Chapter 65 Buying Stocks Was Bing possessed by Bao Zheng today? ...

A mistake like flipping over can be minor or major. Generally, only three issues—falling, using the edge, and the number of rotations—will have specific point deductions given in the technical manual.

For vague issues such as take-off, height, and posture, only a deduction range will be given, and the specific amount will depend on the referee's judgment.

Therefore, before the results were announced, all three of them were mentally prepared to be penalized the highest score by the referee.

In Xia Yuezi's memory, Yang Yiyan's 3LZ never got a goe higher than 0.5. What's even stranger is that she can't get a high goe with a single 3LZ jump, but if she can land a full rotation with a 3LZ+3LO, she can get a relatively good goe with a high-quality second half.

The International Skating Union has a webpage listing various jumps, including high scores for single jumps or combination jumps, as well as high scores for jumps in individual events. Yang Yiyan's 3LZ+3LO and 3F+3LO are both on the list, and they are ranked quite high.

Meng Xin watched the replay of the jump on the big screen. This 3LZ was already a full round. Apart from the posture and landing, it would be difficult for the judges to find any other reasons to deduct points.

Before long, the score appeared on the big screen—

With a technical score of 41.37, a program content score of 27.32, and a short program score of 68.69, it is currently ranked second.

Seeing this result, all three players in the division breathed a sigh of relief. The technical score was still 41, which meant that the judges hadn't penalized them too harshly. However, the specific scores still needed to be analyzed after the sub-score sheet was released.

Xia Yuezi patted the little girl's head reassuringly: "You did very well, you have achieved our goal."

Yang Yiyan pursed her lips and forced a smile at the camera, but her gaze remained somewhat unfocused.

Meng Xin handed her a bottle of water, wisely avoiding mentioning the score: "Coach Xia is right, let's rest for a bit and then go down to the stands to watch the other contestants' performances."

At the other end of the ice rink, Claire had already begun her performance. This Canadian star, who had just finished her suspension, was in great form, and she had completely overcome her developmental challenges, with her technique almost fully developed.

Claire is not a member of the Super C team, but she has a slide that no other women's singles player can replicate. Her strong personal style has allowed her to occupy a place in this event since the junior level.

Nina, the next one to go on ice, stood by the entrance of the rink warming up, and silently stopped moving when the audience cheered for the third time.

The Americas have two long-established figure skating powerhouses, the United States and Canada, and their resource allocation is biased, much like a huge stock market. When a stock turns green, they immediately sell it without giving any chance, and then they consider whether to buy it back when it turns red.

American-style referees are led by the United States. When a top American athlete emerges, the referee will favor that athlete. However, if no American athlete is outstanding, or if a Canadian athlete is more capable, the referee will switch to favoring another athlete, as seen with these two.

With Claire, whom the US had previously been heavily promoting, suspended, the two established powerhouses couldn't find any players who could rival Japan and Russia. So, they pulled out the best among the underdogs and did everything they could to promote Nina to the top.

Despite this advantage, Nina has only won one Four Continents Championship title so far, and that was without Yumikawa Ria participating. She could only stand on the sidelines in the finals and the World Championships, while Claire has won every gold medal except for the Olympics.

Furthermore, Nina is now clearly affected by the developmental stage, and coupled with the fact that she didn't lay a good foundation when she was young, the developmental stage is obviously difficult for her. At this time, Claire lifted her suspension, and resources returned to her.

Even her coach said that if she doesn't work harder, she'll really become someone else's stepping stone.

Nina had only been skating for a short while when Xia Yuezi frowned.

Yang Yiyan was skating so hard because she was under pressure and had something on her mind, but what was Nina's reason?

If I remember correctly, for the next few years, no one in the United States will be able to challenge her position as the top female leader.

Xia Yuezi sat in the first row of the stands and glanced to her left at the American coach, noticing that he also had a somber expression.

Nina lowered her center of gravity as she jumped, and even the time she spent gliding and gathering power was longer than before. Her 3F jump was completely devoid of beauty, like the last struggle of a drowning person.

The referee is so hypocritical.

Xia Yuezi looked up at the real-time scoreboard on the big screen. The total score displayed was much higher than before, far exceeding the base score of 3F. However, if this jump were performed by a Chinese athlete, the score would probably be deducted.

She was about to pull Meng Xin aside and sigh, but before she could say anything, she heard the audience behind her gasp. Then, the commentator let out a sigh that sounded like regret, and English words popped out one after another, as if he were rapping.

Nina fell during the second half of her 3LZ+3T run. Although Xia Yuezi's exact rotation number wasn't clear, as long as she fell, her GOE score would be completely deducted. No matter how the judges tried to improve her, it would be difficult for her to rank high in the final score.

Xia Yuezi immediately sat up straight, her eyes fixed on Nina, who was struggling to get up on the ice.

Meng Xin said in a low voice, "Her 3LZ+3T this season is not very good. She jumps so shakily that it's terrifying to watch."

