Javier Fernandez | Page 145 | Golden Skate

Javier Fernandez

Spanish nationals FS - no videos yet, but he had a great warm-up, did not put a foot wrong as far as I could see (the camera angle covered the landing of the 3Lz).

The programme was not half-bad: great 4T, 4S+2T with shaky landing on 2T, 3A+3T (!) shaky landing on 3T, 3S (looked like a deliberate downgrade), 3A, 3Lz, but 2F+1Lo+3S (some hiccup with the choreo there also), 3Lo. Spins better than yesterday, chsq and stsq not absolutely clean, but no radically bad problems either. 201.56 with a total 300.95. Was very dead afterwards.

FS and another Spanish championship, check. The fall comp season is finally over!

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Wow, that was actually a good FS from Javi! :yes2: Scores home inflated obviously, but the skate itself was far more promising than anything he's done since he set foot in Marseille. AND he surprised with a 3T for the second half of his axel combo. Finally that happened! I didn't understand why he wasn't going for the same at any of his grand prix events, where he also just did 4S-2T combos. The 2F was a pop, but the 3S instead of a quad looked deliberate to me too - and more than enough for Spanish nationals. :biggrin: Clean and secure jumps otherwise! The 4T at the beginning was just gorgeous! And I was especially glad about Javi hitting both 3A so well. I was starting to worry about this jump...
 
A slightly longer version with warm-up before skate and K&C afterwards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPek52e-xY8

Edit add: some pics to round off the nationals:
From Javi himself: https://twitter.com/javierfernandez/status/810675476276592640?lang=fi (rather a Beatlessy than Elvis hair?)
And from Hielo Espanol, Laura supporting her bro: https://twitter.com/Hieloespanol/status/810640870190026752?lang=fi
Lifting (!) Celia Robledo: https://twitter.com/CRobledoPodium/status/810760716705759232?lang=fi

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Funny thing about Javi's 4T during the FS at nationals which I wasn't paying attention to live - LOVE how he jumps clean over the curling circle from one edge to the other! Is it just me or does his 4T look more explosive this season than before?
 
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eppen said:
Back to business of PR... A longish interview at Onda Cero (although a lot of it is quite familiar, there are bits I would like to see translated should any of our Spanish speakers have the time...)
http://www.ondacero.es/programas/tr...hermana_2016122058586f520cf27b766cecc43b.html

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He was coming from Viella (where Nationals took place). They said he doesn’t look tired but he says that he is quite tired on the inside. The interviewer said that winning Nationals by duty must be tiring, Javi said he still needs to skate well and there’s been more than one occasion in which he’s lost Nationals because he fell all over the place.

One of them said he watched him skate at COR and TDF and was amazed by him. He really enjoyed it and he felt like he wanted to skate as well :laugh: They asked him if he was still living in Cuatro Vientos, but atm they are living in an apartment someplace else (Fuenlabrada) because his parents are doing some remodeling to their house. He was actually the one who bought that apartment. They asked how he deals with the fame, he says some people do recognize him in the streets and he takes pictures and such, it hasn’t gotten to the point of being overwhelming. So he can go out without any trouble. They asked about Japan, he said people do recognize him a lot more, but they don’t go to them to ask for pictures/autographs, etc. They asked if he spoke or understood Japanese, he said he only gets a little because he speaks in English with everyone, including Miki. They asked Javi if he knew his in-laws, he knows his mother in-law and Miki’s grandparents and they get along quite well but they can’t really communicate and he said that may be the reason they get along :laugh:

They kept talking about Miki’s mom. He said she is great, but a strict mother because Miki’s dad passed away a long time ago and she has been both mother and father. But she has a big heart. They thought he was just saying it because she is his girlfriend’s mom, but he said he really meant it.

He spends his holidays in Spain, of course. And on the 24th he has dinner in Jaca, because he has en exhibition on the 23th with other Spanish skaters. His family will be there, as well as Miki…but not his in-law :laugh:

The go back to him saying he’s lost Nationals because he’s fallen all over the place. The interviewer can’t picture Javier in that position. But he said he’s had some terrible competitions in which he would have rather stayed at home. They asked him to talk about one. He said that when he was 12-13 y/o on his first JGP event. His family was there and a skater before him had a total meltdown, so someone from the Fed told him his father said he would die if his son did something like that. And he went out and fell 5 or 6 times. Now with his experience, he thinks that if he falls over 3 times, he would stand up, apologize to everyone and go home.

They start talking about how his book came to be. It was because the people around him advised him to do it. He said it was actually written by a journalist, friend of his manager, who is about the same age as him (I guess that explains some inaccuracies in some chapters). It was done in about two months and it wasn’t a very formal thing. They talked for a while in his house or the journalist’s house, and he took notes.

