Javier Fernandez

[Mango]

In case you wonder... Javi is better at rolling in grass than at playing golf:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFpxoVNji-4/

That shot was worse than I imagined.

I wonder what Tessa has to say about this, with her being such a great golfer. Probably the same as us.

 

[Mango]

ok, here is a video I want to share with you, as I cannot help laughing whenever I watch it, Javi & Alex are

2013 Ice Welcome party + Backstage

Evergreen thanks for sharing that! I feel Javier and and Alex should create some kind of funny ice show with their friends. Have an improv section in it so we get to see shenanigans.

 

[evergreen]

Evergreen thanks for sharing that! I feel Javier and and Alex should create some kind of funny ice show with their friends. Have an improv section in it so we get to see shenanigans.

You are very welcome.

I think it is the right time to rewatch the hilarious lion king clip

 

[xibsuarz]

In case you wonder... Javi is better at rolling in grass than at playing golf:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFpxoVNji-4/

He's always got the feeling he wasn't very good at golf. Last year, during an interview in Spain he said 'I must be very very bad at golf' even though he hadn't tried it before. Well, now he knows lol. At least he was very cute when he failed

El Pais has finally posted the English translation of that lengthy article from a few weeks back. Thank you Taan for posting it on The Edge!
http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/05/19/inenglish/1463661601_503856.html

 

[honghe]

You are very welcome.

I think it is the right time to rewatch the hilarious lion king clip

Haha thanks for posting this! Javi's baby Simba face
They for sure know how to keep themselves (and others) entertained while on tour
And lol at their reactions when they saw all kinds of delicious food

 

[tzazu]

Lol that's true.

Is that a tatoo on his leg? Looks like Olympic rings:shocked:

Yes, it looks like it:eeking:

 

[evergreen]

He's always got the feeling he wasn't very good at golf. Last year, during an interview in Spain he said 'I must be very very bad at golf' even though he hadn't tried it before. Well, now he knows lol. At least he was very cute when he failed

I think he over swing his body when he hit the ball; anyway, when swinging the club he cannot rotate like going for quad jumps :noshake:

El Pais has finally posted the English translation of that lengthy article from a few weeks back. Thank you Taan for posting it on The Edge!
http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/05/19/inenglish/1463661601_503856.html

Thank you for the link; it is always a good treat to read something nice about Javi, especially from his own country's media.

I am wondering whether Spanish tv channel sent any crew to TD Garden to report the worlds on site, cause I have seen Javi's interviews after victory by Sweden TV, French TV, CBC, etc., but nothing from Spanish tv .:con3:

I just uploaded these interview clips in case anyone is interested.

2016 Worlds Javier Fernandez FS Interview CBC

2016 Worlds Javier Fernandez FS Interview French TV

 

[evergreen]

Haha thanks for posting this! Javi's baby Simba face
They for sure know how to keep themselves (and others) entertained while on tour
And lol at their reactions when they saw all kinds of delicious food

My pleasure. You can go to Shisibs' channel on youtube for their Vlogs, Alex & Maia are really good at producing fantastic clips.

 

[honghe]

My pleasure. You can go to Shisibs' channel on youtube for their Vlogs, Alex & Maia are really good at producing fantastic clips.

Their videos are so entertaining
And this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNULtdScS_M

Thank you evergreen also for the interview clips!
Lol Javi really used "This is the last competition of the season" as a motivation. It's kind of like students thinking "summer break is almost here" while trying to get through finals week?

 

[evergreen]

Lol that's true.

Is that a tatoo on his leg? Looks like Olympic rings:shocked:

Here you go, Sonia and Javier showed their tattoo at the beginning of this clip

 

[evergreen]

Their videos are so entertaining
And this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNULtdScS_M

Javi is such a good silent movie actor:luv17:

Lol Javi really used "This is the last competition of the season" as a motivation. It's kind of like students thinking "summer break is almost here" while trying to get through finals week?

