Javier Fernandez

[evergreen]

I've heard people talk about "the Canadian curse" or something like that, that quite a few of their World champions didn't win the Olympic title I guess figure skating is just so difficult to predict.

I rather think these Canadian skaters crumbled under the immense pressure and high expectation of their entire nation. Brian Orser is the closest one, but his timing was not right, he won both SP & LP in 84's Olympics game but it was the compulsory crowned Scott Hamilton the title. He lost gold 4 years later with the slightest margin, but in my book, his rival has a better long program and skating order.

I remember in 2002 a commentator said something along the line of "losing to Plushenko at Worlds lit an extra fire under Yagudin", and that he went back changing his approach and working even harder. Sometimes victory helps people, other times lose could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Scott Hamilton's information was not correct. Yagudin did change his approach entirely right after 2000-01 season, during which he lost all the major titles to Plushenko. He thought he must did something wrong with his training & life style, he was desperate to lose some weight in order to make his jump easier & lighter. In the following summer, he almost starved himself to death by a horrible diet & suicidal training scheme, running 20 km +3 practice sessions on ice by feeding an apple a day. He lost 40 lbs within a month and half. He did not get the result he aimed for. He became weaker by lost of muscle power and finished a disappointing 3rd at 2001 Good Will Game. He did not believe he was able to win any competition and prepared to quit skating. Tarasova persuaded him to see a sports psychologist and helped him to rebuild his self-confidence. Afterwards, Yagudin went back to his original routine and gain some weight. We all know his triumph in the 2001-02 season. Anyway, lose can easily destroy one's self-confidence, some fall out of the skating planet, some become stronger by digging deeply in themselves. Yagudin is the latter. So is Javi. But they could not have done this by themselves without a strong and supportive team. Both of them are luck to have the best team in support of them.

Samohin tried about a dozen 4lo during practice session before a competition? Kids these days...

these new comers are anxious to show their heavy duty technical arsenal and demonstrate their ability to play big boys' game. They treat practice as competition, since the judges were watching their practice too. When coming to competition, they have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

 

[honghe]

I rather think these Canadian skaters crumbled under the immense pressure and high expectation of their entire nation. Brian Orser is the closest one, but his timing was not right, he won both SP & LP in 84's Olympics game but it was the compulsory crowned Scott Hamilton the title. He lost gold 4 years later with the slightest margin, but in my book, his rival has a better long program and skating order.

I agree that the immense pressure could be a factor. Being from a country where skating is quite popular of course can help one develop as a skater, but on the other hand there could also be a lot more people watching and analyzing your every move, and a lot more expectations and pressure, as well as more severe criticism when you fail. Just look at some of the things people said about Nam and Kovtun this year, for example.
As disappointing as placing 4th at the 2014 Olympics was for Javi, I doubt there were many people in Spain calling for his head for missing the podium. Had he been Russian, the reaction could probably have been different.

Scott Hamilton's information was not correct. Yagudin did change his approach entirely right after 2000-01 season, during which he lost all the major titles to Plushenko. He thought he must did something wrong with his training & life style, he was desperate to lose some weight in order to make his jump easier & lighter. In the following summer, he almost starved himself to death by a horrible diet & suicidal training scheme, running 20 km +3 practice sessions on ice by feeding an apple a day. He lost 40 lbs within a month and half. He did not get the result he aimed for. He became weaker by lost of muscle power and finished a disappointing 3rd at 2001 Good Will Game. He did not believe he was able to win any competition and prepared to quit skating. Tarasova persuaded him to see a sports psychologist and helped him to rebuild his self-confidence. Afterwards, Yagudin went back to his original routine and gain some weight. We all know his triumph in the 2001-02 season. Anyway, lose can easily destroy one's self-confidence, some fall out of the skating planet, some become stronger by digging deeply in themselves. Yagudin is the latter. So is Javi. But they could not have done this by themselves without a strong and supportive team. Both of them are luck to have the best team in support of them.

Thank you for the explanation. Wow, I didn't know this. Yagudin really was too hard on himself after 2000-2001... Losing 40lbs within a month and half was just :shocked: ... It's like losing almost a pound per day... I don't think any skater's body could take that. Fortunately Tarasova was there to help him, and we skating fans were able to see his glorious 2001-2002 season.

