Jump to content
PeterRS

Winter Olympics Figure Skating Cuties

Recommended Posts

Unfortunately Thailand did not show the US Skating. We have recently had some other skating competitive events but none has featured any of the top half dozen men's skaters.

We still do not know if the double Olympic Champion and double World Champion Yuzuru Hanyu will have recovered from his ankle ligament injury in time to compete in Beijing. I hope he does. For me he is the complete men's skater. Like most skaters, I love his costumes with their tight-fitting pants - often quite revealing if you use your imagination as in this less elegant photo if his getting rid of some of the glitter on the ice. 😍

Hanyu_Yuzuru_Pic.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
3 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Unfortunately Thailand did not show the US Skating. We have recently had some other skating competitive events but none has featured any of the top half dozen men's skaters.

We still do not know if the double Olympic Champion and double World Champion Yuzuru Hanyu will have recovered from his ankle ligament injury in time to compete in Beijing. I hope he does. For me he is the complete men's skater. Like most skaters, I love his costumes with their tight-fitting pants - often quite revealing if you use your imagination as in this less elegant photo if his getting rid of some of the glitter on the ice. 😍

Hanyu_Yuzuru_Pic.jpg

Pulkinen is 1/2 Thai, and 1/2 French/Finish mix. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TrueVisions has been showing a number of skating competitions on Channel 690. Today was the final of the annual Four Continents Competition held this year in Estonia. The winning three were all from Asia.

First Prize went to 21 yo Cha Jun-hwa from South Korea. His quad jumps were incredible.  He is coached by Brian Orser in Toronto who also coaches Yuzuru Hanyu. Cha was a child model when younger. He still models occasionally in addition to his skating. 

486457721_Image1_2.thumb.jpg.7106a48d8ce167ae9b517ac16fdb6de5.jpg

Second Prize went to the 23 yo Japanese Kazuki Tomono.

Image3.jpg.8fa445840b293b993a42ca8fba25cd6c.jpg

Third Prize went to one of the youngest competitors, the 16 yo Japanese Kao Miura who is still technically a junior! He was top until Tomono and Cha skated. All will be names to watch at the Olympics.

Image2.jpg.5c892342cd6025e1540ee5cd01649c2d.jpg

Sorry to say Camden Pulkinen took part in the competition but finished up near last place.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I erred with Cha's age - he is still just 20. What made his programme remarkable is that he left his training in Canada at the start of covid and has trained virtually on his own in Seoul for the last two years. If Brian Orser can put his polish on his programme, Cha should have a good chance of a medal in China.

For those who had not heard of the Four Continents competition, it is an annual event held for all countries outside Europe. This year it is the last major competition prior to the Olympics. It's usually held in Asia, the USA or Canada. This year it was scheduled to be in China but the location had to be switched as a result of the pandemic. Being in Europe, this year many skaters decided not to take part. Previous winners have included Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno and Nathan Chan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am adding this here although it's partly a response to posts made yesterday in this forum -

An error at the start of his short programme ensured that Yuzuru Hanyu did not come top of the short programme qualifiers. It seemed to me from the moment he stepped on to the ice, there was something wrong. His usual bubbly smile was gone and he appeared much more serious. Perhaps this is partly the result of his having to miss most of last year through a series of injuries including a major one to his ankle. Yet at the Pyeongchang Olympics he again returned just after an ankle injury had kept him out of competition for several months. There he went on to beat the world record for the short programme. It was also very odd to see him sitting on his own as his result was announced. Every other skater had at least his coach alongside him. The gay former skater Brian Orser has been Hanyu's coach virtually since Sochi. He was nowhere to be seen, although he did sit with another of his pupils. Sitting on his own, it was almost as though Hanyu knew the time had come to pass the baton to another to become best in the world. He came in 8th overall.

Top of the qualifiers was not surprisingly Nathan Chen of the USA. Hanyu's fellow Japanese, the diminutive Shoma Uno, led the field for a while until he was overtaken by an unbelievable skate from an 18-year old compatriot, Yuma Kagiyama. But he was immediately followed by Nathan Chen whose programme beat Hanyu's World Record set two years ago.  So Chen came top followed by Kagiyama in 2nd and Uno in 3rd.

It will be hard for any to beat these three when it comes to the free programme, unless all make major errors. It's a little sad for those of us who have marvelled at Yuzuru Hanyu's astounding skating over the last 8 years. He remains a living legend in Japan and elsewhere. But the men's figure skating crown now belongs to others.

I will still be looking out for the Korean sensation Cha Junwhan who came 4th. If he's on form I can see him getting a medal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So unsurprisingly Nathan Chen ran away with the Gold Medal - and deservedly so. Hanyu Yuzuru did well to rise from 9th after the short programme to 4th overall. The fall on his first quad jump probably killed his chances of the bronze. My dark horse, the Korean, also fell and came in 5th. But surely it was the silver medal winner 18-year old Japanese Yuma Kagiyama who surprised everyone with a free skating exhibition as good as his short programme two days ago. He will be one to beat in the coming years.

I still cannot understand why Brian Orser was not with Hanyu. I can only assume that Hanyu had decided to dispense with his coaching and go it alone. Now 27, he will almost certainly be too old for the next Winter Olympics. But then he doesn't need them. He's already an icon and a legend of the sport.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cha seems to be about the tallest at 5'10". Hanyu is 5'8". Being so slim (but with a beautiful ass!!) he seems to me have the perfect shape for a figure skater. Nathan Chen and Shoma Uno always seem a bit dumpy to me. Sorry, I know that's unfair as they are fantastic skaters. I'm looking at them from purely a gay perspective I suppose!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/13/2022 at 11:35 AM, Latbear4blk said:

Obviously a silly western magazine with a writer/publisher who has absolutely zero interest in Asia. In another article it also lists its 10 best Male Figure Skaters. Clearly Asians and those of Asian descent mean little to this magazine since the only one it mentions is Nathan Chen. He may be American but both his parents were born in China. Also four of the top five winners in the Men's Competition were purely Asian. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...