Compared to the tough schedule of the women’s singles, the pairs event, which was generally not favored before the competition due to injury rumors surrounding the top male and female skaters, performed quite well.
Huang Ying and Guan Lin made a successful comeback in their first competition after injury, taking the first place in the short program. Meanwhile, Jiang Xiuling and Luo Mi successfully completed a 3F single jump in their program, ranking fourth in the short program.
When coach Ma saw the 3F, he jumped up excitedly. Even before the competition had ended, he was already expressing his gratitude to Zhang Junbao, Shen Liu, and Coach Lu, shaking hands with them to thank them for their care towards his pair skaters.
Huang Ying’s strength was insufficient, and she couldn’t jump high. The most difficult single jump she could perform was a 3S. If she were to increase the difficulty, her feet wouldn’t handle it. However, the difficulty of the single jumps in pairs skating was constantly rising. In Canada, there were pairs who could perform a 3Lz, and in Russia, there were many skaters transitioning from singles to pairs with a solid single jump foundation.
Only China’s pairs skating couldn’t improve their single jump technique. Jiang Xiuling was the only one who could perform a 3Lo, but Luo Mi couldn’t keep up. This time, Coach Ma took a desperate measure and asked Zhang Men for help, and unexpectedly, they managed to improve their pair’s single jump ability.
As long as these two pairs didn’t collapse in the free skate, the three spots for the Olympics were secure.
On the second day, the men’s short program started, and many TV stations broadcasting the World Figure Skating Championships noticed a significant increase in their viewership, up by at least 1%.
“No wonder this is the most competitive event among the four disciplines in figure skating,” said one of the directors, giving an OK gesture to a colleague behind him. The commentator smoothly announced: “Hello, audience. We are now broadcasting the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships. The first group of men’s singles has already begun their six-minute warm-up.”
Zhao Ning had been following Zhang Jue since he was 13, watching him grow into a nearly unbeatable champion. She felt proud, and she had even been regarded as the official “first fan” by the rookies.
Jiang Chaosheng didn’t attend the competition because his student, Sai Peng Sai Qiong, was preparing for the last Junior World Championships. By the next Olympic season, this sibling pair would move up to the senior level.
The new athletes were growing, and the current “three swordsmen” were at their peak. Chinese figure skating was booming, but was it really as prosperous as it seemed?
Thinking of the constant injury rumors surrounding the three swordsmen since this season, Zhao Ning became anxious.
No one knew if this World Championship would be the last one where all three were in their prime. In figure skating, retiring at the age of 20 was not uncommon.
After the short program ended that day, Zhang Jue took first place with his usual steady performance. However, since he had already set a world record for the short program at the Grand Prix Final, his score had already reached the limit of the current scoring system. Unless he could land a 4A, it was impossible to break his own record again.
His strength was so overwhelming that it was starting to break the current scoring system. The International Skating Union was too afraid to openly suppress this popular champion, but even with their best efforts to boost the performance scores of other European and American male skaters, no one could surpass Zhang Jue.
The old champion had become a flaw in the scoring system, and the new king had yet to emerge. This situation was really troubling.
For Chinese figure skating fans, it was incredibly satisfying to see Zhang Jue take the stage and win. After years of setbacks, they finally had Zhang Jue, a superstar who would never disappoint. Watching his competitions, they never had to worry about him underperforming.
After checking his score, Zhang Jue went backstage to rest. Vasily sat beside him: “After Pyeongchang, the ISU will likely revise the men’s singles rules again. You should be prepared for it.”
“I know.”
Zhang Jue knew more about the rule changes than Vasily did.
Wiping sweat off with a towel, Zhang Jue stayed focused. In the previous timeline, Hayato Teraoka and Ilya hadn’t pushed their scores as aggressively as Zhang Jue, but the ISU still introduced a 20-point scoring system after Pyeongchang, changing GOE ±3 to GOE ±5 and reducing the men’s free skate time from four and a half minutes to four minutes. This significantly weakened the base value of the quadruple jumps.
In simple terms, the GOE adjustments were made by the judges, and this rule change was meant to increase their control over the competition and suppress overly strong athletes, forcing the old champion to fall and introducing more European and American new champions.
After all, some athletes’ technique was so perfect that judges couldn’t find faults with their edges or rotations, so they had to change the rules.
