Chapter 139 Ranking Assessment (including forum content) - Intensive Training

#Chinese figure skating is getting better#

On the day the pairs figure skating competition ended, this hashtag also trended on Weibo along with the first gold medal, accompanied by a group of comments from figure skating fans.

[1L: I never thought this day would come for them. They competed in two events, and won medals in both, even securing the first gold medal.]

[2L: When I saw the 4S throw fail on the ice, my heart sank, but Sister Hui managed to stay calm.]

[3L: But Sister Hui's face was so pale in the KC area, her injury must be serious. Fortunately, the team has improved, and the He-Qi duo can take on the burden later.]

[4L: Speaking of the teams, apart from ice dance, the other two disciplines are improving. I'm already looking forward to the Beijing Winter Olympics. I'll pick up my English books and study hard so I can become a volunteer.]

[5L: There are still four years until Beijing. Zhang Jie and Xiao Yan in the senior group are not young anymore. Yan Rui has the perfect physique for skaters, and if there are no major injuries, we can look forward to him. The other women's singles candidates depend on the junior group. The same problem exists in the men's singles. In the end, it's all just superficial glamour.]

[6L: There's no need to be so pessimistic. I think there are quite a few promising talents at this year's National Junior Championships, and for several years in a row, the World Junior Championships have had no fewer than two singles skaters. This is already an improvement.]

[7L: That's right. During the Vancouver cycle, Chinese figure skating relied solely on pairs skating to reach the podium. Now, in the PyeongChang cycle, excluding the team event, there are already three medal-winning opportunities, two of which are gold medals. Although the men's singles isn't particularly consistent, at least we'll see the Chinese flag on the podium at least once the season is over.]

[8L: Speaking of men's singles, I have to quickly criticize Lin Ye. He performed quite well in the team event, and I hope he can continue this form tomorrow.]

[9L: Give all three a thumbs up, get a good rest tonight, and try to perform well tomorrow.]

………

The men's singles short program officially began on February 16.

CCTV's cameras first panned across the Chinese athletes in the stands; apart from the Cao-Lu pair, all the other athletes who weren't competing were there.

Cao Jinhui's injuries were too severe, so the team doctor gave her temporary treatment. She spent most of her time resting in the dormitory, while Lu Sheng took care of her.

Xia Yuezi stood backstage in the warm-up area watching as the Beijing team's coach led Song Ziqi, who had already finished his game, towards the mixed zone.

Although the young man is young, his ability to withstand pressure is completely different from that of his coach. He broke his career high score in the short program.

She turned around and saw Feng Simai and Lin Ye sitting side by side in the corner. One was eating a banana on a yoga ball, while the other was stretching on a yoga mat. Both of them had serious expressions on their faces, and even Meng Xin and Song Qiao, who were standing nearby, looked uneasy.

No one spoke in the warm-up area, yet the atmosphere was tense. The athletes who hadn't yet taken the stage were preparing diligently, and some with low stress tolerance had already made several trips to the restroom.

Coaches from various countries have done everything they could before the opening of the Olympics. Regardless of whether they were fully prepared, they can only choose to trust the athletes now, because this ice rink now belongs to them.

It wasn't until the penultimate group's competition ended that Xia Yuezi and Song Qiao led two Chinese skaters onto the ice. Currently, the one in the short program is American skater Kevin, followed by Kazakh skater Diaz and Russian skater Ilya.

"Kier's P score is a bit outrageous."

Meng Xinchao glanced at the waiting area behind her, somewhat indignant.

As a skater competing alongside the Canadian delegation, Kiel helped Canada secure third place in the free skate, retaining their final team gold medal and becoming the new Olympic champion.

Perhaps because of this status, even though he hadn't won any significant medals in his previous career and had made mistakes in individual competitions, his treatment had increased considerably.

Xia Yuezi supported her waist with one hand, her gaze following the athletes who were practicing for the sixth time on the field. She then analyzed, "The first gold medal with real significance is the Olympic gold medal. Moreover, Kiel and Kevin are about the same strength and both belong to the American system. If their mistakes are not particularly serious, it is normal for their treatment to be increased a little."

The scoring system for the Winter Olympics is generally more lenient than for other competitions. In this competition, the order of appearance is determined by the points ranking, and the judges also like to score according to the order of appearance.