I get the impression that Javi is able to take lose really well. Not that he isn't a competitor, but that he does not seem to dwell on a disappointing performance or competition for too long. I don't know whether it's his personality or how Brian et al. have been guiding him. Perhaps both. I guess Javi's biggest disappointment was the 2014 Olympics, but he still was able to move on and look ahead pretty quickly, which I admire.
The most upset I remember seeing Javi was probably at CoR in 2013 (he skated badly and didn't qualify for the GPF that year), but even then his reaction was still nothing compared to what we've seen with a lot of other skaters. Brian kept talking to him at K&C, which probably also helped. When Adam left Brian there were people blaming it on Brian being too cold/upset when his skaters didn't do well at competitions, but I never get this impression watching Brian. I actually feel he handle this kind of situations pretty well, e.g., calling Javi over after the very disappointing SP at the 2014 GPF in Barcelona and telling him not to worry about it.

 

[evergreen]

He skated early on in the last group, so anything could have happened and although he already had an 8-point lead... Well, we all know what can happen... But afterwards his despair seemed a bit exaggerated considering that he won in the end with more than 25 points ;-) The two last Europeans have been dismal in the men, I hope Ostrava will be better!

I was there too but I did not manage to attend the SMC the next day. I had no idea Javi thought he had lost his title. IIRC, he was the first to skate in the final flight, a skating order he does not like and he made a lot mistakes, he was completely gassed out when he finished his program. It was a very tough competition for almost everyone, perhaps because of the warm temperature of the arena, most of the skaters struggled to skate through their free skate with a lot of falls & popped jumps.

Most of time I prefer to watch a competition as a general skating fan, cause I cannot help getting nervous as soon as my favorite skater steps on ice for 6-minute warm up. But somehow in that competition, I was very confident Javi was going to get his 3rd title in a row, by observing the warm up of the other skaters of the final flight.

Anyway, I kind of agree with British Euro-sports commentators, that to have the top 3 leaders sit in the green room waiting for the final standing is a terrible idea for the skaters, as Javi later said that he did not know what to do when camera was on him. When his competitors fall, he could not cheer up in a way like Yagudin did in the backstage in 98' worlds when Plushenko fall :noshake: It must be a torture for him watching his peer skating, while being upset about his lost; he looked almost ill, with dark circles under eyes. I reckon this brought back his memory no more than a year ago in Sochi, where he skated 1st and missed the podium by such a silly mistake. No wonder this served a wake up call and motivated him to change his attitude towards the training big time.

Here is an article on his 3rd Euros title, with great photos

2015 Europeans: with every year, Javier Fernandez gives Spain more reasons to celebrate

A couple of years ago I suddenly realized that for once in my life I'm in such a financial situation that I can actually afford to travel to see skating competitions and have been to Stockholm, Barcelona and Bratislava since (the worlds across the Atlantic is still a bit out of my reach, though). And I've been sitting watching practice sessions also for the first time (at least men and women) which can be annoyingly boring but also v. interesting (like suddenly realizing that Samohin has been trying that 4Lo for about a dozen times right under your nose...)

I tried to follow up Javi's major competitions ever since I discovered him at 2008 worlds, but I did not manage to go to see the two GPFs at Barcelona. I missed 16's Euros too. I enjoyed watching practice sessions very much, since I got to see the skaters much more; a competition in real times moves forward very fast. When Javi was younger, he did try to keep on tackling the jumps he failed until he landed them successfully, then he would put on his shining smile which melted your heart. Since he began training with Brian Orser, beside quads, I noticed that he practiced a lot of 3 lutz, 3 lutz-3toe in pre-competition practice, e.g., in the 13' worlds, it seems that both of Orser's students, Yuzuru and Hanyu, had a problem landing 3 lutz :sarcasm:

Among all the Euros I have watched live, the one where Javi won his first European title is the best.

 

[evergreen]

I agree that the immense pressure could be a factor. Being from a country where skating is quite popular of course can help one develop as a skater, but on the other hand there could also be a lot more people watching and analyzing your every move, and a lot more expectations and pressure, as well as more severe criticism when you fail. Just look at some of the things people said about Nam and Kovtun this year, for example.
As disappointing as placing 4th at the 2014 Olympics was for Javi, I doubt there were many people in Spain calling for his head for missing the podium. Had he been Russian, the reaction could probably have been different..

