yunaidesu-blog

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CiONTU Day 3: Yuzuru’s Closing Words

Yuzuru’s closing words from the last day of Continues With Wings. Please do not use/repost my translations without my permission.

Everyone, truly, thank you very much. Which way’s the camera? Which way? Should I face this way…? Huh, which way is it? I dunno! Everyone watching at the live viewing, thank you for watching until the end. Probably, everyone’s applause and support and cheers reached us, even if you couldn’t come. Thank you for watching even though you couldn’t come, and to those watching the broadcast as well. I have a lot I want to say and I can’t really gather my thoughts. But TV Asahi were the first people who planned this show, Continues, and talked to me about it. Because it was TV Asahi, things like the live viewings and recording every day, were possible. Also, I could do things that are rarely seen in ice shows such as doing my own commentary, and - what is it - watching the recorded videos and watching the show, it was a show that was different from usual. And thank you for answering my own requests as well. 

And, can you hear me? The person who’s commentating right now, Nobu-kun? I’ve also received a lot from you, thank you. (Nobu: thank you very much) Can you hear me? (Nobu: I can hear you! Yaaay~) Thank you (Nobu: Let me skate a little too~) How many minutes do I have left… I’m curious… (giggles) Really, really, I wonder what it is, gathering skaters I love, skaters I love and want to watch, being able to watch them myself and enjoy it - becoming someone who is able to hold an ice show like this really makes me happy. The people who allowed me to become this person are, without a doubt, the people here, and also those who may be frustrated they were unable to come. I really think it’s thanks to those people. Thank you for all your support. Continues ends this year for now, but perhaps, next year or the year after, I might do it again. But what I really think is, because I’ll be competing, I might not be able to be involved with producing and and create such a rich three days of show myself. However, someday, when I stop competing and become a pro skater, I want to do a show even better than this again at Continues. Come watch then too! Please come watch! 

I looked at the clock and I have another 4 mins… I really have a lot I want to say, though. I asked Plushenko-san about this earlier during the talk show, and I talked about it with Johnny so I said something yesterday too. Johnny has also had disagreements with fans and done various things, and he does talk show work now so he’s attacked no matter what he says. I have a little experience with that too. No matter what I say, people will say (negative) things. Even if I’m just skating, (negative) things will be said. Things like that don’t just happen to me. I have attention gathered around me so it seems like it’s a lot, but I think it happens to people living normal lives as well. However, in the midst of all that, everyone here came to watch the show I held like this, raised their voices and released their stress, and I hope the show was able to become a part of everyone’s happiness. That’s why, at one period, when a lot happened including with the weekly magazine, I thought “why am I living” and “I’ll just die” countless times. But, but in the end, everyone gave me lots of support like this, and above all, what made me the happiest was when the people I admire sent messages to me. It happened right after the disaster as well, and everyone gave comments like “Yuzu, you’ll be okay.” I was really thankful, and I thought “I’m happy I’m skating.” Right now, I truly think “I’m happy to be alive.” Truly, thank you very much. 

Well, here I go. I’m gonna say “thank you very much,” ok? Those at the live viewings might not understand, but when I* say “thank you” please say “thank you very much” together. For today as well, thank you very much!!! (audience: thank you very much!) Truly, thank you very much. Someday, someday, please come watch me again!

(*He slips and uses 俺 (ore), which is more casual, but he corrects himself and says it again with 僕 (boku), which is what’s normally used in public appearances.)

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I recently saw some posts saying that yuzuru thought that his gold in Sochi 2014 was undeserved. Do you know what happened?

He might’ve said something along that line, yes. He was very unhappy with his free skate back in Sochi. He also reflected, later on, that when he won Gold, he was conflicted, thinking back to the disaster that struck his hometown in March 2011 and wondering if his victory here would actually do any good at all for the people who were still suffering from the aftermath, and if it didn’t, if him being an Olympic champion had any meaning beside his own selfishness.  

I will say this, though, that absolutely nobody in the world has the license to say that any of Yuzu’s accomplishments is undeserved, not even Yuzu himself. The last few days I have been quite outraged by some opinions I saw on forums, on blogs, and even on mainstream media, seeking to downplay his achievements.

So let me make this clear. When you say Yuzuru Hanyu is a two-time Olympic Champion, you stop there, if you don’t have anything else better to say about it. Full stop. 

