Javier Fernandez

[honghe]

Thank you very much for the explanation, Sol! I also remember reading somewhere that he wasn't a very good student at school.

We now know where the tan is from & that Miki is still in Spain. Hope Javi enjoys some good vacation time before rehabing and starting to work on his programs again!

 

[evergreen]

Many thanks, Sol, for the information. I also read Javi did not excel in school, but he mentioned that he is good at drawing this may come from his natural artistic side

He will fly to Toronto after 2 weeks of vacation for the new long program, won't he? Wish Miki can go with him and we might have a sneak peek of his Elvis number via her instagram.

 

[honghe]

I think he's supposed to fly to Toronto at some point during the summer for the new FS but I'm not sure when. Wasn't he supposed to rest for 10 days after surgery, and then do some rehab? I wonder if two weeks in Spain would be enough. I hope he takes good care and doesn't rush anything.

 

[evergreen]

I think he's supposed to fly to Toronto at some point during the summer for the new FS but I'm not sure when. Wasn't he supposed to rest for 10 days after surgery, and then do some rehab? I wonder if two weeks in Spain would be enough. I hope he takes good care and doesn't rush anything.

In the recent TCL interview, he said that he would take 2 weeks vacation after FaOI show and then go to Toronto to work with David Wilson for his long program next season. He is supposed to return to Spain afterwards, when I assume he will work with Antonio on his SP. He has scheduled to headline one show in Madrid, on 12th August and another in Andorra on 19th August, following by a summer camp collaborating Brian Orser. He will then return to Toronto for another summer camp at TCC in which he participates every summer since 2011. In any case, I understand that he will resume training sometime in August like he did last year.

Just learned Florent Amodio is added as another male single skater of Team Europe for Japan Open, Javi must be very happy to have him as the teammate.

 

[honghe]

In the recent TCL interview, he said that he would take 2 weeks vacation after FaOI show and then go to Toronto to work with David Wilson for his long program next season. He is supposed to return to Spain afterwards, when I assume he will work with Antonio on his SP.

:shocked: I just realized that there is only a little over a month before the show in Spain. The summer is not as long as I thought... I wish Javi good health, good rest, and everything he needs for the new season. I don't know when we'll learn more about his new FS but I'm ingrigued Hope it will be a great one.
I don't know exactly when he will be working on his programs, but I guess if he is indeed working with Antonio again for Malaguena we'll see some photos once they get together. Antonio posted photos last year when they worked on Malaguena, and he also posted photos when he worked with Elena/Ruslan (he even used the #Ruslena tag once )

BTW, Toronto seems to be the place to be these past few days. It looks like everyone has been there Mirai, Ashley, Adam... I'm sure there are others whom I can't remember right now.

 

[honghe]

Just learned Florent Amodio is added as another male single skater of Team Europe for Japan Open, Javi must be very happy to have him as the teammate.

Wow!!! I hope it will be a fun event for them!

 

[evergreen]

:shocked: I just realized that there is only a little over a month before the show in Spain. The summer is not as long as I thought... I wish Javi good health, good rest, and everything he needs for the new season.

Javi is getting busier during off-season and has to cut his vacation short I do wish he could have a good time home, enjoying the sun and breach of Spain, as I envisage he can barely take a long break after 2017 worlds. Olympics season usually starts earlier than the regular seasons.

BTW, Toronto seems to be the place to be these past few days. It looks like everyone has been there Mirai, Ashley, Adam... I'm sure there are others whom I can't remember right now.

It seems everyone is getting their programs done at around July and the most sought after choreographers are in Toronto, i.e. David Wilson, Jeff Buttle, Shae-Lynn Bourne. Besides David Wilson, Tom Dickson is another choreographer whose works I am found of very much, e.g, the programs he did for Yukina Ōta, one of my favorite lady skaters. Unfortunately, he has not worked with a lot of top skaters in senior level in recent years, and the majority of his clients are junior ladies; both Adam Rippon and Satoko Miyahara will work with him for their free skates next season and I am looking forward to them.

 

[honghe]

Javi is getting busier during off-season and has to cut his vacation short I do wish he could have a good time home, enjoying the sun and breach of Spain, as I envisage he can barely take a long break after 2017 worlds. Olympics season usually starts earlier than the regular seasons.

I guess we can no longer complain about Javi trying to make his summer break too long He for sure loves the sun and beach so I hope he at least can enjoy some good time on the beach, both this summer and next summer.

