Even though it was five in the morning locally, the commentators on Channel 5 were still working diligently.
A clear voice came from the television: “Zhang Jue’s debut on the international stage is excellent. He successfully completed all technical moves, and it’s evident that foreign figure skating fans also like this young skater.”
Since the competition began, Zhang Jue is the only junior men’s singles skater who struggled to carry all the flowers and plush toys he received.
Another commentator agreed: “Zhang Jue just turned 13 at the end of June, making him the youngest among the athletes from China participating in international competitions this year. However, he has great potential. Not only is he well-rounded technically, but his performance is also very captivating, which is rare in junior competitions.”
“Moreover, Zhang Jue’s spinning ability is unique. So far, he is the world’s first male figure skater to perform a Beillmann spin in competition. Many figure skating fans will surely be impressed by this.”
“Yes, when I saw that Beillmann, I was astonished. This kid’s flexibility is amazing.”
Anyone with a bit of knowledge about winter sports knows that the men’s singles category in China struggles on the international stage.
While Shen Liu was still active, things were better, given that he had the support of the quadruple jumps. However, after his retirement, the men’s singles category in China experienced a complete hiatus. There wasn’t even anyone to fill in the gap.
So, seeing Shen Liu on TV now, even if he’s not competing but sitting on the coach’s bench, is a pleasant surprise. When the commentators see the strong abilities of Shen Liu’s students, they naturally praise enthusiastically.
In any case, every year in China, there are new rising talents, both boys and girls, who are hyped up. Whether these young talents can truly achieve results on the international stage, carrying the dignity of Chinese athletes in this discipline, is another matter.
Competitive sports are like crossing a narrow bridge amid thousands of troops and horses. Making it to the peak, visible to a large number of sports fans, is quite rare.
Ming Jia sighed: “Zhang Jue will face considerable pressure in the future.”
The consequence of a lack of talent is that all expectations for the rise of men’s singles in China will be placed on Zhang Jue alone. At just 13 years old, can he handle it?
However, Liu Yeming was firm: “Zhang Jue won’t face this pressure alone. Although not everyone has the same talent as him, it doesn’t mean we will give up moving forward.”
As an athlete, Liu Yeming still has that spirit.
Ming Jia turned to look at the young man, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.
Yes, not every sport in China gathers popularity and talent like table tennis and volleyball. For niche disciplines like theirs, it was often supported by hardworking athletes like Liu Yeming, who, despite not having exceptional talent, kept it going.
Two sets of competitions passed, and Zhang Jue’s score of 73.13 remained at the top of the short program rankings.
After him, other junior skaters didn’t have the impressive ability of advanced consecutive jumps, delayed rotations, and expressive hand movements. The audience’s emotions were not stirred.
Until a voice on the broadcast said: “Representative France, Alex Testino,” figure skating fans started to get excited.
Alex Testino, dressed in an all-black costume with silver sequins, stood on the ice. His short program was to Saint-Saëns’ “Danse Macabre.”
Shen Liu introduced: “Saint-Saëns’ piece has been interpreted by many figure skaters. Alex used to go for lively jazz styles in the past. Now that he has matured, he seems to be aiming for a transformation.”
Zhang Jue, hands supporting his chin, the chocolate bar on his mouth slightly tilted, commented: “I’ll definitely transform after puberty. It’s not a good idea for a guy to always go for a neutral style.”
Song Cheng, Zhang Junbao, Shen Liu, Coach Ma, Huang Ying, and Guan Lin all looked at Zhang Jue, with his pure and beautiful face like a celestial being, and chuckled.
Rest assured, with a face like yours, no matter how many years you want to be a fairy, there will surely be a large number of people willing to believe it. It’s just like Liu Tianxian stepping into the screen, and there would be a group of straight guys shouting: “Goddess!” below.
Huang Ying, a rock fan, muttered to herself: “Little Jue is just like Hidetoshi Nijika, sacrificing height for an extraordinary appearance.”
