Super sad for Han Yan I know he's not a Fed favorite and they won't do it but I wish they'd give him a fair chance at the Olympic spot that he earned for China. Like maybe send him to Rafael (since I think he's trained with him before) if they're sending Boyang to Orser then let them battle it out.
2021 Worlds: Men's FS "Thoughts and Observations"
- Thread starter gsk8
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I wouldn’t call him washed up - he just won bronze at Worlds, and was stellar at Japanese Nationals. He is still passionate about competing so why not? I do agree that his skating lacks the vivacity and commitment that he’s shown before but he is still one of the best skaters in the world and if he doesn’t want to retire or feels he has more to show then its his prerogative. Retiring after the Olympics/next Worlds seems plausible but I still love his skating and him continuing to push his own limits even at the twilight of his career.
The only reasons I would actually want him to retire have nothing to do with Hanyu himself, and more to do with the peripheral noise/nuisances that make it hard to fully appreciate/support the skater.
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Hanyu’s performance here reminded me of Michelle Kwan at 2004 Worlds. That was the season she had a stunning, flawless, emotional Nationals, but ultimately faltered at Worlds in the face of stronger performances by technically superior competitors. That was the year she was eclipsed by Sasha Cohen internationally, and it was her last time on the World podium. And she was in the twilight of her career.
Hanyu looked so different in the FS versus his SP and his Nationals performance. The FS performance was honestly terrible. Shocking, given how good he was in the short and at nationals.
I have to wonder if Hanyu really knows what he wants? Yes, i know the quad axel is what he says is motivating him now. But if he didn’t care about winning, he wouldn’t have changed his programs last year in a last-ditch attempt to be stronger at Worlds. He’s won everything multiple times, so what’s next? A third world title seems very elusive. A third Olympic title is not the stated goal. I’ve been through this process as a fan with Michelle Kwan and others. Great athletes with great careers and tons of medals sometimes find it challenging to keep themselves motivated and keep going—and the body starts to reach its limits. And it’s hard when you were once the undisputed best—you can win with mistakes or just focus on being clean—to being the underdog, and have to rely on others to falter. That’s a huge blow in itself.
Hanyu has been an incredible force in men’s figure skating. We will see what happens next, but it felt like the beginning of the end to me. I just hope that he is proud and happy of everything that he has accomplished. I hope he has a happy exit, without regrets, whenever it is. Though perhaps it’s in the nature of great champions to never be satisfied? (Looking at you, Roger Federer.)
Hanyu looked so different in the FS versus his SP and his Nationals performance. The FS performance was honestly terrible. Shocking, given how good he was in the short and at nationals.
I have to wonder if Hanyu really knows what he wants? Yes, i know the quad axel is what he says is motivating him now. But if he didn’t care about winning, he wouldn’t have changed his programs last year in a last-ditch attempt to be stronger at Worlds. He’s won everything multiple times, so what’s next? A third world title seems very elusive. A third Olympic title is not the stated goal. I’ve been through this process as a fan with Michelle Kwan and others. Great athletes with great careers and tons of medals sometimes find it challenging to keep themselves motivated and keep going—and the body starts to reach its limits. And it’s hard when you were once the undisputed best—you can win with mistakes or just focus on being clean—to being the underdog, and have to rely on others to falter. That’s a huge blow in itself.
Hanyu has been an incredible force in men’s figure skating. We will see what happens next, but it felt like the beginning of the end to me. I just hope that he is proud and happy of everything that he has accomplished. I hope he has a happy exit, without regrets, whenever it is. Though perhaps it’s in the nature of great champions to never be satisfied? (Looking at you, Roger Federer.)
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No, they won't tear him (Boyang) apart. The majority of Chinese fans love Hanyu and Chen the most and recognise how strong Shoma, Misha etc. are, so aren't going to be mad if Boyang doesn't win a medal on home turf. They may be worried and wondering why he struggled here, but men's skating in China doesn't have the status that it does in Russia, so Boyang's situation is not like Plushenko in Sochi. Chinese skating fandom is on the whole quite young and VPN-savvy, which gives them a touch of countercultural brashness (nothing teaches sarcasm like evading government censors). They're not blind patriots, at least when it comes to skating.
