Javier Fernandez | Page 245 | Golden Skate

Javier Fernandez

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
Here is Javi's performance from Japan Open: https://youtu.be/VH7GBz-FbC8
Notice the MOLM shirt and Barber of Seville vest over it :biggrin:
At Carnival on ice he presumably did Black Betty, it wasn't shown in the broadcast.... So the new program/s are for ROI, right?! ;)
 

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
I have just a few news to add... It's kind of sad how lonely and abandoned this fan fest seems nowadays... Javi might be retired but he's doing sooo many exciting things! Let's wake up! ;)

1) Liam Cross (Aljona Savchenko's husband) is doing this amazing artwork, prints will be available shortly :love:
2) There's an amazing interview with Javi in radio Aragon. My Spanish is really non-existent but the pieces I understood are great! They play music of Javi's programs and talk about it. And also about many other things. And I'm also surprised that this interviewer was prepared. It's not always the case with Spanish journalists interviewing Javi...
3) Javi did an inclusive skating class for people with and without disabilities. Sometimes I can't wrap my mind around it how he's so good in contact with people, making them at ease and happy...
4) ROI is coming up! I'd say the PR is slightly different this time, they concentrate on artists. Spanish artists, usually 1 known artist for 1 city plus some of them do the whole tour (eg. Carlos Jean). I think it's a great idea because their target audience are Spanish people who are not (yet) that interested in figure skating or don't have that much knowledge of figure skating. And they may know the artists better than the skaters.
5) But of course there will be skaters, too! :biggrin: I don't know if it's the whole cast or if they have something up their sleeve but already confirmed are: Jeffrey Buttle, Anna Cappellini & Luca Lanotte, Plushenko (only Malaga), Ashley Wagner, Elladj Balde, Annette Dytrt & Yannick Bonheur, Javier Raya, Celia Robledo (I think it's a pretty good cast, just take into account that there's Rock The Rink Tour in Canada, Grand Prix in full swing - so no active skaters available and also some retired skaters are not available due to GP - Misha Ge, Stephane Lambiel...)
6) There's a fan project for those of us who can't go to ROI, it's open until 9 November. Everything is in this thread. You can send messages, fanart or video messages and a kind fan will print it out, put together and hand it to Javi at ROI in Madrid.
 

eppen

Medalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Country
Spain
I have just a few news to add... It's kind of sad how lonely and abandoned this fan fest seems nowadays... Javi might be retired but he's doing sooo many exciting things! Let's wake up! ;)

For some reason, Javi has never really been such a big thing on this forum. I remember there was a very busy season or two when he was winning Worlds etc. butbefore and after, surprisingly little active writers (people read this thread a lot, but don't write so much).

But as seen from above, he is being busy with all sorts of work. Some additional details from October... Japan Open and Carnival on Ice seem like ages ago already (less than a month, in reality!). CaOI was shown in Japan in its entirety and Javi's Black Betty was there, of course.

Afterwards he spend a week in Japan in the north at Hachinohe working with young skaters as part of what seemed to be like shooting a TV show, but no idea what show or when it comes out. Some clips from his Spanish friend and himself on IG provided the basics of what was going on, but we have to wait for the final product to be revealed. Leaving Tokyo. Prof Javi in action here and here. Working on the TV show part of the whole getting ready for skating himself and getting interviewed. They returned during the big typhoon weekend, but luckily with no problems.

Then it was immediately back to work on doing all the promotional work on ROI, Bilbao first and two videos were published also, a radio interview and a visit to the local football stadium with roller skaters tributing his programs...

The Uniqlo campaign was part of the opening of their Madrid shop mid-October and he was there for an evening event before the shop was opened the next day.

The same day he also gave a talk at the Foro de Emprendedores de Ciudad Real.

October 23 it was announced that he is one of the recipients of María de Villota y Ciudad de la Raqueta award. The gala will be in November it seems, no date yet.

Then it was the Malaga inclusive skating event which was part of the ROI promotion - like last year they have a charity cause connected with the tour.

I think he went to Zaragoza after that, because the interviews and all came out during the weekend (incl. the fun interview on the music he has skated to posted by Claicecz above). There is also a short clip on ROI.

Last week he posted an announcement about a piece of news and it was actually about getting his eyes operated to get rid of glasses and conctact lenses! And it seems to have been a success - no more of those geeky glasses for Javi! He seems genuinely happy about it which I can imagine even though I have never had to wear glasses in my life Plus the clinic is a sponsor for ROI… A press conference with part of what he said posted on IG. Some interviews were made and he was talking about taking the flamenco show to Asia and Latin America. Still nothing too detailed about the Japanese event – if they will have it, they should start getting serious about promoting it pretty soon…

Spain Japan Foundation had already earlier announced a prize for Hanyu and Javi for their friendship and friendly rivalry as promoting the relationships between the two countries. The award ceremony was in Madrid on October 31 and Javi was there to receive the award - Hanyu obiously could not pop in Madrid in the middle of the GP series (but he sent a video message). Some pics here and here. The reasons for awarding the prize came in a video.

ROI will start next week in Malaga and they were planning the shows at the end of the week with David Wilson and the music director Carlos Jean and others. Skaters are arriving to Spain (Ashley, Luca Lanotte, Celia Roblede and Javier Raya at least posted stuff). The musical artists are actually quite big in Spain - of course like with any local scene, very few people outside have a clue :biggrin: Aitana is a Latin Grammy nominee and can fill Palacio Vistalegre in Madrid (where the Madrid shows will be) on her own, Blas Canto was selected as the Eurovision Song Contest rep for Spain (don't know if this is really a seriously great merit for anyone, but it generates interest...), etc. But the campaign is really very different from last year. Lots of emphasis on the first three cities so far, Malaga, Zaragoza and Bilbao, I guess we'll get much more Coruna and Madrid later on. And I also wonder if there will be other guest skaters in addition to Plushenko??

