Chapter 7 Development If I could stand on the international stage, I would also...
"Smack—"
Yang Yiyan fell on the ice again, got up with shaky legs, her eyes red, and jumped again defiantly.
Modifying movements that are ingrained in your bones is no different from being reborn; the price of changing to a cross-legged position is rediscovering the feeling and axis of jumping.
Xia Yuezi, standing outside the ice rink, called out in time, "Xiaoyan, that's enough training for today."
During this period, she has basically corrected her original cross-legged technique, and she landed on the ice with the standard posture about 15 times out of 40 triple jumps.
Yang Yiyan's legs felt weak, and she practically dragged herself to the bench to sit down. She rolled up her pants, revealing bruises of varying shades of blue and purple on her calves and knees, some of which were bleeding from being rubbed against the ice.
Xia Yuezi applied iodine-soaked cotton swabs to the wound. Hearing Yang Yiyan gasp in pain, she gently fanned her with her other hand.
"Once you've completely straightened your cross-legged position, we'll start practicing the three-three stance."
Xia Yuezi understood the principle of giving a sweet treat after a beating; the young girl had long wanted to push the limits, and she had enough muscles.
As Xia Yuezi expected, Yang Yiyan immediately regained her energy upon hearing this, eager to start practicing as soon as she was rested.
However, when it came to actually practicing triple jumps, things were not so simple.
Xia Yuezi rubbed her temples, standing outside the ice rink, hardly believing her eyes.
Is that girl, whose takeoff idle time was so long that she dragged down the speed and caused the second jump to be a 3T with only a dry pull-out and a serious mis-rotation, really her apprentice who is famous for speed and RPM?
Could it be that she also had her core replaced like her?
Yang Yiyan glanced somewhat guiltily in the direction where the coach was standing, then silently skated over. Whether a jump was successful or not, the athlete knows best.
But she didn't want it to be like this. The land training went very smoothly, so why did everything feel wrong on the ice?
"Tell me, what's wrong this time?" Xia Yuezi was already used to it; her chief disciple could always come up with all sorts of bizarre reasons for her.
Yang Yiyan scratched the back of her head, somewhat embarrassed to say, "I'm not good at jumping."
"The moment your right foot lands on the ice, you touch the ice with your left foot. What's wrong with that? Besides, you can do 2Ts pretty well, so why can't you do it after three weeks?"
Xia Yuezi not only found it hard to understand but was also a little annoyed. Then, she thought of something and stared at Yang Yiyan's legs, which were covered by black training clothes. The muscles in her thighs were on a completely different level compared to when she first met her.
Her voice trembled slightly: "Don't connect T, connect LO, use your best 3LO jump, jump as high as you can."
Yang Yiyan exclaimed "Ah!" and slid backward, her main characteristic being that she didn't understand but still did it.
There have indeed been some unusual skaters in figure skating history who weren't very good at 3T jumps but were very good at 3Lo jumps. Every single one of them could perform a blade jump with ease, and some even had super C jumps at their peak.
Even though Xia Yuezi knew she was good at Lolita fashion, she never thought of it that way, because that was a minority, and there had never been such an example in China.
Seeing Yang Yiyan quickly take off, and then lift her body upwards as she lands on the ice, she landed with an extremely beautiful 3lo+3lo.
If there's any shortcoming, it's probably that the second jump was about 70 degrees off, but for Yang Yiyan, who has never practiced on ice before, this combination jump was good enough.
Xia Yuezi held onto the railing, trying her best to control her body and not lose her composure.
She truly hadn't expected that Yang Yiyan's jumping talent was so unbalanced.
Initially, her goal for Yang Yiyan was simply to smoothly get through puberty and collect all five types of triple jumps, which is sufficient in this day and age. But now, perhaps she can take another step forward.
After Yang Yiyan finished dancing, she didn't show any expression; she was as calm as if she had just eaten a bowl of rice.
She skated back, saw the coach's complicated expression, and reached out to tug at Xia Yuezi's sleeve: "Coach, why do you look so pale?"