ITA. But I also think Patrick's team and Skate Canada approached the game with wrong strategy.

Come on, it takes Spain more than a century to produce a skater like Javi, born and raised in his home country, who has already achieved much more than his countrymen can expect. Javi shall be regarded as national treasure by Spain, hands down.

Speaking of Javi's origin, Nina Mozer commented in her recent interview how Asian skaters can easily make fast rotations with their muscle structure; and she said the only exception of European is Javi, who is a Latino, whose constitution is slightly different. What a weird assessment: unsure: I don't get since when Spaniards are Latinos? How can there is one and only Javi from Spain for over 100 years in the skating worlds, if they do have better body type for the sports?

Somehow I always have a soft spot for the boys start competing at senior level since 15 or 16, e.g. Yagudin, Patrick, Javi, Denis, Yuzuru, Nam & Kovtun. It takes great courage and huge commitment for them to go out at these big stages. It is much tougher for those sent by strong skating federations, Russia, Japan, Canada & USA. I really don't like the way their federation treat Nam and Kovtun, especially the latter. He was badly used & tossed by his federation.

Thank you for the explanation. Wow, I didn't know this. Yagudin really was too hard on himself after 2000-2001... Losing 40lbs within a month and half was just :shocked: ... It's like losing almost a pound per day... I don't think any skater's body could take that. Fortunately Tarasova was there to help him, and we skating fans were able to see his glorious 2001-2002 season. .

Yagudin was the type of skater who was obsessed with competitions and tended to kill himself in practice. I was in awe when Tarasova said that he could break in new skates within one day :shocked: I found Yuzuru resembles him in this aspect very much.

Thank god for Yagudin's win at SLC, otherwise he did not have any chance since his body has began to fail him. He has had hip problems since 2000 and could not properly train due to severe pain. They did not know what caused the pain, once upon a time, Tarasova thought Yagudin faked the injury to skip the practice, she even slapped him once. Of course, she felt very guilty when the doctor finally found out what was wrong with Yagudin's hip. He had practically skated with a broken hip for almost 3 seasons.

I get the impression that Javi is able to take lose really well. Not that he isn't a competitor, but that he does not seem to dwell on a disappointing performance or competition for too long. I don't know whether it's his personality or how Brian et al. have been guiding him. Perhaps both. I guess Javi's biggest disappointment was the 2014 Olympics, but he still was able to move on and look ahead pretty quickly, which I admire.
The most upset I remember seeing Javi was probably at CoR in 2013 (he skated badly and didn't qualify for the GPF that year), but even then his reaction was still
nothing compared to what we've seen with a lot of other skaters. Brian kept talking to him at K&C, which probably also helped. .

I think his personality plays a big role here, so does his culture background. Brian also helps a lot. I don't remember how many upset moments I have seen him in K&C, he usually feels very bad more about his poor performances than his standings, except Sochi Olympics. But he rebounds quickly, which I believe is critical to his success.

When Adam left Brian there were people blaming it on Brian being too cold/upset when his skaters didn't do well at competitions, but I never get this impression watching Brian. I actually feel he handle this kind of situations pretty well, e.g., calling Javi over after the very disappointing SP at the 2014 GPF in Barcelona and telling him not to worry about it.

Adam himself said that when he did not perform well at the competitions, Brian seems more upset than him, though I am on your side, as I did not get it either. I think that one of the reasons Adam left Brian may be because he could not handle the extra pressure & expectation that he would be the male version of Yuna; there are always some trade off to work with a star coach.

It is sort of interesting that Javi's path somehow followed Adam's, Javi joined Morozov's team when Adam was there; the latter left for Brian months later; then one week after Adam's leaving, Brian was approached by Spanish Federation to coach Javi.