But life does not end with ROI at the end of the year. He will be performing in Italy at Bolzano Passion Gala January 4. It was also announced that he will be part of the Art on Ice 25th Anniversary tour in February and they seem to have also a Taiwanese leg of the tour in April where he will be also.

E
 

TallyT

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
For some reason, Javi has never really been such a big thing on this forum. I remember there was a very busy season or two when he was winning Worlds etc. butbefore and after, surprisingly little active writers (people read this thread a lot, but don't write so much).
I think part of it was that there was very little arguing to be had. Everyone likes/loves Javi, and even when he beat Yuzu, there was little controversy or anger from Yuzu's fans because they all loved the friendship so much.

Spain Japan Foundation had already earlier announced a prize for Hanyu and Javi for their friendship and friendly rivalry as promoting the relationships between the two countries. The award ceremony was in Madrid on October 31 and Javi was there to receive the award - Hanyu obiously could not pop in Madrid in the middle of the GP series (but he sent a video message). Some pics here and here. The reasons for awarding the prize came in a video.

As I said...

But this is another example of how the two of them became the epitome in skating of just what sportsmanship is all about, and I know in previious interviews Yuzu has credited Javi wil a lot of that, especially when Yuzu first went to Canada.
 

eppen

Medalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Country
Spain
I think part of it was that there was very little arguing to be had. Everyone likes/loves Javi, and even when he beat Yuzu, there was little controversy or anger from Yuzu's fans because they all loved the friendship so much.

But this is another example of how the two of them became the epitome in skating of just what sportsmanship is all about, and I know in previious interviews Yuzu has credited Javi wil a lot of that, especially when Yuzu first went to Canada.

The fan threads are weird beings – there are some not very well-known skaters who get a lot of posts due to just a handful of avid fans (at least for a while), then there are big names even (like Javi) who get relatively little attention. Kolyada has almost as many posts in a thread started 3 years later than Javi’s and the greatest activity has been going on since late 2018 when he has not been able to deliver. Somewhat surprisingly, the majority of Patrick Chan’s almost 12 000 posts have been written since the beginning of 2016, also when he was also already on a downward spiral. Majority of the male skaters that get over 1000 posts in their threads (total 15) are from the US, Japan and Russia (10), so nationality plays probably some part also. I suspect that even relatively few, but very frequently writing fans can make a difference - and topics for discussion are easy enough to find if fans want to do participate.

Javi is now a seemingly well-loved figure, but he certainly was not that always (he is also often completely forgotten in The Edge threads that deal with historical topics or tends to appear late in the discussions). He was never a junior super star (although that is mostly a recent development, but still probably informed the diehards of what to look for in the future). He was probably really noticed with the Pirates program in 2009-2011, and then when he went to Orser and actually started doing better in competitions. But even then, until he got to be a World Champion, this thread was mostly ignored – first 500 posts took over 2 years and then it was early 2015. After that the next 500 were written in 6 months.

Even I thought until fall 2014 that he is mostly a mediocre skater with some good moments and a pretty face (this is almost literally what I wrote somewhere after Sochi). My change of mind came with the still subtle changes in his post-Sochi performances. But I am sure that a lot people remember mostly that early career and see him still as a mediocre skater with some good moments and a few too many funny/lighthearted programs – and maybe fail to see the development that happened since until the end of his career. It is difficult to change people’s minds even when there is real change (I am pretty sure there are people in GS who think I am a dimwit unable to change my view with regard to some skaters, but, hey, show me even a whiff of a REAL change and I will follow) – I remember Brian also talking about this in connection with judging and trying to get judges to see that something has changed.

Also, I do wonder about Hanyu fans universally loving Javi - it is now definitely the poilitically correct thing to do, but particularly at that time of his floruit during 2015-7 or so, there was a considerable amount of Javi-bashing going on elsewhere in GS (and around the web in general) [until the bashing was directed to Shoma and now to a certain extent to Nathan]. And very often it was possible to see that it was/is Hanyu fans who were doing it in particular (most of us do show who our favorites are one way or another). Not all Hanyu fans are like you, Tally T, loving many skaters with open arms!

It was revealed that the Spanish army awarded him the title of Honorary Soldier on October 30 - did not know that such a thing existed. Still hoping he will get an Honorary Doctorate from some university :laugh:

A longish interview made when the news about the eye op were released came out this week in Mundo Deportivo. Also another one in ABC. The first one is more in depth and has some interesting questions and answers.

The eye operation is described in this article.

Otherwise it has been a busy week with some PR and mostly practices for the first ROI show. He did a talking appointment for the Mentor10 program in a school in Malaga and then there was another one in Granada at the rink where the team was rehearsing the show. There was a press conference on Thursday night with some clips and interviews coming out (from RTVE news).

Most of the clips etc from the rehearsals are from social media, from the skaters and a photographer working for them (my fave is this: "These feet have been 7 European Championships". Last night they had a dress rehersal and it seems that the green jacket on the posters is a real costume now - from ROI Twitter. So, all I am asking is which one of the girls will have the bird cage over her head?? (Ashley Wagner already hinted at the possibility...)

So, today the show starts! The ticket sales look good - Malaga had a couple hundred seats still available this morning in an arena of 10 000! The Zaragoza show next week is doing ok as well.

