TRANSLATION: Patrick Chan Appreciates His New Life
By: Pascal Milano
Canadian Patrick Chan took home the gold meal in the team event at the Pyeongchang Olympic Games
This is a translation of an article originally posted by La Presse
Poppy is a 9 month old golden retriever. Cheerful and affectionate, she is always ready to follow her owners in the search of a new adventure. She is especially the symbol of Patrick Chan’s new life, retired from figure skating for almost a year.
“My schedule was too busy and I wasn’t at home enough. I didn’t even have a real home. Now I live in Vancouver and I am lucky enough to have a life that is a little more normal, with a dog as my companion,” he recounted over a telephone interview.
Hongbo Zhao: Wenjing Sui/Cong Han Are Not in the Best Condition
With about a week left before the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships, the Chinese National Figure Skating Team that is preparing for battle held a public class at the Shougang Training Centre on Wednesday afternoon. Wenjing Sui/Cong Han and Cheng Peng/Yang Jin, China's pairs entries for Worlds, participated in the public class.
During the class, Sui/Han's performance was not so good, Wenjing Sui in particular had a lot of difficulty with her solo jumps. Chinese National Team's head coach Hongbo Zhao said "Sui/Han are not in the best condition, so we said for the 2nd competition of the season (Worlds), just trying their best in their current form is good enough. Wenjing Sui after the Pyeongchang Olympics had a fracture, rested for 4 months, [her] recovery was not so satisfactory. Cong Han's injuries are also increasing. In terms of the medical and scientific technology available to us, we are doing everything we can to maintain their health, but sometimes you don't always respond to the treatment."
Hongbo Zhao shared, "At Four Continents, Sui/Han's results weren't great, when we got back, we reflected a lot on it and we are aware of all the issues. But in terms of their progress in daily training, including concentration and ability, they are still a bit below expectations. After Wenjing Sui returned from performing in North Korea, she fell the next day in practice and she lost 10 days of training, she only resumed normal training last week. They are really hoping to perform well at Worlds, however they have had a lot of setbacks which disrupted their training, I am also trying to think of solutions to help them manage their emotions, we will try our best for Worlds."
Wenjing Sui and Cong Han are the 2017 World Champions and 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics Silver Medalists. Their season so far has not gone smoothly, due to Wenjing Sui's foot surgery they had a very long recovery time. They only appeared internationally for the first time at the Four Continents Championships in early February. However, they won the competition, making people highly anticipate their upcoming participation in the World Championships.
After the open class, Cong Han had an individual interview with the media. He shared "We did not participate in many competitions this season which means there are less opportunities for us to test both our programs. At Four Continents, we found that we needed a lot of improvements with our programs so we made some adjustments, now the program is a lot smoother. Little Sui is working very hard, she has added another training session at night just for practicing her jumps."
"Right I think we are a little short on time, if we had another month then maybe we would be more prepared. But that's okay, this is a sport," said Cong Han.
The other pairs teams headed to the World Championships, Cheng Peng/Yang Jin are the Four Continents Championships Silver Medalists and the Grand Prix Final Silver Medalists.
Also appearing at the public class was Hongyi Chen, who had just returned from the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. She had laready begun preparation for the World Championships and is the sole entry in the Ladies' Singles.
Hongyi Chen has been nervous about her upcoming competitions, she is nicknamed "model worker" by the rest of team. Since Nationals in December, she has participated in Four Continents, Chinese Championships, World Junior Championships and is about to leave for the World Championships.
"After participating in some many competitions, I think I'm not as nervous as I was before," said the 16 year old girl. "Going to the World Championships is going to be a learning experience for me, entering competitions is a bit tiring, but I believe I can overcome it."
The 2019 World Figure Skating Championships will be held from March 18th to March 24th in Japan. The Chinese figure skating team will also include Boyang Jin in the Men's Singles, Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu and Hong Chen/Zhuoming Sun (substitute entry) for ice dance.
Overseas Chinese Zhu Yi (Beverly Zhu) Returns to China to Compete, Chen Lu is Optimistic About Beijing Olympics
Photo taken from Lu Chen’s Weibo
*Beverly will be referred to as "Zhu Yi," her Chinese name in this article
**All names are in the Chinese convention (last name first)
2018/2019 Chinese National Championships starts today in Harbin, one of the highlights is that the American Born Chinese skater , Zhu Yi will be competing for the first time domestically. Suffering from a right foot injury, this was Zhu Yi's first major competition of the season. Her short program result was rather satisfactory, head national team coach Chen Lu said that today, her condition was not at its best but her goal is the 2022 Winter Olympics. "Zhu Yi right now is only 16 years old, 3 years later she will be at a golden age for a ladies single skater. Our hopes for her are very high, she has many great qualities."