This has always been his biggest motivation when Javi goes to the worlds each year. He was so cute and adorable here

Additional clips of 2016 worlds:

2016 Worlds Men SP Preview CBC


2016 Worlds Men SP Recap Javier Fernandez Patrick Chan Interview CBC


2016 Worlds Men FS Preview + Recap CBC


2016 Worlds Men Group 4 FS Warm up CBC

2016 Worlds Gala Intermission Kurt Browning Recap Men Event CBC

2016 Worlds Men Greenroom clips RaiSport

 

[honghe]

This has always been his biggest motivation when Javi goes to the worlds each year. He was so cute and adorable here

Additional clips of 2016 worlds:

2016 Worlds Men SP Preview CBC


2016 Worlds Men SP Recap Javier Fernandez Patrick Chan Interview CBC


2016 Worlds Men FS Preview + Recap CBC


2016 Worlds Men Group 4 FS Warm up CBC

2016 Worlds Gala Intermission Kurt Browning Recap Men Event CBC

2016 Worlds Men Greenroom clips RaiSport

Awww Javi from his "Pirates of the Caribbean" days:luv17: He was so young and bubbly and adorable (and still is)
So vacation after Worlds really has always been a big carrot for him

Thank you so much for the clips! I've always loved CBC's coverage of skating events:luv17: And I like Kurt's hat
It's nice to relieve Worlds 2016 a little bit through these clips. Watching them reminds me of how emotional the whole process could be and how much pressure each of them was under. It just makes me admire all the skaters even more. To watch Patrick skate is always a pleasure, and it's also nice to see him smile in the interview the day after FS. He does sound very mature in the interview.
And Javi:luv17: I do agree with what's said in one of the videos, that his personality and the ability to reach out to the audience is remarkable. Even when I show clips to friends and family members who aren't skating fans, Javi still captures their attention.

2016 Worlds Men SP Recap Javier Fernandez Patrick Chan Interview CBC
2016 Worlds Men Greenroom clips RaiSport

These two are blocked by Youtube

 

[evergreen]

These two are blocked by Youtube

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

Patrick and Javi are buddies; in a fan meeting, Javi said that he had so many friends, but he named three of them, whom were Patrick Chan, Florent Amodio and Sergei Voronov. Javi likes Patrick because he always speaks from his mind. Of course, Javi also admires Patrick's skating skill and came to his defense in one of the:interviews

I think that when you have a program so full of stuff, when you can't even rest - you need to do your choreography, transitions, spins; you can't even breathe, because you have to concentrate on the levels, then you have to jump around, you cannot stop. So when you are at this level, it's riskier, but when you do a good program, the score is going to be much higher. It's true that years ago the programs used to be clean most of the time, but it's very different now. When you go for a jump and you just skate normally, like in practice, then you can land it clean; but if you put a lot of stuff - steps, turns etc. before it, it's a bigger risk. Our programs are really hard. Sometimes people criticized Patrick [Chan] that he is falling a lot in his programs. But Patrick goes thousand percent for every single step. We put more and more and more in our programs and at the end of the day it is so difficult with all that stuff that it is very complicated [to perform clean].

I guess fans may get better idea how Javi was able to land those difficult jumps such as quads, but pop easier jumps in the latter half of the program. He just run out of his tank to land the triples towards the end and he rather doubled jump than took a fall. Unlike Yuzuru, he would be desperate to make the rotation of the jumps to earn more points, despite knowing he is probably not able to land them.

However, I noticed that Javi now rarely pop jumps ever since his FS of 2015 Worlds; he has more confidence when he is going for 3 lutz, the hardest jump for him. He is really tackling his weakness, such as using 3 lutz in his show programs.

 

[honghe]

Patrick and Javi are buddies; in a fan meeting, Javi said that he had so many friends, but he named three of them, whom were Patrick Chan, Florent Amodio and Sergei Voronov. Javi likes Patrick because he always speaks from his mind. Of course, Javi also admires Patrick's skating skill

I like them both so I'm happy to know that Patrick and Javi get along quite well with each other
And everyone should admire Patrick's skating skills:agree:

Javi does seem to be friendly with other skaters he used to train with under Morozov. Amodio, Voronov... and of course Miki
And speaking of Amodio, here's a picture (taken at this year's Euros, I think) he recently posted: https://www.instagram.com/p/BFmUQAeEv4T/ In the comments you can see Righini, Javi, Kovtun and Brezina communicating in emoji

As for Javi popping his triple jumps prior to this season... apart from probably being tired I think a certain part of it could also be mental (focus, confidence, etc.) as he sometimes popped jumps during his SP, too. Anyway, I am really happy to see him getting better in this aspect. That's yet another thing I like about him: he really keeps getting better.

 

[evergreen]

I forgot he also named Oda, his former training mate as one of his friends. His two ex girl friends was also Morozov's students, Cathy Reeds and Cortney Mansour. Boy， Morozov did change his life big time.

As for Javi popping his triple jumps prior to this season... apart from probably being tired I think a certain part of it could also be mental (focus, confidence, etc.) as he sometimes popped jumps during his SP, too. Anyway, I am really happy to see him getting better in this aspect. That's yet another thing I like about him: he really keeps getting better.