It seems that the content will be different from last year's again. Javi will get to practice his partnering skills, the music team was belting Black Betty live... Some glimpses of solo and group numbers have come out. Plushenko and son will be performing in Malaga, but still no other announcements of guests. I fully expect the Spanish audiences to do their duty and post a lot of clips and comments on social media!!

E
 

leila12

Spectator
Joined
Jan 16, 2014
Long-time lurker here. Thought it was about time to say thank you for all the translations and all the info collected in this thread!
I have been following figure skating with a varying degree of interest for over twenty years and Javi is one of my favorite skaters (although there are a lot of skaters I admire). It has really been a great journey seeing him develop into a skater of such high quality!
 

eppen

Medalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Country
Spain
Before the ROI updates, the Spain Japan Foundation released a short interview video and a video of the event itself which was before Malaga.

The Spanish audiences did not let usdown and there were tons of clips, mostly of Javi skating with Aitana singing and Javi skating to live Black Betty by Carlos Jean… The arena was finally almost sold out – 13 000 is the number I have seen quoted most. Here are some fan videos uploaded to YT: skating with Aitana, Black Betty, a little bit of Javi and Celia skating together. A summary video from ROI and from EFE.

On Sunday they were off to Madrid on a bus (with some karaoke on the way – it all happened in several IG stories, some of it still in FSIGstories on Twitter), then two days off before hitting ice in Madrid. They headed out to Zaragoza later in the week and Javi did a LaLiga football visit to Real Zaragoza on Thursday. A video of it on the team’s YT channel (Javi sporting a nice green parka - the Uniqlo campaign spoils). On that evening a press event at the arena with the Zamboni passing by whilst he was answering questions. He also gave other interviews, like this one on YT. Local TV did a news piece of the show and he was in the studio also (his part starts around 1:21). Also in a local web media.

The show was similar to the one in Malaga apart from the main artist changing from Aitana to Edurne. Almost a full house here also, close to 10 000 viewers. He skated to her song towards the end of the show. This time a better view of what he does with Celia and the obligatory Black Betty as well as skating to Edurne singing (not in focus all the time, a shorter clip with better quality).

The break in the tour started on Sunday and most flew out home immediately. Javi took the train down to Marbella – through most of the country! – to participate in the Marca Weekend Deporte where he did a 40 minute long Q & A which was livestreamed.

Monday does seem to have been an off day even for Javi! (Apart from the obligatory social media promotion of the shows.)

On Tuesday they had a big press conference to promote the Madrid shows (for a reason, because the ticket sales have been surprisingly slow there…). Blas Canto will appear in those shows also. (I also hope for maybe some guest skater would be announced…) A video summary of the event here (The red parka he is wearing is even better than the green one…) An article at AS.

As if that was not enough for one day, he also attended an award gala at Liceo Sorolla (a school) in Madrid in the evening as well as a charity auction to support breast cancer research.

The next day he managed to get on ice and the Valdemoro rink posted a clip of him alone in a foggy rink.

The rest of the week has been quieter, at least no public appearances it seems. However, that does not mean a Javiless day… Yesterday, ISU released a clip for their inspirational #UpAgain campaign to promote all kinds of ice sports and it is narrated by none other than King Javi! I was multitasking whilst I watched it first and only half listened until I suddenly realized that it was his voice before it was announced it was him... Who better to do it than him? The totally unexpected figure skater champion from Spain!

Today, Uniqlo posted some pics of him on the ice on IG (two others there also).

Next week promises to be busy again – on Monday there seems to be an event at A Coruna, but I lost the source… ADD: And found it again a school, Colexio Calasancias. On Wednesday 27th, the Spanish Army will have a sports gala of their own and they awarded him the title of Reservista de Honor. Then off to Italy and Milan for the Golden Skate Gala on the 30th.

Then it’s back to Madrid for the AS awards gala on December 2 and they already did an interview for getting the AS award for career achievement (Trayectoria I would understand like that?). On that day also VI edición de los Premios María de Villota y la VIII de los Premios Ciudad de la Raqueta, also in Madrid.

I remember the old days when he was still competing. There could be weeks with nothing, not a peep, not one single social media post or anything else...

ADD: This I saw only later in the evening, but on Friday Javi was at Valladolid to visit a little girl, Paula. A roller skater and (I think) a cancer patient he had met at some point (he did visits to kids hospitals already before last year's campaign theme for ROI). Javi supported her during the illness and now she seems to be fine! Both :luv17: and :sad4: at the same time...

E
 

Imov

Medalist
Joined
Mar 1, 2018
Happy to know Javi is being continuously love in and out of Spain.
Stay healthy and bright as always Javi.
 

eppen

Medalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Country
Spain
On the ISU twitter feed, this is Javi speaking, isn't it?
https://twitter.com/ISU_Figure/status/1197475847281762305

Indeed, it is Javi. If you watch the whole video, it is even announced there. Around 1 min 10 s “Because to be a champion like me” cuts to Announcer “From Spain, Javier Fernández”. :love: (Thanks, ISU!)

Week filled with promotions gigs. On Monday 25th he headed out to A Coruña where he had two public appearances. First one with Fundacion Maria José Jove on the charity theme for ROI this year, inclusive skating/sport (which has been much less exposed than the child cancer last year. However, last week this IG was posted, a Madrid based kid.) A Tweet and some newspaper articles on that event: La Voz de Galicia and El Espanol. La Opinion de Coruna made an interview.

Later in the afternoon, he talked to some 700 students at a local school, Colexio Calasancias, on stage and with people. Reported by La Voz de Galicia.

He was also interviewed for the local radio (at the start).

La Voz de Galizia published also a nice video interview (available also with a bit of text on their website and on YT).