It seems everyone is getting their programs done at around July and the most sought after choreographers are in Toronto, i.e. David Wilson, Jeff Buttle, Shae-Lynn Bourne. Besides David Wilson, Tom Dickson is another choreographer whose works I am found of very much, e.g, the programs he did for Yukina Ōta, one of my favorite lady skaters. Unfortunately, he has not worked with a lot of top skaters in senior level in recent years, and the majority of his clients are junior ladies; both Adam Rippon and Satoko Miyahara will work with him for their free skates next season and I am looking forward to them.

topic:I think Tom Dickson has worked with both Adam and Satoko before? I don't know about the music choice for Adam's program next season, but I remember reading somewhere that Satoko will skate to Star Wars? That seems like it could be an ambitious program and I look forward to seeing it.

 

[evergreen]

I guess we can no longer complain about Javi trying to make his summer break too long He for sure loves the sun and beach so I hope he at least can enjoy some good time on the beach, both this summer and next summer.

When I started following Javi, it was really hard to trace him during off-season since he did not do any shows. IIRC, he signed with IMG shortly after he trained with Brain Orser and got more invitations for shows, especially in South Korea and Japan.

topic:I think Tom Dickson has worked with both Adam and Satoko before? I don't know about the music choice for Adam's program next season, but I remember reading somewhere that Satoko will skate to Star Wars? That seems like it could be an ambitious program and I look forward to seeing it.

Yes, Satoko's Firedance SP and Miss Saigon FS were done by Tom Dickson, so did Adam's SP last season and his free skates for 13-14 & 14-15 season, IIRC. I think that Satoko, being one of the most musical skaters in the senior ladies' field, is very well suited with the styles Tom usually gives to his lady clients, a good variety and originality of angular movements to angular music, coupled with absolutely rhythmic execution which often creates extra flares and drama.

 

[honghe]

When I started following Javi, it was really hard to trace him during off-season since he did not do any shows. IIRC, he signed with IMG shortly after he trained with Brain Orser and got more invitations for shows, especially in South Korea and Japan.

It still amazes me how early you started to follow his career:2thumbs: You are so much better at recognize the diamond in rough than I can even wish to be!
Did Valentina mention that Javi went to live with her family at some point, or am I imagining it? Was that during the off season?

Yes, Satoko's Firedance SP and Miss Saigon FS were done by Tom Dickson, so did Adam's SP last season and his free skates for 13-14 & 14-15 season, IIRC. I think that Satoko, being one of the most musical skaters in the senior ladies' field, is very well suited with the styles Tom usually gives to his lady clients, a good variety and originality of angular movements to angular music, coupled with absolutely rhythmic execution which often creates extra flares and drama.

topic:She for sure is very musical. Star Wars seems a bit different from what I would expect from her, but that's part of the reason why it is more intriguing.
Just out of curiosity--and you don't have to answer if you don't want to--are David Wilson and Tom Dickson the active choreographers you like the most? Or are there any others?

 

[evergreen]

It still amazes me how early you started to follow his career:2thumbs: You are so much better at recognize the diamond in rough than I can even wish to be!
Did Valentina mention that Javi went to live with her family at some point, or am I imagining it? Was that during the off season?

TBH, instead of spotting talent, most of my skater-chaser experiences that I would relate to are "attraction" at first sight, and it usually are joyful & memorable journey to follow the skaters' throughout their career.

Yes, you are right, when Morozov moved his camp around the world, there was a period during the season when Javi lived in Valentina's house in Italy, as both of them did not want to travel with Morozov; Javi played with one of Valentina's brothers a lot, since they are about the same age and Valentina's mother took Javi as her own child; how sweet and lovely:luv17:

topic:She for sure is very musical. Star Wars seems a bit different from what I would expect from her, but that's part of the reason why it is more intriguing.
Just out of curiosity--and you don't have to answer if you don't want to--are David Wilson and Tom Dickson the active choreographers you like the most? Or are there any others?

Yes, these two choreographers are my top favorites, along with Igor Bobrin; I also like most of work done by Tarasova and Sandra Bezic, but both of them retired from choreographing for competitive programs.

 

[eppen]

He's back in business. From Hielo Espanol:

"Mañana Javier Fernández skater recibirá de manos de la Presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, el premio Siete Estrellas como mejor deportista madrileño de esta temporada.

