Chapter 30: Three more medals won
The World Junior Championships women's singles competition has come to a spectacular close, with Yang Yiyan winning a bronze medal in her first appearance at the event.
In fact, when they saw the score of the third-to-last athlete, Chinese ice hockey fans watching on the screen were already overjoyed and burst into tears. They spread the news and started celebrating on forums—congratulations to our women's singles team for winning another medal at the World Junior Championships.
That's right, again.
The last time a Chinese women's singles player won a medal at the World Junior Championships was in the 1990s. They watched as that legendary Chinese women's singles player, with her Chinese style, went global before retiring, leaving behind the image of the red-clad girl on the ice forever.
I thought that was the starting point for Chinese women's singles, but I never expected it to be an insurmountable peak.
During the awards ceremony, the entire ice rink went dark, leaving only a small spotlight to follow the athletes as they stepped onto the ice at the entrance, drawing all eyes to them.
As the Japanese national anthem played in the stadium, Yang Yiyan, holding a bouquet of flowers, stared intently at the bright red flag being raised on the far left, her bronze medal on her chest reflecting the red and white of the flag.
Xia Yuezi stood in the shadows, watching the three athletes on the podium with a bright smile on her face. When she lowered her eyes, her eyelashes cast dappled shadows. In a daze, the scene before her overlapped with her memories.
She subconsciously touched her left thumb, where she had previously suffered a fracture from a fall during the World Youth Championships.
The three athletes raised the national flag above their heads and began taking photos and patrolling the rink. The Chinese coaches gathered behind the barriers, and Meng Xin took a series of photos with her phone, showing them to the pairs skating coach next to her.
In the competitions that have already concluded, the Chinese delegation has won one gold and one bronze medal, with only the men's singles free skate tomorrow remaining.
That gold medal was naturally won by my country's strong point in figure skating: pairs figure skating.
Meng Xin had a good relationship with the pairs skating coach and kept talking to him: "Old Lu, I heard those two kids have been practicing the 3F throw recently?"
3F and 3Lo are two common types of throw jumps in pairs figure skating, but they are used more in senior competitions, while 3T and 3S are more common in junior competitions.
The reason why Lu Sheng and Cao Jinhui were able to win the gold medal at the World Junior Championships by a narrow margin was mainly because they put in a strong effort in the throw 3lo in the free skate.
The coach, who was called Lao Lu, was a middle-aged man with thinning hair and many fine lines on his face.
He first glared at her seriously and said she was disrespectful, then said, "You've already mastered it, but the success rate isn't high. Xiao Sheng's axis control is still not very good."
Meng Xin looked Lao Lu up and down, and said with some regret, "If Xiao Sheng could grow a little taller, that would be great."
Lu Sheng is a second-generation ice hockey player, and his coach is also his father. However, this athlete does not seem to have inherited his father's height. He is almost over his developmental stage, but his height is still only 1.73 meters.
In ice dance, there are fewer high-difficulty technical moves, and the rules require that lifts not exceed the shoulder. It is easier to coordinate if the male and female partners are not too different in height.
However, pairs skating not only requires lifting over the shoulder, but also throws, jumps and twists, which places very high demands on the male partner's physical fitness and strength. Among the top pairs skaters, the male partner is rarely shorter than 1.8 meters.
Yang Yiyan has returned, wearing her bronze medal, and threw herself into Xia Yuezi's arms, her smile brighter than ever before when she stood on the podium.
Meng Xin's attention was drawn to the pair skaters who were being led by staff to line up and wait to receive their awards.
The three groups of contestants stood in reverse order of the top three, with the heights of the three male partners forming a "凸" shape, while Lu Sheng, standing at the back, was the shortest.
Meng Xin watched this scene and silently looked away. She could only wish in her heart that the young man would grow taller, and it would be even better if some of Feng Simai's height could be grafted onto him.
Otherwise, given Cao Jinhui's strength and talent, the provincial team leaders would probably consider breaking up the pair, unless they demonstrate an extremely high level of teamwork and ability.
As the World Junior Championships drew to a close, the athletes were able to recover from the match-fixing scandal, and the men's singles free skate became increasingly intense.
In the penultimate group, Canadian skater Keir's free skate, which turned into a triple A, a mistake he made in the short program, ignited the long-dormant passion in the stands.
Afterwards, my country's young skater Lin Ye achieved a double triple in the free skate, but due to the large score difference in the short program, she was basically out of the running for the podium.
Feng Simai entered the game third to last, and by then the highest score had already exceeded 215.
He touched his chest, exhaled, and his eyes hardened.
His first jump was a 3A, and the hearts of the ice skating fans inside and outside the venue were pounding wildly with him, which was reflected in his body movements as he landed steadily on the ice.
"His skating speed is too fast." Xia Yuezi frowned, unconsciously wrinkling her sleeves.
Feng Simai's skating speed was faster than usual today, and his movements were crisp and clean, giving off a sense of all-or-nothing.
High glide speed helps improve jump height and distance, making the jump look better and achieving a higher goal, but at the same time, it places high demands on the athlete's physical fitness and technical mastery.