In order to prepare for the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the General Administration of Sport of China's Winter Sports Branch adopted a concept called "open exchange" where all branches of sports administration will work and use their resources together. A letter was issued for this on November 19th to provincial and municipal organizations that any athletes who meet the minimum requirements for Chinese National Competitions may enter, whether they are non-registered, overseas Chinese or even foreigners who would like to participate.
This new opportunity allowed Zhu Yi to compete at her first Chinese Nationals. Here she is competing as an individual entry [T/N: not representing a province, municipality or autonomous region in China].
"This National Championship is her first competition of the season, for her there's some pressure mentally." National Team head coach Chen Lu shared after the short program. "Looking at today's competition, this is not her best performance. Things like, the weather [T/N: -21C/-6F in Harbin, Beverly is born and raised in California], the time difference are all affecting her but the biggest factor is her foot injury. Every time she skates, her right foot bleeds, the wound is not healing, there's still some remnants from surgery which is causing the wound to leak fluid. Chen Lu explains that Zhu Yi postponed her surgery in order to participate in the National Championship which affected her training a lot.
This is her first competition of the season, also her first time returning to China to compete. At this afternoon's short program competition, it was [Zhu Yi's] first time participating in senior competition and she got a score of 54.36 and placed 4th amongst 18 competitors, An Xiangyi, representing Beijing, placed first.
Zhu Yi's injury was an accident, she accidentally cut her foot with her skate. When she had surgery in the United States, they accidentally left some remnants of the boot material in the wound. After the National Championships, Zhu Yi will return to the United States and her priority will be treating the wound.
16 year old Zhu Yi's last trip to China was 10 years ago. This time coming to China, she specially went to and explored the area around Tiananmen Square. "It was really big, very beauitful, very different from where I live." [Zhu Yi] stayed in Beijing for a few days, recovering from jetlag and training at Chen Lu's rink.
"Coming from the US, she is quite far from home, she needs some time to adjust, there's been some improvement. These past 2 days once we get to the afternoon, she starts getting a bit sleepy." Chen Lu says that from watching her train these past few days, she is feels a little emotional, "Although she is not in the best condition, she has this hardworking nature that comes from within, this is a very valuable trait in young athletes."
Zhu Yi was interviewed by the media after the competition. After a short adjustment in Beijing, Zhu Yi Zhu headed north to Harbin to compete at the National Championships. The -20C weather was quite a shock to Zhu Yi but she was very excited to be able to participate at Nationals. "I'm really happy to have this opportunity in China to compete, I hope that everyone will like me, I want to show the best of my skating."
Zhu Yi started skating when she was 7 years old, she is a very talented athlete. In September of his year, the 16 year old Chinese-American joined the Chinese figure skating team. Her arrival helps to make up for China's weakness in the ladies' single division. "I'm really happy, but also very nervous, I'm excited to show everyone my skating, nervous about coming to China to compete for the first time. I'm not very familiar with the time difference, the location and the new environment yet."
Zhu Yi was personally selected by Chen Lu as she is one of the young athletes she thinks very highly of. "She jumps big and far, [it's] very beautiful, her triple triples are also of very high quality." However, Chen Lu pointed out that now that she is switching to seniors, there are some things she lacks. "For all young athletes, there's a lot of room for improvement in terms of stability, artistic abilities and maturity."
After today's short program, Chen Lu shared that Zhu Yi was not in the best condition, "We are focusing on the next 3 years for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Zhu Yi right now is 16 years old, 3 years later she will be at a golden age for a ladies' single skater, our expectations for Zhu Yi are high because she is is a huge talent. In the next 2 to 3 years, we will work on polishing her, with the hope that at the Beijing Winter Olympics, she will shine and bring honour to the country, this is our goal."
Chen Lu explained that after the National Championships, Zhu Yi will return to the United States, her first step will be taking care of her injury. Then they will determine her schedule for the rest of the season. Chen Lu also shared that Zhu Yi is now able to represent China in international competition, her next step will be getting the international minimums. "This is only the start, we will be taking everything step by step."
Chinese National Figure Skating Championships: Sui Wenjing/Han Cong Will Appear
THERE 2 ARTICLES WITHIN THIS POST
Dec 11 Article:
The Chinese Figure Skating Association has published their list of entries for the Chinese Figure Skating Championships. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong appear on the list, this will be their season debut. Something else to note is that the figure skating talent Beverly Zhu who just joined the Chinese training team in September, is also listed as a participant.