If you insist on tagging on the but: but he didn’t win the free skate in PyeongChang, but he made mistakes both times at the Olympics, but he has been inconsistent and not completely infallible to losing, so on and so forth. Then I hope you are fully prepared to, after that, tag on the despite. Despite multiple career-threatening injuries, despite going into PyeongChang having restarted practice only mere weeks before, despite constantly facing pressure so great it is sheer unimaginable and almost inhuman to ask any normal young adult in their twenties to cope with (oh yes, don’t you ever forget that he was shouldering the expectation of an entire nation, because if you think that Nathan Chen was under too much pressure it affected his performance, then do consider that, had Nathan won Gold, he still wouldn’t have received a congratulation call from his head of state, even were the POTUS in power a decent human being who is competent at his job). 

But wait, there’s more, because after the but and the despite, there is the also that you should not miss out on, because winning 2 Olympic Golds is not everything Yuzuru Hanyu has done in the last Olympic cycle, far from it. He has also won 2 World Championships, medaled at two more, added 4 Grand Prix Final wins in a row to his resume, landed a quadruple jump nobody before him had succeeded in competition, stayed on top of the World Standings since December 2013. It was also from that date onward that every World Scoring Record in the men’s single discipline has been set and broken by him and him alone, 12 times.   

You might not agree that he is the Greatest of All Time, I don’t care, who the GOAT in this sport is, only time and history will tell. But you do not get to downplay his achievements.     

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I won against myself.

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Only we know, what’s the meaning of this picture. And I’m so damn proud. Ugh.

cr: TamakiTsuchida

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😶😐😕🙁☹️😢😭

Ok I only wanted to look for narcicisst Yuzu who admitted that he thought he was cool having the gold medal, but I watched this video and now a sobbing mess. I don’t remember the last time I cried for Yuzu but I cried upon imagining how hard these past 3 months must have been T_T It was alright reading about it, but hearing Yuzu talk about it himself felt really different T______T

I don’t think I can get through a detailed translation of this video, so I just did a quick translation of this one part of the interview from 2:00 to 6:00. I just want to share the gist of what happened, and not perfect good-by-word translation, so for most of it I didn’t direct quote what he said.

[at 2:00] They asked how he spent those 3 months as he didn’t release information or commented much. He said he was not in the condition to give any comment or to do anything. He felt that the time receiving treatment, rehabilitating, and especially the time not being able to skate became really long.

[at 2:25] The MC asked whether he had a serious injury that made him stay off-ice for this long, and he said yes he did as he had a lot of injuries before. But because so, he had many experiences, and this time, he studied and tried to match what he experienced in the past with the theses/papers he read.

[at 2:50] The MC asked if he was impatient and had any moment where he wanted to quit, he said that he didn’t have such moments, but he was put in the situation in which he thought he had to give up. He said although he received a lot of treatment and prioritized caring for his foot, there was no sign that it would heal completely, and that was the hard part. He wasn’t in good enough condition to even try skating or to run, so that situation was what affected his mentality  the most, [the negativity didn’t come from himself]. In his mind, he himself never felt that it was impossible.

[at 3:30, Akiko asking if his recovery schedule in those 3 months went as planned]

Yuzu: To be honest, it didn’t go as planned. I first aimed to do Japanese Nationals which took place in December, that was the most essential, but until then I couldn’t skate. The plan failed at that stage, so I thought I should do Team Event if possible, as I was also offered to do so, but in the end I couldn’t even do that.

MC: When did you make that decision?

Yuzu: It was quite early. I already decided so within December.

Akiko: So when did you start to think you can do this?

Yuzu: There wasn’t a point where I started to feel like that. It’s just, when I started taking painkillers, in my mind, in a way I thought that this already couldn’t heal, uhmm how to say this,.. I’m sorry to the doctor who took care of me for saying this, but I thought it couldn’t heal any more than this, and from the moment I decided it to think like that, I could properly focus on my training.

[at 13:15] When asked about who he was the most thankful for, he said it was his family. He said it’s embarrassing to say this in front of others, and his family also told him not to do so, but he was definitely thankful for his family the most. He said he even changed coaches, and the venues changed every competition, but his family always followed him, looked after him, so he was very grateful for them.

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2014 —> 2018

Always trust his spirit.

