Yuzuru Hanyu: 2014-15 Season

[Maria Victoria]

As a new member, I would like to thank you all for all the photos, videos and translations! It's all highly appreciated !

Yuzuru does seem to be very thoughtful and wise...in addition to his incredible talent.

Welcome Spot, and I see you have discerning taste in skaters.

welcome spot!!
btw just saw this on tumblr, its just hilarious

But you know, while I can imagine Jason doing "The Final Time Traveler" exhibition program of Yuzuru, my mind boggles at Yuzuru doing "Cotton Eye Joe."

 

[matmuh]

But you know, while I can imagine Jason doing "The Final Time Traveler" exhibition program of Yuzuru, my mind boggles at Yuzuru doing "Cotton Eye Joe."

thanks for putting that image into my head he would pull it off though, have faith!

 

[Esopian]

It's interesting, but not surprising, that Yuzu has felt that he has lost (a bit) his competitive intuition. This probably came from not going to 4CC, as well as not training with others. It makes it more important that he should attend Finlandia or some other preliminary competition next season to begin with - I'm sure he wants to, I just hope he doesn't get injured!

It's also interesting that he mostly refers to mental issues rather than physical when trying to explain the mistakes in the programs. I'm not sure how much of this is him not wanting to make excuses for himself based on injuries.

I feel after reading the really informative interview, Yuzu didn't lose his competitive intuition but instead he just needs to revive it. The competitiveness never left him (as he still really wanted to win); I hope Yuzu has fun at WTT and by that time I also hope us fans would worry less since we're always worrying about him.

For next season, I think the competitiveness will increase because Patrick Chan is coming back. He's the original skater who Yuzuru wanted to overcome/beat in the 2013-2014 season and next season we can see this healthy rivalry rekindle! I'm excited for both of them to skate the lights out (possibly) at major competitions!

Anyone with me?

 

[ahkeekee]

Part 5 it's the last. I wonder if you guys can understand my poor translation. please point out wrong parts and correct.
Yuzuru is a very clever boy. So let' not worry too much about him and support him positively



(Q) ( I'm saying it) again, you've gone through an extraordinary season.
(Y) There have been so many accidents and unexpected events this year.
But all of them can't be said to be negative.
You spend only one-third or one-fourth of life as a skater. And I think all the experiences in this short term can be useful in the rest of your life whatever you choose as a second career.
I,ve been skating for almost 16 years and I've had a lot of precious experiences which only I could go though, including the accident, injury, and so many, I hope I'll be in a position in which I can pass on my experiences and knowledges to the next generations beyond the field of figure skating, some day.

(Q) WC was over. what kind of thought do you have?
(Y) Gratitude. I want to say thank you to many many people, countless gratitudes to countless people.
First, of course to my family who let me continue figure skating. Figure skating is a very very expensive sport, though they respect my desire/determination and let me continue Figure skating. Then to the Saltlake City Olympics, which led me to this world.
To Evgeni Plushenko, to many teachers and Brian.
And to my shoes. They've been enduring the weight a couple of times heavier than me (when I jump),and protecting my ankles and knees. When this season ends, I'll say thank you to the shoes and keep them in my closet.

In Shunghai March 29, 2015

I love how he thanked his skating boots! That's sweet of him, hope his skating boots will continue doing their job well in protecting his knees and ankles! Lols! His answers are so amazing and cute sometimes!

He said he would put his shoes into his closet after his season, does that mean he will change skating boots yearly? That sounds really expensive!

And Victor, your translation is completely readable and nice! Thanks a lot or we won't have seen such an interesting and inspiring interview of yuzu!

 

[Meoima]

Okay, before reading the comments below, I recommend you that I am not the one who translated it. And I don't know about the credibility of the articles. :hopelessness: So don't kill me, don't throw anything at me okay? I hope some Japanese poster can tell me about the sources that published this news:
https://twitter.com/Samantha_nsd/status/583071140895031296/photo/1

Here are some comment from Japanese posters on facebook (I don't know how to share link to the fb post, will go home and use my ipad but not now):

I am not good at English・・・
When he is hospitalized, Japan skating federation forced the participation of many events.
Yuzuru's mother was angry, and she cancelled all events before World figure skating championships begining.