This year's National Championships will be held 12/29-12/30 in Harbin, China with all of the main domestic skaters participating. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong were on the list of participants. After the Pyeongchang Olympics, Sui Wenjing withdrew from all their international competitions due to injury, this will be their first appearance of the season.
Right now Sui/Han are training in Shougang, they will be bringing brand new programs to Harbin. The head choreographer, Lori Nichols, says that one of the programs has a very modern feel. Sui Wenjing also shared that they made a program with a Chinese feel. "It will have a lot of new, distinctive choreography, I hope everyone will like it."
In addition to Sui/Han, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang who just won silver at the Grand Prix Final are also set to compete. Also, Yu Xiaoyu/Hao Zhang who are currently training in Beijing are also bringing brand new programs to Nationals, however they are only here as a test.
Jin Boyang and Zhang He will be leading the mens' competition with 11 other men, in comparison with the ladies where there are way more entries. The list of entries include An Xiangyi, Cheng Hongyi and many other young competitors. A notable entry is Zhu Yi (Beverly Zhu), the 2002-born Chinese American figure skating talent who will be participating in her first domestic competition.
At US Nationals earlier this year, Beverly Zhu won the novice title with 35 points over second place, touted as a future figure skating champion. In September of this year, Beverly Zhu officially joined the Chinese National Training Team that is led by China's former representative figure skater, Lu Chen.
Dec 25 Article:
The Chinese National Figure Skating Champions will be happening on 12/29-12/30 in Harbin, China. During this competition, Sui Wenjing/Han Cong, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang, Jin Boyang, Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu, An Xiangyi, Zhu Yi (Beverly Zhu) will be making appearances.
Sui Wenjing/Han Cong who won the Pairs Silver at the Pyeongchang Olympics have been in recovery for their injuries for the first half of the season. As they recover, they have gotten their programs choreographed and have been easing back into training. The National Championships will be their first competition since the Olympics.
"Originally, we had intended on Four Continents in February 2019 being Sui/Han's return to competition but by having them participate in the National Championships, they can gradually get a feel for the ice again," said Shen Xue, the president of the Chinese Figure Skating Association. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong are reported to only perform their Short Program here.
In the first half of the international season, with their teammates sitting out, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang were tasked with representing Chinese pairs alone this season. They performed well at both of their GP assignments to make the final. They won the silver at GPF with great performances in the short and free program. Right now, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang are diligently preparing for the National Championships, they are hoping to repeat their good performances and show everyone 2 perfect programs.
Additionally, Olympians Yu Xiaoyu/Zhang Hao who also took off the first half of the season will be participating. Wang Xuehan/Wang Lei, Tang Feiyao/Yang Yongchao will also be contenders for the podium.
For the ladies' singles competition, Chinese Grand Prix [T/N: domestic competition, not actual GPs] ladies champion An Xiangyi had 2 new programs choreographed after the competition in September. Zhu Yi (Beverly Zhu), the Chinese-American figure skating talent, will be competing domestically for the first time.
Two-time world medalist, Jin Boyang, did not perform very well at his 2 GP assignments this season to make the GPF. Now that he is competing at home, [I] believe that he will be motivated to perform well and prove himself.
Two Chinese ice dance teams of Wang Shiyue/Xinyu Liu and Cheng Hong/Sun Zhuoming have been training in Canada with the legendary coaches of Dubreuil/Lauzon since the summer. They are specially returning from Canada to participate in the National Championships and this will be their first time competing domestically this season.
The Establishment of the Pang/Tong National Figure Skating Team is a Proposal by the Official State General Administration, Li Zijun's Inclusion in the Roster Reason is that her Retirement Was Untimely
Recently an announcement by the State General Sports Administration of China that a National training camp would be organized by Pang Qing and Tong Jian was posted online. The announcement said that as part of the preparation for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Chinese Olympic Committee has appointed Pang Qing and Tong Jian as head coaches to lead a Pang Qing/Tong Jian National Figure Skating Training Camp with a list of attendees. NetEase Sports has confirmed that the news and the list are real. The source says that the camp started on September 10th and that this was proposed by Gou Zhongwen (T/N: President of the Chinese Olympic Committee).
To prepare for the 2022 Olympics, directors in the General Sports Administration have been trying to introduce a variety of initiatives such as interdisciplinary exchange, youth development initiatives, establishing training groups and so on. Establishing a Pang Qing/Tong Jian National Team not only recognizes that Pang Qing and Tong Jian are experts in working with the body and mind, but also their efforts in promoting development and innovation in the sport. The formation of the new national training team is to help take on some of the preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics, as well as a promotional tool.