On Wednesday 27th his presence was required in three different places almost simultaneously. RTVE promoted a “live” appearance in Teledeporte Club program broadcast at 2.30 pm I was wondering about this because I did know he had a scheduled appearance for Uniqlo in Barcelona at 7 pm and it does take a couple of hours even by the fast train to get there…

Well, the “live” appearance took place AFTER Javi himself posted a pic of the train he was on heading out to Barcelona. Don’t always believe everything they say on TV, not even when it's the “reliable” national broadcasting company. But he did do the spot for Teledeporte Club. Unfortunately the video is geoblocked outside Spain, but if you are comfortable using VPN, no big deal to watch it. A couple of clips on Twitter and on YT.

Before hitting the shop, he managed to meet a tennis player Paula Badusa.

Then he did a live Q&A at the Uniqlo shop and lit their Xmas tree plus signed and posed for quite a few fans. The questions came from fans and it was posted as an IG Live stream plus some of the answers were sort of translated here (very chaotic and hard to understand what was going on). Some replies were posted by Uniqlo and they are available here. Clips of the whole Q&A are available at FB – am not sure if the person/group has made them public, but if you are interested, try this, there are altogether 8 of them. The last question was about the current development on figure skating and he was asked what he likes and what he would change. He would change the age limits and then something about weight...

As the Barcelona event was going on, his presence would have been required at the La I Gala del Deporte Militar in Madrid where he received the honorary title of Reservistas de Honor. His father collected the diploma and the Spanish flag, and you can see the whole event in YT, but here is the part of his dad on stage.

Celia Robledo posted a short clip of them working on the ROI choreo at Valdemoro on Friday, so he did get on ice this week also.

Marca published this article related to the Premio María de Villota award ceremony in Madrid (next week).

On Friday he flew out to Milan for the Golden Skate Awards that were on yesterday (30th). He did two newish routines (-ish because there is so much old borrowed from other programs that either cannot be really described as original choreo) – Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved and Calvin Harris’s Giant (in this one, Javi was also the perfect rep for the Uniqlo sponsorship deal, head to toe in their gear). Plus a clip of him and Matteo Rizzo spraying (probably) prosecco on their fellow skaters – sort of amusingly motorsportsy…

They still need to figure out how to get a few more Madrilenos to the two shows at the end of the year...

E
 

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
Happy to help you out with the Teledeporte club clip, on IG TV there are these two videos: part 1 and part 2 (I watched it also on RTVE with VPN, so I can confirm that's complete.)

Also don't miss Paloma del Rio and Javi praising each other to heaven (it is from the teledeporte broadcast) and Paloma's emotional reply :love: (She really is the TV patron saint and mother of figure skating in Spain, I loved how Sara Hurtado congratulated her from CoR K&C to the award Paloma won)...

There's also another summary from the Uniqlo Q&A (first post there)

I really liked the Somebody you loved program (eventhough it's Prometo 2.0 ;) )

Insert shamless fangirling here:
Reading and listening to all these interviews.... Javi has really matured so much. He knows what he wants, he knows what he wants to say, he is not afraid to say it, he has plans (even long-term plans), he's aware of so many things, he's determined and yet there are still moments when he smiles like a little boy or a sunshine and you know that it's still Javi. And when you read how some skaters struggled with the retirement (Kaetlyn Osmond or Ashley Wagner talked about it on IG) it's really good to see that he's fine.

And also to the post about the roller skater Paula... Maybe it's because myself I'm a bit scared of kids, so I notice it more... it never ceases to amaze me how GREAT he is around kids. Paula, or the little girl who fell at the opening of an ice rink in Spain and he picked her up and twirled in the air, little Soyo-chan in Japan, whom he gave the Super Javi red cape...
 

Olibritt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Country
Spain
Then he did a live Q&A at the Uniqlo shop and lit their Xmas tree plus signed and posed for quite a few fans. The questions came from fans and it was posted as an IG Live stream plus some of the answers were sort of translated here (very chaotic and hard to understand what was going on). Some replies were posted by Uniqlo and they are available here. Clips of the whole Q&A are available at FB – am not sure if the person/group has made them public, but if you are interested, try this, there are altogether 8 of them. The last question was about the current development on figure skating and he was asked what he likes and what he would change. He would change the age limits and then something about weight...

E

I can´t remember when was the last time I translated something in this thread, the Spanish skills of the “usual suspects” around here are really impressive... Maybe I can help a bit with these videos. They are interesting because the questions are a bit different from the ones of a regular interview. There are a lot of videos, let’s see what I can do.

VIDEO 1– This is the most formal of all, they begin with the usual questions and the well-known answers: he began to skate around six, he never wanted to go into the rink but once inside, he never wanted to leave, he played hockey sometimes with his friends, but it was just a hobby and the moment or competition that he remembers the most was his first European title, because his family was around him and because it changed his mindset, "now that I've done what I thought I could never do, what's next?", and the other moment was his first world title, he didn´t expect it because he used to have small goals and it took him by surprise "Oh My, I'm world champion!". The question about what's next is what he is answering right now, the promotion of the sport and the athletes, the shows... all of that comes from there, from the time he spent competing…

I will edit this post to add the next videos... let's see if I can do it before the GPF begins…


VIDEO 2 - His projects at the moment are exhibitions around the world and, for the past three years, in Spain too, and summer camps, seminars, talks... The host asked him about Revolution on Ice and the voices in the audience began "come to Barcelona!", it's a show that is still new and that they do with all their love, they try to bring the best available skaters, the best available singers… theirs is a skating show with a different perspective, with live music, acrobatics, a new story they always try to tell... they give the opportunity to our people to see live skating, to see a show that doesn´t exist, not only in Spain but in the rest of the world, because this is a unique show and that's something they were told repeatedly by promotors from different countries… the host agrees with him, enumerates the singers and some cities of this year's tour and he comes the bomb "Barcelona I think is next year, well I don´t know if i am allowed to say it…" and the audience give them the appropriate response: "Ahhhhhhh". "Well, we still need to close the last screws" (that's literally what he said in Spanish), "we still cannot say it because…" And the host change the subject, to the open ice rink in Madrid "U on ice" that has just open and to Javi's relationship with fashion and Uniqlo. He's not a crazy fan of fashion but he likes Uniqlo, in fact it's a brand that he knows long ago because of his trips to Japan, where "there's one in every corner" and the brand style is the one he feels comfortable with on and off the ice.

