Chapter 111 The Unfaithful Result: A Expected Success
South Korea is one hour ahead of China in time, and even though all the matches are coming to an end today, many people are still watching the live broadcast.
Many ice skating fans had just gotten home from get off work when they turned on their phones and heard the familiar music; three green lights were already lit in the upper left corner.
Yang Yiyan's program has entered the second half of the footwork section. Compared to before, her skating speed has improved significantly. Every time the cameraman cuts to a close-up, only the athlete's movements can be seen, while the coaches from various countries behind the barriers become a blur.
In the panoramic view, her footwork was equally clear, and as she approached the referee's table, she executed a set of single-leg footwork consisting of a bracket step, an outside hook step, a twist, and an inside hook step.
Xia Yuezi stood next to the barrier and nodded silently: "After the finals, I changed part of the music rhythm and asked Teacher Mi to improve the footwork. She added an extra set of single-leg footwork. She practiced this set for about a week."
Footwork is divided into two-foot gliding and one-foot gliding. Generally speaking, two-foot gliding is more energy-efficient, and many athletes with poor stamina will adopt this gliding method.
Although this footwork is lazy, it is still a worthwhile technique for improving the overall quality and completeness of the program.
In contrast, single-leg skating demands higher skill and can more directly demonstrate an athlete's ability. A high-quality single-leg skating routine can also add some "goe" (high-quality) to the footwork.
For example, Feng Simai, even though his physical fitness is not considered good in men's singles, will still add a part of single-leg gliding to his three footwork routines in the program to show off his gliding skills.
Yang Yiyan also added a large number of single-leg gliding steps to her footwork for the first time. She had already allocated her energy in the free skate, and Xia Yuezi also confirmed that she still had energy to spare before trying it out in the short program.
So far, the decision seems to have been quite successful. Yang Yiyan's footwork received a GOE of 1.95, which is high considering that the maximum GOE is 3. This also shows that many judges are willing to give this move a high score.
Zhang Mengyi stood next to the coach, looking up to carefully observe her footwork.
"I remember her physical examination results weren't very good before, so it's tough for her to pick up challenging tasks while making up for her weaknesses."
Yang Yiyan is 17 years old now, and she will be 19 when she attends the next Olympics. She is already considered an older women's singles player, and she is also suffering from injuries.
But in reality, she should have the fewest injuries among female singles players of the same age. Most of the female singles players who were promoted to the same group at the same time as her have already used injections to relieve pain. Only she can still get through it with her own physical fitness and painkillers.
As Yang Yiyan landed her final jump, the Chinese coach, who was not far away, jumped up excitedly, attracting some photographers around to point their lenses at them.
The foreign coach beside her looked away. He couldn't understand Chinese and didn't know what was going on in China, so he could only put his hand on Zhang Mengyi, who was still in a daze, as a form of comfort.
To be fair, this Chinese player wasn't the best in his group, but he was definitely the most hardworking.
Perhaps it's an inherent quality of the coaching profession, but they always tend to favor hardworking and talented children, and the bond between coaches and players becomes stronger.
He thought that the two female coaches in China were probably the same way, otherwise they wouldn't have made such expressions after a program was cleaned up.
After the show, Yang Yiyan picked up several homemade pillows and dolls made by ice skating fans, which had her photos and distinctive features on them. She waved to them before going off the ice.
The little girl's blush hadn't faded yet, and she was still breathing heavily when she hurriedly threw herself into her skating coach's arms: "Coach, wasn't that footwork beautiful?"
“Indeed, I feel like you could rival ice dancers.”
Meng Xin's words were suspected of being an exaggeration, but they warmed Yang Yiyan's heart, and she revealed a sly smile.
"Since I skated so well, shouldn't I get a piece of chocolate as a reward?"
As soon as she finished speaking, someone pinched her cheek, but she didn't dare to turn around at all, and just hugged Meng Xin even tighter.
Meng Xin was already a few centimeters shorter than Yang Yiyan, but now that she was wearing ice skates, she appeared much taller. However, she buried her head in the coach's shoulder like an ostrich, her voice muffled.
"I'm not going to stay with Coach Xia anymore. He won't even let me have a piece of chocolate. He's mean."
Xia Yuezi's lips twitched as she watched Meng Xin practically carry her away from everyone as she walked towards the waiting area, with Yang Yiyan leaning against her and taking hurried little steps.
Once the three of them were seated on the sofa, Xia Yuezi leaned back in her chair and said in a feignedly indifferent tone, "Me, bad? Then tonight, let your favorite Coach Meng cook for you."
Meng Xin immediately turned her head to the other side to prevent the two of them from seeing her expression, but her trembling shoulders betrayed her.
It's common knowledge that the two core coaches of Xia's team are not as good at cooking as the other. Xia Yuezi's cooking, while not comparable to that of a five-star chef, at least provides decent home-cooked meals, and she can always come up with different dishes for them when they go out to compete.
