The Skating Lesson Podcast Transcript Four Continents Men’s Recap Jenny Kirk: Hello, and welcome to The Skating Lesson Podcast! I’m Jennifer Kirk, a former US ladies competitor and a three-time world team member. Dave Lease: I’m David Lease, I was not on the world team as you know by now! But I am a figure skating blogger and a current adult skater. Jenny: In this video, we’re going to talk about the Four Continents Championships, particularly the men’s event, which took place last weekend in Osaka Japan. And right now you’re looking at the results on your screen. Kevin Reynolds from Canada won the gold medal followed by Yuzuru Hanyu, Han Yan, Max Aaron, Richard Dornbush, and all Americans heading out the top nine – Ross Miner in ninth place. Absence of Patrick Chan, Canada Dave: Yes, and I think – notably, Patrick Chan was not here. He chose not to compete here after the national championships. I think it’s interesting that he’s not here. He hasn’t been the dominant force this year that he was last year, even though he did have mistakes last year as well. But he chose to really regroup. Many felt that he perhaps felt that he was one-upped by Kevin Reynolds at their nationals. Kevin did so well there, and it looks like Patrick is trying to refocus. Jeremy Abbot chose not to compete here – he had a lot of back issues this year, and he chose to rest, recover, and get ready for the world championships*. *correction on blog – note, I mistakenly said that Jeremy Abbott was going to rest for Worlds. I meant to say that he is going to rest and recover for next season Joshua Farris, USA Dave: And one person that was really passed over for Four Continents was Joshua Farris – they’re sending him to junior worlds again. And I wanted to ask Jenny her opinion on this – we actually haven’t discussed this she told me to save this for the air. So – I want to know if you think that it is bad to Joshua Farris’ career that he was not chosen to go to Four Continents. He wasn’t given a Senior Grand Prix in the fall. He actually had tweeted something and then it was taken down really quickly that he was disappointed not to get a Senior Grand Prix last year. He was second at Junior Worlds, second at the junior Grand Prix Final, he’s going back to junior worlds. I want to know – do you think it hurts his Olympic champions to really be labeled as a junior skater the year before the Olympics. Jenny: Oh, you mean his Olympic chances? I don’t – I think there is going to be pressure on him to go to junior worlds – when you were second the year before, going back there is only one spot that you want! I think that’s a lot of pressure, but I also think that he could really deliver there, have a moment and winning that world junior title could set him up well. It is tough that they didn’t send him to Four Continents but I don’t see it as a detriment to his career. I think if he’s able to go to junior worlds and skates really well and then follow it up next season with some clean skates, great skates on the Grand Prix, he can ride that momentum and try to make an Olympic berth next season. So I don’t think it’s bad at all – and I also – you mentioned Jeremy Abbot not coming for Four Continents, choosing to stay at home and rest. And I think that was definitely the best decision. Kevin Reynolds, Canada, Four Continents Men’s Champion Jenny: But as we look to the men who were in Osaka this past weekend, Kevin Reynolds – we talk about his being a champion coming off a strong skate at Canadian nationals. What did you make of him? Dave: Canadian nationals were one week ahead of US Nationals, so he had another week to kind of rest and recover as opposed to some of our – Max Aaron – and it seemed like that really helped him. He skated with a lot of energy. He delivered beautiful quads in both the short and the long. And I think Kevin Reynolds is riding that wave – he surprised a lot of people by doing so well. He backed up his performance at Canadian nationals, which frankly I think elevates him into a whole ‘nother level going into the worlds. He has now legitimized his great performance with a big win. He is something who is riding that wave, and I was really impressed most by not his quads but that he seems to be getting his style together. A year or two ago, Kevin Reynolds was someone with ridiculous costumes, who they seemed to be trying to – improve him artistically. And it was off. The programs weren’t great, the costumes weren’t great, the packaging was wrong. And it just looks like this year, it’s coming together. And he’s maturing, he’s maturing mentally, he’s maturing his quads… Jenny: I think he showed up at this event and seemed like he was hungry to be the champion. He skated, he held himself like a champion. He – it’s so impressive, I know you wanted to go into his quads, but the fact that he can do multiple quads in the short program! And he has the build of – it’s similar to Timothy Goebel, whom we interviewed on our show, just very slight build. Conversely, I think that may hurt him in terms of – he doesn’t have a lot of power on the ice. He doesn’t have that muscular strength, that big build, and I think that that’s one area of his skating that he can work on. But his consistency – what’s unique about his jumping, too, is that he almost delays his rotation. He doesn’t get into the snap on his quads. So, you think, is he going to pop, what’s he going to do? And then, before the ending, he’s able to really get those four rotations, three rotations on his triple axel complete. And I think again, his strength is just his style, his artistry, and definitely this season his consistency. So, as we look ahead to worlds, different points that are going to be important for Kevin Reynolds are: • Riding that wave He’s skating so well toward the latter half of this season. Enjoy that, continue to keep up the consistency. • Deliver when it counts • Be hungry for a top five finish One of the things that really helped him at Four Continents is he went in, and it seems that he wanted it! He wanted that medal, he wanted to win. And he has to have that same motivation and attitude heading into worlds. • Ignore the Canadian media Because they’re going to be all over him, particularly having the event in their home country. So just ignore it, focus on his job, go and deliver the goods. Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan, Four Continents Silver Medalist Dave: Yeah, and I think looking next at Yuzuru Hanyu, the silver medalist here. He has been such an emerging star for two, three, four years now since he won the junior world title. But we’ve seen Hanyu all season. He has these goods, he has beautiful jumps, great knees – some of the best knees in skating to pull out some of these landing. But there’s – at times it looked like perhaps a lack of stamina, but it looks to be like a lack of focus. You know, he switched coaches, and it almost looks like the pieces are not – they’re almost there, but they’re not all there, and it’s just the mind – and he’s now competing for gold. He wasn’t competing for gold before. And it seems like there are some problems. I know that Ilia Kulik had problems like this the 1997 season. They were growing pains, he got over them for the Olympic year, he obviously had a wonderful season that year. And I think with someone like Hanyu, I see similarities between them. One thing I will say about Hanyu is that he’s got this great flexibility, and I don’t know if his feet are really big compared to the rest of his body, he’s so slender – but I don’t know. There are certain different – not everyone wears the same brand of skates. And his skates look really boxy and really big and it cuts off his line. He almost looks like he has these club feet when he’s on the ice. It could be his brand of skate where it looks really square. And it’s cutting – it’s killing his line because he always has these club feet and nothing ever looks finished off. Earlier in the season, his coach said that he needs to work on pointing his feet, pointing those toes. I think he does need to do that, obviously, because even when he does a great Biellmann spin with great flexibility, the line is not there. It’s like sloppy, and he might need to change the skates. Jenny: One of the things that I found really interesting in the short program – he popped his combination, he popped his triple lutz-triple toe – but it didn’t affect the flow of the program.