Javier Fernandez

[eppen]

A new day in Beijing. I slept like a log which is not surprising considering that I had not slept during the flight at all. But poor evergreen was so upset bythe SP that she stayed up long after we parted in the evening. She also has access to chinese social media which explains part of it (whereas I am blocked from my usual channels).

So this morning we went to the Beijing Zoo too see the pandas. It is right next to the hotel and rink, so it was a lovely morning walk (6,6 km). 8 pandas...

After the rare and cute bears we decided to hunt the even rarer (but equally cute) species - the Spanish figure skater (in addition to get starting order etc from the official hotel in a situation where you don't have access to your usual internet resources). We sat having coffee and tea at the lobby waiting for him to return from morning practice - I wanted to see how he appeared. The fan groups waiting all the skaters were amusing us in the mean while.

He eventually came back with the Spanish judge, Daniel Delfa, and I think it was the rep from the Spanish fed. Looking maybe not completely relaxed and going straight to the elevators. A little weirdly the fan crowd did not even show any interesting in him - they were all over Zhou, Reynolds and Aaron...

Hope the practice went good and that he had gotten a pep talk from Toronto etc. Hope all is good tonight!

E

 

[Interspectator]

A new day in Beijing. I slept like a log which is not surprising considering that I had not slept during the flight at all. But poor evergreen was so upset bythe SP that she stayed up long after we parted in the evening. She also has access to chinese social media which explains part of it (whereas I am blocked from my usual channels).

So this morning we went to the Beijing Zoo too see the pandas. It is right next to the hotel and rink, so it was a lovely morning walk (6,6 km). 8 pandas...

After the rare and cute bears we decided to hunt the even rarer (but equally cute) species - the Spanish figure skater (in addition to get starting order etc from the official hotel in a situation where you don't have access to your usual internet resources). We sat having coffee and tea at the lobby waiting for him to return from morning practice - I wanted to see how he appeared. The fan groups waiting all the skaters were amusing us in the mean while.

He eventually came back with the Spanish judge, Daniel Delfa, and I think it was the rep from the Spanish fed. Looking maybe not completely relaxed and going straight to the elevators. A little weirdly the fan crowd did not even show any interesting in him - they were all over Zhou, Reynolds and Aaron...

Hope the practice went good and that he had gotten a pep talk from Toronto etc. Hope all is good tonight!

E

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm cheering for Javi to come back strong in the FS. People are so quick to write a skater off after one bad skate. Javi can do it, he has it in him.

 

[Mussique]

Yesterday I had the strangest day ever including having to wait for 4hourz locked out my hotel room because I had lent my card to one of my roommates and then forgot all about it. before that, watching Javi's SP outside a cafe with free WiFi freezing in the street with people passing looking at me with weird faces. And what a discouraging SP it was!! On the good hand I absolutely loved the spins and positions, and he managed to keep the flow going. Which I know is terribly difficult after a mistake.
On the other hand, well, you know what's in the other hand.

Let's hope today goes better for everyone!! I really want to watch the LP but I'm scared to do so. And it's not going to be easy anyway, because I need to both find a break and a cafe with free WiFi :lol:

I was seeing some comments in the COC feed about him being disappointed with the answer his program has elicited. But I think it's maybe because he really needs to skate it clean.
It's got a different kind of power from Malagueña. Malagueña had your eyes on it from the first second because it was explicit, fire.
This Chaplin walks a really delicate balance between melancholy, elegance and a tiny bit of dorkiness. It's not the Chaplin they're used to, the one that jokes and puts his feet sideways, even if he also can do that, sometimes, to lighten the mood. This Chaplin is the Chaplin that drags something out of you with the music, the one that makes you smile but is also a touch sad, a touch dramatic. Not done correctly it can be cheesy —and he does it perfectly, but if he wants to really reach the juzgues he needs a clean program. FS public is very, very, very picky.

Thank you eppen for your reports!!


GOOD LUCK JAVI!!! you've done it before, you can surely do it now.

 

[Jaana]

Again, thanks for the reports!!! Hopefully he has talked with Brian and got some pointers... I´m sure it must he really difficult for Javi to compete here without having Brian´s support. I have understood that he will be in France (because he will be in NHK for Hanyu).

 

[Henni147]

Oh Javi, what happened there? :sad46: Only 6th place in China and hardly any chance to qualify for the Final in Nagoya... This is really sad for a skater of his format. Can only hope that he's able to regain some strength until Olympics!

 

[Bcash]

Not making GPF certainly puts a lot more pressure on him having to his best at Europeans leading up to the Olympics. Gotta have at least one convincing international competition. He said he's been training well, so this might be something with the mental game. I wish him all the best.

 

[eppen]

If there was one thing I really did not want to do, it was having to write a post like this...

