Chapter 113 Snap! Even the seemingly calm Lake Baikal has turbulent waves…
Seeing the final results, the three Chinese men's singles players in the stands felt immense pressure.
Both the pairs and women's singles T-shirts won gold medals, and even ice dance, which is not usually very strong, had a pair squeeze into the top ten overall. Meng Xin was following the subsequent public opinion on her phone and found that some people had already started to claim the men's singles gold medal.
To be fair, pairs figure skating is China's flagship sport, but the good results achieved in women's singles and ice dance also have an element of luck.
The strongest women's singles player is recovering from injury, and most of the next-best players are at the European Championships. There aren't many truly formidable players from the four continents competing this time.
Ice dance is even more so. The strongest athletes in this sport are mostly from Europe. In world-class competitions like the World Championships and Grand Prix Final, very few Canadian or American athletes can reach the podium, let alone the weaker Asian athletes.
However, the situation is completely reversed in men's singles, where the strongest active men's singles players are concentrated in the Americas and Asia.
This is the Four Continents Championships, and there are four players who have won medals at the World Championships alone, not to mention those who have reached the Grand Prix Finals. On the European side, only Russia and Anthony are holding their own.
Anyone who watched this year's European Championship knows that even the Russian athlete who won the bronze medal was almost five points behind the fourth-place finisher.
Xia Yuezi was unmoved by the news; after all, the competition wasn't over and Feng Simai wouldn't get his phone.
Besides, the fact that the Skating Association uses him as a backup plan shows that his mental fortitude and stability have already been recognized by many people.
Coach Ma wasn't in a good mood, though. He took his two men's singles players back to the hotel early and held a short meeting behind closed doors.
Xia Yuezi is unclear about the specifics of what was said, but judging from her performance the next day, Zheng Yisheng at least took it to heart, bringing his total score up to just over 200 points, a score that would probably rank him in the top fifteen across the four continents.
Lin Ye and Feng Simai were training together backstage. Seeing that their coach's brows had finally relaxed a bit, Lin Ye guessed that his junior brother had performed quite well today, and the tension in his heart also dissipated a bit.
This is his fourth time participating in the Four Continents Championships, but he has yet to win a medal, always missing out on the podium due to various mistakes.
What was most impressive was that after Lin Ye completed all four quadruple jumps, he fell flat on his face. Then, he tripped over his own foot with his left foot, and after getting up, his footwork became chaotic, rendering the entire sequence ineffective and almost causing him to exceed the time limit.
Therefore, many ice hockey fans say that Lin Ye is probably incompatible with the four continents, since many people in sports believe in metaphysics.
Lin Ye didn't believe it. He reached into his team uniform pocket and clutched the blessing his mother had prayed for for him at the temple.
Lin Ye ranked fourth in the short program. He made a mistake on his 4LZ landing, but fortunately, he didn't have any major problems afterward. If he can bring the same level of performance he had in the Grand Prix Final this season in the free skate, he will also win the Four Continents medal.
Feng Simai came on stage after him and was warming up in the aisle, occasionally glancing at his teammates on the ice.
Lin Ye maintained his four quadruple jumps configuration for this free skate. He originally wanted to use the 4LZ+3T combination he had just practiced, but Coach Ma slapped him on the back of the head and rejected it.
He already had a lot of injuries from practicing quadruple jumps, and the success rate of this combination jump was not high. Now, he was trying to do it in the Four Continents, which was incompatible with his aura. Wasn't that just a clear indication that he didn't want the Four Continents brand?
Xia Yuezi noticed that Feng Simai's mind wasn't on warming up. She glanced around and, calculating that it was about time to get ready, led him directly to the vicinity of the ice rink entrance.
"Are you nervous? Lin Ye messed up his spin, but his jumps and footwork are fine. He'll probably get his wish this time."
Feng Simai shook his head, a glint in his eyes: "Sports competition is all about the latter two words. If there is no competition among athletes, then the competition itself is meaningless."
Xia Yuezi looked at him with satisfaction, then smiled and said, "Okay, that's the spirit I want."
Lin Ye's performance was nearing its end, but his momentum did not diminish with the music; instead, it gradually intensified after the final set of squatting turns.
Feng Simai clapped along with the audience, but the smile in his eyes vanished the moment the music ended, replaced by a composed demeanor as he prepared to go to battle.
Xia Yuezi stepped back to stand below the viewing area, next to Meng Xin and Coach Ma, who had just been waiting for Lin Ye's scores, holding a newly printed score sheet in his hand.
The two coaches were mainly focused on Feng Simai, and occasionally Coach Ma could be heard muttering something.