And the turn for the audience to participate begins:
- GIRL: First of all, I love you…. didn´t you feel sad in the moment of retirement? Oh, my Good, I'm gonna cry…
- JAVI: Well, sadness… a bit because I spent 22 years, 24h a day train and compete, train and compete, train and... in the moment is a bit sad but I knew that, the moment I say "I leave it" it's forever, I'm not the kind to change my mind. The host adds that he left the competition but not ice skating, in fact we are going to see him more often, not only in ROI but in other shows he's working on.


VIDEO 3 -
JAVI - I'm going to be more available
HOST - In fact, now it's cooler because the competitions were not really available but now, we can see him closer. More questions.
BOY - I'm really bad making questions…
JAVI - Not a problem.
BOY - What do you think of the skaters that began later than usual, but they want to arrive too to the skating world.
JAVI - There are opportunities at any age, there're skaters competing at the Olympics that began almost 10 years later than me (I guess he's talking about Felipe Montoya). There's always a possibility if you want to. And there're competitions at any level, there're competitions and world championships for adults, I have training mates in their 60s and 70s and they still compete in adult world championships. There're always opportunities in this world and in the skating world too.
HOST - More questions, let's see here… stand up, please.
JAVI - Uy, and that jacket? It's from cricket club! CC is the Toronto club where I trained for the last 8 or 9 years. The jacket is from there.
LITTLE GIRL - Do you like Toronto?
JAVI - Yes, I like it a lot and they treated me super well, they took care of me and made me feel that I was part of them, Canadian, and that's something to be very grateful for. I like it a lot, it's a city that I feel a lot of affection for, for all the time I spent there and the way they were with me and the way it is.
HOST - Can I ask you why do you have that jacket?
LITTLE GIRL - Because I went to a course, to Toronto
HOST - Come on, more questions, the young lady
YOUNG LADY - Can you talk about the psychological training that you had before a competition or a presentation?
JAVI - In order to prepare psychologically, I never had something stablished, there were moments in my career that I had a psychologist but not really… (and here come some jokes from the audience that I can´t understand but everybody laughs)
YOUNG LADY - I don´t mean external but your own mental preparation.
JAVI - That question can have a long answer but the best coach for your body and your mind, for everything, is yourself, the only thing you need to do is listen to yourself and your own feelings, there're moments that it's easier and others that it's more difficult… let's say that I'm at an important competition and I've been working a lot in training, so if I know that I'm prepared and trained enough, I'm going to be more calm. I'll be nervous, of course, but much more calm. They key is being conscious that you are ready and you are going to do it.
HOST - More questions.
GIRL - Have you ever thought of being a coach?
JAVI - Yes
HOST - Does anyone want to be trained by Javi?
AUDIENCE - Yeeeeeeeesssss
JAVI - Yes, I think about it, it's an idea that I have for the medium term, but not for the short or long… in the next 4 or 6 years, I still don´t know, I want to begin to teach. My idea and my dream is to have an ice rink, of course, with a club and try to teach as much boys and girls as possible. Right now, it's inviable because I travel so much and I do so many things... What would I have a club for if I cannot be there? That's the reason why I'm not doing it now.
HOST - How many of you skate?

[URL="https://www.facebook.com/ana.canon.16/videos/pcb.2626149750836693/10221843439375572/?type=3&theater&ifg=1"]VIDEO 4[/URL]
HOST - Who's next? Your turn
GIRL - I'd like to ask you when you had hard times in your personal life, what did you do or what were you thinking about to help yourself get over it?
JAVI - Sometimes it was easier, sometimes harder to get over the hard moments, when I was younger I wasn´t so conscious about how serious the problem was or how to solve it. When you grow up, you are more conscious, but when you have a problem in your life, there are people around you that you can rely on and I always relied on my friends and family. There will be moments when your mind needs to disconnect, that's a problem I see in young people and in the world in general, quite often we don't know how or we can´t disconnect, and our mind cannot work at 1000% day after day. As I said before, listen to yourself, what I want, how I want it and what can I do to improve.
HOST - Another one
GIRL - How did you control your nerves before a competition, when you are there waiting for the music to start playing?
JAVI - That's very difficult, we all get nervous, very nervous, and in addition, that moment is the worst moment, people are watching to you in silence…
HOST - That and the moment of the scores, when the camera is on your face…
JAVI - In that moment I don´t mind, it's over, even if I fell 10 times, I'm done by then, but the worst moment is when you go out, on the ice, and there are, I don´t know, 10.000 people and suddenly all of them begin to shout and then everything is in silence and you are there alone, you only hear the pum pum pum (of your hart)… and your mouth dry… it's a very peculiar feeling. You are never going to get rid of your nerves, the adrenaline, they are a defence of your own body, you want to do it right and that's why you are so nervous, because you don´t want to do it wrong. How do you control it? Believing in yourself and being positive about what you have been doing and what you are doing in that moment. It's like when you are doing a test, if you have studied a lot, you'll probably do it well. It's the same, if you have been training a lot, the competition will probably go well.
HOST - Message: train a lot and do your homework.
ANA - My name is Ana and I want, first of all, to thank you for coming here to Barcelona. My sister and I, we have never skated but we have always love skating and we always were fans of you and Plushenko. We wanted to know if you can tell us some anecdote that you share with Plushenko.
JAVI - With Evgeni, yes. I'm going to tell you the funniest one. When I was young, I used to go every summer to train to a summer camp in Jaca. And there came Evgeni's coach with Evgeni and all their group. Plushenko's coach was in charge of the class… I mean Evgeni Plushenko, we are talking about the same person. I went there for many years; my level was lower… I was a trainwreck. And that is a funny anecdote because he keeps reminding me about that, he tells me "OMG, when I saw you there, jumping, you were like this (horizontal) in the middle of the air and the next jump to the other side, you were a train wreck, I thought what is this boy doing here, skating, he should do some other thing". That's why he tells me "I don´t know how you did it, from the skater you used to be to the skater you are now, I would have never imagined". Now we are very good friends but he keeps reminding me about it because it’s a funny moment, to say how bad you used to be and how good you are now.
ANA - If you allow me, I want to tell you, on behalf of my sister and myself, that not only skaters follow you, there are people too that have never skated, that know nothing of the sport, but you are a person that transmit so many things that it's a pleasure to watch you.
JAVI - Thank you very much.