The warm-up was good, he got every jump out good or at least ok, no traffic. The last moments before the program he did look tense, leaning against the borders just before going in...and then, that... He even lost the performance towards the end mostly going through the motions.

And looked totally unhappy in the kiss and cry.

I have no words really. The GPF is out even if he wins France. I hope he can pick up the pieces and redeem himself in two weeks time. This feels like 2013 all over again, but at least this time he has two superb programs in the pocket (and better costumes).

Evergreen is traumatized and blames me for this because I talked about Chanesque melt-down situation. I was merely trying to picture the worst case scenario to not make it happen - usually works, but not tonight...

Again, I hope he can take whatever there was to learn from this event and use it with his best ability!

E

 

[cathlen]

I wonder if Brian not beimg here affected him somehow? He usually went everywhere important with him. So maybe Javi was a little thrown off or something. Anyway, GPF is not the most important competition (contrarty to what Yuri on ICE try to convince us). The importatnt thing is to put that competition behind him. I really hope he won't WD from TdF... I doubt skipping would give him more confidence.

 

[eppen]

Ok, let's take that back - just saw the new gala program list and Javi said NO to the gala... wow,that I did not expect...

 

[xibsuarz]

Ok, let's take that back - just saw the new gala program list and Javi said NO to the gala... wow,that I did not expect...

Oh. Perhaps he just wants to head back to Toronto as soon as possible

 

[Plumededragon]

Ok, let's take that back - just saw the new gala program list and Javi said NO to the gala... wow,that I did not expect...

Yeah, he was invited but declined. Not sure why, tho. Galas are a good way to relax and have fun with friends... but I guess he has too much on his mind this time (hoping this is the real reason and not because he, somewhat, got injured...)

 

[jiawen2016]

Ok, let's take that back - just saw the new gala program list and Javi said NO to the gala... wow,that I did not expect...

No......Is he injured? I hope this is not an "Anna situation." I love Javi and really wish him to complete his career the best way it can since it looks like this is gonna be his last season. This grand prix is getting so heartbroken for me as two of my favorites had had such difficulties and meltdowns. :sad4:

 

[Jaana]

I am totally shocked, Javi got no medal from Cup of China! And he could have won this event easily if he had skated closer to what he is capable of at this time of the season. And this is an event he has won three times in a row... I hope he is not ill or injured? Or did Orser´s absence affect this much??? I wonder why Tracy Wilson was not there as she is also mentioned as his coach? Maybe something happened before his skating, something which threw him off from his jumps? I believed that he will bounce back in the freeskate, as he had an excellent starting number, IMO.

Hopefully he will not withdraw from Cup of France, as he needs to compete more against the guys who have more BV in jumps than he.

 

[eppen]

Brian's got ill on Friday and Tracy probably could not get a visa in time - the rush tourisy visa is a couple of days at least and she might have needed a work visa even.

This GP was definitely his to lose with just sort of "normal" performances.

This freaks me out a little bit concerning his mental state. I just hope he wants to get back to toronto asap to get to the bottom of it and try to get ready for France. From the few comments available it seems that he has been doing just fine in training and here in practices. Not being able to translate that into successful competition is just not very good this season.

Chan has said that he has not been confident or particularly successful in training which probably resulted in his withdrawal from the 2nd GP, but Javi seems to be in a different but equally frustrating situation...

E

 

[Mussique]

I... Haven't seen the LP yet and I don't think I will... Just the comments are enough for me this time...
No gala??!
Oh my, Javi, please get well soon, and I mean mentally. It's clear you were not in a good place for concentration. I know you can do it. I really hope he doesn't withdraw from the next GP assignment, even if I would understand if he did. It'd be so sad

 

[demarinis5]

I feel so bad for Javi. I hope he is not injured but that would sort of explain what happened and the fact that he is not
doing the Gala. Javi always struck me as someone who has mental toughness but for whatever the reason
we did not see that at COC.

Get some rest Javi and regroup.

 

[xeyra]

First Patrick, now Javi out of the GPF. :sad21: Regroup and come back stronger at Euros, Javi!

 

[ice coverage]

... I wonder why Tracy Wilson was not there as she is also mentioned as his coach? ...

Tracy Wilson gave Cup of China commentary on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. A commitment made well before Orser's emergency surgery, no doubt.

(Lest anyone wonder: U.S. commentators [incl. Gannon, Weir, Lipinski] typically do not travel to GPs, except for Skate America. I am 99% sure that Tracy would have been working from a studio in the U.S., and not on site in China.)

Hugs to Javi .

 

[Jaana]

Ok, thank for the replies concerning Tracy Wilson´s absence...

 

[Jasya]

https://twitter.com/Hieloespanol