Javier Fernandez Confirms Retirement

TallyT said:

Sad... but he's probably wise to choose to go out of competition while still right at the top. No one can take his place that's for sure....

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I really hope this goes well. Fortunately no European man is that consistent but wouldn't it be sad if he finished off the podium. If that happens which I hope it doesn't he should have retired after the glorious olympics. But I think he can win with such inconsistent skaters from Brezina to Voronov to Kolyada to Kovtun (who looks very weak), Amoyoz Ponsart,Aliev, Samarin. The Euro title awaits.

I have a special place in my heart for small fed skaters, and Javi's journey really was an inspirational gem. Thank you for all your hard work!

Javi, win that 7th European title!

for all of your wonderful & charming programs through the years (and helping me with that "selfie" @ 2016 Worlds)!

I will miss him.! Good luck at Euros

demarinis5 said:

I knew this was coming but I am glad he will compete at Europeans. He is six time consecutive winner
at Europeans. Quite a record. Fingers crossed he will make it seven.

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I guess Brezina could challenge him for the title. The Russian men, Deniss, and other people... are not the most consistent.

malya said:

I hope he will have a bit of time to prepare for Europeans!

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Yes. Especially taking into account that he does not have the SP ready yet. I've no idea how much time it takes to create a new program, get used to it and fell comfortable enough to skate it competitively. And although Javi is a veteran and experienced skater who maybe needs less time than other skaters, I feel there's little time left between now and the Europeans and his tour and Christmas holidays in between.
I guess the lack of SP must be one of the reasons of his not participation in the Spanish nationals (so far only his exhibition was confirmed at the conclusion of the event). Although if he really wanted, he could also easily skate a SP from one of the previous seasons.

It’s not a surprise but still I’m so sad… He’s my most favourite skater ever (and will always be).
GP is not usually broadcasted on TV in the Czech Republic, but Euros is a thing. And he’s been a star of European skating for so long…so I’ve known about him as a casual fan but his amazing performance in Boston made me not only fall in love with Javi’s skating but with figure skating in general.

And my way of coping with this sad news is to flood everyone with links, videos, pictures and interviews.

If there’s one perfect program, one perfect performance and one perfect commentary it’s this .

If you are into science, here you can determine which of Javi’s programs is your favourite here, just click on one of the two that are against each other you prefer and so on.

But here I want to compile a bit more off-ice moments because Javi’s programs can be easily found on YT (or on the first page of his fan fest). Let’s go on a ride through my random notes:

If there’s one off-ice video of Javi you should watch it’s this . A compilation of Javi's funniest moments.

To quickly get to know Javi there are these three videos: Wait, what; A moment with; and Olympic Channel interview.

He also likes videogames. He’s a cat lover (Effie is safely in Spain now) and oves football (Real Madrid to be precise) and has pretty good skills himself as documented by the Shibs.

We all should thank them for including Javi in almost every vlog they make, the best examples are here and here.

And they don’t only include him in vlogs, they tweet about him too: Maia and Alex

Two of Javi's first interviews in English, watch them, they are so endearing and cute :luv17: At Worlds 2011 and before EC 2012.

Javi got into skating thanks to his older sister. She’s now an ISU technical specialist. Here they are skating together.


Javi is moving on now, his big project Revolution on Ice is really successful – and amazing!! (speaking from own experience).

That’s not all. I have many more links

Here's hoping for a win and a great sendoff at Euros, and lots of ice shows afterwards! (loved as he is in Japan, that's a good bet

I think we all suspected his retirement, but what a JOY to know he will compete one last time at Euros! I'd just love to see him win a 7th-consecutive Euros title.

Also, found this on his wiki page: " Fernández became the first man in 82 years to have won the European Championships 6 consecutive times (2013–18). He has joined an elite group of skaters able to dominate the event for 6 years or more: Karl Schäfer (8 years, 1929–36) in men, Sonja Henie (6 years, 1931–36) and Katarina Witt (6 years, 1983–88) in ladies, Marika Kilius / Hans-Jürgen Bäumler (6 years, 1959–64) and Irina Rodnina (10 years, 1969–78, with two partners: Alexei Ulanov, 1969–72 and Alexander Zaitsev, 1973–78) in pairs."