“You practiced secretly,” Xia Yuezi said with certainty.
Yang Yiyan's eyes darted around, but after Xia Yuezi patted her on the back, she put on her innocent smile, trying to get away with it: "I swear I didn't sneak onto the ice, I did it while it was spinning on land."
Xia Yuezi gave her a "I'd be a fool to believe you" look and then patted her on the back: "Don't go on the ice alone next time, or no one will know if you fall."
Yang Yiyan stuck out her tongue. She was playing with her friends at a commercial ice rink near her home, so it wasn't like she was ice skating alone.
But she dared not say this to Xia Yuezi.
After confirming Yang Yiyan's jumping talent, Xia Yuezi changed her training direction and added a set of weight training every day.
Because Yang's mother told her that Yang Yiyan had started her period.
Women typically begin menstruating around the age of twelve, but female athletes undergo long-term training that suppresses development, resulting in them starting menstruating later and experiencing a more intense and prolonged developmental period than ordinary girls.
Most importantly, the first year after menarche is a period of rapid growth in a woman's height.
Xia Yuezi grew nearly five centimeters in just one month, which scared Li Tan so much that he couldn't sleep for nights on end. Fortunately, her height stabilized the following year.
She didn't have much interaction with Yang Yiyan in her previous life. She vaguely remembered that Yang Yiyan's height wasn't particularly exaggerated. She even asked the team doctor for the latest bone age test, which predicted that Yang Yiyan's future height would be 1.63 meters.
For female singles athletes, shorter is always preferred, with a height of around 1.5 meters being the most favored. This means a lower base, a lower center of gravity, and more stable jumps.
But if you find the right method, even tall women can successfully slide down the singles board.
After all, Xia Yuezi had seen many tall people who were over 1.7 meters tall and could do all five types of three jumps on the field. Some of them were so talented that they could even jump above the center.
After completing five sets of weighted squats while carrying dumbbells, Yang Yiyan obediently stood against the wall, letting the coach measure her height with a ruler.
150.2 cm, which is two centimeters longer than last month.
Xia Yuezi recorded the data in her notebook, along with the little girl's weight and body fat changes. As she wrote, she instructed, "It's okay, she hasn't gained much weight. If your knees hurt later, remember to tell me."
Yang Yiyan wiped the sweat from her forehead, obediently agreed, and sat down to drink hot water.
Meng Xin, the female coach who was also coaching women's singles, quietly approached Xia Yuezi and whispered, "Xiao Yan has already started to develop. You really don't let her diet, and you still train her so hard."
It was no secret that Yang Yiyan had entered puberty, but Xia Yuezi did not excessively control her diet. Every time she went to the cafeteria, she could hear other coaches whispering, which made the girl afraid to eat too much.
Even Li Tan came to see Xia Yuezi and offered some gentle advice.
Xia Yuezi recognized her; she was the coach who shared a dorm with the original owner. Meng Xin came from a pairs figure skating background, and her requirements for her female partner's weight were even stricter than those for women's singles, because they not only had to consider their own difficulty level, but also whether their male partner could toss them up.
If you're lucky enough to have a tall and strong male partner, then there's nothing to say. But if you end up with someone with muscle weakness, then you'll have to start by worrying about your own weight.
She knew Meng Xin meant no harm; she was just simply reminding her. Let alone now, even fifteen years from now, many girls will survive puberty simply by starving themselves, and anorexia will be countless.
Xia Yuezi smiled at her, still sticking to her own ideas: "I still think that it's good to practice strength training before puberty, so that you don't drop too much difficulty."
Meng Xin frowned slightly, seeing Xia Yuezi's unwavering determination, and opened her mouth but remained silent.
Every coach has a different coaching philosophy and approach. She had already reminded them, but since the other party didn't agree, she couldn't say anything more. After all, Yang Yiyan wasn't her student, and she couldn't interfere too much.
She turned to look at the girl practicing with resistance bands next to the pillar, her face clouded with worry.
Yin Yunrong is fourteen years old this year. She is the student who has been with her the longest and is also in the period of most rapid development. She has visibly grown a size bigger and can no longer even wear the Costten shoes from last season.