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Yuzuru Hanyu and Tatiana Tarasova ❤ (x)

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Haha pitching ability is needed to get pooh on the ice 😂

Zuzu’s iconic pooh rain™

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They actually hired planes to paint Abe no Seimei’s star and the Olympic Rings on Sendai’s sky to celebrate Yuzuru’s gold medal oh my god!!! 😂😂😂

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Brian Orser and Javier Fernandez about Yuzu

Everyone is proud of Yuzu 😊

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What happened with Yuzu at the periscope

They started it out in Japanese but then suddenly, it was announced that they’ll be accepting English questions and Yuzuru would answer them in English himself. And yeah, his reaction :))) they clearly never agreed on this beforehand :))

In the midst of English questions from foreign journalists, one journalist was gonna ask him something in English but he literally interrupt her telling her to ask in Japanese (may be he already knows this person can speak Japanese XP)

When there’s no more English questions and it’s announced that they would switch to receiving Japanese questions, he was soooo glad :))))

His face showed it all and everyone couldn’t help but laugh along :)) This is one of those times when international stardom gets you into trouble Yuzu :))) No worries, you got to practice your English skills today :”>

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Yuzuru Hanyu winning the Olympic title (Sochi 2014 → Pyeongchang 2018) ↳ “My mistakes in the free skate at Sochi are part of the reason I worked so hard these past four years. The moment I finished skating, I thought I’d won against myself.”

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My classmate is a new fan of YH starting from today!!!

I came to school on Sunday, trying to make up my unproductive days (been busy crying and worrying) because my thesis deadline is real (although it’s nearly impossible to write anything since my heart and brain keep coming back to him and many translations of his interviews, which make me want to laugh and cry at the same time, I just want him to rest), only to find one of my classmates just trapped in the fandom (yesterday she was still a free girl). Remembering my roller coaster experiences these past few years, I don’t know what am I supposed to feel for her, happy or sorry?

But, honestly, I’m happy X_X

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Four Years...

I was just looking at pictures from Sochi compared to Pyeongchang, thinking ‘wow, what a four years it’s been…’

And then I stopped, thinking ’… wow, what a four years it’s been’.

I mean, I remember the high everyone came off after Sochi, and like a month later he became world champion (!!!!). All at 19.

During the summer there were parades, and ice shows, and interviews, and meeting the prime minister and the Emperor of Japan. Everyone lived and breathed Yuzuru.

Summer comes and goes, and a new season starts, and with it the Grand Prix events. And THE event. Cup of China 2014. Which left everyone in shock, whether they watched it live or not. Boy gets knocked out and concussed, bleeds all over the ice, nearly kills himself performing (and I’m not exaggerating here), and somehow still makes it with a little push from the judges.

A month later, battered and bruised, he competes at home, falls left, right, and center, and finishes off the podium for the first time in ages (and for the last time as a matter of fact).

Still makes it to the GPF, KILLS HIS PERFORMANCES, and finishes with almost a new FS world record.

But, our boi wouldn’t be our boi if he didn’t have something up his sleeve. And so, just after winning Nationals, it turns out he has to rush to hospital to receive abdominal surgery. Needs time to recover, has barely time to train (much similar to now, actually), and finishes second at worlds.

Seasons come and go, and after the year of tears we’re glad the drama’s FINALLY over but, haha, no. Because Mr. Hanyu comes back with a vengeance.

Introduces two masterpieces of a program (although the SP had been introduced in the previous season but it got a nice little makeover), and after struggling in the first two competitions, changes the layout to make them way more difficult… And drops a world record bomb at NHK. NEW SP record, FIRST to break the FS 200, and FIRST to break the overall 300.

And because he enjoyed it so much, did it again at the GPF. Because why not. Piece of cake, right?

He collects a few more medals over the season to finish second at Worlds again, because, surprise! He’s injured again. So, time off to heal. Again.

(He should really have a routine going by now but still the boy does not understand how to let his body rest.)

With the new season come two new programs, and one very purple suit. It was white at first, but white costume on white battleground? Meh, not necessarily the best choice.

Oh, and also a new quad. No biggie! With very young, very bouncy skaters right on his heel, he keeps on pulling all his tricks out his sleeve.

Turns out this is actually a very relaxing season without major injury drama (oh, the nerves!), and in the end he get’s rewarded with his SECOND WORLD CHAMPION TITLE.

And finally, the season of all seasons! It’s almost time for the Olympic Games! Everyone wants to be in top form! Everyone pulls out all the guns! And Yuzu brings back the two most beautiful programs in history (sorry, I’m biased)!

And because everything is going well enough, Yuzuru. Gets. Injured. Again. And badly this time. During the training of the quad Lutz he severely injures a lateral ligament in his ankle. Now, I’m not a doctor, but for an athlete that’s goddamn serious.