Clairecz said:

He’s a cat lover (Effie is safely in Spain now)

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That is so adorable! I will have to watch it 50 times to translate it all (My Spanish is very weak).

Mohacz said:

Yes. Especially taking into account that he does not have the SP ready yet. I've no idea how much time it takes to create a new program, get used to it and fell comfortable enough to skate it competitively. And although Javi is a veteran and experienced skater who maybe needs less time than other skaters, I feel there's little time left between now and the Europeans and his tour and Christmas holidays in between.
I guess the lack of SP must be one of the reasons of his not participation in the Spanish nationals (so far only his exhibition was confirmed at the conclusion of the event). Although if he really wanted, he could also easily skate a SP from one of the previous seasons.

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Why doesn't he just use an old sp. I mean we aren't even sure if he is skating Spanish nationals. He only has two more competitions - though you'd thinkif he won Euros why not go to worlds - of course maybe he doesn't feel he can compete with the big boys

Clairecz said:

He’s a cat lover

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Love me a man who loves cats!

I will miss him so much! :sad4: Good luck and Javi, win that 7th European title!
Thank you for all your hard and great work!

I’m glad we have our priorities straight and the fact that Javi is a cat lover is the most important . But seriously when I found out, my love for him immediately doubled.
Here is an excerpt from an interview from 2014: ‘I couldn’t live without my cat. She lives with me in Canada since last year and her name is Effie, she’s so cute and fat. (He shows us a video where Effie is playing.) I’m allergic to cats, but I don’t mind.’
Here have some more Effie pics and Effie in Spain.

Brian Orser has played such an important role in Javi’s career. Here Brian talks about Javi after his success at Skate Canada in 2011 at the beginning of their cooperation.
And here in 2014 about Javi’s success and promoting skating in Spain.

But it’s not only Brian. Javi’s main choreographer has been David Wilson and they did miracles together. Just for Guys and Doll alone David deserves all the praise. (And what are you talking about, we don’t even acknowledge the existence of something like Peter Gunn, so David is still 100 % good) Here, David Wilson talks about Javi and also comperes Yuzuru, Patrick and Javier.

Some short but interesting interviews:
31 things about me. Let’s just say he’s very convincing. Two weeks ago I was in Spain for the first time and had only a few hours in Madrid. What was the first thing I did? Visited Templo de Debod. Well, Javi said it was his favourite place in Madrid. Who am I to not comply?

Interview with Charlie White after his SP at 2017 Worlds and his PB.

Interview with Kurt Browning after Worlds 2013 gala where Javi performed Aerobic Class for the first time which was choreographed by Kurt Browning .

If you prefer longer interview, of course I can provide them:
With Golden Skate after ACI 2017
Spanish documentary from 2017 with English subtitles
Documentary about his journey to Pyeongchang (only in Spanish, but Tracy and David and Brian talk there a lot)
TSL interview with Javi + Miki Ando in 2015 after Worlds (a lot of teasing about their relationship and a lot of interesting info about Miki’s career)
TSL interview with Javi + Miki Ando in 2016 after Worlds (I’d say this is even better than the first one)

An absolutely hilarious interview in Spanish with a totally unprepared interviewer WITH English subtitles

One of the newest interviews, aired in April 2018 in Spain, again with subtitles, instructions here.

Fan meeting in Russia after CoR in 2011 (if you want to watch and listen to 50 minut of cute Javi, this is the right choice)

Ice talk with Jackie Wong – 2017 about ACI2017, Olympics, Javi (trying to) count/ing his own age and discussing what a goatee is. (starts at 31:30)

Ice talk with Jackie Wong – 2016 about the genesis of Elvis, costumes, skating in Spain, Worlds 2016.
(starts at 45:45)

Listenting to these two Ice talk interviews again I have to say these are ones of the most interesting interviews with Javi. And that's a fact.

If you prefer tumblr here are some good blogs about Javi (NO shipping, just funny captions, gifs…)

You all probably know W.. skating doodles – here they are prefiltered so you can see all Javi doodles at once.

