“CCTV, CCTV, this is the live broadcast of the men’s singles short program at the Sochi Winter Olympics team event. We are at the Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi. The competition is halfway through. Half of the ten men’s singles skaters competing in the team event short program have completed their performances. Currently, Canada’s Coulson is in first place.”

“Yes, this young skater who has just moved up is the men’s singles champion from Canada’s domestic competition this year. He completed a quadruple jump in the short program, but unfortunately, he made an error on his 3A. The Axel jump seems to be a weak spot for this young skater.”

“Ranking second is Branagh from the USA, who won the bronze medal at last year’s Four Continents Championship. Third place is Kazakhstan’s Kharhasha. All are outstanding young skaters.”

In fact, many veterans focused their efforts on individual events, so the team event ended up being dominated by young skaters. Many athletes who shone during the Pyeongchang cycle were discovered by many skating fans to have already started competing on the Olympic stage during the Sochi Games.

When Zhang Jue stepped onto the ice, he felt something.

The ice… seemed a bit too soft?

As a figure skater, Zhang Jue had his own understanding of the ice surface. On soft ice, coordinated edge jumps could be problematic, so if he encountered such low-quality ice, he would adjust his jump layout, possibly increasing the number of ice jumps.

Conversely, if the ice was too hard, toe jumps could cause foot pain, and he would adjust the ratio of edge jumps to toe jumps accordingly.

Not every rink could be perfectly balanced in hardness, and adapting to different venues was part of the job. Veterans had more experience in this regard, which often led to situations where younger skaters, despite their technical advantages, fell or made errors due to various reasons, while veterans remained stable and won easily.

Stability was crucial for figure skaters as it affected judges’ impressions and was key to achieving the desired results for top-level skaters.

Thus, young skaters like Zhang Jue, who were known for their daring, were not very common in figure skating. They were either recklessly bold or had a big heart.

At that moment, Ilya completed a quadruple jump, and the audience in the arena immediately started clapping and cheering his name.

Home advantage had its perks, the audience was incredibly supportive, which could outshine others.

Hayato Teraoka remained unmoved by the surroundings, focused on himself, while Zhang Jue calmly executed a hand-raised 3A and, while skating, pointed at the ice surface with his little finger to silently confirm his jump spot.

Maquen glanced at them and smiled.

His mindset was truly steady. Teraoka had performed exceptionally well last year. Although he didn’t have a national advantage, Maquen clearly saw that Teraoka’s skating and performance subtly surpassed Ilya’s, with greater stability.

Moreover, this young skater seemed to be mastering a second type of quadruple jump.

Zhang Jue had notable technical flaws, but it was said he was working on improving his technique. Most importantly, his expressiveness was the strongest among the new generation’s top three. So, as long as he refined his quadruple jumps, he could pose a significant threat.

Maquen’s country was also not a stronghold in all four disciplines. Maquen was holding up the men’s singles, while Helena supported the women’s singles. With no notable pairs or ice dance teams, their major flaws meant they couldn’t compete for the podium, only aiming for the finals. Thus, Maquen only participated in the short program as a warm-up for the individual event, leaving the free skate to his junior teammates.

This year, Maquen’s short program music was from the film “The Bourne Identity.” He wore a black costume with shoulder and waist holster-like belts, looking like the protagonist of a blockbuster.

Although often criticized as a veteran, Maquen was only 25, a young and fresh-faced, always smiling handsome man who, with a slightly aloof expression, portrayed a composed agent, making his performance quite refined.

At this year’s European Championships, Maquen won the championship again and even came close to his peak world record of 94.5 points.

“It’s said his injury has been quite severe, but he’s skating this season to earn a medal for Italy before retiring.”

Maquen stumbled slightly during a 3F+3T combination, landing unsteadily, and ultimately scored 89.96 points to take first place.

When the scores were announced, Maquen’s teammates cheered joyfully, and Helena waved the Italian flag.

Coach Lu took Zhang Jue’s skates and said solemnly: “Don’t hold back. You’ve made bold statements, so you must deliver.”

Zhang Jue replied: “Understood.”

He shook hands with Zhang Junbao and Shen Liu, took a deep breath with his head held high, and walked toward the ice.

Skaters had a 30-second preparation time from stepping onto the ice to the start of their performance. Zhang Jue skated around the rink for about twenty meters, raising his hands to acknowledge the audience.

Maquen took a sip of water and commented: “His momentum has definitely increased.”

Zhao Ning, commenting on-site, said in a lively tone: “Alright, next up is our country’s skater Zhang Jue. He is a two-time World Junior Champion, last year’s Grand Prix Final silver medalist, and World Championships silver medalist. He’s a young skater still a few months shy of turning 17 and is currently our best men’s singles skater.”

“His short program is ‘Flames of Paris,’ choreographed by Mia Rosiyabayeva. This program fits Zhang Jue’s personality perfectly. Zhang Jue suffered a serious injury last season and didn’t compete in the first half of this season, but he came back and won the national championship in his first competition.”

Zhao Ning’s comments were meant to inform viewers about the injury and set expectations for overzealous fans, and also to reassure them that Zhang Jue’s recovery was good, so there was no need to worry too much. His lower limit was still high, and he wasn’t likely to fall too hard, which was a thoughtful consideration.