It will continue...
 

Olibritt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Country
Spain
VIDEO 5
WOMAN - I have a lot of followers from Latinoamerica and they keep asking when are you going to do something in Latinoamerica.
JAVI - It's in our minds to do things in Latinoamerica, not only summer camps or seminars, like I was going to do last year, but finally I didn´t, but shows too. We are receiving some offers, but we need them to be solid offers, because for us, doing a show like the one we are doing here, but taking it to another country, is complicated. So, we have it in our minds, we are receiving offers and as soon as we receive a good offer, we'll go. I don't know if it will be next year or the year after, but I'm sure that it won´t take long until we do something in Latinoamerica.
WOMAN - Can I ask you another question? You just shared an anecdote with Plushenko, one of the greatest skaters and the other skater that almost all of us follow is Yuzuru, with who you have a lot of history. Could you tell an anecdote that we still do not know or something about him related to Spain?
JAVI - I think that the only place that he has ever visited is Barcelona, two GPF that took place here in Barcelona; I think those were the only times he has been in Spain and I know that he had a good experience, that I do know. Apart from that, it's a question for him to answer, but I can tell you a good anecdote: once I went to train, I can't remember what championship it was, and I forgot my training pants, and Yuzuru told me... I was wearing jeans and it was not appropriate to be training in jeans in the middle of the rink, so he lent me his pants, well some pants of him. That's an anecdote that I tell you because not everybody does what he did.
HOST - Who else?
PAULA - Hello, this is Paula. Which is the best advice you've ever received?
JAVI - Emmmmmm
HOST - It looks like he has never received any advice…
JAVI - Yes, I was thinking which one was the best… all of them are good. Look, the best advice that I received and that I give now… it's formulated for sports but it can be changed, so it can work for everyone: the training is the competition and the competition is the training.
HOST - More questions.
MAN - Have you ever get annoyed (I don't know how to translate "picarse") or have you ever had a problem because you won and he didn´t, or envy…
JAVI - No, not annoyed. Maybe sometimes, training, when we were preparing for an important competition and one of us was upset and the other one a bit too… but we have never yelled at each other, it was more like "I don´t want to watch" and "I don´t want you to look at me either because today it's not my day", but it was just one of those things at training and it could happens to me with him or with other person, and it was the same about him. It happens in those moments when you want to skate well, but you are not skating well and you are watching everybody skating well… grrr
HOST - More
 

Olibritt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Country
Spain
VIDEO 6

GIRL - I'm in my first year of secondary school, I’m doing (an assignment) about ice skating and I have two questions. The first one is why do you think that ice skating is a minority sport in Spain and the other one is how did you get to do the axel because I can’t get to do it.
JAVI – I think it is a minority sport, look this is easy, the more ice rinks, the more people can skate: there’re not many ice rinks in Spain. What can change that? When there are skaters that up their level... for instance, I have a key in my hand, I can choose to make the sport evolve or not to do it. I chose to try and that’s a difficult job. It’s important that the media, thank god, is by our side and that helps a lot, because they send the information to everybody. Another thing is that, what people want is what gets done, so if ice skating moves, little by little, more people, we will have more ice rinks, more skating and more of everything. This is a long process that takes a lot of time, we are trying to involve a lot of people in something new. It takes time and it needs patience, but I think that we are in the right path. And the axel... how to do an axel? A turn and a half, I close tight and I'm ready to land. I try to do it on the ground first and then you put on your skates and little by little... you will fall a lot of times... close tight... I need to see it.
HOST – Let's go, the last two...
GIRL – Hello, I have a question, what do you feel when you skate, do you feel happiness, anguish, upset... Because, for instance, I practice artistic gymnastics and I think of nothing else, I am totally focus and I’d like to know what are you thinking when you skate.
JAVI – It depends, competition, training, in general? It depends on my mood, how I am training, how I am competing, it depends on that... if everything is going well, I’m happy and I want to do anything. If everything is going badly, I try to fight to make things go well but it depends on how long it takes, there’s always a moment of recovery that is hard, especially when you have to make it wright but it goes wrong. Nerves? They are always going to be present at competitions. Annoyance? If you compete badly, you are going to be annoyed for a while and then you realize you can’t do anything (about what is done). It’s interesting that when I’m at a competition and the music of the program begins to play, the nerves go away and my head works like a machine, I have done the programs so many times that my body moves by itself. Is it good? I don´t know, that’s what happened to me.
HOST – Javi, this point is interesting, because you, in the ice rink, are very expressive. That expressivity, is it possible to make it work automatically? Because it’s very believable what you are saying and I think that’s what she tried to say, how do you focus to make everything perfect and, at the same time, being expressive?
JAVI – This is day by day, put yourself in front of a mirror or record yourself and see what you are really doing, how I am doing it and the fact that I want to be expressive, I want to interpret something and if I’m shy my movements and my expressions are going to be so small that the audience are not going to feel it. Because people in skating are seated far away and everything needs to be bigger to reach there. Expression and the skating style, it’s what I like the most, more than the jumps, the figures, I like to interpret because is like being in other person’s skin.
HOST – The last one


