Javier Fernandez

[tureis]

With the recent plethora of information the amazing and very welcome news got lost that RevolutiON Ice will return next year in 3 cities: Bilbao in November, Barcelona and Madrid in December! No specific dates yet, but this is fantastic! So happy that all of this is coming together for Javi! No one deserves it more.

(And of course if there was any doubt, this is further confirmation that Javi is planning to move on to other things.)

 

[tureis]

Oh, and now we also have a behind the scenes video of the shooting of the James Bond style LaLiga clip. Javi is so serious and concentrated.

 

[Mussique]

Oh, and now we also have a behind the scenes video of the shooting of the James Bond style LaLiga clip. Javi is so serious and concentrated.

I will go to that rink tomorrow (it'll be so overcrowded I'll skate over people instead of over ice) and I'll try to guess where did they put the marks
It'd be cool (and a sign of a terrible Zamboni, so I'd actually prefer this not to happen) if there were marks in the ice, but I guess I'll end up using the advertisements

 

[tureis]

I will go to that rink tomorrow (it'll be so overcrowded I'll skate over people instead of over ice) and I'll try to guess where did they put the marks
It'd be cool (and a sign of a terrible Zamboni, so I'd actually prefer this not to happen) if there were marks in the ice, but I guess I'll end up using the advertisements

Haha you know, I was actually thinking "what are they doing to that poor ice" as I was watching the behind the scenes video. It certainly wouldn't be pleasant to skate over that logo.

 

[Mussique]

Well, the ice today was absolutely terrible, but there was no mark to be seen. Just holes all around

Ohhh, I found this piece of fluff which is absolutely fantastic!!

In Jaca's walls there's a picture with the following message: "Working hard can get you close to the podium". Signed @javierfernandez, December 2nd, 2005
How everything has changed!


It is followed by a short fluffy interview that kind of reminds me of the throwback Tuesdays the US athletes are doing. I can post a rough translation if you want me to, it's gold!!!

 

[tureis]

That would be amazing, Mussique! Thank you in advance.

 

[tzazu]

Well, the ice today was absolutely terrible, but there was no mark to be seen. Just holes all around

Ohhh, I found this piece of fluff which is absolutely fantastic!!

In Jaca's walls there's a picture with the following message: "Working hard can get you close to the podium". Signed @javierfernandez, December 2nd, 2005
How everything has changed!


It is followed by a short fluffy interview that kind of reminds me of the throwback Tuesdays the US athletes are doing. I can post a rough translation if you want me to, it's gold!!!

:cool2:

 

[Jaana]

In Jaca's walls there's a picture with the following message: "Working hard can get you close to the podium". Signed @javierfernandez, December 2nd, 2005
How everything has changed!


It is followed by a short fluffy interview that kind of reminds me of the throwback Tuesdays the US athletes are doing. I can post a rough translation if you want me to, it's gold!!!

Oh yes, do post that translation, please...

 

[Mussique]

Interviewer: Well, I'm going to show you something that was here..
Javi: Yeah
Interviewer: We had it hanged on the press conference room
[Shows something to him, off camera]
Javi: (Laughs, then the poster comes to view) Evgeni Plushenko. Javier Fernández. Working hard can get you close to the podium.
Interviewer: And read the date, on top of the image
Javi: Two of December, 2005... Awesome.
Interviewer: So in 2005 you said that working hard could get you "a little closer" to the podium.
Javi: (laughs, looks a bit bashful) Yes, look... It's been a long time since 2005! I'm not the same person.
Interviewer: In 2005 you had never even won Spanish Nationals. Look how far we've come...
Javi: Look how far we've come, yes. But the Javi of 2005, I'd say... he would be, or was, a person way less experienced both in life, in the sport and as a person. So when we see things like that we can see all the development. All the development in your career, all the titles and the challenges overcome.
Interviewer: And you're again the Spanish Champion. You didn't really have competence here, but still... You have to compete, and make the people that have come to see you happy.
Javi: Of course. Spanish Champion again. It's true that it's a competition that now we use to train, to get better, to practice for the competitions in the following year —those are the most important of the season. But still, coming here every year to the Spanish Championship to see all the other skaters and watch how they're developing: the families, the people... And this year in particular, coming to Jaca... I've got a special affection for Jaca. It's always good to be home, compete with your people, be with them for a while.
Interviewer: What would you tell that Javi from 2005? That 12 years later he's preparing for the Olympics and dreaming not to get "close" to the podium but hopefully "on"
it...
Javi: (laughing) Well... It's all the path I've followed. And I've done it for so long that I wouldn't have believed that I was going to do... Well, what I've done, in this sport. And I believe that I would tell him that... Working hard can get you close to the podium. Or in the podium. And of course, with skaters like Evgeni Plushenko, which we have in the cover here, if you stop to think in their career, their trajectory, that's something you can admire as well.
Interviewer: Thank you very much and best of luck
Javi: Thank you!

