Chapter 140 You're really amazing
"Good morning, everyone. What we are seeing now is the men's singles free skate competition at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The last two groups are currently competing. Our young skater Song Ziqi is currently in seventh place with 231.18 points. The other two Chinese skaters will be competing later."
"After yesterday's short program, Lin Ye is currently in third place and Feng Simai is currently in seventh place. Today's free skate will determine the final rankings."
In fact, from the moment Xia Yuezi saw the final score of the short program, she knew that this battle would not be easy, but when she saw the free skate setup, she felt a little more relaxed.
Five skaters scored over 100 points in the short program, and all ten of the top ten skaters scored over 90 points. Although the difference in scores is quite large, these are skaters who can land multiple quadruple jumps. Most of the skaters completed all the quadruple jumps in their free skate according to the rules.
As we all know, the men's singles competition is practically a fireworks display, and with the Sochi Winter Olympics setting a high bar, there are very few men's singles athletes who can cleanly run both programs.
The difficulty has increased significantly, and the stability will only be worse. Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some experienced men's singles players will be able to maintain their composure.
Before the competition, at the athlete's request, Xia Yuezi took him to the team doctor for a nerve block injection. The coaching team felt that he was in good spirits before the competition and believed that he could maintain his expected level in the free skate.
She led the recovering Feng Simai down the aisle and saw Augustin crying in the corner, his face streaked with tears. One of his coaches was standing beside him, talking to him, and then the young man cried even harder.
Xia Yuezi looked up at the big screen. The Frenchman's final score was around 240, which was completely inconsistent with the score expected of a male singles skater with two quadruple jumps. It was probably because his free skate was a disaster, and he didn't receive the proper treatment, so he was disqualified in the end.
Meng Xin looked at him and lowered her voice, saying, "Anthony will announce his retirement after this Winter Olympics. If Augustin doesn't develop, the European system will have to find someone else to promote."
Besides Augustin from France, there is also a 15-year-old Italian male singles player in the junior group. He has already developed a somewhat unstable quadruple jump, and his upper limit is considered high in the junior group. Moreover, he is very handsome, his sliding performance is also quite excellent, and his lower limit is also guaranteed.
Xia Yuezi shrugged: "Athletes who can reach the top of the world are all ambitious. His previous performance was okay. His mistake at the Winter Olympics was probably because the difficulty exceeded his capacity, and he also had a mental breakdown."
Meng Xin nodded in agreement: "However, such a big mistake at the Winter Olympics must have cast a shadow on him. If he can't get back to his original form, his professional career will probably be over."
Because many ice hockey associations have imperfect selection criteria, coupled with serious factional infighting, as long as the athlete's paper strength is decent and their performance in the National Championships is not bad, they can get the athlete to the Olympics, without considering the athlete's experience in major competitions and their ability to withstand pressure.
Many talented players have been crushed by such events, leading to their subsequent decline.
Xia Yuezi recalled that there seemed to be a European female singles skater in the same situation. She was promoted to the next level with a World Bronze and fifth place finish in the Junior Grand Prix Finals. She competed in one Grand Prix and the European Championships, but then went straight to the Winter Olympics. She couldn't handle the pressure and didn't even qualify for the free skate.
The domestic media sensationalized the incident, leaving a psychological scar on the underage girl. She underwent psychological treatment for a long time but failed to recover, and subsequently disappeared from women's singles competitions.
Xia Yuezi glanced at Feng Simai, who was still warming up, and a smile appeared on her lips.
"However, our two national team athletes should be fine. After all, they were promoted to the World Championships in an emergency to secure their spots, and the pressure was not much less than that of the Winter Olympics."
As the saying goes, children from poor families learn to be independent early.
This statement also applies to figure skating. Children who emerge from figure skating deserts tend to be more mature in all aspects, especially only children.
A few years ago, China fit this description, as did Feng Simai's predecessor, Diaz.
This young man, who is not yet 18 years old, withstood the pressure and completed two quadruple jumps and a double triple A in the free skate, becoming the highest-scoring skater among the new generation of men's singles skaters. He stood on the ice rink, his eyes red, and waved vigorously towards a certain spot in the audience.
Xia Yuezi looked over and saw that Kazakhstan's former number one player, Sainimu, was standing in the stands wearing a hat and responding to him very enthusiastically. When her junior walked into the aisle, he even bent down and handed him a bouquet of flowers.
It seems that even though the former number one has gone abroad to make money, he still cares about the people who are still working hard in his homeland.
Feng Simai pounded his thigh muscles, placed his hands on his knees, and gently touched the spot where he had just received the injection. His eyes softened.