He did oftentimes lose focus in the competitions, as Brian wrote in his book, that Javi is good at everything but it is very difficult for him to stay focus. If you watch his free skate of 2013 worlds CBC version, Kurt Browning said that he had hard time to get this boy, as his mind was in and out of game from time to time. Sometimes I even suspect whether he has ADHD conditions, based on all the reports/comments from his coaches that when Javi was little, it was hard to make him sit still, or do repetitive practice, he got bored quickly and hated to practice elements he disliked. Again, this is my wild guess. It seems that he could hook on play stations for hours. He told his fans in a meeting that his doctor recommended him to play video games, which is helpful to keep his mind off figure skating, he was more than thrilled to take the medical advice

Another reason he pop triples was that both 3 lutz and 3 flip are not his forte and he had trouble with 3-3 combination. IIRC, his 3-3 for SP in 09-10 was 3 toe-3toe. How many times he had received edge calls for his 3lutz & flip? Hanyu said in one of his interviews that Javi had landed all the 5 quads :eeking:. However, he has really improved a lot 2015-16 season, landing 3 lutz & 3flip consistently in competitions and shows.

Speaking of Patrick's skating skills, skating fans must see him live to appreciate how amazing his edge work is. I can watch him plain stroking on ice for a whole day. In 2014 Olympic season, he was definitely an all-around superior skater. Watching him and Hanyu back-to-back free skate at GPF, I had a hard time to get his lost. But Sochi game was another story. What a pity.

As to Javi, his unique presence on ice is striking enough to reach audience through computer/tv screen, but again, fans need to watch his skating in the arena to get what a charming skater he is, and his theatrical flare is so rare in the skating world, citing Kurt Browning's comments, "Jaiver Fernandez is the most personable skater and people fall in love with him as soon as they saw his skating".

 

[eppen]

Thanks for posting all the links - there were even some I had not seen before

There was speculation on 2015 Europeans and how he looked particularly after the FS. If I remember correctly he did have some knee problem before going into Europeans which could have affected his training. But at the small medals ceremony Q&A he said that after his performance he was certain to have lost the gold and was upset about that. Which pretty much explains how depressed he looked before the final result was clear.

I loved the crazy week in Spain and particularly how he was selected to represent other athletes at the UCAM and LaLiga4Sports events. He was certainly the man of the moment (And thanks for the translations - I read and listen to Spanish ok, but details get often lost...)

It is unfortunate that the Kiira Korpi inteview from Bratislava has not turned up anywhere - I even tried asking YLE to publish it, but nothing :-(

Then I've begun to wonder about what his annual income is. Based on info from the ISU announcements of competitions, he earned roughly USD 130 000 from them, then there are some sponsors (not very many, but still), something from the Spanish federation and finally the tours that apparently bring in even more money than the competitions... Of course, it is difficult to know how much he has to pay taxes (and where?! - I don't even want to think about the logistics of that) and what his net income would be. I should imagine that he is doing ok right now and has been ok for maybe a couple of years?

E

 

[honghe]

He did oftentimes lose focus in the competitions, as Brian wrote in his book, that Javi is good at everything but it is very difficult for him to stay focus. If you watch his free skate of 2013 worlds CBC version, Kurt Browning said that he had hard time to get this boy, as his mind was in and out of game from time to time. Sometimes I even suspect whether he has ADHD conditions, based on all the reports/comments from his coaches that when Javi was little, it was hard to make him sit still, or do repetitive practice, he got bored quickly and hated to practice elements he disliked. Again, this is my wild guess. It seems that he could hook on play stations for hours. He told his fans in a meeting that his doctor recommended him to play video games, which is helpful to keep his mind off figure skating, he was more than thrilled to take the medical advice

That free skate at Worlds 2013... IIRC it was like he landed a jump, then popped the next one, then landed one, then popped one again ... But that FS program will never stop being adorable.
Javi was probably the kind of kids who had too much energy to burn but unwilling to follow direction... He probably gave his coaches and parents quite a lot of headache lol.
I don't know whether he was serious about the medical advice or he was half joking. If the latter, I'd like to have doctors as his, too
Javi does seem to like video game A LOT. I remember this quote from an interview with Brian in 2014 :

'I was talking with Javier about competing in figures last night, and I could see him drifting off, thinking, 'Uh, I want to play with my Xbox.'

Patrick was basically the best skater for the quadrennium leading to 2014 but... What happened at the Olympic games was indeed a pity.
(And for more than 30 years I don't think there has been a skater who won 3 Worlds in a row came to the Olympics the following year and won... this sport can be so unpredictable.)