Guan Lin quickly poked her, signaling her not to speak. The person who dared to mock Zhang Jue’s height before was dragged into the locker room and, accompanied by Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” was thoroughly beaten. Although Zhang Jue was later punished with a three-thousand-word reflection, the one who got beaten suffered even more.
The sound of a violin started, and everyone stopped talking, focusing their gaze on the competition.
“Danse Macabre,” also known as “Dance of Death,” is a romantic symphonic poem by Saint-Saëns. Although the title might sound a bit creepy, what the piece aims to portray is a scene of the Grim Reaper playing the violin for skeletons in a graveyard. The music, despite the eerie name, is lively, like a dance party.
Alex portrayed the character of the Grim Reaper, and his performance was energetic. He successfully brought out the lively atmosphere of the dance party, stirring the emotions of many spectators. However, precisely because of this, it wasn’t quite the appearance expected of the Grim Reaper.
Zhang Junbao commented: “The young ones are just getting high, did they forget about the transformation?”
The bald coach on the sidelines also covered his face in helplessness.
Fortunately, despite the deviation in the performance, all the technical moves were solid. Alex’s three jump sequences, 3Lz, 3F+3T, and 2A, were of very high quality. When the judges scored the performance, they were generous. In the end, Alex got 75.65 points, pushing Zhang Jue into second place.
Seeing Alex’s posture for the 2A jump, Shen Liu, judging by experience, said: “He has many more rotations than last season. He has improved significantly in terms of height and distance. He’s probably starting to practice the 3A.”
Now that he mentioned it, Zhang Jue 2A also has a lot of room for improvement.
Shen Liu pondered.
Before, their goal was for Zhang Jue to collect all five types of triple jumps by July, practice advanced triple-triples as much as possible, and familiarize himself with the two programs given by Madam Mia. Originally, they thought time would be tight, but Zhang Jue managed to practice all the required techniques before the test competition began. Now, apart from a slight issue with the 3F and the need to refine issues like the stability of the rotation axis, it seems that it’s time for Zhang Jue to tackle new skills.
Cui Zhengshu appeared after Alex. This cute male skater from South Korea is only 6 cm taller than Zhang Jue, at one meter fifty-nine, but he has indeed completed his growth.
Upon careful thought, this guy was also quite pitiful. Sacrificing so much height, and still not looking particularly handsome. Hopefully, he can break through the one-meter-six hurdle before the bone grow is complete.
However, in contrast to height, Cui Zhengshu has achieved quite well in figure skating. The low center of gravity brings high stability. Since his debut, the probability of him having a clean performance in competitions was always higher than his peers.
For many figure skaters, having a clean performance once in their entire careers was considered good. This indicates how high the error rate is when performing various movements on the ice. Therefore, sometimes, the word “stable” can bring significant advantages.
Cui Zhengshu’s program was a slow-paced guitar piece. Overall, the performance was neither bad nor outstanding. All the movements were clean, but the audience didn’t react much, only applauding when Cui Zhengshu successfully landed a jump.
His short program score was 73.5 a bit higher than Zhang Jue.
Huang Ying exclaimed: “This is too much! His performance is more bland than plain water, and he still manages to surpass little Jue?”
Zhang Jue himself remained calm, shrugging nonchalantly: “It’s okay. The competition ranking is based on the total score. I can catch up in the free skate.”
Cui Zhengshu was only 0.37 points ahead of him.
Funny enough, among all the athletes present, the one who truly made Zhang Jue vigilant was Angus Joe.
Not for anything else, but this guy’s stealing of the spotlight during jumps was quite serious. Relying on the favoritism of North American judges, he became an existence second only to Safoshenko and Hayato Teraoka in the junior division. After moving up to the senior division, he stayed in the spotlight for several years. It’s evident how much national favoritism can nurture a person.
Both Alex and Cui Zhengshu ware not inferior to Angus Joe, but their treatment after moving up to the senior division is noticeably not as good as his.
To defeat someone like him, it’s necessary to demonstrate strength that surpasses national favoritism.