 

[xibsuarz]

I tried to follow up Javi's major competitions ever since I discovered him at 2008 worlds, but I did not manage to go to see the two GPFs at Barcelona. I missed 16's Euros too. I enjoyed watching practice sessions very much, since I got to see the skaters much more; a competition in real times moves forward very fast. When Javi was younger, he did try to keep on tackling the jumps he failed until he landed them successfully, then he would put on his shining smile which melted your heart. Since he began training with Brian Orser, beside quads, I noticed that he practiced a lot of 3 lutz, 3 lutz-3toe in pre-competition practice, e.g., in the 13' worlds, it seems that both of Orser's students, Yuzuru and Hanyu, had a problem landing 3 lutz :sarcasm:

Among all the Euros I have watched live, the one where Javi won his first European title is the best.

There are two of them?! JK, I know what you mean
However, it seems like their issues with the Lutz do not come from Brian because they both have different problems with that jump. Yuzuru's problem is the zero prerotation he has on the Lutz which makes it harder, while Javi's is the way he uses the pick of the right skate and keeping the outside edge all the time. Brian knows he is better at polishing skaters than developing them, that's why his three best students (Yuna, Javi and Yuzu) all got to him with their jumps down. Javi has said that the Lutz is his least favorite jump of all, after all.
A jump in which I think Javi has made significant progress is on the 3A, to the degree of being confident enough to add a second one to his FS so late into the program. His set up time is minimal now and his air position is just perfect :yes

 

[evergreen]

There are two of them?! JK, I know what you mean

typo :scratch3:

However, it seems like their issues with the Lutz do not come from Brian because they both have different problems with that jump. Yuzuru's problem is the zero prerotation he has on the Lutz which makes it harder, while Javi's is the way he uses the pick of the right skate and keeping the outside edge all the time. Brian knows he is better at polishing skaters than developing them, that's why his three best students (Yuna, Javi and Yuzu) all got to him with their jumps down. Javi has said that the Lutz is his least favorite jump of all, after all.

It seems that Javi has had problems with 3 lutz since he was very young. His summer trainings in Mishin's camp may be too short to correct his technique. I think all of Mishin's star students have beautiful & very consistent 3 lutz. I also like Ilia Kulik's.

I uploaded a practice video of Javi, in which he had a very hard fall going for 3 lutz. IIRC, it was the first time he skated with his own skates in practice, as his skates were lost in air-transit up till a day before the SP. He did not set his feet on the main arena until 6-minute warm up.

2013 Euros Javier Fernandez SP practice

A jump in which I think Javi has made significant progress is on the 3A, to the degree of being confident enough to add a second one to his FS so late into the program. His set up time is minimal now and his air position is just perfect :yes

ITA. I actually note that his air position and the extension of his free leg landing the jumps has improved a lot this season, so does his basic skating, coverage on ice. It seems that everything he has worked on during the past several seasons has came together. Brian Orser is right, for Javier, it is a 5-year project.

 

[honghe]

Speaking of Javi's origin, Nina Mozer commented in her recent interview how Asian skaters can easily make fast rotations with their muscle structure; and she said the only exception of European is Javi, who is a Latino, whose constitution is slightly different. What a weird assessment: unsure: I don't get since when Spaniards are Latinos? How can there is one and only Javi from Spain for over 100 years in the skating worlds, if they do have better body type for the sports?

Somehow I always have a soft spot for the boys start competing at senior level since 15 or 16, e.g. Yagudin, Patrick, Javi, Denis, Yuzuru, Nam & Kovtun. It takes great courage and huge commitment for them to go out at these big stages. It is much tougher for those sent by strong skating federations, Russia, Japan, Canada & USA. I really don't like the way their federation treat Nam and Kovtun, especially the latter. He was badly used & tossed by his federation.

Apart from calling Javi Latino there are other things I found problematic about that interview. I'm sure genes are important for athletes, but more in the sense that I believe all the elite skaters have to be naturally gifted in some way regardless of whether they are Asian or not. I'm sure that there are tons of people who, no matter how hard they work, will never land a quad. As an Asian myself, I don't believe that Asians by default have the kind of advantages described in that interview, otherwise we'd see Asians dominate ladies and pairs.

