Is there a written rule regarding changing the music in Chapter 115?
Every year during the off-season, ice skating fans shift their focus from competitions to ice shows, but for various reasons, almost no top skaters are attending this season's ice shows.
Feng Simai did receive invitations to ice shows from several countries, and Yan Rui and Song Ziqi, who performed well at the World Junior Championships, also received some invitations. However, the fees for junior skaters cannot be compared with those for senior skaters.
Senior skaters who already have adult-level badges can go out for a skate show without worrying about the cost of two sets of skates for the next season. They probably only need to pay for one pair of skates for a single skate show.
However, what the two kids are worried about right now is the selection of the Grand Prix stages this year.
The women's singles event has its shortcomings; once they reach a certain age, almost no one will prevent them from moving up to a higher level. But Song Ziqi is different. His performance in the youth group is outstanding among Chinese men's singles players, and the higher-ups are preparing to let him compete in two events.
Regarding the process of competing on two fronts, Song Ziqi's coach said this: first, participate in the B-level competition to make a name for yourself, then try your luck at the China Station, and as for the competition spots in the second half of the season, rely on the National Championships to fight for them. If you don't get them, then go back to compete in the World Youth Championships.
Xia Yuezi's lips twitched immediately. Wasn't this just relying on oneself to fight for a spot in the adult group? If one couldn't compete with the seniors, one would just go back to the youth group and rely on the guaranteed spot.
Compared to them, the leaders of the Chinese Skating Association are currently in a very relaxed state.
After the rules for the Olympic team event were released, the Grand Prix points rankings from the previous season became highly valued by national skating federations, as this competition would largely determine whether their country qualified for the Olympic team event.
Besides ice dance, China has athletes who have reached the finals in the other three events. As long as they don't perform too badly, securing a spot in the team event shouldn't be a problem.
Their only concerns are qualifying for this season's World Championships and their performance at next year's Winter Olympics.
It had been a long time since she had fought such an easy battle, and Xia Yuezi suddenly realized that the Skating Association had actually started to make large-scale plans for the athletes this year.
According to the rules, Yan Rui's medal from last season's World Youth Championship will only be considered. Whether the organizers are willing to give her a spot will depend on the allocation of spots to the adult group players, and then on a comprehensive consideration of the player's popularity.
After all, the ultimate goal of the organizers in hosting the competition is to improve economic benefits. As a result, the Skating Association used the ice dance quota to get Yan Rui a spot in the French Grand Prix.
This means that Xia Yuezi's group now has three adult contestants who have filled all the available spots this year.
Yang Yiyan finished the college entrance examination this year. Her academic scores were just above the cutoff for Beijing Sport University, and she received her admission notice. Right after registering, she went out with her coach to compete in a B-level competition.
The B-level tournaments at the beginning of the season are originally intended as warm-up matches for players from various countries. Many players who have won medals in the finals and the World Championships have shown extremely inconsistent performances in the B-level tournaments.
What many people didn't expect was that Yang Yiyan dared to reintroduce 3A into the program at the beginning of the season.
She only used this jump at the beginning of the short program, and although she fell, it was enough to excite Chinese figure skating fans.
Many technically skilled figure skating fans posted a slow-motion video, showing Yang Yiyan pausing at each lap from the start of her approach, marking a number next to each lap, and ultimately discovering that the jump was within 90 degrees, but still some distance from her foot circumference.
According to the International Skating Union's scoring standards, this jump doesn't even need a symbol on the sub-scoring table. If the scoring standards were more lenient, it might even be recognized and get a positive score.
"It seems that physical training is still insufficient. We will not use this jump in the later competitions for the time being."
Having just finished her free skate, Yang Yiyan took the water from her coach, smiled sheepishly, her cheeks still showing signs of baby fat, and didn't dare to say a word.
She landed a triple A in the short program and wanted to score high in the free skate with a triple jump in the second half, but her legs went weak and she almost lost even her basic triple jump routine.
"I understand. I'll practice the other setup when I get back."
Their initial plan was that if Yang Yiyan could maintain a 3A in the short program, they would consider changing her to this configuration for all her subsequent short programs; but if not, they would stick to the basic setup.
The "safety net" configuration doesn't mean Yang Yiyan's technique isn't challenging enough; rather, it means she has a higher success rate in training and competition.
Take the triple jump 3S+3lo+2lo as an example. Many people would think that this jump is not worthwhile because it is very difficult and easy to get caught. But for Yang Yiyan, this jump is just a warm-up for her after she gets on the ice.
Xia Yuezi even specifically compared the practice time of this jump with that of 2A+3T, and found that the time spent on this triple jump was half that of the subsequent jump.
With this setup, which was considered quite terrifying by others, Yang Yiyan won the gold medal in the first leg of the competition. She will participate in the China leg with her junior sister a month later.