And here:

addition to Kyoko Kaseno translation, basically the article wrote about how cruel JFS to Yuzuru, once he couldn't even walk and his mom asked him tp withdrawal from WC...she denied all event asked for Yuzu's participation.
my poor eyes couldn't read the tiny print...

 

[Shiroi]

Yes, he mentioned it too: he doesn't want to finish this season having the feeling I lost a title to someone (even if it's Javi), feeling like a loser as well (as having a regret he couldn't perform complete programs.) A silver medal must be a medal for a loser in his dictionary

whispers: Second place is always the first one to lose. sorry I couldn't help it

 

[ranran]

Thank you Victor for your translation! Yuzuru really has amazing inner strength which helps him to cope with all these challenges.


btw just watch Yuzuru's Quad Loop during gala practice and considering he said it has been 4 months since he last attempted it but it still looks stable. I say replace that 4S with this 4Lo Yuzuru!

 

[Interspectator]

Okay, before reading the comments below, I recommend you that I am not the one who translated it. And I don't know about the credibility of the articles. :hopelessness: So don't kill me, don't throw anything at me okay? I hope some Japanese poster can tell me about the sources that published this news:
https://twitter.com/Samantha_nsd/status/583071140895031296/photo/1

Here are some comment from Japanese posters on facebook (I don't know how to share link to the fb post, will go home and use my ipad but not now):


And here:

It's that gossip mag that always does sensational pieces.

 

[Meoima]

It's that gossip mag that always does sensational pieces.

few... that's good to know.

 

[skatefan22]

Anyone has read Number Issue 875 on April 2nd?

"At night, when they were back to hotel, he (Yuzu) hang his medal on her mother's neck and said thank you - that is a routine that they have been doing since Yuzu was young. 'Silver? I don't want it.' His mother said jokingly. In fact, the color of the medal don't matter at all. Just a 'thank you' is enough for her." :hopelessness:

Looks like Kanako made an effort to take a picture with every team Japan member at Worlds...and the way she thanked her coach after her FS made me think this is it for her:hopelessness:

You mean this photo with coach? Kanako has been talking retirement since sochi, and now Yuzu is implying it and planning post-retirement activities. I just can't handle that much...

 

[danni]

Good morning, guys.
I've just finished translating Yuzuru's interview on Canon website. Though, it's a very rough translation.
Are you interested in it? Or have you already read the interview in English?
If you're interested in it, I'll post it. If not, I won't, because it's very long. I might need one page on this thread.

Thank you!
I am always interested in what our clever boy said in interviews.

 

[danni]

Found this a couple pages back....

I completely agree. I was lucky enough to be at Worlds that year and I fell in love. He struggled so much in practice and in the short and then showed such strength and determination in the FS. Writing about that event was one of the first posts on my blog! I've been a fan of his ever since.

This and the FP in Worlds 2012 was so special for me until the Worlds 2015 because the way he skated now blows my mind, and the results is like a gold to me.

 

[danni]

This is the chapter 1 To be continue.

(Q) I was so surprised to hear you got an operation just after the JN in December. Wasn't there any other options?
(Y) No, I had an abdominal operation. the doctor cut 4cms (in a crescent shape) around my navel. He/She (?) explained me that method damages my mustles the least. It was done under a general anesthetic. Then I stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks. Since I got my fascias sutured, my doctor said, I had to be very carefully in daily life for a while, so I just took rests at home for 4 weeks.

(Q) It was very long. I guess you couldn't help feeling anxious?
(Y) Actually I was afraid of losing my muscle power, so I thought I should have vivid images of my good executions in my head. I watched the videos of GPF etc., where I did well, and watching them over and over, I rehearsed them like "Oh, that's the timing." and practiced all the jumps in my head.
Thanks to the imagery training, the feeling of skating on the ice wasn't so changed as I had worried before.

(Q) I heard you got your right ankle sprained when you landed a quad jump.
Did you feel anxious in those days? You seem to have been in a hurry.
(Y) The opposite rather. as I had 2 months more to the Worlds at that time, I felt like putting 3 quads (in my LP) as the original one had had. So I did some training again and again, in which I practiced "the third quad in the tiring second half" after I did many run-throughs. I did the set many times. Consequently I got a sprained ankle. That's one of the learns I have to reconsider.