At only 19 years old, Zhang Jue was already an Asian athlete, and his scores had reached the top, so he was already considered “old” in the eyes of some judges.
“I never thought being too strong could be a sin. No wonder it’s you,” Vasily said before leaving. Zhang Jue sat back for a while, then started massaging his feet.
He thought, Vasily was wrong about one thing. Being too strong wasn’t the problem. The problem was being too strong as an Asian athlete. If he were from a European or American country, even if he and his fellow athletes dominated the podium with three flags from the same nation, the judges wouldn’t have felt it was wrong.
Whether it was the knee or ankle injuries, Zhang Jue couldn’t shake the feeling that this competition left him feeling more fatigued than before.
“Maybe it’s because my body didn’t adapt well to the Finnish atmosphere and the time zone. I’m just not in the best condition.”
Forget it, there were too many factors that could affect an athlete’s performance. Jin Zixuan never got motion sickness and adjusted to jet lag very quickly, but he still struggled every day.
Zhang Jue slowly stood up to receive his small medal.
On the third day of the World Championships, the ice dance rhythm dance event took place. The “Dream Come True” pair made an unprecedented mistake, dropping to sixth place.
Harhasha whispered: “Their condition has been poor since Four Continents.”
The Kazakhstan head coach, Ayala, who was sucking on a nicotine lozenge, replied vaguely: “Meijing is the spiritual pillar of this pair. Her performance depends on her condition, but her home country’s people have been attacking her online since she switched to represent us. Her family is the same… Even ironclad people have tough times.”
At this point, it was up to Dream Come True to support his wife, but if it was them, they would always find a way to come through.
After all, Dream Come True had been through enough dark times and was now the crown of ice dance, stronger than ever.
The women’s singles free skate was also fiercely competitive. China’s top female skater, Min Shan, completed a full-rotation 4S with a closure shot in her free skate. However, she made an error in the second half of the program due to injury and scored lower than Qingzi and Katerina, settling for bronze.
However, because Xu Chuo performed impressively and secured seventh place, the combined score of the two was ten, ensuring China secured three spots for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in women’s singles, completing the target for this World Championship.
The debate about the value of a full-rotation 4S in the free skate versus the importance of a stable double 3A was reignited, and the amateur fans went wild, with more than two thousand comments in the “Min Shan” thread.
No matter what, the Chinese fans were proud that their girl had become the first women’s singles skater in the world to land a fully-rotated quad jump in a competition recognized by the judges.
Looking at his junior sister, Zhang Jue sighed: “This silly girl hasn’t won a gold medal in any competition outside of domestic and Grand Prix events since she entered the senior group. Even last year’s World Championship gold was a fluke.”
At the Four Continents and World Championships, Keiko always competed against her, and her performances and skating weren’t as good. Her consistency and nerve were also lacking. It always felt like, with her current form, she’d always be the eternal runner-up at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Shen Liu lightly laughed: “Olympic gold is the most fate-dependent title. You broke world records at the Sochi Winter Olympics, so strong that everyone had to watch you, yet in the end, you still became the runner-up by just a hair’s difference?”
The men’s gold and silver medalists at the Sochi Winter Olympics were separated by only one point. The silver medalist’s free skate performance was of a god-like quality, yet his performance score was suppressed to below 95 points, which became a famous figure skating scoring controversy.
Once an athlete steps onto the international competition stage, they are destined to face these kinds of things. Min Shan was a stubborn person, and as her mentors, they could only provide her as much support as possible, pushing her to greater heights, but ultimately, the road was hers to walk.
On the fourth day, the men’s free skate began.
It was rare, but Jin Zixuan skated a clean free program. Without performing in the last two groups, he unexpectedly surged to the top spot. In the second-to-last group, Cha Hanbuhua also gave a strong performance and surpassed Jin Zixuan by a four-point margin to take the lead.
However, Alex quickly took the lead with a career-high score and stayed in the top position until the last group’s performance. Even David couldn’t surpass him.
23-year-old French skating champion had revived this year!
His coach, former champion Martin, and choreographer Maquen exchanged a fist bump and clapped happily.
Shen Liu observed them and touched his chin: “Huh? Maquen started working in choreography this year? Alex’s program looks pretty good.”
Since Zhang Jue, who could easily book any choreographer in the world with just one phone call, was part of their team, whenever new talented choreographers emerged, the national team would consider them for future collaboration opportunities.
