Javier Fernandez Confirms Retirement | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Javier Fernandez Confirms Retirement

TallyT

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
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...

It's the close of one chapter, and we all hope the start of another wonderful one. He deserves it.
 

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
I love how this (potentially sad) thread turned into planning sitcoms and telenovelas :laugh: and also Javi's fanfest is so comfy and calm. Just like Javi. (iirc there was a thread Javi vs. Yuzuru a few years back and instead of serious or technical discussion it ended up with users planning a wedding ;) )
Btw. the most important video about Javi, ehm, I mean about CATS has been meanwhile translated into English :hap10:
 

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
Bringing this thread back, mainly because I think Javi's farewell speech he gave on Monday in Spain deserves to be shared not only in his fanfest.
Here's a video with some highlights from the event and here's a full translation of his speech into English.

I find it quite symbolic how his posts and speeches are now only in Spanish or in Spanish and then in English. He's finally getting at least a bit of recognition in Spain he deserves so much. Even an interview with Brian Orser had to be translated back into English. Unimaginable a few years ago...

The other thing I find symbolic is that Matteo Rizzo ended up sharing EC podium with Javi. Matteo, whose rolemodel is Javi, Matteo from a smallish federation (when it comes to men)... well he's certainly on his way to my heart... :love:

It's incredibly heartwarming to see for how many skaters Javi is a rolemodel. Javi's idol has been Plushenko (he's such a fanboy :biggrin:) and look, he ended up tying/overcoming his seven European titles (Plushenko didn't win them in a row). Let's hope that now Donovan Carillo, Matteo Rizzo, Kevin Aymoz will follow in Javi's footsteps.

Here's a cute story about Kevin from Javi's fanfest:
We saw the same French volunteer girl who posted a lot of videos of Javi and she told also a story about how the buddy pic with Kevin Aymoz during practice came about. Apparently, Kevin is a huge fan but far too shy to ask for a photo himself. His coaches talked with Brian a long time - Brian was reportedly also very impressed with Kevin's SP - in Friday practice and Javi took his time in watching Kevin's FS runthrough. Which I have rarely seen him do in practice sessions which are really all business and serious. Then at the final practice their coaches stood side by side and organized the photo to be taken. There was also reportedly mutual fanboying.

You've probably seen the Olympic Chanell video with messages of many skaters who'll miss him.

I'd like to finish my post with a link to the most heartfelt performance of Prometo I've seen (with English subtitles for the full experience). :sad21: :luv17:
 

Sam L

Medalist
Joined
Mar 23, 2014
Adios, the Man of La Mancha. But don't be a stranger as you ride off into the sunset on horseback. We still want to see you forever more.
 

eppen

Medalist
Joined
Mar 28, 2006
Country
Spain
Javi will forever be remembered for his performances, whether doing slapstick comedy or portraying emotional breakdowns, he made it feel real. His ability to adopt different styles of movement - flamenco and Broadway jazz in one season, is truly unique.

In the two last seasons of Javi's career, the quad madness pushed him often to the sidelines in the discussion on men's skating, but let's not forget that he actually retired the uncrowned quad king (there is no official bookkeeping for this as far as I know, so if you have comparative material, please let me know!):

Javi's final quadruple jump tally in international competitions is 162. He retired with the highest number in his name. Positive GOE 64,8%, 3 (!) UR calls (if you ask Javi, only 2). His success rate is at 87% of what could have been done if he had done every quad planned.

He was just about the first of his generation to have two different quads in competition, from the spring of 2011 onwards. Chan has only one type of quad, Hanyu got his second a year after Javi.

Uno is second with 155 jumps and will probably overpass Javi at Worlds. Positive GOE rate at 56,1%, but 6 downgrades (so, in reality 149 quads) and 18 (!) UR calls. 92% completion rate.

Hanyu is third with 140 with the highest positive GOEs at 66,4%. He has 3 downgrades (effectively 137 quads) and 8 UR calls. 88% completion rate.

The others are still a bit behind. Joubert was the first to reach 100 in 2013, then Javi followed him two years later, Hanyu got a 100 in 2017, Chan got to a few over 100 before he retired last spring, Chen is also now a little above 100 as is Boyang Jin.

I just realized that Javi's 100th quad was the 4S in his FS in the GP Final in Barcelona 2015 which was the year he had Guys and Dolls and that day was also Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday...

E

PS On methodology for the calculations. I took all international competitions, including Japan Open (which is not an ISU one and only has FS, but the judging is done by international and ISU level judges and is many times stricter than in proper ISU competitions). I checked original protocols, if possible, used Rink Results for some I could not get from ISU or federation websites, Javi's jumps can all (!) be also watched on video (and I did). I listed the jumps considered as quads in the protocols, made notes on the GOE, whether there were UR calls or downgrades. Calculating the potential number of quads per competition was not always easy because some skaters change their layouts frequently, but I did my best at second guessing pops to doubles and triples. I did the calculations to the end of 2017 with Javi, Hanyu, Uno, Chen, Jin, Chan, Voronov, Menshov, Brezina, looked at also Joubert and Plushenko (an estimate only).
 