VIDEO 7

WOMAN – First, I want to thank you for your presence here, as a person, as an artist... not only as an artist on ice but as someone that has motivated a lot of people. Here comes the question, I want to ask how do you see the panorama of ice skating with the rule changes. Well, if you don´t want to answer, don´t do it...
JAVI – Oh yes, do not worry that I’m won´t get into a jam, I say it to them, actually. There’re very good things and there’re some others that are a disaster. In every change in the rules there are things that they are trying to solve but there are things that they haven’t solved yet. Two years ago, they introduced the +5-5 in every element (in rolling is still +3-3, I think). The +5-5, if your jump is very good, we give you more points but if you fall, we give you a lot less; that’s a beginning in order to make people think every year that maybe it’s better to do a good program than doing a lot of difficult jumps and mop the ice. One of the things that I would personally change is age and weight needed to compete in every category. I think that this could be a good turning point because we are seeing that there are too many boys and girls, they are sixteen, they win over everybody else, they stay for a couple of years in competition and then, they are useless. Well, establishing a minimum weight in the world of sport is a bit peculiar. And I stop getting myself into a jam...
HOST – Thank you very much... One last question to end... You see all of them, very excited, making a lot of efforts... Is it clear for you that you have the key of the future of this sport? Because he said it, clearly, he is starting a path but he needs your help, making this sport more visible is everybody’s business, you with your friends, with people around you, go there and there will be more ice rinks, more people... that’s what needs to be done. My last question is what advice would you give to those who are beginning this path?
JAVI - More than advise, what I have used often: things are hard, life puts stones in your way at times, but the most important is to look forward and overcome the bad moments that there will be, for sure, and learn from them to become stronger so you do not stumble anymore. That’s the most difficult part, at any sport. And one more thing... the goals you stablish for yourself, during your life – I'm in favour of stablishing goals - make them small, so you can get them, do not look for far away goals, because you may get lost in the way and it is more satisfactory to get the goal to stablish a new small goal. That’s something that helped me and a lot of people too.
HOST – He deserves a super applause.

VIDEO 8
In this final video you can see the countdown and the lighting of the Christmas Tree.
If you are into Philosophy, it may have an interest for you. Can you differentiate between estoicism, extreme minimalism and nihilism?
If you are into Christmas trees... don´t bother.
 

eppen

Medalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Country
Spain
Oh, Olibritt, thank you so much for the translations!! You are being far too positive at least on my Spanish skills, so all help is appreciated!

This year's final recap of our retiree's activities here. But before that some things from earlier this fall that have come out recently. The RTVE Teledeporte Club interview from November was uploaded to YT in the end.

Also, the Golden Skate Awards will be broadcast on Italia Uno December 30, 19:25 Italian time.

Mundo Deportivo interviewed him in Barcelona at the Uniqlo gig and that story came out December 2.

An interview from ROI Zaragoza by a local TV, also out the other day on YT.

But what a busy December it has been for Javi! Hope he has the opportunity to have a bit of rest in the next few days before the final ROI shows in Madrid…

The month began with an award show in Madrid on December 2: VI edición de los Premios María de Villota y la VIII de los Premios Ciudad de la Raqueta. Maria de Villota was a Spanish female race driver – one of the few women ever to sit down in an F1 car and Ciudad de la raqueta is a huge tennis club. He received a career award and attended the Gala in the evening. A little video also here in the El Espanol article.

The next day he was off to Bilbao, in the morning he met the mayor of the city and did the second including skating event at a local rink – which was suitably timed to the International Day of the Persons with Disabilities.
Video, another with El Correo, also on YT.

He was also part of a surprise for a local tv program for a young girl. (This was broadcast later in the month.)

Then he hopped on a plane which was surely the only way he was able to hit the red carpet in a suit in the AS Premios in Madrid and be in the gala. Another career award with the entire event on YT (Javi stars on red carpet around 49 minutes and on stage to receive the award around 2:04). In a news article from AS. Interviews on red carpet here and here.

On December 4 Javi was there to open the almost traditional skating rink at Plaza de Colon (the place has been different for every year though) in Madrid. He featured in an Uniqlo sponsored event there earlier in the day and opened the rink early evening with the mayor of Madrid and the representative of the Fundacion Tambien who work to promote inclusiveness of persons with disabilities in society. Article in a local media, in AS with a clip,
TeleMadrid also on video, Gacetin Madrid and
Marca.

El Pais did an interview at the time and it came out the following week.

The next day (Dec 5) he did get on ice at least for a little while – with Celia at the Valdemoro rink.

