It may sound unbelievable to others, but Zhang Jue was voted “The Most Beautiful Face in Figure Skating” just the day before yesterday by fans online.

The vote wasn’t just limited to China’s skating fans but was conducted on Twitter, allowing all English-speaking skating fans worldwide to participate. Jin Zixuan, Shi Mosheng, Fan Zhaoying, Lu Xiaorong, Xu Chuo, Huang Ying, and Guan Lin—all skaters from China—cast their precious votes for their own male singles star.

Male fans in China also believed their star was a “once-in-a-century fairy,” thinking that no matter how he performed on the ice, no one could deny his looks.

Then Maquen publicly declared that the prettiest was indeed the little crocodile from the East, so he cast his vote for the crocodile. Following this, Zhang Jue’s acquaintances Shiratsuka Keiko, Hayato Teraoka, Yoon Mijung and Ilya also stated they voted for the crocodile.

This quirky sense of humor quickly spread to everyone, and eventually, even many of the female athletes who were on the list themselves cast a vote for Zhang Jue and posted screenshots on Twitter.

As the saying goes: “With each vote, the little crocodile is about to debut…” The result was that Zhang Jue’s votes exceeded second-place Helena by 6,000 votes.

But now, the fairy was gone, replaced by a handsome young man, as tall as Jin Zixuan (168 cm), standing in front of everyone.

When he smiled, all the women present felt their hearts flutter, and even the men almost clutched their chests.

Although he had only grown 5 cm since the Grand Prix Final, his overly delicate feminine aura had completely disappeared, and his lean figure now exuded a distinctly masculine toughness.

In just over half a month, it was as if he had been reborn.

Zhang Junbao placed a hand on his shoulder and measured him: “What’s your weight today?”

Zhang Jue replied: “I weighed 43.5 kg this morning.”

He had really been trying hard to eat, but perhaps because his joints were no longer under the impact of high-difficulty jumps like the quad, his height surged, and his body couldn’t allocate nutrients to grow muscle.

Despite having a body prone to gaining weight and eating a lot, Zhang Jue’s body fat remained around seven percent. The only good news was that his pain tolerance had significantly improved over the past month.

Growing 5 cm in a month inevitably led to growing pains, which felt like someone was pulling his head and feet apart, making it impossible for him to sleep well.

Sometimes, Zhang Jue would wake up in pain in the middle of the night, and his uncle, who shared the room with him, would quickly get up, heat a herbal pack in the microwave for three minutes, and apply it to Zhang Jue’s knee.

Because of this, Zhang Jue no longer let Saori sleep in the same room, to avoid disturbing his pet’s sleep when he woke up in pain.

When Coach Sun Qian saw Zhang Jue, his expression changed. A month off the ice plus a 5 cm growth spurt could be devastating for his skating technique.

Only Zhang Junbao remained calm, telling Zhang Jue to change into his skates and get on the ice to regain his feel for it.

He pulled out a sheet: “Two sets of compulsory figures, go.”

Zhang Jue got on the ice, nearly stumbled, and almost fell, causing Jin Zixuan, who was secretly watching, to nearly cry out.

However, the one who almost fell remained calm. He held onto the boards, skated a few steps, and began to circle the rink. Once he regained some feeling, he started drawing geometric shapes on the ice with his blades.

Before the 1990s, compulsory figures were a required component for skaters. For instance, the first woman to land a triple Axel, Japan’s Midori Ito, could jump vertically up to 79 cm with little run-up, but her poor compulsory figures and basic skills made her less favored by judges.

When the ISU reformed the competition format and compulsory figures were no longer mandatory, Ito had already retired.

To date, compulsory figures remain a competition item in roller figure skating, but hardly any ice skaters practice them because they are not required in competitions, making them impractical to train for.

However, Zhang Junbao believed that practicing compulsory figures greatly improved skaters’ gliding skills, and since Zhang Jue had several gliding flaws, he kept him practicing them.

That being said, Zhang Jue only knew eight types of compulsory figures and wasn’t particularly good at them. He preferred to spend his valuable time and energy on jumps, which he found more interesting.

On the first day of training, while others were practicing jumps, Zhang Jue was only required to do basic training. Despite hearing that he used to be the ace of the provincial team in H province, now his coach only instructed him on what to do, and he had to consider other athletes as well. Jin Zixuan, who considered himself sensitive, felt there would be a strong sense of psychological disparity in such a situation, but Zhang Jue always appeared very calm.
He was as the rumors said, with incredible stamina. Even without jump training, the training volume assigned to him by Coach Zhang was considerable, but the young man who hadn’t exercised for over half a month completed it without even panting, just a thin layer of sweat, wiping it off with a towel, still with plenty of energy left.
Stamina is also a talent. Watching from the sidelines, Jin Zixuan felt envious, as he often struggled with fatigue during the latter half of his free skate.

