According to the rules of the Olympic team competition, when the final results of the short program are released, the captains of each national team need to determine the free skating roster in a very short time.
Since Jiang Ran and Yu Botao retired, Zhao Zixuan became the age representative of the national team. Naturally, the position of captain fell on his shoulders. After handing the list to the staff, Zhao Zixuan felt like he was handing in his college entrance examination paper.
"We have made some adjustments to the lineup for tomorrow."
Facing the inquiring eyes of the crowd, Zhao Zixuan walked back and raised his hand, signaling everyone to be patient.
“We currently have 30 points and are ranked second overall. First of all, I would like to thank the efforts of several teammates in the short program, because they have achieved an unprecedented good result for the national team.”
"But I know that for many of us, including myself, this is our last time to compete in the Olympics. Given our injuries and age, we don't have another four years," Zhao Zixuan looked at the older players on the team, "This is our last chance."
"So, in tomorrow morning's men's and women's free skating, Jiang Shi, Lin Yinian, can you strive to bring back a score of more than 16 points?"
Lin Yinian nodded and looked at Jiang Shi: "I'll take nine and you'll take seven?"
Jiang Shi stood on tiptoe and high-fived his younger brother, whose height had surpassed 1.8 meters after growth: "Don't underestimate me. I got two 3A in the free skate. It's no problem for both of us to get 88 points."
"Okay, it would be great if you can achieve your goal, but there are still individual competitions to come, so don't force yourself," Zhao Zixuan turned around and continued, "For the ice dance this afternoon, Yi Zhu and Wu Tianrui, thank you for your hard work in putting together two programs."
Yi Zhu and Wu Tianrui made an OK gesture: "No problem."
Zhao Zixuan looked at the three pairs of double skaters and said, "Pair skating here... Sinan and Xu Zhen, you go up."
This time, Si Nan and Xu Zhen were both stunned. After seeing the Chinese team's score this year, even though they had prepared for the team competition for a long time, they were ready to be temporarily replaced.
Previously, the coaches had also hinted at the idea of having Lu You and Xie Yunjun attend every game.
After all, this is the closest that Rabbit Village has ever been to the group silver medal, and even Yi Zhu and Wu Tianrui have been given the task. In this case, letting Lu You and Xie Yunjun, who have higher ability ceilings, take the field will give the motherland a greater chance of taking a step further on the podium.
Si Nan and Xu Zhen have always believed this.
When Xu Zhen was about to ask "why", Zhao Zixuan interrupted him: "We must bring back a gold medal in the individual competition. Pairs skating is also the first individual competition. You all know how important the first competition is."
"Lu You and Xie Yunjun have limited energy. If they don't play, the possibility of a four-way melee in the two-person team is very small. You have a configuration of 3Lo, 3S+2T+2T and 3Lz. As long as you clean it up, you can still get the top three."
"This is your last time to participate in the Olympics. There are no individual heroes in the team competition. Those heights that we cannot reach can be achieved through everyone's cooperation."
Si Nan looked at Zhao Zixuan's meaningful eyes. At this moment, she suddenly understood the good intentions of Zhao Zixuan and the coaching team.
Even though they were transferred from the second team, no one ever felt that they were inferior to others in skills. Just as they believed in Li Xiaoyue, everyone also believed in them.
The most important point is that the medals of the Olympic Games will only be awarded to athletes who participate in the competition. If they miss this opportunity, Si Nan and Xu Zhen will never be able to win Olympic medals.
Lu You and Xie Yunjun do need to maintain their condition, but isn't it also an attempt by all the people who chose to let them play to protect her and Xu Zhen's dreams as much as possible?
Si Nan held Xu Zhen's hand and said solemnly to everyone: "Thank you."
She looked at all her teammates and said, "We will try our best and never regret it, for ourselves and for everyone else."
Lu You smiled and stretched out her hand. When Xie Yunjun put his hand on hers, others also came over and stretched out their hands with a smile.
"The Chinese team—"
"Invincible!"
Loud slogans echoed throughout the venue.
After the participants were determined, the team free skating started on the second day.
Lu You and Xie Yunjun, who did not have to go on stage, came to their seats early. Lu You took out a national flag and asked Xie Yunjun to hold it around her waist and hang it behind the seat belonging to China.
Jiang Shi, who was the first to perform, led the way with a song "Miss Saigon", and scored eight points with two 3A and two sets of sandwich jumps with a basic score of ten. Lin Yinian, who performed right after her, cleaned up the entire program with so many quadruple jumps that it was dazzling, and stunned the audience with the difficult combination of 4Lz+3T and 4T+1Eu+4F.
Zhao Zixuan waved his fist fiercely: "Beautiful!"
Xie Yunjun threw a towel to Lin Yinian, and the two teenagers bumped fists. Jiang Shi also hugged Lu You's neck and winked playfully: "Overfulfilled the task."
At this point, their score increased by another 18 points. After the ice dance free dance ended, a big Arabic numeral "63" appeared behind the five-star red flag logo. From beginning to end, the Chinese team's ranking remained unchanged.
First place: Russia, 66 points
Second place: China, 63 points
Third place: Canada, 61 points
Seeing this ranking, Nakazaki Yuto touched his chin and said, "The scores between our neighboring country and Canada are very close, but if it's Tori-chan and Kimi-san, there will be no problem... ah, I forgot they are not going to appear."
Kentaro Yoshioka mused: "China sent out the No. 2 player in this situation, probably because they wanted as many players as possible to win medals."
Yumi Koe held her face in her hands and said, "If our ice dancing can be stronger, maybe we can compete for the team podium... Have you noticed that the performance of the Chinese ice dancers is not bad, but their scores are always low."
Haruna Anjo said: "Currently, ice dancing is still the preserve of European and American countries. If we want to break this unspoken rule, perhaps it will take generations of Asian ice dancers to continue to work hard."