Luckily, his break in the tour was not 100% work, but he did have a chance to take a little skiing trip with his pals over the weekend. (The last pic of him jumping with the Olympics gear! :luv17:)

Then it was the Bilbao week. Before going up north, he gave a radio interview for Mas de uno program at Onda Cero, out on Tuesday, video on YT.

On Wednesday (Dec 11) there was the second Uniqlo skating event at the outdoor rink at Plaza de Colon in Madrid in the morning. In the afternoon, an inclusive skating event organized with Fundacion Tambien. RTVE reported it. Pictures in this article. On radio. Europa Press interview clip on YT and in writing. A longer clip from Europa Press Social. TeleMadrid did a section of him for their La Otra Agenda program on that day (I think) and it was broadcast Dec 14.

The next day, off to Bilbao with first practices and a presser in the evening. A clip from the rehearsals. Another story from the presser.

After another day of rehearsals, it was show day and reportedly about 10 000 strong audience watched the show in Bilbao. Most of the show in fancam was posted on YT in two parts: first and second. An article in local media and in Marca.

Lots of photos and shorter clips in social media on each show, but these photos were probably the most eye catching. Celia and Javi are developing a pretty tangible on ice chemistry!

On Saturday, an article in Men’s Health Espana where he talks about his training regime whilst still competing.

On Sunday evening, TeleMadrid showed a program on Madrid history, about the years 2013-6 and Javi was interviewed in it also. Fantastically enough, the interview was made last year by the outdoor rink in Madrid. The whole program here, Javi in the last 10 minutes.

Javi took the tour bus to Madrid on Sunday and on the way, Ashley Wagner called him from their (Ashley, Jeffrey Buttle, Elladj Balde) road trip in the north to get some translations from Spanish to English on restaurant menus… Caught on video.

On Monday (Dec 16) he appeared on a radio show, El Transitor for Onda Cero. A clip on Twitter. The whole interview with a video also.

In the evening, he wore a suit again to attend the Gala Valores de Deporte of Diario Sport to receive Premio Valores Masculino. On the red carpet.
Acceptance speech on Twitter and the entire gala on YT.

I think there was nothing (gasp!) on Tuesday, but on Wednesday, he returned to north to do a TV show for Galicia TV, Land Rober Tunai Show. A part of it here, the whole program with interview and timestamps here.

On that day also, an article on Javi and Uniqlo in Esquire magazine.

On the 19th, a radio program Ao Contraataque for Radio Galega.

The show is apparently now such a well-oiled machine, that they only had one whole day for rehearsals on Friday (Dec 20)… Presser also as usual.

Men’s Health publish a funny quiz video Test del frio on Friday. Javi singing Let it go from Frozen sound credible - for that one frase. (English subs here on YT.)

On Saturday, show night, sold out for the first time!! More than 10 000 people again!! They had a canoe on ice… :scratch2: Stories from Marca and El Espanol. Plus the usual summary clip from ROI.

Sunday back to Madrid for Javi and on the way (I think), he/they stopped to eat at a pretty nice looking place at Benavente. Michelin star and all.

And today, an interview on RTVE radio program, Mitos de deporte.

Also, Javi will receive a medal for his sports achievements from the city of Zaragoza, the gala will be in February.

Olympic Channel remembering the retirees of 2019. Javi included.

They are working hard to get tickets sold for the Madrid show – it is a bit better than a couple weeks ago, but surprisingly slow compared to the other venues. Of course, Vistalegre is about 1,5 times the size of the other venues, but still… Even on Hola! IG.

Hope there will be a couple of Javiless days before the preparations for the Madrid shows start in earnest.

I will be heading out for Madrid on Friday – tickets for both shows in pocket… I hope the weather forecast holds and it will also be sunny the whole weekend. The Noridc darkness is getting on my nerves!

E
 

xibsuarz

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
While Javi is getting ready for his next ROI stop, some keen eye fans found out that Javi actually signed Yuzuru's iPod case. Given that Javi himself liked the post I guess it's true!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Xwr0jJWYN/?igshid=m1gbcl1pwjwj

He also had some kind words to him that Javi's japanese fanclub uploaded with his permission.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6dAVwPpcFR/?igshid=8jj1ap2cp7lx

Jackie Wong did a TB to the awesome farewell video made by the Olympic Channel
https://twitter.com/rockerskating/status/1209444385571704834?s=19

Javi is the kindest person through and through ans so beloved in the skating community

And Mae Berenice RTed it with some lovely words to him
https://twitter.com/MBMeite/status/1209468342299496448?s=19
 

Olibritt

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Country
Spain
I will be heading out for Madrid on Friday – tickets for both shows in pocket… I hope the weather forecast holds and it will also be sunny the whole weekend. The Noridc darkness is getting on my nerves!

E

I spent Christmas Day morning in T-shirt in a park in Madrid… It seems that sunny Spain, with a little help of global warming, won´t let you down…:devil: I don´t miss the frost in the mornings, but in december, without clouds or wind, there should be some frost at night, and there's not… This good weather is going to cost a lot to all of us, so, don´t you dare to waste a sunny day while you are here! Enjoy your time!!
I was going to wish Merry Christmas to all of you but, since most of people around here speaks spanish… ¡Feliz Navidad a todos! :yes:
 

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
ROI will be broadcasted today at 19.00 on tdp and tomorrow at 12.30. And with Paloma del Rio's commentary! I really hope it will be available on the internet... :pray:
And if not, there is at least a fancam of the whole ROI in Bilbao. Part 1 and part 2.
I'm a bit sad that I couldn't go this year but just watching ROI's instastories was awesome :love: :love:
 
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