The men’s event was so intense, and the figure skating fans were thrilled, but the real excitement came with the highly anticipated last group of skaters, as Zhang Jue, Hayato Teraoka, Ilya, Carlson, and Arthur Cohen all took to the ice for the six-minute warm-up.
After skating for a while, Zhang Jue returned to the barrier to drink water. Zhang Junbao placed his hand on his back: “I know you’re a bit out of sorts here, but Hanbuhua is at least in 8th place, so the pressure’s not that high. If you’re not feeling well, don’t push yourself too hard. It’s not worth risking an injury at this stage.”
Zhang Jue smiled at him: “I know, I’ve got it.”
Just then, a loud gasp came from the audience, and Zhang Junbao’s expression changed. Zhang Jue turned around and saw Hayato Teraoka and Arthur Cohen crash into each other.
Arthur Cohen was 1.74 meters tall and weighed 67 kg, while Hayato Teraoka was 1.77 meters tall and weighed 70 kg. They were both relatively big for men’s singles, so the collision was not small.
They were both knocked off their feet and fell heavily onto the ice.
Keiko’s pupils dilated as she instinctively covered her mouth: “Oh my god.”
Collisions between skaters, even between those jumping, were not uncommon. However, top-level athletes usually had enough experience to stay aware of their surroundings, so the chances of accidents were small, but they weren’t impossible.
Hayato Teraoka and Arthur Cohen lay quietly on the ice without moving. Ilya immediately skated over to Teraoka’s side, kneeling on the ice and loudly calling his name, while Carlson skated to Arthur’s side, unsure whether to touch him or not.
If internal bleeding or fractured ribs occurred, moving the athletes might worsen their injuries.
David called out: “Ilya, Carlson, get off the ice immediately and let the staff help the injured.”
The American team’s doctor was already on standby at the edge of the rink, while the Japanese team did not have a doctor accompanying them.
Zhang Jue called out to Yang Zhiyuan: “Brother Yang!”
Yang Zhiyuan picked up the medical kit: “Got it.”
Hayato Teraoka lost consciousness for about two minutes but woke up to Ilya’s calls. The noise from the arena and the other sounds overwhelmed his mind, causing him a headache and frustration. Soon, staff members wearing uniforms skated over to check on him.
“Teraoka, are you alright? Can you get up on your own?”
Hayato Teraoka thought, Please speak Japanese, damn it. I can’t focus on anything other than my native language right now.
He struggled but managed to get up by himself, and with the audience’s encouraging applause, he skated off the ice. Arthur Cohen also skated off on his own before being escorted by the team doctor down the player’s tunnel for treatment. As he skated off, he stumbled a bit and fell into a warm embrace, his body being steadied.
The familiar voice of a crocodile reached his ears: “Can you still walk by yourself?”
Teraoka smiled wryly: “What do you think?”
Chiba Takeshi came over to support him: “Senpai, let me help you.”
Zhang Jue was silent for a moment, sighed, then crouched down: “Hop on.”
Teraoka, leaning on his junior, looked at him in confusion: “Are you serious?”
Zhang Jue said: “Of course I’m serious. I’m 1.83 meters tall, carrying you is no problem.”
At this moment, this guy, who always claimed “I’m only 1.80 meters tall,” finally admitted his true height. Teraoka smiled and was carried backstage by his old rival. Yang, the familiar team doctor, came over to diagnose his injuries.
At this moment, Teraoka thought about how this season had been so difficult for him, each step feeling like an immense struggle. It felt like fate was deliberately working against him. Fortunately, there’s always someone ready to help when he’s in need.
Coach Mori Kumimi had taken him in under tremendous pressure, and Zhang Jue had already borrowed their team doctor twice. If he could avoid troubling them, he would, but he couldn’t help but feel warmth whenever they helped him.
“Please do not disturb the doctors and athletes. Please leave this area. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Zhang Junbao, with a calm expression, along with Shen Liu, had escorted the reporters, photographers, and cameras out of the area.
Keiko and Coach Mori stood to the side, their vision blurred. A tissue had been handed to the two women. Keiko had looked up and seen Tama-chan’s gentle eyes, like black pearls washed by snowmelt.
“Use this, then go check on them. Hearing your voice will help him feel a bit more energetic.”
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