However, this situation usually only applies to the players who appear earlier; the players in the latter two groups simply watch the referees' battle.

Judging from the difficulty of the last two groups of athletes, each of them has more than two types of quadruple jumps, which shows how fierce the competition is in this Winter Olympics, and the treatment of these athletes is not much different.

However, everything is based on cleanliness. If this is not achieved, no matter how high the judges' scores are, it will be useless.

As with most matches, Feng Simai was the first competitor to take the stage. He wore an earth-toned knitted suit, placed one hand on his chest, and the lines of his neck became exceptionally clear with each breath.

Under the overhead lights, his face looked excessively white, likely due to makeup and the painkillers he had taken before the competition.

His ankles and knees were severely worn during the training camp, especially his meniscus, and his hip was also badly injured. But the moment the music started, he completely put aside the pain and devoted himself to the performance.

Feng Simai is the most performative male singles skater today, with his skating and spins ranking among the top.

The piece "Beyond the Horizon" resonated with him the most during the program, not only because of his own experiences, but also because the interactive element of the musical resonated with his emotions once again.

Even though his own family members are far away, he hopes that his grandmother can live a good life.

He poured all his emotions and expectations into this, and in the final spinning part, he slowly closed his eyes, using the high-speed rotation to express his deep feelings.

Xia Yuezi didn't notice this detail, but the ice skating fans outside the screen caught it the moment he stopped spinning.

This program scored 94.19 points, higher than the team score, but he was not able to beat American Kevin and is currently in second place by a tiny margin of a few tenths of a point.

Some people who only care about the final result might not think this score is good and might even say something about it on Weibo. However, the coaching staff and true ice skating fans are very satisfied with this result.

Xia Yuezi patted his shoulder and said slowly, "Is your foot alright? I'll have the team doctor take a look at it later."

Feng Simai nodded, indicating that he had no objection.

At such a crucial moment, it's always good to be cautious. And even if the coach doesn't say anything, he'll ask the team doctor for an ice pack after the game and ask him to take a look at the situation.

After all, like Cao Jinhui, he delayed his surgery for the sake of the Olympics, only his injury wasn't as severe as hers.

But his teammate Lin Ye wasn't so lucky. Before going on the court, he not only received a cortisone injection in his knee joint, but also in his hip joint.

Xia Yuezi stood near the backstage entrance, watching the last Chinese athlete skate on the ice.

With the help of a foreign teacher, Lin Ye's ranking was completely transformed, and the show also became "opportunistic," using the simplest way to advance in the rankings.

For example, in a jump into a crouching turn, you basically have to crouch down after two rotations. Since Lin Ye's rotation speed is not fast, he can choose this kind of jump that allows him to complete the difficult posture change better within the specified number of rotations.

Even his footwork was "pre-made," with the three-level footwork routine choreographed for him in advance, so that he could train only on this set of movements.

Under intense training, Lin Ye has developed muscle memory for every movement in this short program, and he can skate through it even without music.

"During the training camp, I kept an eye on his foreign coach. If there was a move I wasn't familiar with, I would take that move out of the ice and practice the prescribed patterns on the ice."

Meng Xin also witnessed the training methods of this mysterious foreign coach during the training camp. It was exactly like teaching a child who had just learned figure skating, and sometimes he would even take him skating with him.

Lin Ye's figure skating talent is already quite high. If he still can't improve his level using this hands-on teaching method, it would be almost impossible.

This is why Lin Ye achieved a score of 104.92, undoubtedly placing him in the top three of the short program, and even his program content score reached a new high.

Xia Yuezi raised an eyebrow at Meng Xin: "Why don't we try this method when we get back?"

The footwork coach of Xia Group looked horrified: "That foreign coach only has Lin Ye under his wing. I have so many students. If he uses that method, I won't be able to handle even a few of them."

"but……"

Coach Meng then changed the subject: "This method could be considered for those players who are not ranked well, but given the physical condition of women's singles players, I think even the worst ranked players will not be able to surpass Lin Ye."

Sitting on the waiting sofa, the Chinese contestant, who was happily preparing to receive his small medal, sneezed, then grabbed a handful of hair in a daze, and continued watching the next contestant's performance.