Chapter 75 It Was Done by Human Effort

After the team competition, figure skaters from various countries will have two days of rest, and most of them will choose to go out and cheer for their country's other athletes.

The individual competition started with the pairs skating event. None of the three pairs skaters from China relaxed. On the contrary, the singles skaters, whose competitions were relatively later in the schedule, all went out to watch skiing or speed skating events.

Even Feng Simai only stayed in her room for half a day writing her exam paper before succumbing to temptation and being coaxed out by the other athletes to watch the competition. Only Yang Yiyan and the ice dance team remained in the Olympic Village, recovering from their injuries alone.

During her recovery, Yang Yiyan received a party invitation from Mengchuan Liya, which Xia Yuezi temporarily declined. She could only listen to Feng Simai and the coach tell her about what happened in the venue until she felt a little better and was then allowed to leave the room to have some fun.

The two coaches gave her a few verbal instructions but didn't really discipline her, as they needed to prepare for the men's singles match starting tomorrow night.

Cao Lu and his partner, who are making their Olympic debut, received their Olympic silver medal today, while the other two Chinese pairs skaters ranked fifth and eleventh respectively.

Xia Yuezi went to watch the free skate, and it was incredibly exciting. Among them, the pair of Cao Lu and Russia were the most aggressive.

The Russian pairs skaters possessed a consistent quadruple twist and broke the world record in the short program. Their free skate performance was solid, and even without the biased judging by the Russian judges, the gold medal was undoubtedly theirs.

The Canadian pair, being older and lacking in difficulty, displayed superb performance and ranked third in the short program. However, they made a mistake on a single jump in the free skate, ultimately missing out on a podium finish.

The Cao-Lu pair wanted to throw a 3F and jump a 3lo in the Olympics, plus the quadruple twist they had practiced before the Olympics, hoping to compete with the Russian pair in terms of difficulty based on their youth. However, Cao Jinhui had just passed the growth spurt and sprained her ankle last season, so her success rate of quadruple twists was not high, and she made a mistake in the free skate.

Upon seeing the results, Cao Jinhui covered her face and burst into tears. Lu Sheng hugged and comforted her, while Coach Lu, standing nearby, also spoke kindly to her.

Pairs figure skating is one of the Olympic gold medal targets designated by the leadership. Even without the leadership's request, the two of them would take a gamble for their years of hard work. If they didn't skate the twist quadruple, they would really have no hope of winning a gold medal.

The Iceberg Skating Palace hosts all events in figure skating and short track speed skating. During the day, short track speed competitions take place here, while an elegant ball is held in the evening.

In men's singles competitions, the short program doesn't attract as much attention as the free skate, because there are countless examples of people who perform well in the short program but collapse in the free skate, or who perform poorly in the short program but make a comeback in the free skate to reach the podium.

Therefore, figure skating fans are not so demanding of the performance of the men's singles. Many figure skating fans watch the men's singles competition for the thrill of the athletes performing quadruple jumps.

Many of the skaters in the last two groups of the free skate at the Sochi Winter Olympics had previously missed quadruple jumps in official competitions, making the difficulty level several times higher than in the previous Olympics.

Even though it was 2 a.m. Beijing time, the number of viewers watching the live stream remained high, with many ice skating fans having a cup of strong tea or black coffee on hand, waiting for the next match.

Both of China's male singles players made it to the last two groups. Feng Simai had a better short program score and was the first to perform in the last group.

Yang Yiyan sat in the audience with the other athletes, wearing her team uniform and cheering for her country's athletes.

On the Olympic stage, no one held back, and everyone fielded their most difficult setups. Before the last group even took the stage, their score had already been pushed to over 250.

"It's such a pity that Brother Ye just had that 4S. It was already a full week old, but he couldn't stand up properly and fell to the ice."

Cao Jinhui shook off her previous disappointment and sat in the front row discussing with her friends. After she finished speaking, she glanced at Lin Ye, who was feeling frustrated in the audience. However, she thought that this guy's performance would definitely be in the top ten at the Olympics, which would be a new record for Chinese men's singles.

Zhang Mengyi put down the flag in her hand and muttered, "If you ask me, it's a pity about Sainimu too. He missed 4T in the short program and ended up missing 2T. He had to fight his way back in the free skate."

Kazakhstan's top skater, Saenim, is currently ranked number one in the men's singles. He was ranked tenth in the short program and skating a double quadruple and a double triple A in his free skate. He fell on one of the triple A jumps, but still managed to break his career high score.

Yang Yiyan sat in a chair holding a thermos cup, watching Feng Simai jump 4T in the sixth training session. Her eyes were blank for a moment: "I'm a little worried about Lao Feng. With his physical condition, he's still jumping around four times in the sixth training session."

The two coaches standing near the entrance also witnessed this scene, and their eyebrows immediately furrowed.

Before he went on the ice, I just told him to get a feel for it, but he had his own ideas and did this without consulting me first. Fortunately, Feng Simai didn't do anything reckless and knew when to stop. When he came back, his breathing was still relatively steady.