Just like Jiang Ran and Yu Botao who planted flowers in the past, and Tori-chan and Kimi-san now, diamonds will not be destroyed by external forces after being accumulated and precipitated, and they will shine brightly no matter where they are.
And such light is enough to illuminate the way forward for the reserves.
Anjo Haruna and Yoshioka Kentaro smiled as they completed their free skating "手紙,拝启５の君へ", which translates to "信, 敬愿５の君へ" in Chinese.
At the end of the show, the two danced face to face, and at the end of the dance, they pointed their clasped hands towards Lu You and Xie Yunjun at the table.
Anjo Haruna will never forget that during the most confused time for herself and Kentaro, two little figures broke into her sight.
They have the same yellow skin and black hair as himself. No matter whether they succeed or fall, the girl always has a smile on her face. Wherever the camera passes, the boy's eyes looking at the girl are always extremely gentle.
Every movement of these two people dancing and jumping on the ice is shining, which brings the meaning of moving forward to them who are hesitating.
Tori-chan, Kimi-san, I am finally standing shoulder to shoulder with you in the Olympic arena.
"We will always treasure the purple bunny letter that traveled across the ocean."
"I would like to use this dance to thank those of us who had the courage to write letters when we were young, and those who took up the pen to reply."
At the end of the music, Haruna Anjo and Kentaro Yoshioka personally recorded the following words: "In the free skating of "Letter", they obtained a high score of 155.65 without using the throw quad and twist quad, which is enough to prove the high quality of this program."
The Canadian veteran pair skater who took the stage next ranked second with a score of 146.86.
"Come on."
Before Si Nan and Xu Zhen went on stage, Lu You held his face and spoke to them.
"Whether it's love or anything else, just express the emotions you want to express. Only things that you approve of can impress the audience and the judges," Lu You said, "The conclusion of the team competition is left to you."
Si Nan and Xu Zhen nodded, took off their team uniforms and stepped onto the ice rink.
"The next pair to take the stage are Chinese skaters Si Nan/Xu Zhen. I believe that long-term figure skating fans are familiar with them. When they were in the youth group, they also used their thin shoulders to support the most difficult years for Chinese pair skating."
"Today, their free skating piece is 'Spring Ballet'."
The piano played softly, Sinan danced to the notes, she thought, what was my original intention in choosing this song? What was my original intention in choosing to embark on the path of figure skating?
It seemed to be a day when golden forsythia flowers bloomed all over the streets. The young girl finished her training in her training clothes and passed by the ice rink downstairs with her pointe shoes on her back. She saw the children dancing freely on the ice.
I wonder if ballet would be more beautiful if it were performed on ice?
Si Nan's relationship with ice started from this idea. Later, the coach brought a brother who was a few years older than him. When they practiced lifting for the first time, the boy touched her head with his warm big hand and said, "The male partner of pair skating will protect the female partner. I will cushion you from below."
Thus, Sinan embarked on the path of pair skating again.
Club, city team, provincial team, national second team, national first team.
League, National Championships, B-level competition, A-level competition, Olympics.
Having come this far is enough to prove that they are recognized as the best pair skaters in the world, and the most fortunate thing is that nothing or no one has ever separated them along the way.
As she was thinking, Si Nan, whose tense body suddenly calmed down. She looked at her teammates and coaches on the bench. Zhao Zixuan, who had insisted on letting Si Nan and Xu Zhen play against all odds, was so nervous that she even crushed her water bottle.
But everyone looked at them without any doubt, no one denied or looked down on them, and no one thought they were weak.
"Sisi, why do you want to join the national team?"
"The national team, there must be a group of teammates fighting side by side, just like the World Team Championships. I like the feeling of fighting for a common goal with everyone... Brother Xu Zhen, what about you?"
"Yeah, me too."
I want to be able to leave my back to my teammates without any worries, and I also want to be someone that others can trust with their backs.
At this moment, Sinan and Xu Zhen understood what emotions they wanted to express.
Original intention.
This was the theme of their free skate.
When spring comes and the forsythia blooms, she dances a ballet on the ice and becomes the most trusted person of her teammates.
152.32 points.
This was the final score for Si Nan and Xu Zhen. Lu You grabbed Xie Yunjun's hand and nervously waited for the last group of performances by Ivlova and Mosokov to finish. After the scores came out, everyone began to quickly calculate the points of the Chinese team.
“Win!”
“We won!”
I don’t know who shouted this, but Lu You covered his mouth and screamed softly. He jumped onto Xie Yunjun excitedly and kissed the boy twice on the forehead.
Silver medal! I really got the silver medal!
On the other side, Li Xiaoyue repeatedly pulled Zhao Zixuan to confirm the ranking, while Si Nan had already thrown himself into Xu Zhen's arms and burst into tears. Yi Zhu and Wu Tianrui hugged each other tightly. For them, the Olympic runner-up podium was originally an unattainable dream.
It belongs to the king of this event, to the player standing at the top of the pyramid, but at this moment, this position truly belongs to everyone on the Chinese team.
Deng Manyue, Fu Wenxing and the ice dancers, who were substitutes and did not get medals, also rushed over. A dozen Chinese boys and girls hugged each other in a circle. Lu You smiled and said, "When we are together, we can reach the top of the pyramid."
Zhao Zixuan waved his hand and said, "Let's go and get the award!"
Many people thought silently in their hearts that it was fortunate that they did not give up and that they managed to persevere no matter how hard and difficult the situation was.
Dreams, only persistence can lead to success.
Far away in China, across the ocean, when the award ceremony for the team competition was broadcast on television in thousands of households in the capital, the first forsythia of spring quietly bloomed, accompanied by the spirited smiles of young boys and girls.
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