As for Coach Meng, his cooking skills haven't improved much since Yang Yiyan's youth group.
The girl still remembers that once when she went on a short training trip at public expense, Xia Yuezi didn't come along. Meng Xin saw that it was her birthday and on a whim, she cooked her a bowl of noodles at the hotel to celebrate.
When Yang Yiyan saw the longevity noodles, she was so moved that she almost cried. After taking a bite, her tears immediately fell – they came from the saltiness.
From then on, when the summer team members went out to train or compete, Meng Xin never gave the students extra help again, because she knew that even if she did, the children would barely eat, so it was better to just take what was served in the cafeteria.
Xia Yuezi sat calmly to the side, watching Yang Yiyan stare wide-eyed in disbelief as she tugged at her sleeve, pleading pitifully for forgiveness.
"Coach, I was wrong. You are the best coach in the world. Coach Meng is second in my heart, you are number one."
A hint of a smile flashed in Xia Yuezi's eyes, but she didn't show it on her face. She looked at the person behind Yang Yiyan with a straight face. Meng Xin was shaking her head helplessly, and her eyes clearly said four words when she looked at Yang Yiyan: "Little fence-sitter".
The broadcast came on, interrupting the conversation at the opportune moment.
Technical score: 41.02; Program content score: 33.37; Total score: 74.27.
This score set a new career high for Yang Yiyan and also earned her first place in the short program for the first time.
Xia Yuezi reached out and smoothed Yang Yiyan's slightly messy hair, unable to suppress her smile any longer: "That's great, I can give you a little extra food when we get back. If you can keep your balance on the free skate, I'll make you a bowl of hand-pulled noodles."
If you ask what can tempt a foodie, it must be a nearly ripe fruit that can be picked, like a promise placed right in front of them.
Yang Yiyan's smile widened even more when she saw the score: "Then it's a deal, if I get the gold medal tomorrow, you have to make me tomato noodles when we get back."
What she actually wanted to say was tomato and beef brisket noodles, but the Chinese delegation hadn't been out for long. Even though the General Administration of Customs reimbursed the air freight costs, the food they brought was mainly for long-term storage at room temperature, so fresh meat was not an option and would be difficult to pass security checks.
Xia Yuezi chuckled and tapped her forehead: "Okay, but let's relax our muscles first, then go watch the stage and get some rest while cheering on the other contestants."
Besides the opening ceremony, there are three events to compete on the first day of the Four Continents event. After the women's singles, there will be ice dance and rhythmic dance. In addition to An You and Qiao Wen, China has also sent another pair of young athletes who have just been promoted to the next level.
These young athletes belong to the Jilin Provincial Team. They haven't made much of a splash internationally, but domestic ice dance fans still value them highly. After all, they made it into the top twelve at the World Junior Championships last season, achieving the best result for Chinese ice dance at the World Junior Championships.
If these promising young athletes are properly nurtured, they might actually achieve something significant in ice dance, a sport that values experience.
Yang Yiyan was taken backstage by Meng Xin to find a place to drink water so she could take a urine test. Xia Yuezi, on the other hand, sat in the stands with the other coaches, holding the score sheets of several players and starting to analyze them, saying which aspects they needed to improve after returning. Hearing this, the three male singles players, who didn't have a match today, broke out in a cold sweat.
Feng Simai wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead, nudged Lin Ye with his arm, and the other nodded at him with a pained expression in his eyes.
Even when the ice dance competition began, the highly anticipated young pair still managed to score 54.49 points in the first group.
Don't be fooled by the fact that this score is still quite far behind that of top athletes. It ranked eighth in last year's Four Continents Championships and is a sure thing for the World Championships in the free dance.
It's worth noting that Chinese ice dance teams are usually eliminated in the first round. At the 2013 World Championships, the Joan and Antetokounmpo pair even made it into the free dance by just barely making it, and they burst into tears while waiting for their turn. Just by looking at them, you'd think they were on the podium.
The Chinese men's singles player, who had secured the third spot in the Four Continents competition, hunched over and discussed the matter with his two senior teammates, keeping his voice low so that the coaches could not hear him.
"If we do so well in these events today, it would be unreasonable if we did poorly tomorrow."
Lin Ye and Feng Simai, who both won bronze medals at the World Championships: "..."
Based on past experience, it was expected that pairs and women's singles would perform well, but for ice dance to make it into the top ten of rhythm dance was completely unexpected, the kind of thing that should make ice dance fans in China set off firecrackers in celebration.
As for their men's singles, it seems to be an expected event. If they achieve an unexpected result, the ice hockey fans will set off firecrackers. As for what kind of firecrackers, it's hard to say. Maybe there will just be a loud noise.
The oldest among them, Lin Ye, coughed lightly and lowered his voice: "Don't jinx it, kid. Don't put pressure on yourself. Just skate boldly tomorrow."
The men's singles player glanced at the coaches in the back row who were watching the match intently, some holding notebooks or phones and writing something down. He then silently shrank back.
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