It wasn’t until the end of the training session that Zhang Jue was allowed to practice jumps on dry land.

Despite his previous jumps looking light and airy, like a bird in flight, this time his dry land triple Salchow landed with a thunderous boom.

The sound was so loud that everyone turned to look.

Zhang Jue landed a bit unsteadily, and Zhang Junbao asked: “How do your knees and ankles feel?”

Zhang Jue honestly replied: “No problem with the knees, a bit of pain in the ankle, but it doesn’t hinder my jumps.”

Ligament injuries take relatively long to heal, generally starting from four weeks. Zhang Jue had rested for 24 days, and his recovery was already impressive.

At this moment, Cha Hanbuhuahua asked a question: “Senior, your jump height on dry land seems higher than before.”

With a run-up, Zhang Jue’s dry land triple jumps were usually around 55 cm. Higher jumps weren’t impossible, but he couldn’t land them stably. This time, he jumped significantly higher, almost losing his balance on the landing.

Zhang Junbao also noticed this issue but wasn’t sure if Zhang Jue had lost control of his jump height due to the long break or if his leg strength had genuinely increased.

After all, since he started moving around, although he avoided activities that would stress his knees and ankles like running and jumping, Zhang Junbao had occasionally seen him lying on a yoga mat doing leg lifts with resistance bands, holding dumbbells for sit-ups, and doing one-arm push-ups with weights.

Zhang Jue had never given up on training. When measuring his thigh circumference yesterday, his thighs were 3 cm thicker than before. With no increase in body fat, he had likely gained muscle.

After training, Zhang Junbao took Zhang Jue for a physical test.

First, they measured his strength gain, then his vertical jump, long jump… Finally, he led him to the track: “Warm up, let’s try running 100 meters.”

Zhang Jue was puzzled: “Uncle, I’m a skater. Isn’t there no need to test my track performance?”

Coach Sun Qian, who followed them throughout the physical test, said: “Zhang Jue, go run.”

With the national team coach giving the order, Zhang Jue had to comply, shrugging helplessly.

“Alright.”

Zhang Jue had always excelled in athletics, particularly the 3000 meters, nearly reaching the national level standard. He could easily win first place in school sports meets.

However, short-distance running relied on explosive power, which was Zhang Jue’s weak point. Despite his extensive training, his short-distance running level was around the second level, only enough to show off at school events, not suitable for higher-level competitions.

But this time, when Zhang Jue finished the 100 meters, Zhang Junbao pressed the stopwatch and sighed deeply.

Sun Qian glanced at it and breathed a sigh of relief: “This kid’s explosive power has improved a lot. They say male single skaters gain strength as they mature. I was worried he might be an exception given his thin frame.”

Hand timing would have errors, but 11.12 seconds was still impressive. Zhang Jue wasn’t a professional sprinter and had no technique in his run. This speed was purely driven by his explosive power.

Zhang Junbao shook his head seriously: “Gaining strength is good, but he’s been off the ice for over twenty days. Combined with the changes in his physique due to growth, his body control will decline further.”

If Zhang Jue had grown during the off-season, it wouldn’t be an issue, as they’d have plenty of time to adjust. But now, in the second half of the season, each upcoming competition is more crucial than the last. Any decline in Zhang Jue’s performance would be costly.

Sure enough, the next day, Zhang Jue resumed jump training, but his success rate for triple jumps dropped to an almost unbearable level.

Except for his best 3A, which didn’t drop too much, the success rates for his 3lo and 3S dropped to about 30%, whereas his previously weaker 3F and 3lz still had around 40-50% success rates.

As for quadruple jumps, his 4S success rate fell to only 20%, while his 4T still had a 30% success rate.

After completing the jump tests, Zhang Jue panted on the side while Zhang Junbao looked at the training chart, deep in thought.

“His rotational speed in the air is slower than before. The edge jumps that require body coordination have deteriorated significantly. The changes in his body height have altered his center of gravity from before, and combined with increased strength, he has indeed lost control over his body. The jumping axis easily shifts, but the increased strength also improved his jumping height, so the success rate of toe jumps is actually higher than edge jumps.”

He said to Zhang Jue: “Do you want to try changing your jump configuration for the National Championships again… Zhang Jue?”

Zhang Jue opened a water bottle, poured the cold water over his head, and then tossed the bottle aside, startling Jin Zixuan, who jumped away.

Hearing his coach’s call, he looked up, a smile forming on his face, his gradually maturing features exuding a sharp edge.

“I’m listening.”

This scene made Coach Ma, who was watching from the side, raise an eyebrow.

He was an old figure skating veteran, well aware of what male singles skaters were like during their developmental phase. However, seeing Zhang Jue’s fiery temper and his act of tossing a bottle in front of his coach was a first.

This kid, who appeared mischievous and was once considered to look like a girl, was likely the most daring and aggressive among this group of male singles skaters.

 

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