want? When asked by a fan why he didn't get any GP assign, Yan answered in his weibo(twitter of chinese version) in three words: Please ask the officers (of the Chinese Fed). And after someone told him there is still a TBA sopt at COC, he said clearly that he hope to get it. I think these are enough to express his willingness to going up the senior level.
I haven’t followed him on weibo, so I didn’t know this. Ok so he also wants to move up like Joshua does? But If Yan said “Please ask the officers,” then he knows that the officers are the big bosses since they’re the ones who cover all his expenses. Maybe he doesn’t like this, but unless he pays for his own training expenses, traveling costs, choreographer salaries, etc., the officers will continue to make the decisions. That’s fair and square.
OTOH, the USFS is not paying for all Joshua’s expenses, but he still has to obey his fed’s decision. Most of the time, skaters just have to obey their feds’ decisions, even if those decisions are against their own will.
Plus, I don't think any skater wants to stay at junior level after winning almost every title. It's very clear that the Chinese Fed want to hold him back in the junior. I am just watching his talent being unrecognized and wasted by the Chinese Fed. Angry? No. numb? Yes.
So do you think Joshua’s talent is also “unrecognized and wasted by the USFS?” Anyway the Chinese fed is spending big money on Yan, so I don’t think the fed wants to “hold Yan back,” otherwise they’re wasting their money.
And are you seriously comparing the financial and coaching opportunities of a skater from a developing country with a vastly lower per capita income to skaters from rich, developed countries with robust skating infrastructure? Goodness, do you get mad when a poor student gets a scholarship?
LOL Han Yan is not some “poor student.” I wish I was rich like him. He’s from a well-off family and he has shown off luxury items like Hermes scarf and SARCAR watch. Do you know how much does that watch cost? My goodness, I’m jealous.
This money thing goes both ways. MOst of Han Yan's earnings, including prize money, goes directly to the Chinese federation. The Japanese Skating Federation operates under the same system.
Han Yan’s prize money is far from enough to cover his expenses. Plus, the Chinese fed pays him a monthly salary. Does the JSF also pay their skaters monthly salaries? Anyway it’s not a common practice in U.S., Canada, and most European countries.
There's a silly comparison. Joshua Farris didn't win any major titles in juniors. Han Yan won all of them except the JGPF. Joshua finished 16th at his nation's senior championships. Han Yan finished 3rd at his. Han's proved himself. Joshua hasn't. The fact that Joshua and his coach didn't file a complaint (and when's the last time any skater did that over GP assignments) doesn't negate the criticism over how the Chinese federation is handling Han Yan.
Many people feel Joshua was undermarked at the US championships. I’m not going to discuss if he was undermarked here, since that has been debated many times before. But if you look at the ISU rules, nationals has little if anything to do with GP assignments, otherwise how do you explain that Armin, who finished 4th at the US championships, didn't get an assignment and Dornbush, who finished 13th, got two. GP assignments have to do with SB scores, in which Yan was ranked 19th and Joshua was 20th, and there’s not that big of a difference between their scores, just 0.28 points apart.
People live in different systems and the really talented people will find a way to succeed and thrive in their system or they leave. There is no point staying in a system to complain about it. In the US, the star athletes are multi-millionaires. In Japan, the successful skaters are salaried "employees" of big corporations, besides all kinds of endorsements and advertizing money they also earn. There are subjectively intangible rewards as well for people to be happy where they are. Opportunities are everywhere for those who know how to seize them. Other people's good fortune should be inspiring instead of jealousy inducing.