The gist of it is that when they get back, they need to focus on practicing the program details with Lin Ye, and also discuss with Song Qiao about signing that foreign coach for a few more years, preferably after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
As the familiar violin music began, Feng Simai's limbs stretched out to the rhythm, like the rising tide spreading outwards, with 4T+2T and 4S falling onto the ice in succession.
Just as the audience was engrossed in the performance, some figure skating fans noticed something was wrong. Feng Simai's next jump should have been a 3A, but his preparation was not a forward take-off; instead, it resembled the preparation of a T or LZ jump.
Xia Yuezi's expression remained unchanged, still holding her hands crossed in front of her chest, but the hand hidden inside her arm had quietly clenched into a fist.
This is the first time Feng Simai has attempted three quadruple jumps in a main competition.
He has always been plagued by physical limitations, coupled with the limitations of his height and secondary growth, so even someone like Lin Ye, who wanted to add a new quadruple jump to the short program, couldn't do it.
Not only that, but he also had to give up his practiced triple somersault in order to maximize the cost-effectiveness of his technical points. He watched as the skaters who were behind him in the short program used their technical advantage in the free skate to get ahead of him.
Even though the coach keeps saying that the men's singles free skate is a fireworks display, their consistency isn't as good as his.
But what if?
What if they succeed... even if there's only a 20% or 30% chance?
After stabilizing his height and converting the regrowth fat into muscle, Feng Simai immediately began attempting three quadruple jumps in training, and before the Four Continents, he raised the success rate of the jumps in the entire program to over 60%.
According to the coaching staff's plan, this setup should be unveiled at the World Championships a month later, or next season, but he can't wait. He's eager to address his weaknesses in the free skate.
The moment the second 4T landed, the figure skating fans in the arena, waving Chinese flags, erupted in cheers, and even Feng Simai's emotions became somewhat unstable.
Lake Baikal, seemingly calm, appears to open up its inner world to people, a world of turbulent waves and hidden dangers, until this danger is replaced by peace.
Xia Yuezi and Meng Xin couldn't help but hug each other and jump up, which startled Coach Ma, who took a step back and moved away from the two girls.
At the start of this season, Feng Simai's original setup was enough to exhaust him. This setup only includes three sets of jumps in the second half, leaving enough stamina for him to focus on the five jumps in the first half. The stamina required is higher than the original setup, but not ridiculously high.
During training, this setup will have some problems with the spins in the second half, and these problems will probably be more obvious in the actual competition.
Xia Yuezi pursed her lips, looked at the V-marked joint spin on the real-time scoreboard, and the GOE that had points deducted behind it, and sighed silently in her heart.
Feng Simai was breathing heavily, and the two coaches didn't ask him anything for the time being. They stayed by his side to provide logistical support and sat with him until the waiting area was ready.
"Is your leg alright?"
Feng Simai nodded, then lowered his voice and said, "I feel a bit of pain in my knees. There was a cracking sound when I did the consecutive jumps just now."
He didn't actually hear the specific sound; it just appeared in his mind the instant he finished jumping.
The two coaches' expressions immediately changed, and after seeing the score, they immediately pulled the team doctor over.
This team doctor is also an old acquaintance, often accompanying the Beijing team to competitions, and has seen Xia Yuezi the most.
After listening to the athlete's symptoms, he squatted down to examine him: "It's nothing serious, just normal knee wear and tear. We'll have to get an X-ray to determine the exact extent of the wear and tear."
Knee wear and tear is commonplace for athletes. For figure skaters who are constantly jumping around, hearing a cracking sound after a jump is just like hearing the school bell ring for the end of class every day, only the degree of wear and tear is different.
The three people present felt helpless upon hearing this. Even Feng Simai himself felt unlucky. He had just upgraded the competition setup, and now he was being told that he might have to downgrade it again. It just didn't feel right.
Xia Yuezi originally wanted to pat Yang Yiyan's head like she would comfort him, but then she thought that the child had grown up and might not want her to coax him like she used to. So she moved her outstretched hand to his back and patted him twice.
"Alright, alright, these are things that athletes have to go through. Look at your peers, you're in a very good position right now."
Xia Yuezi wasn't lying to him; his peers were all frantically getting injections all over the place at such a young age.
Take Andre as an example. He originally wanted to play in the European Championship with pain-relieving injections, but Davey thought that the European Championship was not a very important event and told him to withdraw from the competition to recover from his injury and save his body for the World Championship later.
Because of the limited difficulty level, Xia Yuezi did not plan to push Feng Simai to higher levels of difficulty. Her training arrangements were always focused on physical fitness. This is why he became a remarkable man who, even at almost 20 years old, had never received any injections and could endure competitions with injuries by taking painkillers.
Moreover, he won many medals in A-level competitions during his career, making him well-known to many figure skating fans.
As an athlete, this is something that is enviable in every aspect.
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