Horas antes, visitará (9:00 horas) a los niños del campamento de verano que organiza la SER (Sociedad Española de Reumatología), a los que dará una charla sobre la superación. En este campamento, participan casi 40 niños de entre 8 y 14 años, con enfermedades reumáticas, y procedentes de toda España. Los objetivos principales de esta actividad son fomentar la autonomía, enseñar hábitos de vida saludables y favorecer un mejor abordaje de su patología."

He was awarded the Siete Estrellas prize as the best athlete from Madrid for the last season already earlier in the summer, but he will receive it tomorrow from the mayor of Madrid. And in the morning he'll pay a visit to a summer camp of children with rheumatic diseases.

Well, at least he had a holiday of almost two weeks...

E

 

[honghe]

TBH, instead of spotting talent, most of my skater-chaser experiences that I would relate to are "attraction" at first sight, and it usually are joyful & memorable journey to follow the skaters' throughout their career.

I like this mindset of yours! It's a great way of looking at the sport

Yes, you are right, when Morozov moved his camp around the world, there was a period during the season when Javi lived in Valentina's house in Italy, as both of them did not want to travel with Morozov; Javi played with one of Valentina's brothers a lot, since they are about the same age and Valentina's mother took Javi as her own child; how sweet and lovely:luv17:

That's very nice of Valentina and her family :luv17: I like how these skaters get along and care about each other. The situation with the frequent traveling probably wasn't ideal but they seemed to be there for each other.

Well, at least he had a holiday of almost two weeks...

E

Visiting the camp for children with rheumatic desease is a very good thing to do, and I am happy for him that he's getting more recognition in his home city. But his summer really is quite busy. Glad that he has already enjoyed the sun and beach a little. Hopefully when he starts training again he will come back to the hard work feeling refreshed.

Is it just me or is he pretty busy everytime he is back in Spain recently? I remember Alex and Maia joked with Javi that they only saw him for 5 minutes in Barcelona lol. And Javi protested, saying it was more like 10 minutes
Hopefully it is translating into more interest in the sport in Spain. I was just thinking about this the other day, that age-wise, the 2017-2018 season could potentially be the last competitive season for most if not all of the current senior single skaters of Team Spain. (The ice dancers could probably continue beyond 2018, or at least I hope so.) So I really wish more people could support them as they try to make it to the Olympics.

 

[evergreen]

That's very nice of Valentina and her family :luv17: I like how these skaters get along and care about each other. The situation with the frequent traveling probably wasn't ideal but they seemed to be there for each other.

That is why those skaters trained with Morozov in these years are very close to each other, they practically train, live & travel together almost 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during the seasons, particularly in the season of 2010-11.

Is it just me or is he pretty busy everytime he is back in Spain recently? I remember Alex and Maia joked with Javi that they only saw him for 5 minutes in Barcelona lol. And Javi protested, saying it was more like 10 minutes
Hopefully it is translating into more interest in the sport in Spain. I was just thinking about this the other day, that age-wise, the 2017-2018 season could potentially be the last competitive season for most if not all of the current senior single skaters of Team Spain. (The ice dancers could probably continue beyond 2018, or at least I hope so.) So I really wish more people could support them as they try to make it to the Olympics.

Perhaps Javi does not live and train in Madrid most of the year and Spanish media only get to interview him when he is home, I assume that his manager manages to schedule all the PR/charity events within a certain number of days; it is not only about getting endorsements for him, the more media coverage Javi gets, the better he could help to promote the sports in Spain. Usually people would be more interested in an athlete when he/she is still competing and is capable to bring more and more victories.

Yes, ice dancers normally have longer competitive career than free style skaters. When Sara split with Adria, she was teased by one of interviewers that perhaps she may team up with Javi, Sara laughed about it and said Javi was too good at what he is doing to be an ice dancer. here is her interview.

However, perhaps Javi could consider switching to ice dancing after 2018, I am wondering whether he is still interested in competing by then but it seems that Miki is sort of anxious to settle down.

 

[honghe]

It is perhaps interesting to imagine but I doubt Javi would want to compete in another discipline after 2018. He does not strike me as the kind of athletes who don't know what to do when they are not competing against others. Plus he'll have a lot to learn if he wants to seriously try ice dancing, and he'll need to find a partner, which is not always easy. Not to mention that now with Sara and Adri both having new partners, Spain has at least three senior dance teams. Can he compete against them? Even if he somehow can, it would make very little sense to do so.

That said, he does seem to like to try some dance stuff with other male skaters at gala practices I think that's just them goofing around but it's usually very cute:luv17: IIRC there was even a video of him doing twizzles with Richard Dornbush.

