Zhang Jue, the silver medalist in men’s singles at the Sochi Winter Olympics, the previous World Championship titleholder, and a national figure skater from our country, who was 17 years and 8 months old this year, went undefeated this season. He won gold medals in all the competitions he participated in, and by the time of this event, he had broken the world record 13 times.

Zhang Jue had already broken the world record for the 115.3 points in the short program, which marked his 13th world record.

This was why the crowd looked at him with such fervent eyes—because he had already become the new king of ice.

The professor from the art academy who designed the costumes for Zhang Jue didn’t quite know what he was thinking. Whenever there was an opportunity, he would design clothes that emphasized Zhang Jue’s waist, sometimes exposing his shoulder, and a deep V-shape in the back was a regular feature. Flowing shoulder sashes were common, too.

Many honest fans were focused on his figure, while Zhang Jue stood calmly in the spotlight, took a few sips from his water bottle with his throat moving.

His uncle said to him: “Just be yourself.”

Zhang Jue gave him a fist bump, quietly turned around, and casually exerted some force, gliding far away.

Hayato Teraoka wiped away his tears, looking at Zhang Jue’s figure and made a judgment: “He wasn’t affected by my mistake and kept his composure.”

Those who could remain calm under pressure and honor were the ones who could achieve great things. Many skating fans felt their hearts slow down just by looking at Zhang Jue’s composure and presence on the ice.

Someone said: “He really is number one. Watching him compete is so much more relaxing than watching number two.”

Another person rebutted: “I don’t think so. Number two doesn’t matter if he wins or loses, it doesn’t affect anything. But if number one loses, I’ll cry for three days and nights!”

The reason number two losing didn’t matter was because there was a tall person ahead of him.

Fortunately, Zhang Jue had never caused anyone to cry for losing a competition. Many cried at the Sochi Winter Olympics, but it wasn’t because Zhang Jue lost. It was because the judges lost their integrity.

Zhang Jue stretched his shoulders, one hand resting on his waist, slowly gliding to the center. He took a deep breath. The slight pull in his abdominal muscles hurt, but it wasn’t serious. Of course, if the strain were truly going to affect him, he would have already applied for a medical timeout.

One commentator said: “Now coming onto the ice is the most well-rounded male single skater in the world. His performance is always the most spectacular, and over 10,000 spectators are looking forward to his excellent performance in his homeland. I am too.

He is the current world record holder for the short program with 115.3 points, the free skate world record with 223.96 points, and the overall score with 328.82. The latter two records were set at this season’s Grand Prix Final. Honestly, I believe these scores will be hard to surpass.”

Zhang Jue slightly lowered his head, his right hand resting on his shoulder, and his left hand lightly placed on his right abdomen in a self-embrace.

With the sound of the piano, he slowly raised his head, jogged a few steps forward, and after a series of steps, his speed increased. After less than 7 seconds of momentum, the front part of his right blade made contact with the ice, sending a spray of ice crystals as his left foot assumed an outward edge position for takeoff.

He completed a high, flawless 4Lz jump.

Hayato Teraoka seized the opportunity to poke Ilya: “Hey, his 4Lz is better than yours, and he did it with Rippon!”

Rippon refers to the pose where both arms are raised.

Ilya: “…”

Although this was Zhang Jue’s first time performing this jump in an official competition, the quality of his jump truly surprised many people. Zhang Junbao, however, shook his head.

That brat’s abdominal muscle strain did affect him, forcing him to raise his arms and tighten his core to complete the jump. Had he not been injured, he could have performed the 4Lz without raising his arms and even used a delayed rotation.

Shen Liu furrowed his brows: “Did he start tightening his body when he took off?”

While tightening the core early is a common technique for completing quadruple rotations, for Zhang Jue, it was clear evidence that he wasn’t able to effortlessly execute the jump. Shen Liu silently hoped that his other jumps wouldn’t be affected by the injury.

After this jump, Zhang Jue performed a 4T, this time much more relaxed, with a sense of ease and grace. His takeoff and landing were perfectly in sync with the rhythm of the music, creating a striking contrast with the previous 4Lz.

His third jump, a 3F+3T, and fourth jump, a 3A, were also smooth and natural. After the four jumps, a ethereal sound echoed in the background, like the cry of some marine creature.

It was the song of a humpback whale, seemingly from the ancient deep sea, mysterious and distant. The accompanying sound of the ocean tide was incredibly beautiful, followed by a thudding sound.

Chen Sijia stared, wide-eyed: “What is that sound…”

It sounded so much like a fetal heartbeat.

In the music world, Beyoncé once included her daughter’s fetal heartbeat in a song called “Blue.” Zhang Jue, with the help of Qin Xuejun, managed to negotiate and obtain the heartbeat sound from a couple about to become parents, incorporating it into his free skate.

He always remembered that this program was a gift to his parents, and embedding the fetal heartbeat into the music was a thoughtful gesture.