When it was the turn for the top skater from North America to appear, the reactions of the audience became enthusiastic. Angus Joe also waved to the crowd, signaling everyone to give more applause.
His short program was a trumpet piece, lively and vibrant. Angus Joe’s performance was very energetic, with large body movements and expressive facial expressions. The audience began to clap to the beat.
Zhang Jue’s eyes revealed a hint of regret: “Oh, this guy is setting himself up.”
Huang Ying asked in confusion: “How is he setting himself up? Isn’t his performance excellent?”
To be honest, Angus Joe’s technique was not clean, but his artistic expression is quite good in the junior division. That’s why he’s known in the skating community as a “carrying artist” or an “artistic jellyfish,” meaning that his high scores rely on artistic components.
Zhang Jue explained based on his past stage experience: “Unless it’s a piece with a very obvious rhythm, letting the audience clap along is not a good thing because their beats may not align with the music. Performers can easily become disoriented between the rhythm of the music and the audience’s clapping.”
Whether the jumps match the music, and whether they are smooth, are also factors for bonus points in the Grade of Execution (GOE). Angus Joe clearly wanted to complete his jumps in sync with the music’s beat, but the disorder in rhythm made him hesitate during takeoff. This hesitation caused his entire axis for the 3Lz to tilt.
The audience sighed with regret.
It was evident that he was unstable when landing, relying on hand support to stay upright. His GOE would definitely be deducted.
Zhang Jue nodded knowingly at Huang Ying: “See, he made a mistake. Wanting to interact with the audience and get more applause is fine, but as long as the performance is exciting, the audience who come to watch the show live will not be stingy with their applause. But setting yourself up like this is not worth it.”
Huang Ying exclaimed with a “wow,” with an expression of “I see, I’ve learned something.”
Because of the obvious mistake, even with the judges’ favoritism, Angus Joe could only score 70.8 points, with 37 points coming from the performance component.
In figure skating scoring, technical points are generally higher than performance points. Seeing a situation where performance points surpass technical points is quite rare.
Zhang Junbao pinched his nose bridge: “Noble nationality is truly amazing. I can accept Safoshenko benefiting from national favoritism, his skill is indeed good. But seeing Angus Joe benefit from national favoritism, why do I feel so uncomfortable?”
At six o’clock in the afternoon, the short program competition for men ended, and Zhang Jue, who ranked third, was guided by the event staff to participate in the small medal award ceremony.
For award presentations, the atmosphere should be as relaxed and pleasant as possible. The organizers arranged a small podium, allowing the three young athletes to sit in their respective positions. After presenting the medals to them, the host came over to interview them.
Zhang Jue was the shortest, and his seat was also low. Looking small and cute, the host particularly liked him, constantly placing the microphone in front of him during the conversation.
“Zhang, do you like Lake Placid? Have you gone out to explore since you arrived here?”
The little boy looked bewildered. Shen Liu silently walked to his side to translate, and Zhang Jue finally showed a sweet and obedient smile.
“I haven’t gone out. Just dealing with the jet lag has worn me out. Who has the energy to go out? Besides, whenever I see something to eat while shopping, I can’t resist trying it. My coach is always wary of me leaving the hotel.”
Coaches: “…”
Your kid speaks too candidly, doesn’t he?
The reason why Zhang Jue, with the strength to crush his competitors in his past life, still fell short of the debut was also somewhat related to his character, which remains surprisingly honest even in front of the camera. After all, he speaks straightforwardly, and the media loves sensationalism. Just a bit of selective quoting can bring countless criticisms to Zhang Jue.
Shen Liu patted his head as he spoke a fluent English.
“Zhang Jue says he regrets not going out to sightsee because this is his first international competition. Dealing with jet lag took a lot of energy.”
Upon hearing this, many people showed surprised and admiring expressions.
The more seasoned figure skating fans know that if it weren’t for the unfavorable skating order, Zhang Jue would have been the best in today’s short program. This young athlete didn’t even compete in peak condition. He even faced the debuff of jet lag!
How admirable！

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