They talk about how he started skating and then one of the interviewers said that, ever since his daughter saw Javi for the first time, she decided she wanted to be a skater, too. He said his mother wanted him to be a gymnast and he doesn’t know why. they talked about that IKEA furniture anecdote in NJ, he actually still uses them in Toronto. The practice sessions in NJ started around 11am-12pm and they were done around mid-afternoon. He said the first big victories came after he moved to Brian.

They started talking about his parents and how proud they must be of him. Javi said that, after one competition, the security guards didn’t let her mother through to see him and she was crying saying “but he is my son” and then he came over and said it was his mom. He said this as a rather amusing anecdote even though it might not sound like it.

The interviewers said he is doing something similar to what Alonso did with F1, he is making the country understand what his sport is about. Javi said he feels very proud when kids go up to him and say they want to be like him and do what he does, which happen quite a lot at the rinks. They asked him what would he do if he was out in a club and suddenly music from any of his routines played. He said it has happened before, most recently when he went out with some other skaters after Nationals, and he sort of performs his programs :laugh:

They ended up talking about RevolutiON Ice. They told Javi he should have at least schedule it for two days. And it seems like one of the singers is a very good friend of one of them. Javi says that, if the show goes well, he would like to have more dates and expand it to Barcelona.

They asked what he’s going to do if he wins the Olympics in N. Korea (yeah, I know…). They asked him the same thing in Sochi and he didn’t know what to say so he gave it some thought, and he is going to let his hair grow until he can pick it up in a ponytail. They say they don’t picture him like that, he said he doesn’t either :biggrin:


Javi was also featured in a video showing the 50 athletes who have made history for Spain.
And this is another interview by Vodafone Yu. Unfortunately, it's geoblocked, so you need a VPN set to Spain to watch it :( But here is a small non geoblocked clip and which they talk about Yuri on Ice and how Leo de la Iglesia could be based on him.
 
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In case you can’t watch the geoblocked interview, here’s a bit of what they talked about.
I remember one of the interviewers, idk if it was from this year or last but it was that guy that kept saying over and over “Because you’re the World Champion!”

They started talking about the show, and Javi said that one of the singers might be thinking about skating while singing, but he didn’t say who. They asked if he was keeping the best numbers to himself since he is one of the people who is organizing the whole thing. He said he is just going as skater, and perhaps he might talk a bit to the audience. He said they are featuring 5 world champions, and the interviewer was like “How do you get that?” and Javi just said “With money”. And then the interviewer said “well, after you become a world champion, you get a world champion phonebook. You can’t call a world champion unless you’re one yourself.” They started joking saying they must have a WC group in WhatsApp.

They asked if he was bossing the other skaters on the show around because he was the WC. But then there were other WC there, too. Javi said that he couldn’t pay them a lot because it was the first time and on a single date, so they are kind of doing him a favor as his friends, but he will pay them back in the future somehow. He said the staff is around 100 people.

They said he is famous by his crazy costumes (if they only saw his costumes this season…), so they asked what kind of costumes he would wear for the show. He said he can’t reveal that, they insisted and asked if SuperJavi would show up. He just say “he might…”

The guy said he is surprised by the show because it’s the first time he sees something on ice that is not “Frozen on Ice” or “The Little Mermaid on Ice”, but they asked him whcih movie he would like to perform a show about (they asked if it could be Pretty Woman on Ice). He said he would like to do Cast Away.

They asked if the shows counted as training for competition, of course he said they didn’t :laugh: and if his coaches have told him anything about staying on track and not getting distracted by all those shows. He said he has gotten a few talks about it from them.

Now I’m not sure if this was real or not, but the interviews said he was very popular in Japan and his fans called themselves “Nandez Girls” :laugh: he said that when he goes to Japan he travels with a bag full of his things and an empty bag for presents. They talk about his book and asked if things got easier after becoming an elite athlete. He said it’s more of a matter of being able to overcome things easily, suffering in the sport is something they go through everyday and so it stops being suffering.

Then they go to talk about Yuri on Ice. It seems like he didn’t know what it was, or at least the name of it because he seemed to recognize it after they told him what it was about. They said Leo de la Iglesia is based on him, but he said he hasn’t watched it yet, though he has heard it’s being quite successful.

Khoai said:
Why he can't skip national?
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I'm sure he can and he would still get on the Euros and World team without problems, but he won't because he still likes to win it :biggrin:

tureis said:
Funny thing about Javi's 4T during the FS at nationals which I wasn't paying attention to live - LOVE how he jumps clean over the curling circle from one edge to the other! Is it just me or does his 4T look more explosive this season than before?
Click to expand...

My own impression (though I have never seen him live) is that it looks more effortless. He doesn't do these big set ups, the rotation is clear, the landing is soft. :yes: For me, he has one of the best 4Ts alongside Patrick and Yuzuru.
 