CrazyKittenLady

Get well soon, Lyosha!
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 2, 2019
Country
Austria
I love how this (potentially sad) thread turned into planning sitcoms and telenovelas :laugh: and also Javi's fanfest is so comfy and calm. Just like Javi. (iirc there was a thread Javi vs. Yuzuru a few years back and instead of serious or technical discussion it ended up with users planning a wedding ;) )
Btw. the most important video about Javi, ehm, I mean about CATS has been meanwhile translated into English :hap10:

Haha, thanks for that Clairecz!!! I am very partial to cat videos and I didn't know this one featuring Javi and Roni! :love:
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
Javi's greatest accomplishment was the Sinatra Free Skate that won World's.

Hands down, in my opinion, no contest.

That program had style and individuality, real panache. Not just in the musical selection, but in the cool way he interpreted it.

It saved men's figure skating from a headlong slide into lame movie scores and lyrical puff performances. Well, maybe it didn't completely save it - but it at least showed people what was possible.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Javi's greatest accomplishment was the Sinatra Free Skate that won World's.

Hands down, in my opinion, no contest.

That program had style and individuality, real panache. Not just in the musical selection, but in the cool way he interpreted it.

It saved men's figure skating from a headlong slide into lame movie scores and lyrical puff performances. Well, maybe it didn't completely save it - but it at least showed people what was possible.

Javi is such a great showman. He is in the vein of Kurt Browning. And so charming. He seems like a fun guy too. What a legacy he has. Seven European titles. I am so happy he won despite limited preparation; but poor Mikhail. Happy for Javi but kind of sad for poor Kolyada. I kind of wish we culd give gold medals to Patrick and Javi. Yes Hanyu is wonderful but Javi and Patrick were worthy competitors. I think the skatinng shows willlove Javi and he will do well being especially Spain and Canada connections.
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
We're finally all caught up on watching Europeans. Javi, you brought me to tears with your final free skate! Muchas gracias for all the joy you have given us through the years! :bow: :hap10: :love:
 

zounger

Medalist
Joined
Jan 18, 2017
Great athlete and character. A pioneer in his country, there is always a big significance in that. I adore also his SP form 2017 worlds, one of the programs I'm visiting often.
 

evasorange

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 22, 2015
Javi's greatest accomplishment was the Sinatra Free Skate that won World's.

Hands down, in my opinion, no contest.

That program had style and individuality, real panache. Not just in the musical selection, but in the cool way he interpreted it.

It saved men's figure skating from a headlong slide into lame movie scores and lyrical puff performances. Well, maybe it didn't completely save it - but it at least showed people what was possible.

I still remember so vividly seeing this problem live at worlds 2016. It was my first time seeing Javi live and I didn’t know what to expect. I was BLOWN AWAY. Truly an amazing skater to watch live and with a program like guys and dolls? ICONIC. He got the loudest cheers of the night, and people were up on their feet a good ten seconds before the music even ended. I wish he would have had this program at the Olympics-while I liked man of La Mancha and he did really well with it, there’s just something so special about guys and dolls isn’t there? Definitely one of the best programs of the last quad. I’m gonna miss Javi soooo much. He brought charm and showmanship unlike anyone else. And I know this might be considered sacrilege to some but when both done properly, in a head to head match up I would take Javi quads over Yuzus any day. There’s just something so quick and powerful to Javi quads! A real sight to see live
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
I :love: BOTH of them, and truly appreciate their friendly, respectful rivalry! They're BOTH great in my book! :biggrin: :hap10:
 

CrazyKittenLady

Get well soon, Lyosha!
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 2, 2019
Country
Austria
Right you are! By the way, I've read somewhere that Javi is taking part in two skating shows in the Czech Rep and Slovakia this summer/autumn, but I just can't find the article anymore and google is also not helpful. Do any of you know anything more about that by chance?
 

Clairecz

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 4, 2018
Country
Czech-Republic
Right you are! By the way, I've read somewhere that Javi is taking part in two skating shows in the Czech Rep and Slovakia this summer/autumn, but I just can't find the article anymore and google is also not helpful. Do any of you know anything more about that by chance?

It's a show called Fire on Ice. The main star will be Jozef Sabovčík who will retire from ice shows (at the age of 55).
It's on the 6th November in Ostrava, Czech Republic and on the 7th November in Bratislava, Slovakia.
You can buy tickets here: Ostrava, Bratislava. They even have an Instagram account and Javi made a short invitation.
There was an article about the show in Czech newspapers and an interview with Jozef Sabovčík and there was also a short message from Javi. He said he is going to be very busy but he made time for this show with his friends and that he had nice memories of Ostrava and Bratislava (no wonder when he won the 4th and 5th European title there ;) ) I'm 100 % going and already looking forward to it! Javi and Tomáš Verner, what can I wish more :hap10:
 
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