As Zhang Jue stood on the ice, looking up to the left, and with his chin raised, he began with an astonishingly high jump as the music started.

The young man placed his right hand over his heart, his left arm swinging, his face showing an encouraging smile, bringing to life the image of a passionate young officer from 1792 France.

As Zhao Ning had said, the program fit Zhang Jue’s personality perfectly, and it immediately captivated the audience’s attention on its Olympic debut.

“Flames of Paris” was a Soviet Red Ballet piece, and with Sochi being in Russia, the local audience naturally appreciated and understood this program.

With the stirring music, Zhang Jue’s first technical element was a combination of jumps into a flying spin and a donut spin.

Coach Lu squinted and watched for a while, a satisfied look on his face.

“Good, the flying spin posture has barely shifted.”

It was indeed right to have him practice core strength rigorously; the technical flaws in his spins had been corrected significantly.

The technical judges, who had previously scored Zhang Jue, thought they might give him a level 3 this time, but upon seeing his performance, they exchanged glances.

The spin posture was well-maintained, and a set of spins exceeding eight revolutions were higher-level technical elements. This kid performed excellently.

When the screen showed the technical score, people were surprised to find that this skater, who was known to struggle with spins, had actually achieved a level 4. Even though the GOE was a bit low at 0.8, it was still a level 4.

After the spin, the young skater increased his speed, leaned back with a supple upper body, and showcased a sit spin that spanned half the length of the rink. He then jumped and executed a beautiful hand-raised 3A.

“Good!”

Zhang Junbao clapped vigorously, while Shen Liu remained silent, closely watching his disciple.

The second spin came up. Zhang Jue, stay steady.

Zhang Jue’s second spin was a crouched spin, which then transitioned into a hugging leg sit spin. Finally, with his right hand touching his Achilles tendon, he stood up straight and lifted his free foot into a vertical Y-spin.

Hmm, the axis was still slightly off, but the spin speed and posture were quite good. It was ultimately rated at level 3 with a GOE of +1.

The athletes on the ice naturally did not know their GOE scores at that moment. Zhang Jue focused all his attention on his performance, and his emotions were in sync with the music.

Energy surged through him, and every movement was filled with the heroism of a revolutionary and a strong masculine aura.

After a smooth and splendid series of steps, the program entered its second half. Zhang Jue took off again with a 3lz+3lo, followed by a hand-raised 4T.

The two jumps, both with strong air time, dazzled the spectators. They were clearly flashy but had a strong impact.

The young man wore a simple white outfit, his figure slender and somewhat delicate compared to the robust hockey and weightlifting athletes. Yet Zhang Jue managed to convey a warrior’s grandeur, generosity, and bravery through his ice dance.

Zhang Jue was never afraid to showcase his flexibility on the ice, performing spins that other male skaters could not manage, such as the Y-spin and the Bellman spin. Some critics thought this made him appear delicate, but in reality, it did not detract from his ability to present his masculine side.

“Flames of Paris” made its debut on the highest stage of the competition, garnering loud applause. When Zhang Jue cleaned the short program, the cheers were so enthusiastic that many were taken aback.

This wasn’t Zhang Jue’s home turf, but he had managed to lift the audience’s enthusiasm with just one performance. Such a level of impact was truly impressive.

Coach Lu said: “The spins still need to be improved.”

Zhang Jue, happily waving his red flag, responded: “Okay, okay.”

Coach Lu thought, never mind, seeing him so happy, he would review the performance with him after getting the scores.

The scores were announced.

Technical Score: 53.

Program Components Score: 41.57.

Short Program Score: 95.15 (WR).

WR stood for World Record.

Zhao Ning slammed the table and said: “It’s shocking! 95.15 points. Zhang Jue, at just 16 years old, achieved such an excellent performance in his first Olympic appearance. Truly impressive!”

Chen Zhu beside her said: “Yes, this is Zhang Jue’s first international competition after recovering from his injury. I didn’t expect him to deliver such a high-level performance. Very impressive.”

Huang Ying, holding a small flag in her left hand and a small crocodile fan in her right, excitedly shouted: “Brother Jue! Amazing!”

Guan Lin patted his shoulder, saying: “Awesome, Brother Jue!”

Zhang Junbao threw a punch in the air.

“First place is secured!”

Previously, when that kid talked about taking first place in front of the camera, there was a risk of being ridiculed if he fell short. But he had proven his words by delivering an explosive performance.

Shen Liu murmured: “Seems like he was really holding back during his injury.”

At this moment, Zhang Jue was also stunned for a few seconds. With Vasily not competing, he thought it would be straightforward to secure first place in the team event short program as long as he performed steadily. He felt good on the ice but didn’t expect to break his first senior world record here.

The surprise was unexpected, and Zhang Jue excitedly hugged the chubby Coach Lu.

“Coach, thank you!”

He truly wanted to thank Coach Lu. After all, 95.15 points was just 0.65 points higher than Maquen’s 94.5. In terms of jump GOE and difficulty, he was on par with Maquen at his peak. The higher score was clearly due to his improved spins and skating, which was all Coach Lu’s achievement!

Coach Lu was pleased inside but remained stern-faced.

“Let go!”

Zhang Jue quickly released him.

 

Support translation: