Deniss Vasiljevs

[icetug]

So Deniss was the only one at the rink and the first skater at all who came for the practice as well
The photo from Chris instagram shows them going to the rink in an empty bus...

No 4T in practice, but a couple of 3A plus 3+3 in the end - and Jackie Wong didn't mention UR.
I like his words:

I'm having a great time just listening to the rip on Deniss Vasiljevs' edges every time he skates by. It's so soothing.

And first photos from the practice. Deniss' interaction with Stephane is really dynamic
(and the black sweater underlines how thin waist has Deniss, especially in comparison to his shoulders)

 

[Tsurara]

Just Deniss' part from today's media article

Neither Hanyu nor Uno present, but fans were delighted
Official Practice for World Championships
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASM3L32VDM3LULZU002.html

-snip-

A few hundreds of fans appeared at the practice rink (of Saitama Super Arena) early in the morning today. Hanyu and Uno are in the group to have an official practice starting at 8:05 am, but only Deniss Vasiljevs, 19 years old who represents Latvia, showed up at the rink, out of the 5 skaters in the group. As he landed triple jumps to the music for his Free program, the fans gave him a warm applause.

A ticket to an official practice, either at the main rink or the practice rink, costs 3,500 yen each. An office worker (55 yrs old) from Yokohama woke up at 4 am and headed to the rink. She's staying (at a hotel or w/e) near the rink for a week to watch the competition, and she says it costs her about 200,000 yen for the tickets and accomodation. "It's been a while to see Hanyu skate in a competition in Japan, and I'm excited. I couldn't see him at the official practice, but I saw other skaters and I enjoyed seeing them being different from them at competitions," she said happily. She's going to watch another practice on 19th as well. Another lady in her 50's from Saitama City, who came to watch the practice before work, is a Vasiljevs' fan. She said, "I was lucky. You can see the real face of the skater at practice. I was thrilled."

Vasiljevs' coach is Stephane Lambiel, Torino Olympics silver medalist. "He was the only one at the rink, with a large audience. It was a surprising situation. He was excited and having fun," he said.

-snip-

 

[Janimi]

There's Deniss SP training (at least a bit )

https://twitter.com/XHSports/status/1107827200793829376

 

[DenissVFan]

for 3As
for 4Ts
and for the rest

 

[icetug]

Deniss will skate as 2nd in the last-but-one group, just after Boyang. I think it's a good place to start (with an excellent performance)

 

[icetug]

It's the best story of the day:
Yuzuru checking Deniss' jumps

(and I was wondering who stayed with Deniss during his practice while Stephane went with Emmi to main rink - as her SP was in the same time...)

 

[DenissVFan]

It's the best story of the day:
Yuzuru checking Deniss' jumps

(and I was wondering who stayed with Deniss during his practice while Stephane went with Emmi to main rink - as her SP was in the same time...)

Yuzuru took it very seriously

 

[AgnesR]

Just today there appeared a candid interview with Deniss. It's shortened.

The 19-year-old figure skater Deniss Vasiljevs, told the "Sporta Avīze" expedition in Champery about his problems this season and pointed out that at this world championship is finally hoping to release his mind to enjoy his skating and the love of local fans. :luv17:

Less than a month before the World Cup, Vasiljevs celebrated his third victory in the Tyrol Cup in Innsbruck but still Deniss is not satisfied with his performance.

"It is very difficult to evaluate this result positively, because I'm technically much better at the trainings. In the competitions I fail to show what I am capable of. Sometimes I make so foolish mistakes! I know I can do much better. As I was very well prepared for the European Championship, it seemed that I would just come and win. Or at least win myself, earn more points. The Tyrolean Cup was similar - I was ready, but when the time came to prove it, everything didn't work as I wanted it to be. ”

“This season I've changed my preparation system. I'm more focused, do more off-ice practice, I'm physically stronger. I find that the work I have done has made me stronger, but I have not yet found the state of mind that would allow me to control it. But power without control is not a friend,”explains Vasiljevs. “I start to concentrate heavily, rather than freely allowing myself to do what I do at the training when I don't think so much about my performance. When you go on a jump during the training, you know that you will do it because you feel free. At the competition I start to think at what moment and what my hands, feet and head will do. The moment I have to go, I am thinking. And here come mistakes. I have been doing quads successfully for some time but I haven’t landed any at the competition. There is only one possibility there. Unfortunately, the difference between training and competition is too big. This difference frustrates me. ”

In Japan he hopes to enjoy his performance rather than trying to do the best at any cost. "I hope this will allow me to free my mind and help me do what I want."

In Japan Deniss has many fans. "I think it will give me energy. I hope I can stabilize my quads in the summer so that I can do them more often. I think it is very important to do it today and here, but I also look to the future. This season is coming to an end, but my work has just begun because this is the first season of the Olympic cycle. Some Chinese fans have already given me some symbols I look at during the morning practice. This motivates me to be more ready for the Beijing Olympics,” :thumbsup:


I wish that all Goddesses of Luck (I hope the are many) would be with Deniss during the competitions!

 

[icetug]

Thank you, AgnesR, for the translation! I saw the article and used the google translator - which is better and better but still makes me mistrustful
Don't know why Deniss words "I find that the work I have done has made me stronger, but I have not yet found the state of mind that would allow me to control it" reminds me of Hulk immediately .

Wish Deniss to find his ideal state of mind to deliver clean and beautiful programs at Worlds.
(I hope however that they stay with the previuos content for tomorrow, with 3F instead of 4T - which Deniss couldn't land in practice at all...)

