For the audience, their favorite sports are usually those where they know the athletes are strong and guaranteed to perform well.

After all, if the event collapsed as dramatically as in football, only a few would be willing to watch. This was one reason why ice and snow sports had struggled with popularity in China before — the teams weren’t strong enough, and their ability to attract fans was limited.

Pairs skating had gained more popularity than other events, largely because of the world-class duo Jin Meng/Yao Lan keeping the sport in the spotlight.

The same was now happening with the men’s singles. Zhang Jue’s rise had been meteoric—since he was 13, he had rarely lost. Every time he competed, he brought home a medal. This steady upward trajectory not only gained him respect from insiders but also attracted ice skating fans who admired skilled athletes.

Not to mention, Zhang Jue had a face that drew in all the fans who cared about looks. As a child, he was adored as an adorable figure, and as he grew up, he resembled a character straight out of a novel. The sales from his posters alone broke various merchandise sales records at the Ice and Snow Center.

So, when Zhang Jue continuously broke world records at the Sochi Winter Olympics, many media outlets covering the event began reporting: “Our young athlete set three consecutive world records in the Sochi figure skating team event.” Various sports bloggers, even those who hadn’t followed figure skating before, were more than happy to share the news.

After all, his scores were clearly impressive—clean, precise, and genuinely inspiring. Who wouldn’t be excited to give a thumbs-up to a young athlete from their own country?

Well, except for certain people who couldn’t stand to see their own succeed, or those who were just jealous of how handsome Zhang Jue was. But those negative comments were easy enough to ignore.

Zhang Jue trended again, and this time his Weibo followers surpassed five million. Although his posts were still limited, causing many fans to complain: “Bro, post more selfies!” everyone understood why he wasn’t active on social media.

The guy was competing at the Olympics—he didn’t have time to play on his phone.

When Zhang Jue competed in the individual event, the number of fans staying up late to watch him on TV had multiplied. By this point, he had become one of the fastest-growing athletes in popularity at these Winter Olympics. Fans shared long posts about his past achievements, photos, and even stories, circulating them widely.

These included details about his injuries, his growth phase, and his series of adorable posters. While Zhang Jue was in Sochi, sales of his “crocodile fan” merchandise hit an all-time high.

Chen Sijia’s father shouted: “Jiajia, your classmate is about to compete! Stop watching on your phone under the covers—it’s bad for your eyes. Come watch on TV!”

With a bang, Chen Sijia pushed open her bedroom door, rushing to sit on the sofa, excitedly watching the screen while occasionally glancing at her phone, her fingers typing quickly.

On the Ice and Snow Forum, a live post was underway:

{Jiajia: The competition is about to start!}

{MonkeyDrinkingWine: Brother Jue is definitely going to be first. Did you see that combo jump he did during the six-minute warm-up? It was insane! I bet his combo jump skills are the strongest in the world!}

{CoconutJelly: Crocodile God was already famous for his combo jumps in the junior division. ThumbsUp.jpg}

{SummerHail: 4T+3T+3Lo+1Lo+3S+3T… That Mars-level difficulty combo was something he could actually pull off. Crocodile God is truly amazing. I originally thought if he could win a medal at this Olympics, it would be lucky.}

{CloudWatcher: According to Coach Shen’s Weibo, Crocodile God hadn’t fully recovered during Nationals. He stabilized his quadruple jump only after starting high-altitude training, and since arriving in Sochi, his form has only improved.}

{MonkeyDrinkingWine: When my Brother Jue isn’t held back by injuries, he’s unstoppable!}

{CloudWatcher: I agree. His performance and consistency are top-tier, and with that legendary coach helping him refine his technique, he’s even stronger. However, based on previous seasons, his peak form is usually at Worlds. If he had another month or two to prepare, the gold would be guaranteed, but it’s still a bit risky now.}

{SummerHail: True. Vasily also has two types of quadruple jumps in reserve, and athletes trained under Old Boris are incredibly stable. If he’s injury-free, Crocodile God might not have it easy against him.}

{Jiajia: Let’s not set our expectations too high. Don’t forget that Zhang Jue just went through his growth phase and is only 16. I’m just giving a heads-up here: although Zhang Jue isn’t as famous as that legendary hurdler back in the day, I still hope everyone understands the pressure on an athlete.}

…

 

Flames of Paris had become a masterpiece under Zhang Jue’s performance. Even several former male principals who had once performed the male variation praised his performance, calling him an outstanding dancer.

The coaching team knew that as long as Zhang Jue wasn’t hampered by injuries, he was a scoring machine. Even fans who didn’t understand figure skating could tell from his demeanor on the ice that he was in peak form.

As expected, Zhang Jue set his fourth world record in the senior division, with the ease of breaking records as casually as drinking water. This left fans, especially the overseas Chinese students and fan groups waving little red flags, ecstatic.

Zhang Junbao clenched his fist: “99.33 points. If nothing unexpected happens, your first place in the short program is secured.”

Zhang Jue didn’t say anything, just gulped down some water, then got up and bowed to the audience. He always showed impeccable manners, a habit left over from when he had faced widespread online hate in his previous life.

“The free skate will be tough; there will be no shortage of skaters attempting three quadruple jumps.”

Zhang Jue was sure that veterans like Maquen and Vasily, who would retire after Sochi, would give their all in this competition.

Coach Lu agreed with his assessment. He leaned on his cane as Zhang Jue helped him out of the kiss and cry area, his face expressionless, though his mood seemed good.

The new goal had already been conveyed to Sun Qian—they hoped that, in addition to a silver in pairs skating, they could also bring back a gold in men’s singles from these games.

Secure silver, fight for gold. This was Zhang Jue’s new mission.