Being considered the next prodigy and get sent to important competitions by a strong skating federation have to put a lot of pressure on a kid, and not all teenagers are well prepared to deal with it. With Patrick's return there probably won't be too much unnecessary attention on Nam and hopefully he'll be able to deal with his growth. I don't know what will happen with Kovtun.
Javi was 35th in his first trip to Worlds. I don't think this will happen with a Canadian or a Russian and that kid still gets sent to Worlds the following year. I'm not saying that Javi had it easier, because he for sure didn't. It's just that the difficulties faced by skaters from smaller federations can be very different from those faced by kids from stronger federations.

Yagudin was the type of skater who was obsessed with competitions and tended to kill himself in practice. I was in awe when Tarasova said that he could break in new skates within one day :shocked: I found Yuzuru resembles him in this aspect very much.

Thank god for Yagudin's win at SLC, otherwise he did not have any chance since his body has began to fail him. He has had hip problems since 2000 and could not properly train due to severe pain. They did not know what caused the pain, once upon a time, Tarasova thought Yagudin faked the injury to skip the practice, she even slapped him once. Of course, she felt very guilty when the doctor finally found out what was wrong with Yagudin's hip. He had practically skated with a broken hip for almost 3 seasons.

Yes, I do get the sense that Yagudin had a competitiveness rarely matched by others, and I can see the comparison to Yuzuru.
Tarasova thought Yagudin faked an injury? That's not something I'd imagine Yagudin doing...
It must be hard to skate with hip problems for 3 years... We are all fortunate that Yagudin was able to have the 2001-2002 season.

I think his personality plays a big role here, so does his culture background. Brian also helps a lot. I don't remember how many upset moments I have seen him in K&C, he usually feels very bad more about his poor performances than his standings, except Sochi Olympics. But he rebounds quickly, which I believe is critical to his success.

Upset Javi more or less means no smile and no goofing around in K&C. I don't think he has ever acted out badly after a poor performance. I remember the 2013 CoR as the most upset I'd seen of him because when he came off the ice he kind of blew past people. But he was calm in K&C. I agree that he usually feels bad more about his own poor performances than about the ranking.

Adam himself said that when he did not perform well at the competitions, Brian seems more upset than him, though I am on your side, as I did not get it either. I think that one of the reasons Adam left Brian may be because he could not handle the extra pressure & expectation that he would be the male version of Yuna; there are always some trade off to work with a star coach.

I guess the exact dynamic between two individuals is something that only they themselves know... Maybe different people just feel differently. As far as I can see Brian comes across as the kind of coach who is very kind and considerate.

A jump in which I think Javi has made significant progress is on the 3A, to the degree of being confident enough to add a second one to his FS so late into the program. His set up time is minimal now and his air position is just perfect :yes

I could be wrong but before he moved to Toronto there seemed to be a time when 3A was one of his better jumps? It later wasn't really reliable and it seemed that it took sometime for him to become more consistent. Now his 3A is not only quite consistent but also better and really beautiful.:agree:

As for whether Brian is better at polishing skaters than developing them, I think it's still a little early to draw conclusions as the sample size isn't that large. That Brian's most successful skaters are those who came to him with the ability to jump is probably partly due to the fact that he hasn't coached for that many years yet. So those who have become well known are those who came to him relatively late instead of as little kids, and it's not surprising that they could already jump. The younger kids at the Cricket Club are still very young, and it will be interesting to see how they do in a few years.
(And even though Javi could jump before moving to Toronto, he has developed a lot in the past several years.)

 

[honghe]

Here is an article on his 3rd Euros title, with great photos

2015 Europeans: with every year, Javier Fernandez gives Spain more reasons to celebrate

Great article indeed! Thanks for sharing!
Interesting comment from Javi about finding a good balance between being excited and being relaxed. Also great pictures from Javi's first 3 Euro wins.

Some clips on Youtube from when he won the Euros for the first time in 2013:
K&C: after SP and after FS
Before the ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0o3OtPPvl8 with tons of hugs
Celebration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV0ph4OxK_Y It's really heartwarming to see the Team Spain group hug and Javi running to his parents
Press conference: after SP and after FS (Javi said that when he was on the podium he couldn't believe it and all he could think of was that he wanted to get down and find his parents and give them a hug:luv17

 

[evergreen]

Great article indeed! Thanks for sharing!
Interesting comment from Javi about finding a good balance between being excited and being relaxed. Also great pictures from Javi's first 3 Euro wins.