Feng Simai already had low stamina, and the latter half of the course included a series of jumps. Even with continuous muscle building in an attempt to compensate for this deficiency, he was still unable to completely overcome his physical limitations.
Meng Xin also noticed this and tried to stand on tiptoe and crane her neck to look into the distance.
As the music entered its second half, Feng Simai's back was already soaked with sweat. He stepped on the nodes, pressing hard on the edge points, and even when he took off from the 3T part, he was clearly lacking in strength. When he landed, his body axis was unstable, and he managed to stabilize the jump by relying on his knees.
However, the missing period is very obvious, and there is a high probability that it will be missing by a <, that is, a missing period of 90 to 180 degrees.
Both coaches breathed a sigh of relief, and Meng Xin patted her chest, saying, "That scared me to death! Luckily I didn't fall."
Xia Yuezi continued to keep an eye on the ice rink. Feng Simai's stamina was clearly insufficient, and the height of his next 3T single jump was much lower than before.
The final movement was a series of combined spins, with Feng Simai's hands placed in front of her chest, her hair flying wildly like a celestial maiden scattering flowers, her fiery red figure standing in the middle, like a constantly burning flame.
The moment the music stopped, Feng Simai opened his arms, leaned back slightly, and looked at the still unyielding determination in his eyes.
His chest heaved violently as he bowed in all directions to express his gratitude amidst applause from the audience.
While waiting for his turn to be assigned, Feng Simai was constantly covered in sweat, which trickled down his hair. Xia Yuezi handed him a box of tissues, and as he wiped his face, he made a heart shape with his hands towards the audience.
The scores came out quickly: 72.14 for technical elements, 68.74 for program components, 140.88 for the free skate, and a total score of 217.09, temporarily placing him in first place.
When Feng Simai saw the result, he was still in shock and his breathing was still rapid, but the Chinese ice hockey fans in the stands had already burst into cheers.
This World Junior Championships was the best performance ever by the Chinese delegation, winning medals in three out of four events, and securing full quota spots for the next season's Junior Grand Prix events.
The two ice dancers who were the only ones in the delegation who hadn't won a medal huddled together. An You grabbed his female partner's wrist, his gaze unwavering: "Xiao Wen, you've improved in singles skating. We must work even harder in the upcoming training camps."
Qiao Wen grasped his hand in return, nodded gently, and her eyes shone brightly in the lamplight.
Next up was Fujiwara Yoshino. Xia Yuezi stood not far from the entrance, and could see the obvious hostility in Andrei's eyes.
Back when four-star difficulty wasn't common, being able to jump to 3A was already a formidable opponent, let alone one that had already mastered four-star difficulty.
Fujiwara Yoshino kept his word and landed a 4T on his first jump. The ice rink erupted the moment he landed.
Especially after 3A also gained a foothold, Andrei suddenly felt the pressure coming on. Meng Xin secretly glanced at him and saw that the Russian guy's face had turned ugly.
She lowered her voice and said, "Luckily, Simai has already finished the competition, otherwise the pressure would be too great."
Xia Yuezi smiled faintly and whispered to her, "Have you forgotten that when Fujiwara was doing the 4T at the Youth Winter Olympics, Simai was right behind him waiting to go on stage? He didn't collapse then, so he's even less likely to collapse now that he's mentally prepared."
Of course, for players like the Russian men's singles player whose consistency is a mystery, it's hard to say whether they can withstand the pressure.
Fujiwara Yoshino's total score exceeded 230, less than five points away from the world record in the youth group.
The fans in the stands waved Japanese flags triumphantly. Xia Yuezi looked at the Japanese skaters hugging their coach and couldn't help but sigh.
The scoring for the youth group is different from that for the adult group. If his program were in the adult group, it would definitely get more points. If this contestant were willing to go home and hone his performance skills, his score might be even higher, and the world record would be broken.
Andrei stood solemnly at the entrance of the ice rink, looking as if he were facing certain death.
Xia Yuezi was very familiar with this expression. Whenever Mao Nan showed this expression, there was a more than 90% chance that he would break down, and the possibility of him going into a frenzy was even more extremely small.
As expected, Andrei also wanted to do the same as Lin Ye and put two triples in his free skate, but his stability was even worse than Lin Ye's. He failed both jumps and fell. After falling, he had to get up and show a smile that looked more like a cry to continue skating.
Sidorov's face turned dark almost instantly. This nearly seventy-year-old man had a very fiery temper. Xia Yuezi seemed to hear him say "Gewuno" and couldn't help but laugh.
The remaining two people standing beside her naturally heard what the Russian figure skating godfather said and stared at her with great curiosity.
Xia Yuezi quickly waved her hand, indicating that she didn't know either, and that such swear words should not be taught to children.
Andrei's mistake only earned him a bronze medal, and Seedorov's face darkened further. The atmosphere in the waiting area was so somber that even coaches from other countries couldn't bear to watch.
Xia Yuezi had no doubt that once they were in a secluded place, Sidorov would grab his cane, which he had left in the hotel, and beat Andrei mercilessly.
After all, this elderly man who refuses to grow old also left behind many similar precious images in front of the camera when he was young.
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