Chapter 108 Growing Up: A Qualified Knight Never Backs Down

Polina's free skate this season is based on the Russian film "The Barber of Siberia", and her program still features a double triple Ace.

As she gradually passed the developmental stage, her physical fitness did not decline significantly. Similarly, her performance and mentality showed great improvement compared to the youth group.

Some students in Xia Yuezi's group went to Russia for short training at their own expense. They trained with the children in Sidorov's group and witnessed firsthand just how tight the Russian women's singles matches really are.

In order to introduce challenging material to the children at a younger age, the other coaching staff employed almost self-destructive training methods.

As a distinguished Russian coach, Sidorov has trained many champion athletes. He doesn't see the need to push his team to the brink of exhaustion and places more emphasis on the standardization and feasibility of training methods. He values ​​the long-term development of athletes' careers and has even publicly criticized this kind of training method.

Regardless of how you look at it, Polina's ability to maintain her composure and climb the ladder of success after causing such a huge blunder at the Sochi individual T-match, facing overwhelming public pressure, and eventually succeeding Lyubov as Russia's number one player, demonstrates that her potential and strength should not be underestimated.

Even Xia Yuezi was wondering, is this still the same little girl who was called "scammer" back then? She's a completely different person.

When Xia Yuezi brought Yang Yiyan out to wait for the round, they happened to catch the second half of the free skate. Polina was wearing a fiery red backless knit dress and was skating past the judges' table with a high kick.

This program focuses on the core love story of the film—Andrei and Jane—and is also an intertwining of ideals and reality.

Polina's gliding speed was very fast, her expression and body language showed some pain and struggle, and she finally entered a bent-over turn. Xia Yuezi stood nearby and could clearly see the muscle lines of her legs and back.

This was the first time Xia Yuezi had seen Polina in person this season, and she looked noticeably thinner than last season. It's generally very difficult for female athletes to further reduce their body fat, but Polina has likely lost even more, building up her fitness and muscle mass to support her current free skate setup.

Xia Yuezi previously participated in the Winter Olympics and reduced her body fat to around 14% during training, just to add a quadruple jump to her free skate. This is the minimum body fat percentage required for women. If it weren't for maintaining her physical condition, she could have increased her training volume to reduce it further.

The price she paid for this was that even after her body fat percentage gradually returned to normal after the Olympics, she experienced exercise-induced amenorrhea for a year and had to take traditional Chinese medicine to regulate it.

The moment Xia Yuezi saw Polina, she was reminded of this almost forgotten memory. She thought that Polina had endured no less suffering than she had back then to achieve what she had.

After the program ended, Polina knelt on the ice, panting heavily. She had shaken off the shadow of her mistakes in the short program and completed a program that went beyond jumps and approach skating, achieving the pinnacle of her technical and performance abilities.

Xia Yuezi clapped along with the audience and habitually looked at Yang Yiyan beside her. Yang Yiyan's face was expressionless, but Xia Yuezi did not miss Yang Yiyan raising her hand to give a thumbs up to the ice rink.

Polina's program was relatively error-free, with the live scoreboard showing only a deduction of GOE for one set of spins in the second half. Her free skate score was 151.67, and her final total score was 224.48.

Upon seeing this score, the coaches on the sidelines and the players whose matches had already ended all gasped in shock.

The current world records for women's singles free skate and total score are 153.24 and 230.14, respectively, set by Ria Yumikawa. Xia Yuezi remembers that she placed four jumps in the second half of her free skate.

If Polina hadn't made a mistake, both of those records would probably have been broken today.

Yang Yiyan was warming up on the ice with her head down, and even found a hole in the ice to cover it. Hearing the shouts from the audience, she sniffed and skated back to her coach to prepare.

Xia Yuezi's mood was a bit complicated at this moment. Yang Yiyan originally had the idea of ​​winning against Mengchuan and Liya, but she was a little unsure whether she only wanted to win against Mengchuan or wanted to defeat her and win the gold medal.

"Little Goose..."

Yang Yiyan tilted her head back, interrupting what she was about to say, and took the initiative to ask the coach for a hug. She whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, I know my limits. A qualified rider will not back down because of fear."

Xia Yuezi was slightly taken aback, then hugged her tightly, holding onto the child who could withstand the pressure at this crucial moment and put her at ease.

The audience's emotions had been stirred up by the previous skater, and after the break, they would gradually fall into a period of fatigue, with only a few skate fans still maintaining their enthusiasm.

As soon as Yang Yiyan's music started, a proud and confident smile appeared on her face as she stood tall on the ice rink's big screen, making the audience unable to resist looking forward.

Her previous shows always focused on finding common ground and amplifying that common ground on the ice rink. But now, her shows are incorporating emotions from her own life or the outside world, making them even more captivating.