Third - last part - is coming

Singing "Thanks for the Memories" in my head. His interviews with TSL are well worth watching. He and Miki Ando should get their own sitcom.

A class act.

WeakAnkles said:

Singing "Thanks for the Memories" in my head. His interviews with TSL are well worth watching. He and Miki Ando should get their own sitcom.

A class act.

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They haven't been a couple for a while. He has a Spanish girlfriend I believe.

This is the last part of photos, videos and links I wanted to share.

This written interview is just so Javi, I think it really captures his personality very well.
And Beverly Smith here uses her amazing writing skills to describe Javi’s new exhibition program, Prometo. :luv17:

There are not many fanvideos but these two are just amazing. They sum up Javi’s career and personality so well.
And here is one fanvid with press conferences moments.

Press conferences and small medal ceremonies with Javi are always so funny and warm. WC 2013 small medal ceremony is my favourite.
The best press con is from EC 2017 after SP (Javi’s complicated saga with math continues, this time counting titles and years and reaching conclusion ‘You do the math, I’ll do the skating’).
He seems to be such a funny and easy-going person but if you think about it he really answers all questions honestly without clichés as for example here when asked about quads and artistry.

Compared to other skaters maybe Javi doesn’t post much on IG but when he does:
Winnie is missing and Patrick needs help.

Continuing in this light tone, there are Huawei ads and Javi as a guinea fowl, as a platypus , as a camel , and a yeti crab .

We already know that Javi LOVES football, he even said doing a honorary kick-off in Real Madrid match was the best experience has had with RMA and certainly enjoyed taking a photo with Sergio Ramos but he’s also inventor of figure football or football skating?
And maybe one day we’ll see Javi in pair skating (who’ll do the lifting, though?)

This set of photos and videos can be referred to as ‘everybody loves Javi’: Patrick, Tomáš Verner, Ondřej Hotárek, Gabriella Papadakis, Gabriella/Elladj/Nobu, Misha Ge. Javi even became a honorary Canadian.
And here Kurt Browning with Javi and Laura as kids (really didn’t know they met such a long time ago) and numerous hugs he received after his first victory at EC .
And praise from Kurt Browning after WC2016.

Javi has been always so kind to and supportive of other skaters. Here is his message for Jorik Hendrickx, Zhenya Medvedeva’s words about Javi and what Gabby Daleman said after her medal at Worlds 2017 ‘So I went into that worlds so confident, even when I wasn’t feeling well, my coaching team was confident, my parents and friends were confident, my training-mate Javier Fernandez was confident in me and believed in me more than I did. Before my long program, I remember him sitting there with me for two hours while I did my hair and makeup, watching me and talking to me, and just having that comfort person there really helped me. Honestly, yes it’s my job to do it, but it was my coaching team, and my friends and my teammates who really helped me get where I was at worlds this year.‘
Source
I really admire how humble he is, here even when he was injured he came to say goodbye to fans during the EC2017 gala and after gala in 2018 he literally jumped over the boards just to sign for his fans.

Family is very important for him, here Javi’s parents talk about unforgettable competitions and follow him to EC in Ostrava.

The Olympic medal was a dream come true he could share with his family and teammates who really intensely lived out his FP. And his success was recognized even by the Spanish royal family (2016).

Javi’s retirement isn’t a surprise but it really hit me hard :sad21:. Not only is he my favourite skater… I’m the same age as him and usually this age feels like starting. Finishing uni, finding a job, moving out from parents or a dorm, looking for an apartment or a house, starting families, getting invitations to weddings… Whereas for skaters it’s about finishing their career. I know that it’s not the end of the world and even they open a new chapter in their life and I’m also really happy because Javi has had huge success with ROI and can spend more time in Spain with his family...

Maybe you’ll click on a video or a photo (from my very long list) and it will make you smile.

SnowWhite said:

They haven't been a couple for a while. He has a Spanish girlfriend I believe.

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Ouch. There goes my illusion of them living happily ever after....

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satine said:

Love me a man who loves cats!

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He's got cat class and he's got cat style!