The skating union required that skaters must be at least 13 years old before July to move up to the junior category, and Zhang Jue happened to celebrate his birthday on June 29.

True to the deadline, he moved up a category.

As the youngest junior skater of the year, someone calculated that while Zhang Jue was breaking the total score record, he also became the youngest men’s singles champion at the Junior World Championships.

Unless there’s another men’s singles skater born on June 30 who, like Zhang Jue, challenges higher difficulty levels and defeats older opponents to win the gold, this record is likely to stay in Zhang Jue’s hands, unbroken.

“Having that birthday date and high combat power, it’s not that easy, is it?” Zhang Junbao muttered. He believed that birthdays were a matter of destiny, and Zhang Jue was destined for figure skating since birth.

Uncle still didn’t know that, in order to let Zhang Jue eat this bowl of rice, heaven had played along, and he felt that his big nephew’s title of “Youngest Junior World Champion” would be hard to surpass not only in men’s singles but also in ladies’ singles, pairs, and ice dance.

By the way, among the widely anticipated “Junior Trio,” Zhang Jue was the first to successfully land a quad jump. Fans jokingly called it “Ilya and tama is fighting fiercely in the front, while a little crocodile pops up from the pond in the back, crawling cutely toward the awards podium.”

What was even more surprising was that in the competitive arena where no one yielded to anyone, nobody questioned Zhang Jue winning this championship. No one thought he took advantage of Ilya’s mistakes or that Hayato Teraoka didn’t attempt difficult elements.

Even Ilya and Hayato Teraoka themselves found it strange. They were both standard late-stage “top addiction” patients, a common ailment among athletes, but they respected Zhang Jue’s victory.

Ilya admitted with a wry smile that Tama-chan looked like a child, but his performance and character were admirable.

The arrival of other junior skaters marked the first time they would see Zhang Jue standing at the highest point of the awards podium.

Kharhasha, the young male skater from Kazakhstan, secured seventh place. He looked toward the ice rink entrance, the award ceremony was about to begin. The three skaters who were going to stand on the podium were talking together.

After a while, the most beautiful Asian boy untied his hair, shook his head, and let his shoulder-length hair fall softly on his shoulders. His earrings swayed, and his black eyes sparkled even more brightly than the earrings.

His facial features were delicate, with the eyes being the most beautiful.

A child unconsciously sighed: “So beautiful… Why isn’t he a girl?”

Kharhasha, a straight boy, shook his head, thinking it was a waste for a boy to grow up like this.

When the Japanese TV camera focused on Zhang Jue’s face, praises were endless: “This boy’s beauty is simply captivating. Truly, he’s an ice and snow elf from the empire. His skin is as white as snow, especially in contrast with his black hair.”

However, the reason Zhang Jue untied the hair was that his scalp was too tight.

Before Zhang Jue entered the ice rink, the camera had been teasing the child’s face.

Until his name was announced on the broadcast, and the music for the free skate started, Zhang Jue entered the ice rink. Spotlights gathered on him, surrounded by a dazzling glimmer. His black hair brushed his cheeks as he sped across the ice, and he casually swept his hair behind him.

Many local fans marveled; this child’s temperament was like a star. He was truly a natural focus of the camera.

As the focal point, Zhang Jue stepped onto the red carpet, looked at the awards podium, took a deep breath, exclaimed lightly, raised his right foot, and stepped up to the highest step.

Seeing him like this, it seemed like getting on the awards podium was quite a struggle, and Ilya felt this kid was just short of rolling up his sleeves.

But the carpet seemed to be of poor quality, one corner hooked onto Zhang Jue’s ice skate, causing the child to stumble and almost fall.

“Wow!”

Zhang Jue hurriedly used his hands to support himself, and in a crocodile-like posture, he pounced onto the awards podium. Laughter echoed in the arena, and Zhang Junbao covered his face with a doll, muttering words like “milk.”

Hayato Teraoka, still chuckling, jumped off the podium, crouched down to pull the blanket away for him. Zhang Jue obediently said thank you and stood properly on the awards podium.

Oh, even though everyone was receiving awards, why did he look so ridiculous?

The camera resumed mocking his face, and the cute crocodile suddenly made a funny face at the camera, then quickly returned to a serious expression. Bending down, he accepted the bouquet of flowers handed to him by the ice boy.