As they walked, Coach Lu told his student: “It would be great to meet the goal, but even if you don’t, it won’t matter much. Your ability speaks for itself, and no one will treat you unfairly. So just relax and skate.”

Zhang Jue nodded repeatedly, and Coach Lu added: “But don’t relax too much. Your problem is you often get cocky, and when you do, you crash.”

Zhang Jue cleared his throat.

“I promise I won’t get cocky on the Olympic stage. Look, I didn’t even add a fourth quadruple jump to my free skate.”

With only two types of quadruple jumps in his repertoire, if Zhang Jue wanted to add a fourth, it would have to be in a 4+3 combo. But since his 4S had only just returned, it couldn’t be used in a combo, and the success rate of his 4T+3T was only 40%.

The most important thing in an Olympic season was consistency. It was better to lower the difficulty than to compromise the program’s completion.

Coach Shen chimed in with a dry comment: “At least you understand that.”

After Vasily’s program finished, the rankings for the men’s short program were announced.

Zhang Jue: 99.33

Vasily: 97.17

Ilya: 95.96

Hayato Teraoka: 94.75

Maquen: 92.5

David: 89.61

It was clear to any observer that the gap between Ilya and Hayato Teraoka wasn’t due to skill but nationality. Ilya, as the Russian favorite on home ice, received better scores simply because of where the competition was held.

Vasily received a score of 97.17, which truly reflected his abilities.

During the team competition, although Vasily successfully landed every jump in his free skate, the quality of his landings wasn’t great. He forcefully landed each jump purely on technical skill, and his jumps were not in the same league as Zhang Jue’s, whose takeoff axis was precise, and whose landings were smooth and effortless.

However, by the individual competition, Vasily’s jump quality had returned.

Zhang Jue suspected that Vasily’s earlier technical decline was due to a leg injury. As for now, he believed Vasily had likely received cortisone injections, and probably more than one.

In the previous timeline, Vasily didn’t resort to injections during the Sochi Winter Olympics. Competing on home soil, all he needed was a clean program to secure the gold medal.

Seeing his nephew deep in thought, Zhang Jue’s uncle asked: “What are you thinking about?”

Zhang Jue replied: “I’m thinking about how Vasily’s short program performance was of a very high standard.”

Not only was his technique superb, but his artistic expression was also astonishing. Zhang Jue couldn’t help but wonder what had fueled Vasily’s sudden burst of energy. It seemed likely that he would be even more difficult to beat in the free skate.

Zhang Jue sighed to himself, feeling like his own streak of bad luck was never-ending. He had thought he could easily defeat Vasily, but who would have guessed that someone with such a severe injury could still make a comeback?

However, it was only competitions like this that truly deserved to be called exciting.

Zhang Jue’s mood lifted when Shen Liu said: “Zhang Jue, do you know? A lot of people on international forums are now comparing this Sochi men’s competition to the 1998 Winter Olympics’ ice dance event.”

The 1998 Winter Olympics ice dance event was considered a legendary showdown, where the top four programs were good enough to win in any other year. In the end, the Grand Prix champions defended their title with their iconic “Requiem.”

Now that people were comparing the Sochi men’s singles competition to that legendary event, it was clear they believed all the competitors in this event were worthy of the championship.

No matter who won, it wouldn’t be an upset.

Although Zhang Jue had predicted Vasily’s surge in performance, he didn’t expect that when the free skate started, the first surprise would come from Maquen.

Maquen’s free skate program was set to “Boléro.”

This veteran skater, nearing the end of his career, wore a black, semi-transparent costume and stood on the ice with hands moving like snakes.

At the start of his program, he flashed his signature charming smile at the camera. Then, he skated a flawless program with two quadruple jumps, instantly pushing his total score to first place.

His final score was 285.23. Given the limited difficulty of his program, he had performed to his best ability.

Although Maquen was one of the least-liked foreign male skaters by the Russian audience, his status as the top European male skater earned him good marks.

Boris glanced at Maquen and saw him hugging his coach.

He snorted: “If this kid had performed at this level in Vancouver, he wouldn’t have missed the podium and let Martin take the advantage.”

Vasily shook his head: “Sometimes, you need the surrounding pressure to bring out a performance like that.”

Without reaching a certain level of stress, adrenaline wouldn’t be as effective.

Maquen’s impressive performance had many journalists nodding in agreement, thinking that the Sochi men’s singles competition truly was a fierce battleground. Yet within five minutes, the competition’s dynamics changed again, leaving everyone confused.

Hayato Teraoka took the ice and immediately fell on his opening quadruple toe loop. After him, Ilia performed, only to fall on both of his triple axels.

These two young athletes started their performances full of confidence but left the ice defeated, like wilted flowers.

Zhang Junbao couldn’t bear to watch. He turned to Zhang Jue and whispered: “When you go up, don’t end up like them.”

Zhang Jue replied: “Uh, I can’t guarantee that.”

His uncle was confused: “What?”

Zhang Jue explained: “During the six-minute warm-up, I felt like today’s ice quality wasn’t good. I’m not sure if it’s a refrigeration issue, but the surface feels a bit wet. Skaters without enough experience could easily slip.”

There had been rumors about the bad ice quality during the men’s singles final in Sochi, and after experiencing it firsthand, Zhang Jue was starting to feel nervous.

He sighed: “I originally wanted to try adding a 4+3 combination into my program today, but now I think I’ll stick with just three quads.”

Zhang Junbao and Shen Liu both chimed in: “Without three quads, what else were you planning to do?”

It turned out that this kid, despite promising earlier to play it safe and finish the competition smoothly, had secretly planned to push his limits! If it weren’t for the bad ice, he probably would’ve done just that!

 

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