 

[honghe]

There was speculation on 2015 Europeans and how he looked particularly after the FS. If I remember correctly he did have some knee problem before going into Europeans which could have affected his training. But at the small medals ceremony Q&A he said that after his performance he was certain to have lost the gold and was upset about that. Which pretty much explains how depressed he looked before the final result was clear.

I thought he knew he kind of left the door open but I didn't know that he thought he had already lost the gold... well it's understandable that he looked so pale in the green room.
It was a bad day for pretty much all the skaters, as a lot of people were making mistakes. One of the commentators were like "how are they even going to show up at the Worlds against the four continent skaters?"

 

[eppen]

I thought he knew he kind of left the door open but I didn't know that he thought he had already lost the gold... well it's understandable that he looked so pale in the green room.
It was a bad day for pretty much all the skaters, as a lot of people were making mistakes. One of the commentators were like "how are they even going to show up at the Worlds against the four continent skaters?"

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!

Btw, Kurt Browning won the Worlds 1989-1991 and then lost the Olympic title in 1992 - I wonder if that is a Canadian specialty? Yagudin won three in a row 1998-2000, but lost the pre-Olympic season to Plushenko and went to win 2002 OG. Scott Hamilton is a third guy to get 3 in a row in 1981-1983 and he won 1984 OG. I would have given the gold to Patrick, but that just was not written in the stars I guess.

Just remembered something that I had thought of writing about here, but have not really had the time. 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...).

Well, anyway, Javi's practice sessions have of course been of special interest and it was cool to realize suddenly in Barcelona that he has a very tight routine. He always starts with an easy warm-up, just skating, maybe some simple moves in the field etc. Depending a little bit on when in the session his music will be played, he starts to do jumps at some point and they will always be in the same order: 3Lo, 3Lz, 3F-3S, Axels, quads. If something does not work right away he usually tries again immediately, but if second or third try are still no good (like with the quads this season), he takes a pause and does steps, spins or something else before trying that jump again. The warm-up routine is exactly the same although with a tighter time plan - and sometimes he is left with a bad/really bad try of a quad before the session ends. (With the other skaters doing their runthroughs there's usually always also aborted jumps which reduces the number of possible tries.)

I don't know if other skaters have such routines - everyone of ocurse takes a bit of warm-up time in the beginning and then some seem to start jumping quads immediately afterwards. I think I have to try and follow some other skaters next season to get a better idea. But I guess there are as many strategies and/or needs as there are skaters. But I kind of like the Javi routine <3 (although I have wondered whether it is a good idea to do the quads last).

E

 

[honghe]

Btw, Kurt Browning won the Worlds 1989-1991 and then lost the Olympic title in 1992 - I wonder if that is a Canadian specialty? Yagudin won three in a row 1998-2000, but lost the pre-Olympic season to Plushenko and went to win 2002 OG. Scott Hamilton is a third guy to get 3 in a row in 1981-1983 and he won 1984 OG. I would have given the gold to Patrick, but that just was not written in the stars I guess.

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 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.

Just remembered something that I had thought of writing about here, but have not really had the time. 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...).

Well, anyway, Javi's practice sessions have of course been of special interest and it was cool to realize suddenly in Barcelona that he has a very tight routine. He always starts with an easy warm-up, just skating, maybe some simple moves in the field etc. Depending a little bit on when in the session his music will be played, he starts to do jumps at some point and they will always be in the same order: 3Lo, 3Lz, 3F-3S, Axels, quads. If something does not work right away he usually tries again immediately, but if second or third try are still no good (like with the quads this season), he takes a pause and does steps, spins or something else before trying that jump again. The warm-up routine is exactly the same although with a tighter time plan - and sometimes he is left with a bad/really bad try of a quad before the session ends. (With the other skaters doing their runthroughs there's usually always also aborted jumps which reduces the number of possible tries.)

I don't know if other skaters have such routines - everyone of ocurse takes a bit of warm-up time in the beginning and then some seem to start jumping quads immediately afterwards. I think I have to try and follow some other skaters next season to get a better idea. But I guess there are as many strategies and/or needs as there are skaters. But I kind of like the Javi routine <3 (although I have wondered whether it is a good idea to do the quads last).

E

You are lucky to have gone to the Euros and GPF!

Samohin tried about a dozen 4lo during practice session before a competition? Kids these days...
Thank you for the info about practice sessions and warm-up! It's interesting to know! I have not paid much attention to how people do such things so I don't have much to say here. But I'd imagine everyone finds something that works for him/her and stick to it as long as it's still working?