Translation of Max Ambesi’s podcast in which he talks about a lot of subjects including Yuzuru:
https://the-a-factor-fs.tumblr.com/post/165975610600/kiss-cry-episode-1
Some highlights in which he mentioned Yuzuru
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(M): “
Wherever his body will allow him to go. He doesn’t hide that he wants to include a 4A in competition. Let’s be clear: Yuzuru can complete 5 quads in training; the one he doesn’t really train is the Quad Flip. He can rotate and land the Axel, maybe with a 30% success rate, but he does it. A Quad Axel, do I need to say more?
In competition, we might see it in the next seasons, if Yuzuru decides to keep skating (after the Olympics). This season he decided to add the 4Lz, which he didn’t execute at ACI, partly because of some physical problems. Although in the Short Program, with a simplified layout that isn’t even the one he had planned, he proved to be the perfect example of technical omnipotence that meets artistic excellence.
What can I add? It was a perfect program: he almost achieved the highest score he could receive. With that layout he could have achieved no more than 115,11: he got 112,72. It’s a record for the Short Program, ice dance included (if considered in terms of % points received vs maximum points he could have achieved): it was previously held by Davis/White, who managed to get to 97,4% of the possible score: 78.89 out of 81. Yuzuru Hanyu: 97,92%.
What can you say about that program? Nothing. It’s the perfect program. He could win the Olympics with a simplified layout, with a 4S as the solo jump in the short program, the 4T3T combo and the 3A in the second half of the program. If you can call that “simple”.
But if he did that, that wouldn’t be Yuzuru: in his head, that 4S needs to be replaced by either a Lutz or a Rittberger. That’s why in practice he tries two different layouts for the Short Program: one with the Lutz and the other with the Rittberger, to achieve an even bigger score.
Truly, does he even need that? Probably not. But that’s how he is: he’s an athlete who likes to push himself to the limit. He is competing against the others, but even more so against himself. And we need to consider how he executes those quads and how they fit into the choreography.
He does them so well he makes them look like triples and he executes them coming from difficult turns and steps. I want you to look at the quads executed by Shoma Uno at the Lombardia Trophy: count the crossovers he does and how much time passes before the Quad Flip, Quad Sal and the first Toe Loop. Then look at Yuzuru Hanyu’s jumps: the difference is huge. We are looking at an athlete who is able to put together almost all the best that figure skating can offer; it’s true that maybe there are some who have something more on spins, see Jason Brown for example, who’s the best spinner in the world… Jason Brown who also has quite a lot of transitions in his programs, but then, sadly he hasn’t been able to land quads so he couldn’t be that competitive against the others. But, today, Hanyu is the perfect synthesis (of art and technique), nothing else to say: seven elements in which one could receive +3 GOE [t/n: considering the GOE coefficient, since only quads and triple Axel can reach +3 GOE once the coefficient has been applied], which is incredible. He isn’t the only one who wants to do that. Shoma, Nathan Chen, they will try to do the same; Nathan Chen might even incorporate eight elements like that (quads and 3A).
It’s clear that Hanyu does these elements with different quality: his layout should be 4Lz; 4Lo; then possibly 3F – that could also become 3Lz, we’ll see, but let’s go with 3F – then in the second half: 4S3T, a combination that gave him some problems last season and that he executes easily now; 4TLo3S, an element with huge BV that he can easily complete, solo 4T, 3A2T and 3A as the last jumping pass. This would be an incredible layout, with a BV of 111 points if I remember correctly; with +3 goe on every elements he could reach 140… it’s a whole new level. Then it’s obvious that doing these elements isn’t trivial, and sometimes Yuzuru, when he isn’t in great shape, struggles to complete that layout.
In Canada, last week, he wasn’t in his best shape, and it could be seen from what he did in practice: Hanyu usually executes as many jumps as he can in practice, because that’s how he is. He did his run through – a run through is a practice session with music – in which he skipped some jumps, which isn’t the norm for him. This was because he wasn’t at his best, he had a small physical problem that didn’t allow him to completely show his potential. And even then, without being able to express his full potential, he still almost reached 113 points in the Short Program. For me,
we are truly looking at an athlete from another dimension: this is really an athlete that will be remembered in a hundred years as the one who changed skating. It isn’t up for debate here. And I believe he could keep making history, as he is also pushed by some great rivals: Shoma Uno, a Japanese skater from Nagoya, has shown to have qualities to put on the table… maybe more quantity than quality at the moment, but we will talk about this later in the season. And yet, quantity makes a difference.
I remember a beautiful sentence by a dear friend, Silvia Fontana, during the Sochi Olympics: “
Figure skating is not supposed to be potato counting”. What did she mean by “potato counting”? Summing triples or quads without looking at quality [on all aspects of skating] and saying, “Okay, this skater did 7 triples, so she wins the competition ‘cause others do less.” For Sotnikova, the case in question back then, quality was there, but that’s another topic. Well, what’s the difference between Hanyu and Shoma or Chen? It’s the quality he executes those quads with. The same can be said for Patrick Chan, another one who - when he rotates his quads - he does so with very high quality, same as Hanyu. Other skaters’ quality is lower, and there we have an issue with GOE. Hanyu’s quad Loop is a jump that, when executed well, is worth +3, no discussion. For what he does before it, for what he does after it. Others get to +3 with a quality that isn’t comparable and here we have a problem about judgement, but we will talk about this later.
So, Hanyu started with a bang. An amazing short program, huge score. A free program he had many difficulties with, but it’s clear his own competition was about the short program. It was there he needed to understand some things, he got his answers. We will see where his level is at the Rostelecom Cup, the first GP stage.
His goal is to aim for the perfect season, by winning again the Grand Prix Final, by conquering again the second gold medal at the Olympics - rare event in the men’s field, we need to go back to a skater from another era, a skater Hanyu knows well and whom he quotes often, but we will talk about this another time - and we’ll see if he will attend the World Championships. We hope it will be so, since Worlds are in Milan, Italy, and Worlds with Hanyu raise their profile by quite a lot.
Gorgeous 4 lutz!