Reports say that the camp will have more than one phase. The list of invited athletes that were released are from various clubs and provinces and many have retired or are nearing retirement. "In this group, some of them are thinking of leaving the sport due to injury, some are experiencing uncertainty in their thoughts, the directors think that the athletes are just going through some short term difficulties, and that they need to step in and help them out of that low so that they can realize their own value again." The establishment of the training a bold move by the administration to try to implement change in the system.
The athletes that have been chosen for the training team will receive training from top domestic coaches and coaches from abroad, they will also find opportunities to go overseas for training. Through these opportunities, they want to see if they can produce some young athletes with potential, but also for the athletes who are about to leave the sport, they hope that through their training, they can help them with their recovery. Athletes are also eligible to receive training grants. More importantly, athletes who perform well can be directly selected for the 2022 Olympics.
In response to the list, the source explained "For Li Zijun, it's not about her skills, her presentation or her current understanding of her own skating, it is not her time to retire. Yu Xiaoyu is currently looking for a partner, she has a lot of competitive experience along with being mentally strong and she has a clear direction that she wants to take. Presently, China lacks depth in Ladies' Singles, if she wants to try it, she can."
The list however, is not a final list, it is only an invitational list, those who are invited are not required to attend, but if they want to realize their dreams and stand on top of the field, they have to opportunity to receive training to help them go to the Olympics for China and to make the country proud.
The “Figure Skating Godfather” is Here! Brian Orser Signs a Contract with CFSA
August 11th, morning time, the daily scheduled training of the Chinese figure skating team was happening as usual. However this time, many foreign coaches were present to help guide Wenjing Sui and Cong Han and other athletes who were there. They are Brian Orser and his team who have trained Olympic Champions like Yuzuru Hanyu, Yuna Kim and so on. Today, Brian Orser signed a contract with the Chinese Figure Skating Association, taking a big step forward in helping to prepare for the 2022 Olympics.
Orser and his coaching team are one of the most successful coaching teams for singles skaters. Under their tutelage, South Korean star Yuna Kim won the 2009 World Championships and the gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. Yuzuru Hanyu, under their guidance, won the 2014 and 2018 Olympics along with the 2014 and 2017 World Championships. For the next few years, Orser and other members of his coaching team will regularly come to China to assist with training skaters and coaches, helping them to better prepare for the 2022 Olympics.
Brian Orser's team includes people like Tracy Wilson, David Wilson, and Lee Barkell. Brian Orser, who has won 2 silver medals at the Olympics, embodies the soul of the team. He is skilled at identifying talent in skaters who are ranked around top 10 in the world and push them to become medal contenders. Tracy Wilson is an expert in coaching skating skills, especially when it comes to the complicated content that high level athletes include in their programs. David Wilson is an expert choreographer and has unique methods for developing personal expression. Lee Barkell is good for jump technique and other difficult elements. Brian Orser's team also has very specialized approach in how they choose their music, costumes and how they understand the current scoring system. This partnership is not only for the 2022 Olympics, it will also take into account long term development for the 2026 Olympics and to improve the overall level of coaching in China.
At the press conference, Shen Xue, head of the Chinese Figure Skating Association, thanked Orser for coming all the way to Beijing and said that she hoped that this new partnership will help them a lot in preparing for the 2022 Olympics. "I used to be an athlete myself, the growth and development [of an athlete] requires a coach to guide you, self reflection, but you also need input from the outside world. I hope that Orser will be able to share his experience with us and allow our skaters to learn from the best in the world."
When talking about the details of the contract, Shen Xue revealed "Along with preparing for the 2022 Olympics, Orser and his team will come to China regularly to assist and observe China's ladies' single skaters to help CFSA discover talent and potential athletes and coaches for future Olympics Games."
Before the press conference, Orser and his team attended one of the National team's trainings. He commented, "They have a really positive training attitude, the youngest ones are especially interested in their lessons, this is a really good start."
Tracy Wilson was really impressed by China's top pairs team, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han. "They were very young when I advised them many years ago, I'm very happy to see them improve step by step and become World Champions, it's the same feeling that I have when I coach Yuzuru Hanyu. Now young Chinese athletes are more and more ambitious, China's future in figure skating is limitless."
Boyang Jin Will Not Be Training with the Brian Orser Team, Shen Xue: We Must Respect Our Athlete’s Wishes
The day before, CFSA signed a long term contract with Canadian coach Brian Orser to better prepare for the 2022 Olympics. The 4th place finisher at the Pyeongchang Olympic Games, Boyang Jin, has chosen not to go with Orser's team overseas for training. At the press conference, the federation representative said that they will respect Boyang Jin's decision.