There was a lot of blackground noise so it may be not 100% accurate (also, English is hard )
Take this as a Christmas present to all Javi fans!!

 

[Jaana]

There was a lot of blackground noise so it may be not 100% accurate (also, English is hard )
Take this as a Christmas present to all Javi fans!!

WOW, Mussique, thank you so much for the translation, Christmas present!!! That was a great interview indeed and I really enjoyed it!

 

[tzazu]

There was a lot of blackground noise so it may be not 100% accurate (also, English is hard )
Take this as a Christmas present to all Javi fans!!

Thank youuuuu!!!!:luv17:

 

[tureis]

Thank you Mussique!

Happy Christmas to all Javi fans celebrating at this time of the year, and of course to Javi himself!

 

[DelRetiro]

Just a random comment as I'm digesting Christmas dinner: the real-life Javier Fernández is about 73 quadrillion times more handsome than the wax figure version. That is all.

 

[tzazu]

Just a random comment as I'm digesting Christmas dinner: the real-life Javier Fernández is about 73 quadrillion times more handsome than the wax figure version. That is all.

Thanks God Because the wax figure is :reye:

 

[xeyra]

Thanks God Because the wax figure is :reye:

It's rather uncanny, isn't it?

 

[Mussique]

Search in Google for "Fernando Alonso cera" and you'll see what I mean with "it could be way worse"
That wax museum in Madrid is dangerous


Two new interviews!! Some of the info was already told before, but some of it wasn't. Pretty interesting.
As always just ask me if you need help with any translation. I think google translator will do nicely, but if there's any grammar or spelling mistakes on the original article (I've seen a few, which is surprising for a newspaper as big as ABC) it may get messy, so if some parts get inteligible just ask.

http://www.abc.es/deportes/abci-jav...seguir-seria-locura-201712270817_noticia.html

http://www.practicodeporte.com/javier-fernandez-medalla-pyeongchang/
(As always, I find pretty funny that if he answers that he's not aiming for bronze and then adds "I'd settle for getting into the podium [...] a bronze is a bronze, but we're training for gold" the subtitle of the article gets "I wouldn't sign the bronze medal", lmao. He's too modest for the interviewers' taste obviously)

 

[Ares]

Thanks God Because the wax figure is :reye:

Wax figures are often terribly awful and tacky but significant percentage of those from Madame Tussaud in London are incredible (I was there), with doppelganger similarity and live-like in creepy way, esp. the more recent ones.

 

[Lyyli]

I checked the Spanish results against the Finnish ones and have to say that Finns (after all, a traditional winter sports nation!) lost in every front except in ladies. Spain has 3 spots for the Olympics in skating, Finland has none...

E[/QUOTE]
Are you talking here about FS Olympic spots, right? If so, Finland does have one spot in ladies. Not yet decided who will get it but it looks like it will go to Emmi Peltonen or to Viveca Lindfors. It is true that after times of Rahkamo/Kokko, Laura Lepistö, Kiira Korpi and Susanna Pöykiö Finland has not had much international success in FS but in synchronized skating there are three Finnish teams on top internationally. I guess there are not many men involved in FS in our country because ice hockey is a very big thing here and there are strong traditions also in many other winter sport disciplines like cross-country skiing etc.

 

[Lyyli]

Eppen, my previous post was a comment for you. I tried to make a quote but instead made some mistake there, sorry!

 

[Olibritt]

Eppen, Lyyli, I hope you don't mind if I join your conversation, I find it very interesting.
I see Eppen's point in Finland's comparison (Lyyli, congrants for your spot at Olympics!), but I think that that's only a "statistical truth" and only covers part of the explanation. I'll try to explain myself.
Statisticaly, the more people you train in any field, the more possibilities you have to find and develop more talents. If we count the amount of skaters in the top ten, for the last 10 years, Canada and Russia will probably reflect that proportion. But if you look closer... Where's the canadian olympic gold in men's singles? Where are the russian medallists in men's singles?
So here cames the other part of the explanation... Well, nobody have a real explanation, but I have a theory: talents don't really care for geography, they are born wherever they want...
It's clear that, by international standards, Javi didn't have the best technical conditions until he was 17 and, even then, he struggled financially for some time. But maybe he had the conditions he needed: no competition when he was young, when he was not very good... He went to international competitions, had support because he was our best skater, he could develop his competitiveness without "drowning in a sea of talent" and he had access to "good enough" technical support to show that he had some talent when better opportunities arrived.
Well, that's my theory, that talents are exceptions, they don't care too much about geography, they, like Javi, are born wherever they want and they just need a few favorable conditions to succeed.
But, if in the next 10 years there's, at least, one spanish skater per year in the top ten, I will review my theory, and I'll give the credit for the success to tortilla de patatas :-D
On a side note: Finland's population is 5,5 millions. The percentage of people who skate is bigger (for sure) that the spanish one, but the real number of young people trainning in FS probably is not so high to expect too many skaters in top competitions. That was just a thought, not even a theory. :-D