Some clips on Youtube from when he won the Euros for the first time in 2013:
K&C: after SP and after FS
Before the ceremony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0o3OtPPvl8 with tons of hugs
Celebration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV0ph4OxK_Y It's really heartwarming to see the Team Spain group hug and Javi running to his parents
Press conference: after SP and after FS (Javi said that when he was on the podium he couldn't believe it and all he could think of was that he wanted to get down and find his parents and give them a hug:luv17

I vividly recalled everyone wanted him win after his free skate and I saw Mishin and his team standing and cheering for him. What a great moment Wasn't amazing that Javi was able to find his parents among thousands of spectators? :luv17:

Javi is the type of skater who can pull out good performance at the competitions even he had bad practice/warm up. He had hard falls in both SP & LP run-throughs heading to 13's Euro.

Yes, honghe, you are right. 3 Axel used to be his best jump. Javi somehow lost 3 Axel in the first season training with Brian, especially in the later half of season. He was very consistent with both of his quads, but quads can affect the landing of 3 Axel, according to Tracy Wilson. After GPF, he had some neck/hip injury and missed some training.

 

[eppen]

Yes, honghe, you are right. 3 Axel used to be his best jump. Javi somehow lost 3 Axel in the first season training with Brian, especially in the later half of season. He was very consistent with both of his quads, but quads can affect the landing of 3 Axel, according to Tracy Wilson. After GPF, he had some neck/hip injury and missed some training.

They started seriously working on the quad combo? That meant that he dropped the axel combo from the program and started doing the three quads - maybe in practice also concentrated more on the quads?

The overall development in quality, consistency etc. over the two seasons after Sochi has been quite amazing IMHO. No more popped easy jumps, no more dropped performance if things don't work etc. Plus last year he seemed to be dead after almost every FS and this year really nothing like that... Plus they are really quite good at getting him into peak condition in the main competitions of the year.

However, I would like to see some development on the preparations for the quads - he's been using them for quite a long time (a different one for one quad in SP and FS at least!). 3A he seems to be able to do these days from almost any kind of approach and there's lots of variation (my favourite is the one for Black Betty - besti squats to both sides and then on one foot until the take off...). As also for the flip combo and the lutz if I remember correctly. The spreadeagle to 3Lo is so good that I would not want to see that changed any time soon ;-)

I first saw him in Euros 2009 and was not impressed (apart from him being fast enough to tackle the Matrix soundtrack) and continued not to be really too impressed until after Sochi. Both seasons with great programs, excellent contrast between them, great performance qualities, technical difficulty in spades, etc. Hope they will come up with sth equally good for 2016-7 too!

e

 

[Tanka]

I've just had a thought that Javi's life story makes a perfect modern Cinderella fairy tale.
Born in simple family, loved by his parent but not recognized by his step-sport-representatives, teased by other children for going into a poorly-popular sport, with a dream to go a ball one day. Then a fairy coachfather comes (even two of them, in sequence), and when their magic is combined with talent and hardworking, the boy may finally go to the ball with proper entourage.
There he gets recognized by the royal family of judges and after losing his glass medal in Sochi he returns to claim his position next season. And so he lives in the skating palace loved by everyone.

The only thing that is still missing is a royal wedding with an Olympic medal. It would make a perfect end of a competitive fairy tale.

 

[xibsuarz]

I've just had a thought that Javi's life story makes a perfect modern Cinderella fairy tale.
Born in simple family, loved by his parent but not recognized by his step-sport-representatives, teased by other children for going into a poorly-popular sport, with a dream to go a ball one day. Then a fairy coachfather comes (even two of them, in sequence), and when their magic is combined with talent and hardworking, the boy may finally go to the ball with proper entourage.
There he gets recognized by the royal family of judges and after losing his glass medal in Sochi he returns to claim his position next season. And so he lives in the skating palace loved by everyone.

The only thing that is still missing is a royal wedding with an Olympic medal. It would make a perfect end of a competitive fairy tale.

I've always thought Javi's story could make such a great movie. It has all the adversities a protagonist has and he overcomes them all in a way that seems too good to be true where are the script writers when you need them?