“Kamsahamnida.”

He whispered his thanks in Korean, and the child in traditional Korean attire showed a toothless smile.

Ilya was stunned for a moment, quickly thanked the ice boy as well, but it seemed the ice boy didn’t understand his words. He looked baffled and walked to the side with his little companions, probably not understanding what the Russian fairy brother wanted to express.

Hayato Teraoka couldn’t help but smile. He thought these two competitors from the same generation unexpectedly had a humorous talent. If they weren’t figure skaters, they might have a future in comedy.

When the gold medal was finally hung, familiar music played.

The red flag slowly ascended to the highest point. Zhang Jue, looking up with his small face, felt a sense of pride that he had never experienced before on the stage.

Sometimes, he almost forgot why he started figure skating in the first place. Still, whenever he saw the flag rise, he had no regrets about skating until now and enduring so much hardship for this sport.

Hayato Teraoka said to him: “Congratulations on winning the first gold medal in men’s singles at the Junior World Championships in Asia. But the first A-level event gold medal in the senior category will definitely be mine.”

Zhang Jue looked at him and sighed helplessly: “Who told you to be two years older than me? There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Hayato Teraoka: “Hey, don’t act like my only advantage is age in front of you.”

If it weren’t for Zhang Jue in this timeline, Hayato Teraoka would be the champion of this Junior World Championships, securing this gold medal before moving up. It would make his transition perfect, but the competitive arena doesn’t care about destiny; it only cares about strength. Zhang Jue didn’t feel guilty about his medal.

Fortunately, he almost said: “When we meet in the senior category, I’ll beat you again” just now.

Zhang Jue was well aware that his current quad jump relied heavily on airborne rotation speed. Once he underwent puberty, his body wouldn’t be as light, and he wouldn’t be able to use rotation flow jumps.

Without the quad jump, he truly lacked the confidence to beat this future world champion who would complete three types of quad jumps. In fact, just completing the 4S had already pushed the current Zhang Jue to his limits.

His muscle strength was limited, and his jump height was constrained. Even with high rotation speed, he could only perform the blade jump type of quad jump, which he excelled at.

Zhang Jue took off the hard-earned gold medal and left the competition venue, raising the medal to his uncle.

Zhang Junbao nodded in understanding as Zhang Jue bent down, tiptoeing to help him put on the gold medal. He hugged Zhang Jue and closed his eyes.

“Coach, I’m so happy skating. I think I really love figure skating.”

Zhang Junbao lifted Zhang Jue and playfully tossed him high, saying: “If you love it, just keep skating.”

Shen Liu was almost scared to death by his sudden movement: “Junbao, don’t throw the kid, put him down quickly.”

Finally, Song Cheng held the camera and shouted: “Come on, look here.”

Zhang Jue stood with a coach on each side, Shen Liu holding his bouquet, Zhang Junbao holding his gold medal. The three of them smiled brightly at the camera.

Not far away, Coach Ma was still lecturing his disciples: “See, if you are not motivated, you can only watch the men’s singles win gold. As the future stars of pair skating, do you feel ashamed? You must work hard, children. The dignity of pair skating relies on you…”

Guan Lin and Huang Ying, with serious faces, pledged to sweep all the gold medals in the junior category next year, leaving the men’s singles behind them.

What they didn’t know was that while Zhang Jue faced scolding in the kiss & cry after winning the gold medal, Huang Ying and Guan Lin, who only entered the junior category, were also getting lectured by their coach. This left a lasting impression on foreign figure skaters watching them.

Chinese coaches seemed caring and strict. Even when athletes won, they were scolded fiercely. Truly, people from the cultural origin of tiger parents!

That night, after finishing homework, Xu Dela saw his dad happily turning on the TV to a sports channel that no one usually cared about.

Zhang Qingyan brought out dumplings, her face filled with joy. She said: “Didn’t we already receive a call from little Jue, that he won the championship? Why do you want to watch the TV again?”

Hugging his youngest son, his face showed a hint of simplicity: “It’s different. Our son appeared on CCTV. It’s not easy to get on CCTV. In the past, only Er Dage could often appear on Channel 11…”

He paused here, turned his head to look at the screen, and grinned.