The other skaters left through the entrance next to Xia Yuezi. Fujiwara Yoshino was the last to step off the ice. He turned his head slightly to look at the three Chinese skaters and saw the familiar coach stand up straight and gently pat Feng Simai's shoulder, as if saying something.

He didn't look closely and went straight to Coach Yamada.

"Take it easy."

Xia Yuezi stood in front of the barrier, her eyes filled with dissatisfaction and reproach. Even Meng Xin, who was usually good-tempered, frowned.

Feng Simai pulled out a tissue to wipe his nose, then placed it next to the tissue, smiling nonchalantly: "Coach, I've already pushed myself this hard in the free skate, how am I supposed to skate?"

Standing backstage, he witnessed the entire performance of the penultimate group of contestants. The passion and instincts hidden deep within the athletes were instantly ignited, making him transform into a hunter in the forest, licking his sharp teeth, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

The boy in front of her was so tall that when he stood up straight, Xia Yuezi could only look up to meet his gaze, and unsurprisingly, she was met with the determination and fiery passion in his eyes.

She looked at Feng Simai quietly, as if to confirm whether he had really made up his mind. After a while, she raised her hand and clenched her fist: "Go ahead, it's up to you."

Meng Xin, standing beside her, stared at her as if she'd seen a ghost. She wanted to say a few more words of advice, but then she saw Feng Simai smile, bump fists with Xia Yuezi, and turn to leave.

As soon as Feng Simai left the barrier, Meng Xin asked, "Why don't you try to persuade him again? This isn't like you at all."

Xia Yuezi returned to her calm and taciturn demeanor, arms crossed: "If you were participating in the Olympics, would you listen to your coach's advice?"

No athlete would refrain from giving their all at the Olympics. Even if it's just a matter of changing equipment due to physical limitations, and even if Feng Simai's synovitis relapses at this point, he'll still rely on the team doctor for injections to ensure he uses his most difficult equipment.

Fans watching on screen were pleasantly surprised to find that their beloved jellyfish were in even better form than during the team competition.

The theme song from "Kung Fu Panda" played again, and even before the song started, Feng Simai was already completely immersed in the emotions of his performance.

He filled in all the missing jump transitions from the team competition, making the preparation time for each jump shorter, and making his footwork smoother, like drops of blue ink gradually spreading in clear water.

This choreography is closely integrated with the movie plot. The choreographer added a set of intricate hand movements to his footwork to gradually convey the emotions.

Everyone watching the performance seemed to see Master Turtle standing under the peach tree, his eyes filled with compassion, seeing everything yet unable to speak, his body merging into the last rays of the sunset.

In the first half of the program, Feng Simai completed his expected double 4T and 3A, but his physical strength gradually declined in the second half, and a set of spins resulted in a positional shift.

The coach, who had been paying close attention to him, naturally didn't miss the opportunity and couldn't help but feel a sense of worry.

He has never skated three programs in a week, let alone three high-quality programs. Nobody knows how far he can go.

Feng Simai quickly touched the ice, tightened his body in the air, and flipped on the landing of the 3F. He had already jumped three times in a row, so he couldn't make up for this mistake by turning it into a sandwich jump. If he didn't perform well, the second half of the jump might be judged as invalid.

He gritted his teeth and pressed the ice again, following up a 3LZ with a 3T. He couldn't reduce the difficulty of this combo; the previous two combos had already reached the 2T limit. This combo either had to be changed into a 2LZ or the original 3T had to be added.

Feng Simai left himself no way out.

These were the thoughts that crossed the minds of the two coaches. Xia Yuezi felt Meng Xin's arm trembling as she held it. She remained still, and slowly moved her left hand down to cover the back of Meng Xin's hand.

Through the big screen, fans could clearly see that all of Feng Simai's subsequent spins were marked with a "V", with the highest level being only level three. This would be a very good rating for other Chinese men's singles players, but for Feng Simai, it was a huge mistake.

Chinese figure skating fans are well aware of their two children's characteristics. After Feng Simai landed eight jumps in her free skate, a celebration was already underway on the forums. There was no time to worry about her level.

At the end of the show, the entire audience stood up and applauded. In the Chinese viewing area, the two male partners even waved a huge red flag, while the two coaches next to the ice rink were so excited that they hugged each other and started "ta-dancing".

The camera pans to the ice rink, where Feng Simai is slumped on the ice, covering her face with her hands, her upper body shaking violently, making it impossible to tell whether she is crying or laughing.

He took a deep breath, knelt down and got up, bowed to the audience in all directions, and left the rest of the time to the next athlete.

Both coaches had tears in their eyes. Meng Xin draped the team uniform over him, patted his back hard, and said in a choked voice, almost incoherently, "Well done!"

Feng Simai hugged Meng Xin, rested his head on her shoulder, and looked at Xia Yuezi beside him.

Coach Xia didn't say anything, he just gave a thumbs up, his eyes and smile full of pride.

He proved the saying "Man proposes, God disposes" true!

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Author's Note: Xiao Feng: Today I'm going to glide smoother than Dove chocolate, truly cementing my title as the "Artistic Jellyfish."