(Q) As a result, you resumed your training at the beginning of March.
Is that the reason why you couldn't go to Toronto?
(Y) Finally I decided to practice in Japan, for I wasn't in very good shape yet, for the short-flight of Japan-Shanghai is preferable to the long-flight of Toronto-Shanghai considering my health condition.

(Q) Did you wonder whether you would be scolded unless you went to Toronto?
(Y) No, not at all. (Laughter) Brian always cares about me and he is not the person putting incessant pressure on you, not the person thinking all the time, like " I have to order him to do this or that to make him busy."
He approached me in the same manners as usual, in order that I could be relaxed. I'm really grateful to him for his consideration.

Thank you soooo much for sharing with us and for translation !

 

[danni]

Part 2


(Q) How did you practice without him?
(Y) I e-mailed him every day. I asked him about everything, even about how to correct my ill-positioned jumps on the e-mails. It was such a hard job for me to explain everything in English. But Brian knows my original manner/capability of jumping well, so he compared my good jumps and bad jumps on the videos of COC, GPF etc. and gave me advices like, "Yuzuru, you have a tendency to do that, so adjust it in this way when it happens......" In that way, I regained my sense/feeling of jumping gradually, better and better.

(Q) Did you feel a kind of lag, a gap compared with given advices on face-to-face basis？(Y) When I made some mistakes on jumps, I couldn't get any advices from him on the spot. That was hard. But I came to understand the points to be payed attention to when I jump, because the points Brian and Tracy are always advising me are mostly the same things recently. So, basically I recalled the advices they had given me at TCC for three years and followed them.

(Q) You had only 3 weeks of training. What practice did you aim at?
(Y) Anyway I did more run-thoughts than last summer or before GPF and tried gaining stamina. So I thought I'd got prepared better, in better condition than JN.

(Q) Then you determined to enroll WC, right?
(Y) No, in my mind, I didn't have the option to withdraw. Because I am a skater on the active list, a competitor, I don't have any illogical feeling about it.
I was chosen as a member od Team Japan, then I must skate to compete there.
I've always thought I'm happy that I can continue skating, which I love most, thanks to my family and the people supporting me, who have been always allowed me to do what I want.

(Q) You've come to WC at last and you met your team members again here in Shanghai
(Y) I was really relieved meeting them. Brian seemed to be relieved too.
And when he saw my practice, he said to me, "Oh, good/that's fine/you're doing well!"
(I don't know what he actually said.)
So that words made me reassured. I think I'm happy that we could be reunited here this time.

(Q) Did't you feel lonely while you trained alone by yourself?
(Y) Since you can practice freely using the music, it's not a disadvantage at all.
Brian asked worriedly, "Can you keep your motivation?" But he also said like that, "but you're Yuzuru. You're gonna OK/You'll make it.“
Yes, definitely I was highly motivated to peak myself here to WC.

Thank you again, we can learn something about the duty, hard work and motivation from a 20 years boy.

 

[danni]

This short interview sounds a bit sad to me: http://yuzu-ice.tumblr.com/post/115241750719/rough-translation-realizing-my-limit-and-talking

I don't know if I will be able to watch the figure skating competitions without Yuzuru. What amazed me when he was 17 years was the power of his jumps and this is the hardest part of figure skating as we see at the points gave by judges. But I like very much his artistic side , he is a dancer not only a jumper and his spins are the best ever I saw in competitions. And for me he is the best skater of all time.

 

[danni]

Thank you very much for your translation! Wow, it was really long! This is a really good interview, too.

It's interesting, but not surprising, that Yuzu has felt that he has lost (a bit) his competitive intuition. This probably came from not going to 4CC, as well as not training with others. It makes it more important that he should attend Finlandia or some other preliminary competition next season to begin with - I'm sure he wants to, I just hope he doesn't get injured!

It's also interesting that he mostly refers to mental issues rather than physical when trying to explain the mistakes in the programs. I'm not sure how much of this is him not wanting to make excuses for himself based on injuries.

Thank Victor for the translations. I agree with the fact he did not want to make excuses related with his bad health issues. He takes a full responsability on every competition no matter what. Is that a Japanese way of thinking? We all now how hard they work.