Anyway, with Han Yan retiring (as I assume from his social media statement) there isn't another very strong contender besides Boyang who would have missed out on the second spot that was lost so it's not such a tragedy.
I would keep an eye on Chen Yudong who's on Team Raf. Right now he only has a 4T but he is just 16 and his fundamentals are better than Boyang's.
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Hanyu has won either the SP or LP at every Worlds/Olympics from 2014 onward (he deserved to win the LP in 2019), why should he retire right before an Olympic year, LOL?
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LOL.
He has two world medals, a GPF title, and a Japanese title since then.
Hanyu? Overstayed his welcome? Hilarious.
But I'm sure you also thought Liza had overstayed her welcome too..and she has a World's silver medal.
You obviously have not seen the Chinese comments when it was announced Boyang would not be going to Orser back in 2018. They were savage. Ranging from how he was a man baby who couldn't leave his security blanket coaches. If Medvedeva could be so courageous why can't he try. And how he wasted resources that the Chinese fed was giving to him when everyone else would kill for the opportunity. And that was only cuz he rejected a training proposal. The Chinese fandom is vicious as any. Oh and if there's a skater they don't like? Yikes.
Yes, I was going to say
Especially about the "skater they don't like" part, lol, there are mean-spirited nicknames all over the place.I hope Jin isn't reading social media, though I really don't like visiting Baidu lol so IDK what's happening. Though I'd definitely say he's very well-loved too. Skating fandom is skating fandom, they might prefer the skaters who place over him in terms of skating or results. But I think in men's singles skating popularity he and Han Yan are more well-loved than others outside of Hanyu (who is hugely popular in China). And I think they like Vincent Zhou partly because he's fluent in Chinese.
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He shouldn't retire. But, he really needs to rework the choreography of that LP.
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Ah. I didn't hear that. Those remarks are quite snide, but it's not what I envision by being 'torn apart'. Character assassination, saying that a skater is ugly or makes one nauseous, vulgarities, death threats etc. are more what I was thinking of (the sort of vitriol/propaganda Twitter lunatics hurled at Asada, Sotnikova, Denis Ten in 2016, Mariah Bell in 2019, nowadays most of the Russian ladies and sometimes Nathan Chen). In a grim way, it's kind of reassuring that 'man baby' is harsh by your standards
I just don't think Chinese fandom is all that toxic compared with the global standard...Boyang is fortunate that he doesn't pose a threat to skaters with the largest fanbase (Hanyu basically). And since there isn't any meaningful domestic rivalry at the moment, Chinese fans can't be too hard on him. Not like Russia, where fans of Skater X can hate on Skater Y while still supporting the country.
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And Hanyu has beaten 321 before. If he has it mentally or not we'll see. Nathan at his best will win 100%, but even one mistake opens the door as we saw.
Better to stay oblivious
(True, though, that I've not seen death threats from Chinese skating fans, nor quite the level of Russian fans. That's definitely one way in which they aren't quite as bad as some others.)
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I made the comment to point out that having 3 world titles doesn't mean anyone's unstoppable,
Like the original poster suggested, And no differences there might be between Chan and Chen
Changes that imo
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To do this he will need to up his tech back to 5 quads and consider upgrading to 4L/4S+3T in his SP.
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And a 4cc title with the super slam.
He is stillthe most competitive at the moment after Chen. His goal is to incorporate the 4A axel in his program. As long as he is happy to skate I think he shouldn't retire. He is always a joy to watch ( not yesterday pity).
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Clean at jnats with 4 quads in the free and only 103 pt in the short he scored 319.
But I agree, he should upgrade his BV ( and skate clean...).
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Yeah exactly. He's a top 2/3 skater in the world.
It's a testament to his talent that a bronze at World's is somehow ever staying his welcome when there are many many other skaters who long to get to his current level - and never will.