“Hey, look at our son. The way he stands on the award podium is so cute, using both hands and feet.”

Xu Dela, whose drumming arms were getting thicker, picked up a plate of dumplings and ate three in a row, then mumbled vaguely: “Brother is not cute, he is handsome.”

In Beijing, Sun Qian watched Zhang Jue on the award podium, feeling relieved for the country hope in the World Junior Championships and fascinated by his height.

He and Jiang Chaosheng whispered to each other: “Ah, this kid’s height is hopeless. Zhang Junbao and Shen Liu are reckless, teaching such a small kid the quad jump. Aren’t they afraid he won’t grow taller in the future?”

Jiang Chaosheng earnestly replied: “Exactly. The quad jump is the most challenging and dangerous move in figure skating. What I find hard to understand is that Shen Liu knows the 4T, but he taught Zhang Jue the 4S…”

Domestically, besides Zhang Jue, no other figure skater had completed the 4S. Jiang Chaosheng, as a skating coach, wasn’t particularly skilled in teaching jumps, and now he doubted one thing: whether Shen Liu truly understood the characteristics and tricks of the 4S jump and provided relevant help to his apprentice.

Moreover, until now, male skaters completing the quad jump generally relied on improving jump height. Zhang Jue’s unprecedented rotational speed-dependent technique made Jiang Chaosheng suspect whether Shen Liu truly understood the characteristics and tricks of the 4S jump and was providing relevant help to his apprentice.

And so far, male skaters completing the quad jump generally relied on improving jump height. Zhang Jue’s unprecedented rotational speed-dependent technique made Jiang Chaosheng suspect that if there were female skaters breaking through the quad jump barrier in the future, they might use this kind of jumping technique.

Speaking of this jumping technique, could it be that Zhang Xiaoyu figured it out on his own?

Thinking about this, Jiang Chaosheng took a sharp breath.

What an extraordinary talent! Could it be that their country men’s singles have been declining for so many years just to accumulate spiritual energy for Zhang Jue?

Ice and snow – Figure Skating – Men’s Singles

【Hot!】The Crocodile won the World Junior Championships!

1L

Good news! Our country’s junior men’s singles figure skater Zhang Jue completed the 4S and officially became the sixth athlete in the world to accomplish this jump, breaking the total score record and winning the World Junior Championships!

2L

Postscript: According to his birthdate, he is still the youngest World Junior Championships winner!

3L

People at the scene in Jiangling were stunned when they saw Little Crocodile perform the 4S. His rotational speed in the air was simply amazing, spinning like a drill bit, faster than anyone in the ladies’ singles!

4L

What’s most admirable is that he almost tipped over when landing, but just when everyone thought he was going to fall, he steadied himself.

5L

Oh, he also faced scolding afterwards. It seems that after seeing Ilia perform the quad jump, he decided to attempt it on his own during the free skate.

6L

Really, after watching figure skating for so many years, the Crocodile has great courage. However, this time, he won a gold medal, which is quite worthwhile. Safoshenko and Teraoka are both moving up next year. Seizing the opportunity to win against them before they move up makes this gold medal especially valuable.

7L

Never expected, after our thousand-acre land dried up for so many years, it could still produce such good seedlings. But who came up with the idea of letting the village flower keep long hair? I saw him receiving the award with his hair down, and he looked like a fairy.

8L

Don’t mention it. My mom teaches Chinese, and when she saw the Crocodile on the ice, she recited “Li Yannian’s Song” on the spot. I was wondering how someone who never pays attention to figure skating knew that the Crocodile is from the North. Turns out, she just felt that this girl is a rare beauty in the world.

9L

Haha, what a girl.

10L

What’s the point of a good boy keeping long hair and getting ear piercings? It’s effeminate. Don’t spoil the trend.

11L

Upstairs, the Qing Dynasty has been gone for many years.

12L

Figure skating is an artistic discipline, and there’s no law saying boys can’t keep long hair.

13L

The guy on the 10th position is undoubtedly jealous. I can smell the acidity in his tone even through the internet.

14L

Wait a minute, Little Crocodile just did something super cool. Everyone, go check the news. Here’s the link.

15L

Oh my! What happened?

….

 

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