 

[honghe]

Both seasons with great programs, excellent contrast between them, great performance qualities, technical difficulty in spades, etc. Hope they will come up with sth equally good for 2016-7 too!

e

Black Betty and Guys and Dolls are probably two of my favorite Javi programs! I also really like Malagueña and it's a pity that we didn't get to see it perfectly clean.
I wonder when we are going to learn anything about his programs for 2016-17.

 

[honghe]

I've just had a thought that Javi's life story makes a perfect modern Cinderella fairy tale.
Born in simple family, loved by his parent but not recognized by his step-sport-representatives, teased by other children for going into a poorly-popular sport, with a dream to go a ball one day. Then a fairy coachfather comes (even two of them, in sequence), and when their magic is combined with talent and hardworking, the boy may finally go to the ball with proper entourage.
There he gets recognized by the royal family of judges and after losing his glass medal in Sochi he returns to claim his position next season. And so he lives in the skating palace loved by everyone.

The only thing that is still missing is a royal wedding with an Olympic medal. It would make a perfect end of a competitive fairy tale.

Fairy coachfather That's a good one.
Thank you Tanka, now I can't get the picture of Javi going to a ball in a pumpkin carriage out of my head.

I've always thought Javi's story could make such a great movie. It has all the adversities a protagonist has and he overcomes them all in a way that seems too good to be true where are the script writers when you need them?

He'd be different from the kind of super driven protagonists we see in a lot of sports films. A protagonist who does not show up at early morning practices? I am all for that!

 

[evergreen]

He'd be different from the kind of super driven protagonists we see in a lot of sports films. A protagonist who does not show up at early morning practices? I am all for that!

A protagonist whose Papa coach drags him out of bed every morning and tricks him to practice; Aunt Tracy has to look for his whereabouts 10 minutes after each stroking class; how fun is that

This is why I never care for reality shows and much prefer to watch sports channels & games/competitions. Until Tessa & Scott show, I was wondering why there was no reality show focusing on figure skating, a field full of pretty boys and girls, divas, goofy fellows, arrogant princes, let alone all the drama dating/love affair gossip/scandals

 

[evergreen]

They started seriously working on the quad combo? That meant that he dropped the axel combo from the program and started doing the three quads - maybe in practice also concentrated more on the quads?

Javi used to have problems to combine a 3-toe with other jumps, quad, 3 Axel, lutz. Otherwise I think they would upgrade the technical content of Javi's SP some time ago. Brian makes his students try different entries for their jumps/spins, if they are comfortable with the new transitions, then he considers using them in the programs.

For the next season, I would like to see Javi being more consistent with his SP, he has yet fully mastered a 2 quads SP.

I first saw him in Euros 2009 and was not impressed (apart from him being fast enough to tackle the Matrix soundtrack) and continued not to be really too impressed until after Sochi. Both seasons with great programs, excellent contrast between them, great performance qualities, technical difficulty in spades, etc. Hope they will come up with sth equally good for 2016-7 too!

it was Javi's natural jumping ability and musicality attracted me at the outset, but later on I am most amazed by his perseverance, tenacity and pure love of the sports.

 

[honghe]

Ok, I reloaded them on daily motion, please let me know if there is any problems.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4bzwn1
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4bzwqj

Dear evergreen I am so sorry for bothering you again with this, but somehow dailymotion still shows these videos as "publishing in progress"... I am not very familiar with dailymotion, but does it usually take that long for a video to show?

 

[evergreen]

Dear evergreen I am so sorry for bothering you again with this, but somehow dailymotion still shows these videos as "publishing in progress"... I am not very familiar with dailymotion, but does it usually take that long for a video to show?

Hi, Honghe, I reloaded the clips and please see if the links work this time， if not, please feel free to let me know.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4cgr6k
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4cgrit

 

[hamaguri]

FaOI is coming in this weekend. Javi's headed for Japan already?
Im sure news clip about FaOI will be aired from around tomorrow. Cant wait! Show season is really fun!

 

[evergreen]

FaOI is coming in this weekend. Javi's headed for Japan already?
Im sure news clip about FaOI will be aired from around tomorrow. Cant wait! Show season is really fun!

Boy, Javi is really making himself busy, SOI Japan, CSOI, and FaOI, non stopping after the worlds, but I bet he has been longing for sun & beach of Spain very much. :luv17: