Yuzuru Hanyu FCC Press Conference

[Yatagarasu]

I loved this press conference, along the one earlier, that'll be subbed later, so hopefully there'll be things out of that one too.

My personal favorites were a couple of things already mentioned.

- Asian music and expression in re to the historical development of the sport that started in Europe
There have been comments here too about this, and I'm glad he brought it up. It's not just related to music itself but perhaps the way that music is expressed, often in a more internalized way (I believe this came up some time ago when we talked about Satoko) and how this reflects in sport that has developed in Western countries primarily. I do think we're slowly entering the waters where the different approaches are more accepted but we're not there yet. I think last season's H&L was another example of this btw. It's important to get this type of conversation going out in the open.

- technical vs artistry
Honestly, it's probably the best reply I've heard about this question, biased that I am, in all discussions in terms of how it was put, short and to the point.

[...] that this artistry is very much based on having the correct technique and a strong foundation at the core of everything. It is upon this that the artistry is built and without that strong foundation and that basis in technique it is not possible to have that full artistry required as well.

And further about then expressing this correct technique as art in his skating. I'm also glad he briefly touched then upon those who place higher priority on the technical. I'd say it's a very measured, diplomatic answer, that at the same time strikes at the core of the issue.

I have to admit I laughed at his struggles to explain the difficulty of the quads, I'm sorry Yuzuru! (the interpreter I think missed he said jump rope) and thought the North Korea answer couldn't have been better. I'm very happy he finally got to say his peace about Javi!

But overall, he'd be a dream to handle ; he has an instinct on how to side-step mines and does it with grace, he's eloquent and thoughtful in answers, a charm that is not faked but natural and a killer instinct of a supreme athlete. It's a combo to die for.

 

[Metis]

And taking this into consideration, maybe it's no surprise Javier Fernández and him could have a good working relationship/friendship. Yuzuru said "he's so kind he's almost not suited to competition", and this really says wonders about the mindset they both have had while training together while being top rivals against each other. But Javier hasn't had to face the kind of pressure Yuzu had until he was older, and I think that's the reason he has kept a different, "kinder" approach.

It may not even be a federation/outside pressure issue. I’ve been told I could be competitive myself in the same area my boyfriend is, but I also know there’s a lot working against that (my health is non-existent, I think I’m more likely to go into the dark side of competitive overdrive, etc.), so I was an emotional support battery, scene leader, coach, commentator, info source, what have you. I derived more joy from teaching and helping others improve than I did from raising my own skills, to the point where my boyfriend and others prodded me about when I was going to focus on applying that time to becoming competitive myself. Even in the world of competitive jerks, we aren’t all alike. (I can become the darker side of this mindset — I am a recovered anoretic, and while I hit recovery years ago, I still have the genes and can go from 0 to 100 speed without thinking or paying mind to the consequences if I don’t watch it.)

And with age does come maturity and knowledge of oneself. I don’t doubt Fernández wasn’t under enormous pressure himself, but I do think he had the advantage in being older and having a relatively more “normal” life, and he may just be a more grounded individual overall. Hanyu... has been embodying Japan for so long and under so much pressure that it boggles the mind.

Of course he had other troubles that come with coming from a smaller federation that couldn't support him, but not that kind of competitive ferocity, so to speak...

Though I admit this is the simpler explanation, but something about Fernández suggests he’s just a decent, good person as well. But on the competitive ferocity side: Fernández also didn’t start in the era of 4Lz. (Technically, Hanyu didn’t either, although it was obviously coming.) What a difference a few years makes in this cohort in terms of expectation setting and what’s considered part of the fundamentals. I wonder if Fernández felt that he was already behind in the technical race and it was a lost cause to try to skate a decade younger? In a way, that also eases some pressure.

However other athletes like Yuzuru or Plushenko are/were actually fueled by it. Shoma has said on occasion he prefers to compete among Yuzu because he takes the blunt of the media pressure.

Shoma is fascinating to me, because he clearly wants to win (despite saying he was under no pressure to medal because Hanyu was competing), but it’s also clear he wants no part of Hanyu’s spotlight and not for fear of upstaging The God. (And had Hanyu skated poorly and Uno won the gold, I know I wouldn’t have been rioting, despite the jokes of a forum implosion.) But just the fact that he’d done the math for a gold says it all — you can’t say you aren’t under pressure to medal and are just using this as a warmup for 2022, then calculate that a perfect free skate will put you on top of the podium. Words and actions are completely out of sync. All of these guys want to win. And they’ll step over each other to do it.

Nathan crumbled in the Olys but then did an amazing comeback and will learn from it. Boyang has been showing a strong mentality so far. They're all confident in themselves, in their abilities, but show it in different ways.

That’s why we’re drawn to them, isn’t it? In the end, what one person sees as arrogance (“how dare he try to challenge so-and-so’s record!”) is what another person sees as confidence and the raising of the bar. The skaters themselves aren’t entirely blank canvasses, but we are projecting quite a lot onto them. They’re all arrogant! They’re all trying to grab the ring! They may be adorable and sweet and non-threatening as a basket of kittens in interviews, but they’re also Olympic athletes... and that makes them inherently lousy crushes, as an aside. I would freaking know: in the run-up to an event, my boyfriend bailed on me to practice (and we’d been dating for just a few months at that point); I think he thought I was going to be mad but I just laughed, because... well, yeah, that would be the smart choice. (As long as his fans leave us be, it’s all good.) At least I knew what I was signing on for and have similar brain hardware... if you’ve never been around someone that competitive before, it’s probably jarring. (Wouldn’t know. Genderflip this and you have a childhood photo of me.) (I... actually did something similar. Stop judging me!)

@Metis, this quote from Yuzuru from a press conference today might interest you. Basically JPN press was playing the 'what if' game just as much as GS members in the FS thread

you owe me a new phone; I just laugh-spat my tea out

Two-time Olympic champion is competitive. I am shocked! Next you’ll tell me there’s snark going on in this establishment. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

(Seriously, I appreciate how Yuzuru can go from extremely humble and gracious to “basket of kittens in human form” to “#1” in one interview. Pretending those aren’t all equally parts of him is silly. He can be cocky! It’s okay!)

 

[chopinskate]

How do you get the time to write these monster replies

 

[Metis]

How do you get the time to write these monster replies

160 WPM average.

 

[WineHerUp]

Shoma is fascinating to me, because he clearly wants to win (despite saying he was under no pressure to medal because Hanyu was competing), but it’s also clear he wants no part of Hanyu’s spotlight and not for fear of upstaging The God. (And had Hanyu skated poorly and Uno won the gold, I know I wouldn’t have been rioting, despite the jokes of a forum implosion.) But just the fact that he’d done the math for a gold says it all — you can’t say you aren’t under pressure to medal and are just using this as a warmup for 2022, then calculate that a perfect free skate will put you on top of the podium. Words and actions are completely out of sync. All of these guys want to win. And they’ll step over each other to do it.

I'm glad you pointed this out because a lot of times people overlook Shoma's competitive drive because of how collected he comes across in the Kiss&Cry's and his general relaxed demeanor. I would say that he's just as competitive as Hanyu, but the difference here is that he cares less about external factors such as pressure or media attention. His motivation to do well seems to be completely internal whereas Hanyu, who's fully aware of his impact on the sport, feels more of a responsibility to do well for external factors such as his country and his fans.

 

[Metis]

I'm glad you pointed this out because a lot of times people overlook Shoma's competitive drive because of how collected he comes across in the Kiss&Cry's and his general relaxed demeanor. I would say that he's just as competitive as Hanyu, but the difference here is that he cares less about external factors such as pressure or media attention. His motivation to do well seems to be completely internal whereas Hanyu, who's fully aware of his impact on the sport, feels more of a responsibility to do well for external factors such as his country and his fans.

Shoma is fascinating in that respect — I don’t get the sense he’s lying or playing a modded copy of Tetris where he blows up Hanyu for successful matches; I think he’s ... quite sincere when he says he’s happy being able to avoid all the attention (read: burdens) Hanyu has. And I don’t think he sees it as knifing senpai if he were to win, or “Why won’t you notice me today” melodrama. Time to learn Japanese and get hired as his sports psychologist... there’s plenty going on there, but I feel like I’m missing a piece.

I think he and Hanyu both have huge amounts of internal motivation — if Hanyu wanted to, be could play the role of the senior athlete while not competing much and allowing Shoma to grow into the spotlight, for example, as he’s done more than enough for Japan at this point; whatever Hanyu is doing now ... there’s always external pressure in addition to whatever his own internal drive is, but he’s now won two OGMs and I expected retirement. It’s not like there’s no one to replace Hanyu, either — Shoma was second!

Hanyu... has his own reasons. And it may be that it works out for the best for Shoma that way, as for as long as Hanyu is around, he doesn’t have to embody Japan, which gives him more time with a more normal existence than Hanyu had. But Shoma somehow manages to convince people that this was totally just a test run for 2022 while doing the math for a gold, and all I can say is hats off, sir, because ... it basically worked until he said the quiet part out loud. (Don’t tell reporters you did the math! Tell them you were only thinking of giving the best skate of your life and they’ll keep forgetting you until the day you beat Hanyu! Strategy!)