It's like saying, "Stay with me a little longer, my old friend."
As he straightened up and made his preparatory movements, his eyes returned to their previous elusive, probing gaze.
The opening 4T+2T sequence was executed cleanly and crisply, and then the performer slowly rotated according to the choreography and music, visibly relaxing completely.
According to Feng Simai's idea, he imagined the dance partner in "Killer Tango" as his feelings for figure skating, and gradually poured out his emotions.
In fact, this is often the state of the athletes and the sport, or rather, the six most important jumps in the sport.
They are both the closest people in the world and betrayers who will stab their lovers in the back at any time.
Feng Simai hugged himself and spun around quickly. After completing the last quadruple jump 4T, he placed his hands on either side of his head and made a struggling motion.
It seems like you're questioning the other person: Why did you do this? Can I still trust you?
Xia Yuezi stood to the side, her left hand on her thigh, quietly counting the beats. But for some reason, even though she had watched it many times, she still saw new emotions in this program.
The distance and probing he saw were not only directed at figure skating, but also at himself.
He asked himself, knowing he had reached his limit, if he had truly given it his all, could he take one more step forward, even if it was just one centimeter?
Due to limitations in physical fitness and injuries, even with injections, many of Feng Simai's movements were still affected, with three quadruple jumps and a double triple A configuration being his limit.
In fact, before undergoing high-altitude training, Feng Simai had almost never used this setup for a clean free skate, but in this grand ice and snow event for all the top athletes, he delivered his best program.
At the moment the show ended, Feng Simai knelt on the ground, panting heavily, his hands supporting his body on the ice. Even though the coaching staff were some distance away from him, they could clearly see his chest heaving violently.
"I did it."
This was the first thing Feng Simai said to his coaches after he got off the ice. The two coaches looked at the tall man with slightly red eyes and a limp as he walked, and they went up to hug him.
Xia Yuezi stood beside him, draped her coat over his shoulders, and looked up at the only boy in her group, her eyes filled with some unreadable emotions.
To be fair, when Xia Yuezi first took him on, even if she wanted to pull him out of his original fate, she was also somewhat driven by self-interest.
At that time, she desperately needed to establish herself in the Beijing team, and even with a God's-eye view, she didn't really understand the kids around her.
Even though Yang Yiyan had already achieved some success in domestic competitions, Xia Yuezi couldn't guarantee that she, a newcomer to the coaching world, could completely pull her out of the mire.
Just then, Li Tan brought Feng Simai over.
As a former teammate who fought alongside him, Xia Yuezi knew this man all too well. She thought that she could use Feng Simai's influence and his control over the future to build her reputation.
And that was indeed the case. Relying on the reputations of Yang Yiyan and Feng Simai, she gradually became a top coach in the eyes of parents. But only she knew that the feelings between the two timelines could not be so easily swayed by interests.
If she had to pinpoint a specific time, it would be the moment Xia Yuezi let go of the group's external training. She wondered if some of the children in the group would choose a more skilled coach, and whether Yang Yiyan and Feng Simai would also leave her.
After all, sports competitions are very cruel. As someone who has been through it, if they really had such thoughts, Xia Yuezi would never blame them and would personally send them off. But they all chose to stay, although they would occasionally go out for short training sessions.
People who are good at performing have more sensitive minds and more delicate emotions.
Since Xia Yuezi can amaze everyone in ice shows with her skateboarding skills and can choose programs for other children based on her own experience and understanding, it is clear that she is not a heartless person.
The children were willing to treat her with sincerity, and she had long since let go of any self-interest after so many years of getting along with them, and had developed genuine feelings for all the children who had worked hard to train her.
"you're good."
Xia Yuezi gently hugged Feng Simai and whispered this in his ear.
Although Feng Simai didn't say anything, Xia Yuezi felt the embrace around her tighten, which was a silent answer.
Unsurprisingly, the show received a very high score.
With a technical score of 104.21, a program component score of 87.03, a free skate score of 191.24, and a total score of 285.43, he is currently in first place.
Feng Simai lowered her head, smiled and waved at the camera, and tears that she had been holding back finally streamed down her face.
In the last Winter Olympics, he was still competitive in both quadruple jumps, but in this Winter Olympics, he knew he was no longer competitive and would be happy to be in the second-to-last group.
But now the results are there, telling him very bluntly that his Winter Olympics ranking is likely to be similar to that of the previous Winter Olympics.
Xia Yuezi placed her hand on his back, patting him silently to comfort him, just like many years ago.
As a teammate, and as a coach.
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