 

[eppen]

And the first pics from this morning from Javi himself
https://twitter.com/javierfernandez/status/752765003753746433

From SER: https://twitter.com/SEReumatologia/status/752765885073555456
https://twitter.com/SEReumatologia/status/752758147601854464

Trace of a goatee there

The interest his brief visits to Spain generate is good, I would say, for him as well as for the skating in Spain. He is also getting to be somewhat known - during the European Championships in football when Spain payed their last match, there was even a tweet referencing him - if I understood (and remember) correctly it said something like "the Spanish payers are sliding more than JF on ice"...

E

 

[evergreen]

It is perhaps interesting to imagine but I doubt Javi would want to compete in another discipline after 2018. He does not strike me as the kind of athletes who don't know what to do when they are not competing against others. Plus he'll have a lot to learn if he wants to seriously try ice dancing, and he'll need to find a partner, which is not always easy. Not to mention that now with Sara and Adri both having new partners, Spain has at least three senior dance teams. Can he compete against them? Even if he somehow can, it would make very little sense to do so.

That said, he does seem to like to try some dance stuff with other male skaters at gala practices I think that's just them goofing around but it's usually very cute:luv17: IIRC there was even a video of him doing twizzles with Richard Dornbush.

This could be an imaginary thing for fun, lol, I believe if Javi has choice, he prefers to play video games all day long than works his butt off to learn the steps, dance spins and other elements of ice dance, plus he will probably be burnt out after 2018 Olympics, I am even not sure that he would compete in the worlds afterwards. Besides, Javi has made his mind at very early age that he wants to be a coach when he is no longer competing.

Speaking of Javi's trial of ice dancing, the show program he did with his sister, Laura, skating to the song of "I believe in you" by Il Divo and Celine Dion, was beautiful and touching, despite of lack of partnering skills.

I saw Javi and Michal Brezina did Y spiral in mirror image position to each other at gala practice in 14 Euros, their Y were ugly, to be honest, and the gliding were shaking and ridiculously funny, until Ondřej Hotárek skated underneath their legs and broke them apart. In addition, Javi wore his stuffy team goose-down jacket and Michal wore Javi's Spanish team warm-up jacket.

 

[honghe]

And the first pics from this morning from Javi himself
https://twitter.com/javierfernandez/status/752765003753746433

From SER: https://twitter.com/SEReumatologia/status/752765885073555456
https://twitter.com/SEReumatologia/status/752758147601854464

Trace of a goatee there

Thanks eppen for the links to photos! I was going to make a comment that even in some of these photos his eyelashes look beautiful, then I saw the comment about the goatee Why did you do this to me lol

The interest his brief visits to Spain generate is good, I would say, for him as well as for the skating in Spain. He is also getting to be somewhat known - during the European Championships in football when Spain payed their last match, there was even a tweet referencing him - if I understood (and remember) correctly it said something like "the Spanish payers are sliding more than JF on ice"...

E

A figure skating reference made during a soccer game!! (Although I felt bad for the Spanish national team. And I'm a fan of Iniesta. I don't know whether there will be another trip to Euro for him, or even another trip to the World Cup. So it also felt kind of like the end of an era for me )

 

[evergreen]

The interest his brief visits to Spain generate is good, I would say, for him as well as for the skating in Spain. He is also getting to be somewhat known - during the European Championships in football when Spain payed their last match, there was even a tweet referencing him - if I understood (and remember) correctly it said something like "the Spanish payers are sliding more than JF on ice"...

E

Thank you very much for the links to Javi's most recent photos, eppen

It is great to know that Javi is becoming one of the iconic athletes in Spain, throughout the years he has being worked hard to put his name in the figure skating and make the sports known in his home country, and finally his hard work begins to pay off.

 

[honghe]

I saw Javi and Michal Brezina did Y spiral in mirror image position to each other at gala practice in 14 Euros, their Y were ugly, to be honest, and the gliding were shaking and ridiculously funny, until Ondřej Hotárek skated underneath their legs and broke them apart. In addition, Javi wore his stuffy team goose-down jacket and Michal wore Javi's Spanish team warm-up jacket.

That's so funny Given how ugly their Ys were, Ondrej was probably doing them a big favor breaking them apart And Michal wearing Javi's Spanish team jacket:luv17:
I remember reading in some reports that Guillaume and Javi did a pair sit spin at gala practice at either Euros or Worlds.