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:luv17: xibzuarz, thank you very much for both translations! The first one was as good as it sounded whilst trying to listen to it at work :biggrin:

The show will be televised by GOL in January! http://www.vanitatis.elconfidencial...n-on-ice-show-hielo-javier-fernandez_1306760/

He collected one more prize today - he surely needs a separate room for all this already? Silvestre del año: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFHlN9qGcGg
A bit more here: http://www.diariovasco.com/deportes...ez-galardonado-premios-20161220201950-rc.html

And appeared as an invited guest at Playstation Talents Premios: https://twitter.com/PlayStationES/status/811296465343709184?lang=fi
https://twitter.com/TodoJuegos_com/status/811297342246752256?lang=fi

Some federations expect their athletes to participate in the nationals in order to qualify for the international comps. Although in his case - would they really send someone else if he said politely "no" to the nationals?? And these days, his presence adds to the visibillity and prestige of his sport in his home country, so I would like to think that he does it also for that...

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Thank so much for these translations, xibsuarz! :thank: Thanks, eppen, for all these links too :) When I saw line up for the show I actually was wondering if the cast is what it is, because it's his friends, so they may skate for lower pay as a favour. Though I did not know Evgenia count as one. Great friends he has :) And I love that he invited Pairs couple, I'm always dissapointed when the show does not feature any skaters of my favourite category, it's so underrated. Not sure how Meagan, but Eric seem to like Javi a lot, so I guess he didn't mind taking vacation in Spain :biggrin: And Anna & Luca have always the best Gala EX, it was great idea to ask them to perform! I really hope the show will be great succes, so he could pay his friends off :hap10:
 
I am sure their willingness to participate has much to do with his friendly personality. It is very easy to want to help someone when you genuinely enjoy their company and respect the path he has taken to where he is today and from where he came from. And being in Spain at that time of year certainly helps, lol.
 
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The geoblocked interview appeared free for all overnight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bCsKRQxSPg&feature=youtu.be&a

Posing on the red carpet at the Playstation Awards: https://twitter.com/javierfernandez/status/811360251643576320?lang=fi

And at some point he also had time to pop in at a skating session with some school kids: https://twitter.com/claudioalonso/status/811394537843204097?lang=fi (The skinniest Santa ever??)

Well, Eric maybe has an interest in being in Spain for the holidays? ;) In Paris, I saw Javi having a short but serious looking discussion with Evgenia (meant to say originally, bu apparently forgot) after the gala finale - and a big hug to end it, so I was not too surprised when I saw the line-up for the show... I think it maybe also reflects a bit of his own style of skating and the musical artists performing? For example, Huecco or Henry Mendéz do not really represent styles of music that you most often hear at figure skatings shows.

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eppen said:
Well, Eric maybe has an interest in being in Spain for the holidays? ;)
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Very possible, since he's in relationship with Luis Fenero, it's like killing two birds with one stone ;)
 
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Today a big press conference for the show AND a new suit: https://twitter.com/4kEventos/status/811570956128882690?lang=fi

It's kind of cool that it is a commercial venture with backing from the sports federations - have not really seen that happen very often. There have been different figures concerning the capacity of the venue for the show - 12 000 seems to be the maximum, but because the stage covers part of the arena, the actual number of seats on sale is 8000. Some 70% was sold by last week - hope they get close to capacity or even better, sold out!

Some news stories/interviews from yesterday and today:
http://www.sport.es/es/noticias/dep...r.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=deportes
http://masdeporte.as.com/masdeporte...9.html?id_externo_rsoc=CM_ES_TW_We_11_20_Depo
http://www.telemadrid.es/noticias/deportes/noticia/javier-fernandez-presenta-su-revolucion-en-hielo (a few words on the background for the show as well)

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The judges scores from the national are out: http://www.fedhielo.com/resultados-patinaje-artistico/ (they've not made it as easy as last year, you gotta download a rar-file and extract all the files...) (His sheets posted on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yuko_takechan/status/811686521749139457?lang=fi)

A video from the press conference yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVa969wACZ8

A short interview, but full of skating details (he talks about the season, stress, skates, Elvis, etc.): http://www.abc.es/deportes/abci-jav...derecha-o-izquierda-201612220849_noticia.html

Having now read the book, I must say I expected it to contain a bit more skating than it did - mostly just for the past two seasons. But it was still an interesting read - xibzuarz, your translations helped to understand a lot of things!

Thinking back on the fall season and the programs, my biggest revelation concerns Elvis. This week, I somehow realized that my fave part of that choreo, Fever, consists actually of four jump passes. And I had not been concious of that (despite being nervous for each one of them) because I have been following the other movement so intesely. It is the part where the music, lyrics and movement come really together and that I love. Usually the second section with jumps tends to be pretty tedious, mostly preparation for jumps with relatively little other content... Here the jumps are really part of choreo :luv17:

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