 

[yude]

I'm not sure if this has been already mentioned, but when a guy from REUTERS asked Yuzuru to explain the difficulty of quad around 37:00, there was a part the translation was missing in the question. And I agree with the translator's decision because it was not necessary needed. In Japan, when we describe how hard giving birth is, we sometimes use a phrase "Giving birth is like pushing a watermelon out of nose", and this journalist asked Yuzuru to give them similar kind of metaphor in explaining the jump, in order to give the public easy understanding. And I think that made him struggle and more confused.

But sorry, Yuzuru. I laughed a lot

 

[Sydney Rose]

they also told Yuzuru about Shoma's statement when he said he came into his free believing that if he gave an absolutely perfect performance, he'd win but then Shoma fell on his 4Lo. Yuzuru responded with "I'd say that even if he'd landed the 4Lo, I wouldn't have lost" ahaha

Interesting how Yuzu has no hesitation at all about putting Shoma in his place--which is definitely behind him.

He does it often--e.g., referring to Shoma as his pet or his puppy or just constantly "directing" him as to what he should do. Of course, one could argue that this is necessary given Shoma's seeming inability to remain fully conscious at public events.

That Yuzu is extremely competitive is hardly news to anyone who has spent any time following him or even just reading Brian Orser's interviews about him. As Brian said before the Olympics, do not underestimate Mr. Hanyu.

 

[Sydney Rose]

But overall, he'd be a dream to handle ; he has an instinct on how to side-step mines and does it with grace, he's eloquent and thoughtful in answers, a charm that is not faked but natural and a killer instinct of a supreme athlete. It's a combo to die for.

It really is a combo to die for. Not just an amazing athlete but one with both a high IQ and great emotional intelligence--so self-aware and in control of both his own emotional state and that of others. And if all that wasn't enough, he's physically beautiful.

Dream to handle is almost an understatement when it comes to Yuzu.

 

[cruzceleste]

Interesting how Yuzu has no hesitation at all about putting Shoma in his place--which is definitely behind him.

He does it often--e.g., referring to Shoma as his pet or his puppy or just constantly "directing" him as to what he should do. Of course, one could argue that this is necessary given Shoma's seeming inability to remain fully conscious at public events.

That Yuzu is extremely competitive is hardly news to anyone who has spent any time following him or even just reading Brian Orser's interviews about him. As Brian said before the Olympics, do not underestimate Mr. Hanyu.

Just wanted to point out, that the quote was more in the sense of Yuzuru having a plan if x competitor do something.

I don´t think Yuzuru´s "putting Shoma on his place", they seen to have a nice informal relationship, FULL OF RESPECT for each other, rather than one senpai- kohai that would be the tradition in japanese culture; one interviewer even surprised that sometimes Shoma didn´t use formal way yo address Yuzuru even when Yuzuru is older and his senior in the sport.

 

[Fresca]

I think Yuzuru knew Nathan would have been a threat all along. That's why he insisted on the 4Lo and 4Lz.

If Nathan had done a PB in SP at Olympics and in same vein Shoma with PB FS and Javier with PB FS, Yuzuru would still be able to win with a SUPER-clean 2015/2016 Seimei but if he had perform with the two jump mistakes and one missed combo, as in the Olympic FS, he would have needed a clean 4Lo and/or clean 4Lz. (i.e. 4 quads/5 quads with two 3A with 2 mistakes)

Whole post.

Amazing post. And I completely agree. At that level, what matters most is the competition against yourself. I don't think Yuzu added 4Lo and 4Lz because of Nathan. He did it because he knew he could, Nathan or no Nathan. And he's going to add the 4A not because he needs it but because he knows he can.

 

[WineHerUp]

Amazing post. And I completely agree. At that level, what matters most is the competition against yourself. I don't think Yuzu added 4Lo and 4Lz because of Nathan. He did it because he knew he could, Nathan or no Nathan. And he's going to add the 4A not because he needs it but because he knows he can.

This. Yuzuru is not only incredibly competitive, but he's also incredibly passionate about the sport and wants to push the limits. He didn't need the additional quads, but trying out new elements is something that probably excites him. I mean this is the guy who does unnecessarily difficult 3A entries just because he can.

 

[cruzceleste]

.

 

[Arriba627]

But Shoma somehow manages to convince people that this was totally just a test run for 2022 while doing the math for a gold, and all I can say is hats off, sir, because ... it basically worked until he said the quiet part out loud. (Don’t tell reporters you did the math! Tell them you were only thinking of giving the best skate of your life and they’ll keep forgetting you until the day you beat Hanyu! Strategy!)

He's actually very vocal about the fact that he does the math. He did the same thing last year at Worlds and said it took the pressure off him because he knew no matter how high he scored, he wouldn't come in 1st. No big secret.