 

[icetug]

According to Jackie Wong, Deniss didn't practice on ice in the morning. Hope he just wanted to rest before the competition...

 

[AgnesR]

Deniss, Deniss! What's the matter with you? It wasn't good. No quad, no 3A, 2+3!
He didn''t look inspired at all! It's not usual for him! Maybe Lavenderblossom was right that this program is not for him. It somehow doesn't leave the needed impression. It looks so easy, although it's not.

Anyway, all hope for Saturday. It won't be easy because he is in group 4. All my love to you! :luv17:

 

[icetug]

I don't like my favs regressing... and Deniss having his triples lost is a horrendum .

He didn''t look inspired at all! It's not usual for him! Maybe Lavenderblossom was right that this program is not for him. It somehow doesn't leave the needed impression. It looks so easy, although it's not.

I like the program (SP) and believe that judges can see how sophisticated it is (and looking at PCS, especially for transitions, they surely can see it ).

The same technical content gave Jason small silver today what made me yet more sad that Deniss wasn't clean... while practically repeating the content he had been clean with so many times in previous seasons.

The third season of transition is coming to an end and I really do hope Deniss - adding new qualities to his arsenal - keeps all he learnt before. With no exceptions, especially for his 3A .

Saying this, I wish Deniss to have fun on Saturday and give a performance he will be happy with.

 

[DenissVFan]

I couple of days ago I had a dream that he didn't make it to the FS :O Well, at least I'm glad that he did in real life. I haven't watched any of the performances yet but a fall and a pop made me really sad. Fingers crossed for the FS!

 

[Janimi]

Deniss SP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_JfvroKoXg

 

[AgnesR]

Today it was much better. At the beginning he was rather tense. He didn't do all what he could. Our comentators say that he could add a toeloop and he would have had a cascade but he didn't. The result 143.78, total 213,52. It won't give him a good place.

But I'm sure he will show better results in the future. Obviously he has some problems if he can't do the jumps during the competitions. He is so hardworking but maybe too scrupulous. Sometimes I think he is simply tired. I reckon he needs some good rest together with his family. Actually I don't get it. How can one live so long away from his home at such age!? He has put on his shoulders a tough burden of responsibility!

What I'm worried about is his finances. Since the tax policy has been changed in Latvia, sport meets some difficulty. Let's hope that Chris will do his best.

At the end I have to say that Samurai fits him perfectly and I would like to see it again but perfectly done. It's much better than the SP.

Anyway I :luv17::luv17:

 

[icetug]

Fairly decent performance by Deniss, surely not perfect, but after having been struggling the whole season, and especially recently, with jumps, it was quite good.
And I never understand why he can got for this performance 6 PCS points less than for the worse one, with two falls . Not that it would influence the final result, but anyway... It's entirely wrong .

He is so hardworking but maybe too scrupulous. Sometimes I think he is simply tired. I reckon he needs some good rest together with his family. Actually I don't get it. How can one live so long away from his home at such age!? He has put on his shoulders a tough burden of responsibility!

He told he practiced more then usually, especially off ice. So he must be tired. And frustrated as it wasn't fruitful. At least on the short notice. But I believe it will pay off in the future.
You are right that he needs a good rest, stay at family home for a while and maintain a detachment after four busy senior seasons. The Oly season was exhausting and he couldn't take a proper breath after that. Having no deep domestic field is good for some reasons, but when a skater is just tired and has to stick with new advanced elements, it's better to have a substitute... And Deniss can't just take a year off, mainly for financial reasons.

What I'm worried about is his finances. Since the tax policy has been changed in Latvia, sport meets some difficulty.

This worries me as well. Can you tell more about it?

 

[plushyfan]

Deniss is really really talented guy! My comment will be unpopular but Stef is not enough for him. They are cute together but his jumps are worse as were under Urmanov... I would like to see a tech specialist next to Stef...

 

[fourthdimension]

Deniss is really really talented guy! My comment will be unpopular but Stef is not enough for him. They are cute together but his jumps are worse as were under Urmanov... I would like to see a tech specialist next to Stef...

Deniss has said that his jumps are working in practice, but not at competitions. It’s a mental problem, more than technique. That said, I hope he does work with outside experts this summer - there’s no reason he can’t do that while staying with Stef - he trained with Mie Hamada and Ghislain already.

 

[silverfoxes]

Fairly decent performance by Deniss, surely not perfect, but after having been struggling the whole season, and especially recently, with jumps, it was quite good.
And I never understand why he can got for this performance 6 PCS points less than for the worse one, with two falls . Not that it would influence the final result, but anyway... It's entirely wrong .

The PCS scoring at this event was some of the worst I've ever seen - very little correlation to what anyone put out on the ice. I really hate it, and of course the small-fed skaters suffer the most. It's a big reason why my interest in FS is dropping off (but of course I'll always support my favorites...just not going to let myself get so invested in everything else!).

Deniss does need to focus on his tech now, and I'm sure his team is well aware of it. I hope they come up with a good plan for the off season. It would be great if there was an additional jump coach in Champery...I wouldn't like Deniss to have to leave, and anyway, there are other students there that need help too.

 

[icetug]

There is an interesting feature in Latvian media about Deniss. I'm not that fluent in Russian to catch nuanses, but I understand that Deniss is seeking for state/city finansing (from funds for sport) to get special coaching for jumps only (still having Stephane as a main coach). Plushenko name is mentioned as a possible guest in Daugavpils also, but I can't say if it is him who would be the coach to provide that jump training.