Throughout the year, Yin Yunrong has barely had a full meal, yet she continues to throw out one difficult challenge after another, and injuries follow one after another. In the youth group station competition, she only dared to attempt one 3T+3T triple jump, which is her hardest jump.
The worst part is that Yin Yunrong's family can't bear to see their child suffer like this anymore. Her mother even said that if things don't improve before the end of the season, she will make her retire.
Meng Xin glanced silently at the master and apprentice sitting in the chair, sighed, and looked away.
………………
In the provincial team office, Xia Yuezi turned on her computer to watch the last international youth tournament of the season—the World Youth Championship. Yang Yiyan sat next to her, sipping yogurt.
She was wearing a baggy school uniform, her ponytail was tied up high, and the ends of her hair reached her shoulder blades.
Of the Chinese athletes competing in this World Junior Championships, only one pairs figure skating team came from Beijing; the rest were from the three northeastern provinces, which is enough to prove the formidable strength of the Northeast region in winter sports.
The women's singles match is currently being broadcast, and the most popular player is Lyubov from Russia, who achieved a Grand Slam in the junior division last season. She will be the last to compete.
Following closely behind are Japanese athlete Ria Yumikawa and American athlete Nina, who are competing in an international tournament for the first time, but both have made it to the finals of the Junior Grand Prix.
Especially Yumikawa Ria, although she didn't have 3A reserves, she had already mastered the 3LZ+3LO technique, which is the current ceiling of difficulty for women's singles, and even won the gold medal in the finals by stepping on Lyubofu with this jump.
"Xiao Yan, look carefully, these are all your future opponents."
Xia Yuezi was a player in the 2013 and 2014 World Junior Championships, so she is very familiar with the athletes on the screen. She is perfectly capable of providing commentary for the young girl, and she can even elaborate on the athletes she recognizes.
Yang Yiyan refused to drink milk, initially thinking it was because her coach had done his homework, and listened more attentively than she would in school.
Both of China's female singles players competed in the second group. Yang Yiyan had seen them at the National Championships. Their difficulty level was similar to hers, but their performance was inconsistent.
Both women seemed determined to push forward, performing exceptionally well in the short program with scores in the forties. They both advanced to the free skate, with one even making it into the top fifteen.
If two players participate, and their combined rankings are less than or equal to 13, they can secure all three spots for the World Youth Championship next season; if their combined rankings are less than or equal to 28, they will secure two spots.
Xia Yuezi calculated that if the two senior skaters could maintain this level in their free skate, securing two spots would be difficult, but not impossible.
When the last group came out, the audience's shouts prompted Xia Yuezi to turn down the volume on her computer.
During the sixth practice session, she introduced the six athletes to Yang Yiyan, adding at the end, "See? This is an international competition, gathering ice skating fans from all over the world."
At this moment, the camera was zooming out towards the audience, displaying the national flags of various countries on the screen. The photographer also generously gave close-ups of the individual support flags of popular figure skaters mixed in with the flags.
"Coach, will my photo be printed on it one day?" Yang Yiyan looked at the screen, her eyes almost overflowing with envy.
Xia Yuezi patted her head and said firmly, "Of course, if you become an athlete like them, you will also have many loyal fans."
The light in Yang Yiyan's eyes grew brighter and brighter as the last group of matches progressed, reaching its peak when she saw Mengchuan Liya's ranking first.
Currently, the players most favored by judges are from Europe and America, while the three East Asian countries are still struggling in the quagmire of P-points.
Witnessing firsthand how a person of Asian descent could defeat a person of white descent in a competition was an inspiration to Yang Yiyan that words cannot describe.
Xia Yuezi wasn't surprised at all. After all, Mengchuan Liya was a competitor who almost won a gold medal in Sochi. Most importantly, her career was almost unaffected by the development barrier.
She looked at Yang Yiyan, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up.
It's hard to say who will come out on top in this clash between two top-tier blade jumpers.
A note from the author:
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Super C refers to 3A and quadruple jump.
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