Perfectly matching with this music was a sequence of jumps transitioning into a spin. The spin gradually transformed into an upright rotation, like a seed sprouting into a green shoot, slowly growing into a small sapling.

This section symbolized the arrival of new life.

The music accompanying the heartbeat was a piano solo titled “Mother’s Journey,” with the notes expanding. Zhang Jue entered into his footwork, which wasn’t particularly flashy, but was clearly more precise and beautiful than earlier in the season. The difficulty had certainly increased, but the emotions conveyed were also deeper and more sincere. Observers could even sense the meaning behind this sequence: Zhang Jue was being led through a long journey by someone.

With the name of the music in mind, many skating fans had already figured out who the one guiding him was.

The love a child has for their mother is warm and beautiful, and such a clever music edit, coupled with the athlete’s dedicated performance, demonstrated that this was a truly heartfelt classic.

Vasily sighed: “No wonder it’s a masterpiece that keeps breaking world records.”

Had Zhang Jue performed this program at the Sochi Olympics, no matter how the judges tried to lower his score, they couldn’t hold him back. This shows how much Zhang Jue had improved since Sochi.

This season, Zhang Jue truly dominated all competitions with this program, going undefeated and unstoppable.

In the latter half of his performance, Zhang Jue completed a 4S, 4T+1Lo+3S, 3Lz+3T, and 3Lz. He made no mistakes in his jumps, but an unexpected issue occurred during his 3Lz+3T combination.

His first jump clearly wasn’t steady upon landing, causing him to wobble before regaining his balance. He also struggled to connect the 3T afterward.

A gasp went through the audience, but Zhang Jue quickly adjusted himself. When he performed his final 3Lz, he added a 2T to complete the combination, though the failure to connect the 3T had clearly caused concern among his coaching team.

Zhang Jue’s ability to link jumps was undoubtedly the strongest in China. For instance, in peak condition, he could string 10 consecutive 3T jumps together.

Fortunately, he didn’t fall. A single jump’s GOE being slightly off didn’t matter much. When he stepped off the ice, Zhang Junbao quietly asked him:

“What happened just now? Did you strain something?”

Zhang Jue replied softly: “When I was jumping the last quad, my left leg got strained, which is why I couldn’t land the 3T properly afterward.”

Zhang Junbao: “Is it that muscle in your soleus?”

Zhang Jue smiled wryly: “Yeah, it’s that one.”

Since Zhang Jue didn’t have a clean program, many fans prayed with their hands together, hoping for divine blessings for him. Zhang Jue remained calm, almost certain of his victory.

When the scores came out, many fans sighed in disappointment.

Zhang Jue’s free skate score was 210.95, just one point behind Ilya, placing second in the free skate.

But at the same time, seeing this score, Zhang Junbao breathed a sigh of relief and raised his fist.

“We won!”

Zhang Jue also exhaled: “Great, we won.”

Yes, Zhang Jue won. Wait, how did he win the World Championship when his free skate score was only second?

That’s because the World Championship ranking is based on total points! Zhang Jue’s short program score was 115.3, 7.65 points higher than Hayato Teraoka, and 17.31 points higher than Ilya.

Moreover, Sergey, who ranked second overall, scored 104.55 in the short program, trailing Zhang Jue by 10.75 points. With such an advantage, unless Zhang Jue made a major mistake in his free skate, no one could surpass him. Besides, 210.95 wasn’t a low score.

Among the top ten highest free skate scores in the history of figure skating, 210.95 was ranked fourth.

In fact, the top two are both Zhang Jue, with Ilya’s previous high score ranked third.

So, Zhang Jue won the World Championship with a total score 12 points ahead of the second-place finisher.

Zhao Ning excitedly said: “Everyone, let’s congratulate Zhang Jue for successfully defending his World Championship title and maintaining an undefeated season!”

“This marks a new chapter for men’s singles in China on the international stage. With unwavering determination and exceptional adaptability, he overcame all difficulties and pressures, successfully making history!”

The fans in the arena, now realizing what had happened, began clapping and cheering. Some even threw their hats into the air in excitement.

Almost everyone was happy for Zhang Jue, but the reason why I say “almost” is because when Coach Lu, Shen Liu, and Zhang Junbao were shaking hands and hugging, they were all saying: “Not bad, this time that brat used his short program advantage to hold onto the gold. Who knows if he’ll have this advantage next time. From now on, he needs to keep his free skate as stable as his short program.”

Zhang Junbao mentioned that fascia training needed to start immediately.

Shen Liu agreed: “Sure, I’ll help.”

Coach Lu said that Zhang Jue’s therapy time would need to be extended, and Yang Zhiyuan should put in more effort.

Because Zhang Jue kept breaking world records, one World Championship gold medal was no longer enough to impress them.

Zhang Jue, who had just made history, said: “Hey, can you stop discussing how to push me around already?”

“I just won the gold! Why don’t you hug me first!”

 

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