“Her movements weren’t particularly standardized to begin with, but she has a small frame and her growth spurt didn’t change her figure much. However, her weight is going to increase, so it’s only a matter of time before her technique changes,” Xia Yuezi echoed.

The American coach stood to the side, his face ashen, his fingers gripping the barrier so tightly his knuckles turned white. But facing Nina, who was looking down and seemed about to cry, he couldn't bring himself to say anything harsh.

The short program only had three jumps, and no matter how much you tried to avoid it during the replay on the big screen, you couldn't avoid the fall you just experienced.

The technicians controlling the replay on the big screen are probably also ice hockey fans. They can't stand seeing these athletes who benefit from nationality, so when they finally got the chance, the first jump in the replay was 3LZ+3T.

"Oh ho, this 3T isn't even a full week yet." Meng Xin's eyes were filled with sympathy.

Some figure skaters have to spin a certain number of times in the air before they can land a jump, and even if they are only a few degrees short, they may fall.

Nina fits this description quite well. Her axis had already shifted when she took off with the 3LZ jump, and her landing posture was not good either. However, she forced a 3T at that moment, which ultimately resulted in insufficient rotations and a fall on the ice.

Xia Yuezi analyzed softly, "If she were a 2T, she might have been able to land after that jump."

If Nina's mistake was expected, then Lyubov's mistake was unexpected; she touched the ice with her hand when landing on the 3rd floor.

Unlike Yang Yiyan, Liu Bofu's 3F has always been a wrong edge. She had tried to correct it before, but the more she changed it, the worse it got. Even LZ almost had a problem with it. But the referee always went easy on her. If he was strict, he would give her an "e"; if he was lenient, he would give her an "!". Of course, there were more lenient situations.

A flicker of disbelief crossed Meng Xin's eyes: "What's going on? Has the ice in Beijing been possessed by Bao Zheng today?"

The contestants who weren't bad made few major mistakes, while the bad ones kept crashing out, which quickly sent Yang Yiyan to third-to-last place.

While Yang Yiyan was still undergoing drug testing, Xia Yuezi sighed softly, "If only I were truly possessed by Judge Bao, I could take a look at the poor souls in our country."

Ria Yumikawa was the last to perform, and as always, she won first place in the short program without a doubt.

The women's singles short program competition falls on a weekday, so many figure skating fans can't take a break and can only glean information from forums. When they finally manage to steal a moment of free time, they stand there holding their phones, blinking hard, unable to believe the rankings they've seen.

What's this?

The top two factions, the American and Russian ones, are fighting, and the second-in-command ultimately benefits? Could we unexpectedly snag some of the spoils?

Let alone the fans who know nothing about the competition, even those who followed the entire competition are now a bit confused.

Yang Yiyan's mistake had prepared them for a bottom-of-the-bar short program, but now they're just one step away from the podium. While they're still a bit far from Aya Yumikawa, they're only two points behind Claire. If Yang Yiyan can clean her free skate, she still has a chance to win a bronze medal.

These remarks sparked another online flame war.

Meng Xin would naturally see posts about the loaned athletes' results, but she would never show them to Yang Yiyan, especially since the girl was currently under a suspension from playing online during the competition.

The two coaches kindly escorted Yang Yiyan back to her room after she finished the drug test, and then immediately began analyzing the small score sheet.

"3lz's comeback was deducted 1.2 points. I looked at the scores from the nine judges, and some deducted one point, while others deducted two points."

Xia Yuezi handed her phone to Meng Xin, and it was clear from the small score sheet who she was talking about.

The judges with European and American flags deducted two points each, while the Asian judges and the two French and German judges were slightly more lenient. However, the final average was still a considerable number.

Meng Xin glanced at the numbers behind her, her brows furrowing slightly, and spoke with a childlike tone: "These old men in white are really ruthless. I'll tell Aunt Zhao later and put all these referees' names on the blacklist."

However, Zhao Shuhua could only tell her to calm down. She couldn't do such a biased scoring. If she really did this for her own selfish interests, how would she be any different from the biased judges that Chinese ice hockey fans have always resisted?

Xia Yuezi snorted softly, her expression somewhat serious: "I reckon they didn't expect Lyubov and Nina to cause such a mess, otherwise Xiaoyan's score would have been even lower. If the free skate hadn't pulled them up..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but Meng Xin understood. She subconsciously looked to the other side of the wall, afraid that their conversation would disturb Yang Yiyan in the other room.

Meng Xin sighed: "Xiao Yan's free skate is already the best she can do. Going any higher would be too risky. I'm afraid that even if she cleans up, the judges will be blind and it would be a waste of Xiao Yan's performance."

"Initially, we just thought that it would be great if we could make it to the finals. As long as Xiaoyan can finish the competition safely, nothing else is that important. At worst, we can give her a few days off to relax. After all, the scoring is something that the contestants have to handle themselves."

Xia Yuezi sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes filled with determination and trust in her child.

"I think she can make it."

Just like every figure skating predecessor.