Brian Orser's coaching is one of the most successful coaching teams in terms of singles skating in the world. Top skaters like Yuzuru Hanyu, Yuna Kim, Javier Fernandez and more under the guidance of [Orser and his team] have had great success at the Olympics and World Championships. With the signing of the contract, Orser will be be regularly coming to China to assist in training Chinese skaters alongside Chinese coaches.
In May, IFS Magazine reported that Boyang Jin would officially move to Brian Orser's for long term training in June, to learn from the coach of Yuzuru Hanyu. Boyang Jin is viewed positively by the international audience and is seen as a contender for the gold at the Beijing Olympics in 4 years.
However, soon there was news that Boyang would not be joining Orser in Canada and is choosing to forego training overseas. It was a hot topic online and many fans expressed disappointment at the decision.
Shen Xue, the head of CFSA, explained that Boyang Jin will not be joining Brian Orser and his team. "Thank you everyone for your concern for Chinese figure skating and Boyang Jin, we have already spoken with Heilongjiang Sports Federation, Boyang has his own plans in place. He is more familiar with the training environment and methods in China, so in the near future he will not be going for overseas training with Brian Orser. The association wants to respect the wishes of our athletes. We will continue to support exchange between our figure skaters and international teams. We are treating figure skating as an open doors project, we hope to work with Brian Orser and his team to find the potential in our skaters and introduce new and better training methods in China."
Brian Orser himself also commented on Boyang Jin's decision. "CFSA has kept me updated on Boyang's situation. It's unfortunate but he will not be coming [to Canada] to work with our team. Boyang is very talented and I know that we can help him, but we must respect his decision. However, I am looking forward to discovering new talent in Chinese figure skating through our partnership."
Taiwanese Figure Skater Tzu Han Ting Wins French Competition
Taiwanese figure skater Tzu-Han Ting on April 22 won the novice ladies event at at a french competition. The Flag of Republic of China hung in the venue alongside the flags of other countries. At the award ceremony, the national anthem was also played. Tzu-Han is currently trying to get international experience and aiming to go to bigger competitions.
The Rooster Cup is a competition held annually in Courbevoie, in the Paris suburbs and is internationally recognized by the ISU. This is the 10th year it's being held.
In Taiwan, the number of people who figure skate compared to other sports is relatively small, but in the past 2 years, a new star has risen. 12 year old Tzu-Han Ting participated in Advanced Novice Girls which had 33 skaters participating total.
On the 20th, she scored 45.09 in the short program skating to the Harry Potter soundtrack, coming in first. On the 22nd, for the long program she skated to music from the anime "The Cat Returns," once again winning this segment with a score of 80.41, to become the champion.
Both scores were personal bests for her and so was the total. score of 125.50.
Tzu-Han Ting said that she was really happy with her winning scores at this competition, she feels her artistry is getting better but there are still some little mistakes.
Tzu-Han Ting actually learned rollerskating first, the coach saw that she was really good and encouraged to try figure skating. The first time she skated, she didn't fall like the other beginners, so at the age of 6 and a half, she started to figure skate, right now she practices 3 hours a day and about an hour on weekends.
In order to get in morning practice, Tzu-Han Ting gets up at 5:30AM. She laughed and said that if competitions were later, she would fall asleep.
She said the things that bring her the greatest joy when she skates are winning first place, successfully landing a new jump or when she has a breakthrough in her technical or artistic side.
She practiced the 2A for a year, "in that year, seriously, I really didn't know when I would be able to land it." But then one day she suddenly landed it. She said it was like "crossing a checkpoint," now the 2A is one of the easiest jumps in her programs.
There are very few skaters from Taiwan entering international competitions but Tzu-Han Ting is ambitious. She plans on practicing 2 new triple-triples next. Her long-term goal is to compete in big events like the World Championships and the Grand Prix. "The ultimate goal is the 2022 Winter Olympics."
Tzu-Han Ting currently sees the World's number one skater, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu as her goal, she especially likes his program "Hope and Legacy" program. She hopes that she can meet him one day.
Tzu-Han won the Bronze Medal at the Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy for Basic Novice A Girls in 2016 and won the gold at the SEA Figure Skating Open Challenge for Advanced Novice Girls in Thailand. In the future, she will continue to gain competitive experience internationally.
Compared to sports like baseball, badminton, tennis etc. Taiwan isn't known for figure skating, however Tzu-Han's coach Chen Guowen believes that as Tzu-Han Ting improves, she will become a figure skater worth following.
“I was born in Canada, being first generation Chinese-Canadian is a huge honour, and it just shows that no matter where you come from, you can have the most success you ever wanted if you put your mind to it and you put in the hard work.”
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