Chapter 42 Opportunity Opportunity is reserved for those with ability.
The junior women's singles free skate competition began on the second day, followed by the senior men's singles short program competition.
When Xia Yuezi ran into Lin Ye backstage, he was sitting in the backstage corridor eating a banana. When he saw her, he broke off a banana next to him and gave it to her.
Xia Yuezi took it and laughed, "You seem to be in pretty good shape. I thought you would run to the toilet before the match, just like you did in the previous China Cup match."
Hearing Xia Yuezi recount her embarrassing moments, Lin Ye wasn't embarrassed at all. He shrugged and threw the banana peel into a nearby trash can: "That's different. There's no need to be nervous this time. We're not going to be on the podium anyway, and we don't have the pressure of winning a prize. Just play to your best ability."
The men's and women's singles events in the senior category are completely reversed. The women's singles podium changes almost every year, and the competition list is never short of newcomers who have just been promoted to the senior category. However, when men's singles players are promoted to the senior category, their bodies have not yet fully developed and they lack muscle, making it very difficult for them to challenge the status of veterans.
There are only a handful of new generation male singles players. Fujiwara Yoshino made a 4T error at the US Open and failed to reach the finals. In the senior men's singles, only he and Andre are two newly promoted players. The remaining four are all veterans, each with at least one quadruple jump.
Lin Ye's difficulty level is not significant here, and given the actions of the five European and American competitors and the judges, he could foresee his fate.
The news of the veteran's semi-retirement was told to them after the interview at the end of the China Cup. Although the two young players didn't say it, they had already put a lot of pressure on themselves.
Xia Yuezi didn't say anything, but patted his shoulder.
Winter sports are popular activities in Russia, with figure skating being the most prominent. The stands are packed with spectators, including many Asians.
Yang Yiyan was the third to last to go on stage. She stood at the entrance, her eyes scanning the national flags and support signs waving in the audience.
Several international students nearby held up support signs for her and shouted encouragement. She nodded slightly to them, a faint smile playing on her lips.
Xia Yuezi stood behind her and pushed her onto the ice rink. As the camera panned across the rink, many viewers noticed that her skates were bound together with tape.
Yang Yiyan's first jump was a 3A, with clean movements that looked very effortless.
Her movements flowed like water, yet her expression held a hint of aggression, like a nocturnal creature eyeing its prey, determined to obtain it by any means necessary.
This state is completely different from the morbid state at the Italian station; instead, it reveals the vampire's vigorous vitality and strong ambition.
Xia Yuezi looked into the distance at Yang Yiyan, who was completely immersed in the music, and smiled with satisfaction.
Before she could be happy for long, she saw Yang Yiyan finish her 3LZ+3LO jump, then slide across the judges' table with her head half-drooping and in a back-out squatting position, looking at them with a disdainful expression.
After only a second, Yang Yiyan turned around and resumed gliding, as if it were part of the program's choreography.
In fact, the large screen above the ice rink provides a clearer view. Yang Yiyan's head didn't move, but her eyes rolled upwards. From the referee's perspective, this might appear provocative, but from the side, it only reveals a seductive quality.
As the music progressed, Yang Yiyan became more and more engrossed in her skating.
She combines feminine charm with youthful innocence, but because Yang Yiyan herself is young and has never been in a relationship, and had only watched the Twilight movies several times before the competition, the program's innocence and naivety took up more space.
However, this does not affect the emotional expression of the performance; on the contrary, it gives the show Yang Yiyan's own unique flavor.
Many ice skating fans also saw Bella on this show, the brave and confident Bella after becoming a vampire.
After the performance, Yang Yiyan could no longer suppress her smile and waved her arms.
About two seconds later, the entire arena erupted in thunderous applause. Kuromi dolls rained down from the ice rink. Yang Yiyan bent down to pick one up, waved to the stands, and finally skated toward her coach.
Xia Yuezi waited for her by the barrier, handing her a knife sheath and a coat.
Polina stood behind the barrier and handed Teddy to the coach to warm up. The dog was wearing the same Costum as her, and even had a few rhinestones pinned to its collar.
This is the battle outfit she prepared for her beloved pet. Even though this Chinese contestant has grown up, she is not afraid. She wants to welcome the champion of the finals again on her home turf.
The score popped up quickly—
Technical score 74.69, program component score 57.67, free skate score 132.36, total score 198.33.
This time, the referees didn't seem to be too harsh on P scores, probably because the audience was so excited that the referees were hesitant to openly take action.
Cheers erupted from the stands, and the camera panned across the audience, revealing several international students hugging each other.
This score directly broke Yang Yiyan's personal best and season best, and also secured her a podium spot.
Vivian, who ranked second in the short program, did not have any super-C reserves. It was her first time in the finals, and the coaching team may have chosen to play it safe, putting most of her combination jumps in the first half, ultimately placing her behind Yang Yiyan.