 

[danni]

Be carefull, too cute to afford, if you have a weak heart, don't open, the alien is so strong, only one has such effect on us, call NASA:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBd4q8rU0AAr70t.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBd7BQEVIAAQmaE.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBd7BQKU0AAs316.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBbVsZjUMAAJCAd.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBbVsY5U0AA2EFU.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBbRjJIVEAA7L9Y.jpg

Oh, my God....what beautiful photos. Thank you so much for posting !

 

[Spot]

Welcome Spot, and I see you have discerning taste in skaters.

Thank you and haha, I'm in great company here .

 

[danni]

Part 4


(Q) What do you think about the result? (SP 1st with 95.20, LP3rd with 175.88, Total 2ns with 271.08)
(Y) I'd rather say, "I recovered well." I lost about 20pts due to the quads' mistakes, 2S replacing 4S, 4T with a fall. I usually get GOEs too.
I got the feeling, "My expessions, skating etc earned much points. That rescued me."

(Q) Fernandez skated after you.
(Y) It must have been very difficult for Javi. He was supposed to skate after me, there were so many flowers and stuffed animals in the ice. The stirring mood of the rinkside, noisy. Moreover, as Brian was watching my LP, he had to be focused on his preparation alone in the hall until his turn, and came down to the rink and, at last, Brian joined him. This washis situation.
So it was due to his unremitting efforts that let him execute the LP of that (high) level.

(Q) Fernandez stole the 1st from you/got the come-from-behind victory.
(Y) if I had been 1st and Javier 2nd, he would have congratulated me on my victory. Even though he envies someone's success a bit, he can subdue the fire deep in him or even put it out, and never ever show nor speak out negative things to annoy others.
GPF was held in Barcelona, his country Spain. There he executed his LP very beautifully, yet he was the 2nd. He must have been very chagrined at the result, but he still congratulated me from the bottom of his heart.
Then about me, 90% is "envy/chagrin.!" But I found an undoubted joy in me, a joy to celebrate the victory of my team mate.
All the people on my team said to me, " Javier has been working on the training so hard this time. I've never seen him working on it so hard before!" And I'm really happy to see his efforts fruit at last because I can surmise how he's been practicing hard.

(Q) This time, Javier is 1st, you're 2nd, and Nam is 5th. The sons of B. Orser did a marvelous job.
(Y) I'm really glateful to Brian. I really realized that TCC with Brian is incredibly wonderful, and that we're training in such a happy environment.

(Q) Team Brian is the KEY, right?
(Y) Yes, it's Brian that travel with us around the world. But each of the coaches is a specialist in each field, with having the expertise of high level and they exchange their knowledge and opinions each other.
And they teaches all the athletes including Javi and me equally with great care. Equally, no exception.
It's been 3 years since I moved to Toronto. Javi is like a very thoughtful elder brother for me, and Brian is sometimes like a mother. He is a sort of warm-hearted person who is always with us and watching us growing (not only as a skater but also) as a person.

Thank you very much for showing us the way he thinks about this Worlds! We are grateful to you

 

[danni]

Part 5 it's the last. I wonder if you guys can understand my poor translation. please point out wrong parts and correct.
Yuzuru is a very clever boy. So let' not worry too much about him and support him positively



(Q) ( I'm saying it) again, you've gone through an extraordinary season.
(Y) There have been so many accidents and unexpected events this year.
But all of them can't be said to be negative.
You spend only one-third or one-fourth of life as a skater. And I think all the experiences in this short term can be useful in the rest of your life whatever you choose as a second career.
I,ve been skating for almost 16 years and I've had a lot of precious experiences which only I could go though, including the accident, injury, and so many, I hope I'll be in a position in which I can pass on my experiences and knowledges to the next generations beyond the field of figure skating, some day.

(Q) WC was over. what kind of thought do you have?
(Y) Gratitude. I want to say thank you to many many people, countless gratitudes to countless people.
First, of course to my family who let me continue figure skating. Figure skating is a very very expensive sport, though they respect my desire/determination and let me continue Figure skating. Then to the Saltlake City Olympics, which led me to this world.
To Evgeni Plushenko, to many teachers and Brian.
And to my shoes. They've been enduring the weight a couple of times heavier than me (when I jump),and protecting my ankles and knees. When this season ends, I'll say thank you to the shoes and keep them in my closet.

In Shunghai March 29, 2015

Thank you so much! Your translation is wonderful...don't be so modest