Q&A after Autumn Classic 2018, 22 September 2018, part 2
Translator’s note: Sports Hochi has published Yuzuru’s full Q&A, this is a translation of the additional information that was not in my earlier post.
Q: You attempted to do the 4T-3A?
A: Yes, I went for it. Just that, well, I made a mistake on the salchow. As at that moment I thought “I want to put the 4-3 combo somewhere” and also for a split second I thought “I want to put the triple jump in a combo somewhere”, I did think a little about it. As in the end it became a situation in which almost all the combos could not be used, there are definitely many points for me to reflect on.
Q: After that the next jump was supposed to be a flip-toe?
A: Yes, I had planned to do a flip.
Q: Although it looked like you performed the first half with attention to details, nevertheless, was the second half rather tough?
A: Um, what I sensed most strongly was that I do not yet have the stamina for this programme. After all, there was Hope & Legacy, SEIMEI, and though (my skate to) SEIMEI at last year’s Autumn Classic also became something awful, if I take into consideration the nervousness in competition, or to an extent the difficulty of the layout in the second half, I always feel that as expected it cannot be completely constructed at this stage. Perhaps that is all there is to it.
Q: You would still venture to include it (the 4T-3A) even though the jump sequence is 80% of the base value?
A: (laughs) It’s not particularly about being the first in the world (to do it in competition); that doesn’t matter to me personally. It’s just that, how do I put it, because it is something I can perform now largely without being bound by the scores. In that sense it is not about saying what a jump I can do means points-wise, but the best combination I am able to do. After all, I had thought about whether there can be a 3A that follows after a quad jump, and also that maybe I will do it.
Q: What did you say after your performance?
A: I said something? I don’t know (laughs).
Q: It looked like you had roared out something.
A: I don’t know (laughs).
Q: About the 4T-3T in your SP. After checking the scores it did not count within the points in the second half (which get the 10% bonus).
A: Well, I am ok about that (laughs). Hmm how should I put it. There isn’t regret or anything like that, as I had placed it there with the thought that maybe it will be so; I am not particularly preoccupied by it. Just that for me, as expected I feel extremely apologetic towards that programme, that wonderful piece of music, that I was not able to finish it in a beautiful way, and I have thought both yesterday and today that from this point on, once again I need to train more.
Q: Once again, how do you feel at the end of this first competition?
A: I am extremely frustrated. I think there are still many things that I can do, and even at the stage of training most of the parts were unable to be completed. Through this competition, once again I think that I want to discipline myself anew and work hard.
Q: Every year your results at the first competition are frustrating.
A: Well, although the SP was imperfect, first of all I was able to complete the jumps and I think this was good in terms of having reached the stage from which I can raise the quality of the jumps further. In a sense, as the feeling that I can still do more was present in the SP and also in the jumps in the SP, I will practice various aspects. Honestly, even though I say this every year, I will work hard aiming for a performance such that people will be able to think that I have matured and improved significantly again.
Q: When did you decide to do the 4T-3A at this competition?
A: At the training stage I had already planned to do the 4T-3A. Just that in the same way it happened in this performance, the pattern of not being able to tack on the combination at the end of the 4T often occurred during training. After all, as the original layout, perhaps such a layout is the original state as it is. Thus, I had not ventured to make a definite statement that I would absolutely include it. I intended to do it but ended up missing it.
Q: What is the layout for the FS?
A: Well, this is the base (laughs). Yes. I want to consider it in various ways with this as the base.
Q: What are your priorities for this season?
A: First of all it can be said to be to take care of my health. Certainly, as my foot injury during the Olympics was something significant, to begin with I must avoid aggravating it, and then on top of that, including the 4A, I want to challenge the things I want to challenge.
Q: What are the 5 essential things in your life?
A: Hmm, right now in any case I want to practice (laughs).
Q: What is the thing you cannot live without?
A: First of all I want to skate (laughs).
Q: You have given the world a lot of happiness and moved many people. During the ice shows, you touched upon having had dark periods. What exactly had happened?
A: Well, there was the time when I got injured and had to be away from skating, and as expected it was a painful period. After all as I very strongly feel that skating is an enjoyable time in my life, a period like that was the most painful.
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Translator’s note: With apologies, there is one correction I need to make for the following paragraph from my earlier post. I think there was a typo in the hiragana of one of the sources I saw and I had treated it as additional info instead of a typo:
Q: What were the takeaways from this competition?
A: What I thought was good about entering this competition is that as expected my feelings of wanting to win have become very strong. After the (PyeongChang) Olympics ended my emotions had relaxed slightly but that part is alight within me again and and part of that had remained in me, but this has really lit a fire. From my heart I want to be become even stronger.
Translator’s note: And as an apology, a lovely answer regarding jump entries and exits from the post-SP Q&A:
Q: The GOE for jumps have changed. It seems that you have increased the transitions going into and after exiting jumps.
A: I don’t feel that preoccupied about the GOE. Simply that, whether it is the axel or the toeloop or the salchow, especially the salchow in particular which is entered into from a double three–namely two three turns, I have used various different skaters as reference, although the axel(3A) from twizzles is my own. About the salchow(4S) from a three turn, back three turn I mentioned earlier, it is with the sense of imitating what Javi does, as Javi is also a very important person to me. I have also incorporated such aspects. Therefore it is not so much about the GOE but my significant feelings of wanting to integrate the things I can do.
Source: sports hochi 1, 2, 3, 4