Yang Yiyan sat on the sofa where she was temporarily in first place, her eyes fixed on Polina, who was gradually moving to the center of the ice rink.
Her performance will determine who wins the gold medal.
Like Yang Yiyan, she started with 3A, but hesitated a bit when entering.
Xia Yuezi thought that this contestant might want to jump repeatedly, but was worried that falling during the jumps would affect her performance.
However, in figure skating competitions, hesitation can be the biggest obstacle. It can gradually reduce the speed of a jump, making it difficult to find the right time to jump.
As expected, Polina's first jump was 3A+2T, but due to too much hesitation, her axis shifted on the 2T, resulting in a double-footed landing.
The audience held their breath, and even Xia Yuezi slowed her breathing because of the mistake.
There is no direct competition in figure skating, and there is no such thing as one giving way to another. If one skater makes a mistake, another skater will seize the opportunity to climb over him. This is a very cruel reality of competitive sports.
Polina didn't want to give Yang Yiyan that chance. She wanted to use the same double triple A configuration as the men's singles player. Sidorov saw through her intention and was so angry that his face turned ashen. He slammed his cane on the ground with a thud, which blended into the sound of Polina falling.
Xia Yuezi believed that Polina was capable of performing double 3A during training, otherwise she wouldn't have used this setup in the finals.
To a large extent, figure skating is like a huge gamble. The skating federation gives athletes opportunities to gamble on their potential; athletes put on the most difficult configurations to gamble on their completeness, their luck, and that gold medal.
Polina lost her bet, but she didn't give up. She got up and continued to complete the remaining moves, and the audience in the stands gave her encouraging applause.
The first thing Polina did after leaving the field was to pick up her teddy bear and gently kiss its head.
Facing the camera, her smile remained elegant and poised, but a hint of resentment and loneliness lingered in her eyes. She looked towards the other side of the waiting area, where Yang Yiyan sat on the platform, giving her a slight smile.
When the news reached China, Li Tan was sitting in his office, his phone ringing non-stop, as busy as the endless posts on the forum.
His face beamed with pride, but his words were full of humility, though he also subtly hinted at his own ambitions: "No, no, it's all thanks to the kids' own hard work... Xiao Yan seized the opportunity... Didn't the figure skating team have a group endorsement deal a while ago...? Yes, yes..."
Yang Yiyan won China's first-ever women's singles gold medal in the World Tour Finals, the only one of its kind in both the youth and adult categories.
Although this gold medal was an opportunity given to me by others, I have the ability to seize it!
Li Tan didn't hold back when it came to the newly crowned champion, directly including her in the team's collective endorsement and adding her photo to the latest official postcard.
Wang Can, on the other hand, thought differently. He stared at Zhang Mengyi, who was warming up with a jump rope, for a long time. Finally, even Zhang Mengyi couldn't stand it anymore and asked, "Coach, is there anything you need to tell me?"
Wang Can was momentarily dazed: "It's okay, you keep practicing, I'm going out to make a phone call."
He found a relatively open space, and a rather weathered voice came from the other end of the phone: "What do you want now, kid?"
"Dad, you know the Olympic season is about to start, and the National Championships next year..."
Wang Can didn't finish his sentence, but the person on the other end understood what he meant and let out a sigh: "Who?"
Wang Can lowered his voice even further: "Yang Yiyan."
There was a sudden silence for three seconds. Wang Can then said a few more words: "Dad, think about it. There's only one spot for the World Championships this year. It's definitely Meng Yi who will go. The higher-ups held a meeting before the competition and asked us to aim for first place and strive for second. If we get the other spot, would you prefer Shu Yu or that girl to go?"
Almost everyone knows that Wang Can's father works in an office at the General Administration of Sport. His achievements are closely linked to the athletes his son trains. It can be said that their family is a community of shared interests, where everyone prospers together.
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then the person seemed to soften a bit: "Don't rush, this needs to be considered carefully. She just won the gold medal in the finals. If she immediately lowers her score in the National Championships, anyone with eyes can see that something is wrong."
Wang Can gripped his phone tightly, his knuckles turning white: "The allocation of our country's Olympic spots will be based on a comprehensive analysis of domestic and international performance over the past two years. Domestic performance accounts for the majority. If we achieve good results at this year's National Championships, the Olympic spots will be even more uncertain. You also know about Shu Yu's recent form..."
“I understand what you mean,” Wang’s father interrupted him directly, lowering his voice as he continued, “But now so many eyes are on her. Besides, didn’t you personally send her away back then? Now you expect me to clean up your mess?”
Wang Can was speechless after hearing this and could only listen to his father's scolding.
After ending the call, Wang Can compose himself in front of his blacked-out phone screen, trying to look as normal as possible, before returning to the training ground.
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