Tanaka on 4CCs and Olympics

[gsk8]

Japan’s Keiji Tanaka, who stood in third after the short, finished fifth in the long and fourth overall. His near-perfect routine to music by Nino Rota included a quad Salchow, a quad toe, and six triple jumps. As with his short program, he scored a new personal best (169.63) for his free skate and overall total score (260.31).

“My first half of the program was not good enough today,” said the 23-year-old from Kurashiki. “I have never felt this kind of atmosphere and the crowd was so loud and cheering for me. I felt very thankful about going to the Olympics. This (competition) was different from nationals at home and was a big event I would like to connect this to the next performance at Olympics. I would like to skate much better at Olympics and not miss the things that I missed today.”

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[surimi]

Thanks for posting a honorable mention for Keiji! I was cheering in front of my TV and was content with his pewter medal. And so happy that he showed great fortitude and didn't give up, didn't let the initial misses affect the rest of his program. Also, not a single fall - he's on an upward trajectory since the beginning of the season. And, I admit, a tiny part of me is hoping my little gift at the beginning of the season, along with others, has brought him some much-needed luck so far.
I'm very curious as to what was going through his head in that key transition part between the opening jumps and the rest. Was it the thought of his OG spot and desire to show the Fed they picked the right skater? Was it the thought of what to show his future students to help them build nerves of steel when he starts coaching (at least I think I've read he wants to coach) ? Hopefully someone asks him about this in an interview.
Congrats to Keiji on his PBs, and fingers crossed that his condition and grit keeps up at the OG!