This program is still the normal three-week routine, but she is, after all, a speed-type contestant who used to be able to do 3A. Her jump speed is always considerable, and her stamina is better than other contestants. She can increase the height of her jumps without doing 3A, and she also subtly carries the inner emotions that Aldonsa is gradually exploding.

The moment Xia Yuezi and Meng Xin took their 3F+3Lo jump, their hearts leaped into their throats. Her back was still injured, and even if it had partially recovered, no one was sure if it would affect her performance on the field.

After a clean finish, Yang Yiyan exuded confidence, showcasing her pursuit of her dreams through her body language and expressions. But once the ice skating fans were truly captivated and wanted to delve deeper, they discovered her inherent rebellious spirit and unwillingness to be forever suppressed.

Xia Yuezi's eyes were filled with relief: "She has really grown up."

Meng Xin had just been tapping the shield with her knife when she heard this and immediately understood. She then smiled brightly and said, "Actually, Teacher Mi's choreography skills are not world-class, but they are very suitable for Xiao Yan. Moreover, her technique is very mature and her performance is also very good."

In other words, this 17-year-old Chinese girl is already a fully mature women's singles player.

Throughout the entire program, apart from applause, there was almost no other sound from the audience. It wasn't until the program truly ended that everyone seemed to wake up from a dream, gradually being awakened by the broadcast, and the applause gradually grew louder.

Yang Yiyan remained in the pose of the program's end, her chest heaving violently, sweat soaking her forehead, her hands outstretched as if accepting the judgment of fate.

This program also adds a layer of mystery to the list of winners on the podium.

Regardless of how the other players perform, Polina has already secured a podium spot. Yang Yiyan and the next two female singles players are about one point apart in the short program. If Yumekawa Ria changes her mind and goes for a triple A, and doesn't make a mistake, then Yang Yiyan and Claire will be competing for the last podium spot.

Although the Olympics are still a long way off, ice hockey fans from all over the world could feel the tension between the athletes in this competition.

Yang Yiyan put one hand on her hip, bent over and slowly slid back up. Before she could catch her breath, she fell directly into the coach's arms.

As soon as Xia Yuezi placed her hand on Yang Yiyan's back, she felt her hand was covered in sweat. She patted it gently, as if to comfort her. Seeing this, Meng Xin put her coat over Yang Yiyan.

"You skated very well, you did it."

Yang Yiyan leaned on her shoulder, gave a muffled reply, and followed the coach to the waiting area, where she took out a few tissues to wipe her sweat.

Considering what Meng Xin had said, Xia Yuezi asked intentionally, "Are you considering hiring other big-name choreographers for next season?"

The composition of program content scores is very complex and is often closely related to the quality of the program. If a contestant's P score is not high, it is not necessarily because of a bad slide test, but may also be due to poor program transitions or arrangement.

Many top skaters, before they break into the scene, choose less famous choreographers due to budget constraints, and then modify the choreography themselves after the program is completed, which limits their score ceiling.

The next season is the warm-up for the Olympics. No matter how well Teacher Mi's choreography suits Yang Yiyan, they still need to be fully prepared.

Holding the doll given to her by a fan, Yang Yiyan smiled and looked at Xia Yuezi: "It sounds like the coach already has an idea."

Xia Yuezi didn't hide anything: "I want you and Feng Simai to choreograph four programs for next season and spend time working together on them."

Changing the program at the last minute before the competition is not uncommon. In later generations, many hardworking contestants would practice four or five programs during the off-season and then keep changing them during the season to see which program was more suitable for the competition. Even Xia Yuezi did this. The only downside was that it would be more tiring than before.

Yang Yiyan blinked, somewhat hesitant.

Since she started taking on ice shows and advertisements, she doesn't have to worry about the expenses of figure skating each year, but she only manages to break even.

Teacher Mi is already one of the top choreographers in China. When he choreographs for Chinese athletes, he will reduce the fee by a little. However, the prices of big-name choreographers from abroad are much higher, and they will not offer discounts.

From a personal perspective, she and Teacher Mi had already worked well together. Although their relationship was a business transaction, she felt that changing people now was not a good idea.

Xia Yuezi understood her concerns and didn't insist on an answer right away: "It's okay, you can think about it when you get back."

Shortly after the two finished their conversation, the contestant's score appeared on the big screen.

With a technical score of 73.54, a program component score of 69.13, a free skate score of 142.67, and a total score of 216.64, Yang Yiyan ranked below Polina, but once again broke her career high for total score.

Xia Yuezi was a little surprised to see the score. The American judges didn't lower the score and even let the P score go up a bit. Then, she saw familiar Asian faces on the nine-person judges' table.

The Chinese referee, who had just passed the ISU-level referee assessment in July, sat in his seat, adjusted his glasses, switched the score sheet on the screen in front of him to the next contestant's score, then flipped the ballpoint pen in his hand and continued working with a smile.