Withdraws from NHK which is a massive shock (and also a relieve). Withdraws from Nationals which is a shock (but is kind of expected and is also a relieve). Then nothing. Nada. Niente. The Olympic Games, HIS GOAL SINCE SOCHI and before (he once said he hadn’t actually planned to win the OGM at Sochi, that was supposed to be his test run to shake the nerves for Pyeongchang) and the driving force behind all of the above, come closer and closer and there is no word of Mr. Hanyu. Yes he got nominated. Yes he doesn’t withdraw. But were is he?

And then he shows up. Late to the party, with an entourage of bodyguards that look like they could snap your neck like a twig if you walked the wrong way, all smiles and deeply relaxed.

Gives a few interviews, turns up to training to do a 15 minute session of stroking, singles and a tripple Axel, byyyeeeee. Comes back the next day with almost his full repertoire of quads, informs us that he’s been training for a few weeks now, that’s good (giving everyone a heart attack, because HOW??), goes on with his life and smashes this competition.

And becomes a two time (consecutive) Olympic Gold Medalist.

I mean… one of the injuries above is enough to throw someone off so much that they never really recover and have to look on as younger skaters take over. 

But not Mr. Hanyu. He wanted that OGM, he worked for that OGM, and he went and goddamn took that OGM.

And I couldn’t be prouder to have watched everything unfold.

And I couldn’t be happier to see him succeed.

Mr. Hanyu, I bow to you and everything you have achieved in and for this sport. 

Wow, what a four years it’s been.

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How many people would be skating on Olympic ice after having gone through all he had to endure? When his hometown was struck by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake Yuzuru was inside the rink, training. That year, he took part in 60 ice shows, using them as practice time. In 2012 he won his first Worlds medal, capturing many fans’ hearts with his iconic Romeo and Juliet performance. In 2013 he defended Japan’s 3 spots for the Olympics while being injured. In 2014-2015, after winning GPF, the Olympic title and the World title the previous season, he collided with Han Yan in practice. He was still bleeding when he performed his free program, fell five times, and yet won a silver medal. He qualified for GPF, and won. At the end of 2014 he had surgery, just after winning the national title once again. He sprained his ankle before Worlds, competed and came second. In the first half of the 2015-2016 season he broke all his records, becoming the first man to get more than 200 points in a free program and more than 300 points in total. He arrived at Worlds as the absolute favourite. He skated a perfect short program, but couldn’t win the title in the free. Afterwards, we’d discover he had been injured for months, and had suffered lisfranc ligament damage. He thought the gala would be his last performance. Yet he came back, with a 4Lo, and rewrote history once again. In the 2017-2018 season, he brought back two iconic programs, and planned to add a 4Lz to his layout. He landed it in his first try in competition. But injury struck once again, when he fell on a 4Lz in practice at NHK Trophy. He wanted to skate on painkillers, but his ankle wouldn’t move. He was off ice for two months. He started practicing 3A 3 weeks ago. He started practicing quads 2 weeks ago. All of this doesn’t even begin to define his career, his mentality nor the quality of what he does on the ice. A warrior’s destiny is greater than his wounds.

All of this, just to say: thank you. And good luck Yuzuru!

[yunaidesu-blog]

Please give me a single reason not to love him.

P&G Yuzu Days (2017.08): Yuzuru’s Private Life, Part 2 “How he spends his off time”

Translated by gladi. Feel free to repost text with credit. Images belong to P&G.

Original source: https://www.myrepi.com/members/member-article/article/yuzu-days-1708 (login required) 

Yuzuru’s Private Life, Part 2 “How he spends his off time”

While Hanyu-senshu is a top-level skater, he is at the same time a 22-yo university student. This time, we asked this Hanyu-senshu how he spends his off time. In the second part of Yuzuru’s Private Life, he talks about how he usually spends his off time, his studies and school-related matters, and the “Skate Notes” he writes each day.

Keep reading

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Yuzuru Hanyu - Helsinki 2017, Day 2

This interview was held after his morning practice:

I’ve really been able to be carefree going into this competition, and also I think I’ve been able to go through practice whilst concentrating on my skating.* So in that sense there isn’t any kind of strange pressure and I think probably I can stay calm, be confident and make adjustments (to my program) for the actual event.

*this sentence has been cut. It’s actually “whilst concentrating on my skating - cut - well, I’ve been able to go through practice”. He probably talked too much again :)

A second news clip also quoted him:

(I want to take) the limits of what I can do and, no matter what, just stretch those boundaries to their absolute limit and in that condition make a challenge for the championship - I think that’s the most important thing to do.

The linked second news clips has footage of his practice session, but the interview starts off from the “so in that sense” bit. The new sentence is way at the end.

Courtesy of yuzu_figure