As for his junior brother, he was exiled to North America by Lin Ye and Fujiwara Yoshino to compete.
A week before the Huaguo Station, Yang Yiyan was still working hard on the 3A jump, which had a success rate of 60%. However, after each jump, her right leg would be numb for a period of time.
She pounded her thigh muscles, jumped with her left foot on the inside edge, quickly touched the ice with her right leg, spun three times on the ice, and then, without touching the ice with her leg, used the momentum to spin three more times, and then two more times.
This is a 3F+3lo+2lo jump, and a triple jump without any flaws in the cycle count.
Xia Yuezi clapped her hands and said, "Very good, this jump was better than the previous one."
Yang Yiyan relaxed her upper body, dragged her ice skates to the side of the barrier, and sighed: "What's the use of looking pretty on the training ground if you can't jump on the competition field?"
She was already able to do this jump last season, and this season it was included in the jump warm-up training. However, Xia Yuezi did not let her do it more often, after all, her back injury was still there.
No sooner had she finished speaking than Yang Yiyan was flicked on the forehead: "Don't bite off more than you can chew. Tell me yourself, with your current physical condition, can you complete a 3A and this combination jump in the free skate?"
"Now that the program for the Olympics has been prepared, it means that we have made a sufficiently detailed plan. As for how to implement it, that is your responsibility."
As soon as the college entrance examination ended, Yang Yiyan didn't even get to sleep in. The next day, her mother packed her up and took her directly to Teacher Mi's studio, where she listened to music with the coach all day.
The Skating Federation will most likely require athletes to skate a program with Chinese elements during the Olympic season. They had previously agreed that it's more reassuring to entrust their own programs to their own people, so at least one of the four programs will be given to Coach Mi.
However, from Teacher Mi's perspective, if it weren't for the fact that these two are quite talented and can showcase his program perfectly, he wouldn't want to create any more programs for them.
With the program designed to Olympic standards, there are many more creative transitions between segments. In addition, both contestants have a certain level of artistic appreciation and have very high standards for their programs. There is also a picky coach who occasionally rejects opinions. Coach Mi feels that his hairline recedes every off-season.
Yang Yiyan pouted, her voice sounding a little aggrieved: "Everyone says that life will be better after the college entrance exam, but why is my life still so difficult?"
Xia Yuezi pretended not to hear, rolled her eyes inwardly, and directed her students to continue their ice training.
On December 8, 2016, the Grand Prix Final officially began. Before that, many figure skating fans noticed that two Chinese skaters had secretly changed their free skate program and switched to a new piece.
There is no direct conflict in figure skating competitions. Even if a skater announces their music selection and setup, it will not cause any substantial harm to any skater. Moreover, the International Skating Union has no explicit rule prohibiting skaters from changing their music midway through a competition.
Xia Yuezi and her team blatantly exploited the loopholes, directly testing the judges' opinion of the program in the main competition. This would provide more basis and standards for fine-tuning or making changes later. However, strong competitors from other countries would inevitably have some doubts.
Ms. Chishima was one of them. She watched as her beloved student, who had just recovered and resumed training not long ago, was forced to use her "comeback" status to earn an Olympic team spot for Japan in the Grand Prix.
Otherwise, in her opinion, these two regional competitions could have been skipped entirely. If the results were unsatisfactory, she would have been criticized. Wouldn't it have been more cost-effective to save her time and energy to recover her advanced 3-3 form?
Ms. Chishima would never say these words aloud; she could only walk behind Yumikawa Ria and quietly feel sorry for her.
Yumikawa Ria looked a bit pale, with white lips and faint dark circles under her eyes.
A computer screen in front of her displayed a YouTube page, with a string of English text in the search bar at the top.
"Anywhere Is" is the program name that Yang Yiyan submitted. Even with the addition of the qualifier "figure skating," the final results still show various singer performance videos.
Are you worried?
Ms. Chishima suddenly spoke, startling Yumekawa Ria, who quickly clenched her shoulders and curled up into a ball. It took her two seconds to recover before she patted her chest and explained.
"Yes, her previous program was a classic selection, which was quite in line with the conservative approach of the Olympic season. But the new program she submitted, like her short program last season, has never been skated before. So I'm wondering if this program will have some amazing parts, just like last season."
After Yumekawa Ria finished speaking, she tapped her chin twice with her index finger, a habitual gesture when she was thinking. Ms. Chishima noticed this and pushed up her glasses.
"Lia, I won't stop you from trying new things. If you want to skate to these English songs, you can talk to Ms. Miyano about doing an exhibition skate. After all, your repertoire for this season has already been decided. We can't risk our Olympic season, right?"
Yumikawa Ria gave a soft "hmm," but her gaze remained fixed on the screen.
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