Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

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fountainhall

Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by fountainhall »

It pisses me off no end that Thailand has one of the most expensive satellite television systems in Asia, if not THE most expensive. Even so its programming is weaker than most and it continues to deny its subscribers access to many major sporting events, despite making huge profits.

No doubt the reason True Visions is not showing the Winter Olympics is because it regards the broadcast fees as too high. Maybe I'm in a very small minority but I love watching winter sports, especially the ice-skating. 4 years ago we were all mesmerised when the pencil-thin and gorgeously cute teenage Japanese skater, Yuzuru Hanyu, took the Gold Medal in the Individual Freestyle event.

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Yuzuru Hanyu - Photo: Getty Images

Now there are many more young Asians in the event, including the USA's 18-year old Nathan Chen. Called the Quad King - on account of his dazzling quadruple spin jumps - Chen was tipped to be Hanyu's main rival, the more so as he beat him in two competitions last year. Then Hanyu fell awkwardly on his right ankle early last November, a serious accident that kept him out of all skating for 2 months and seriously jeopardised his hopes of a second Olympic Gold.

If anyone saw Hanyu yesterday on one of the websites, he took to the ice and skated the most amazing, energetic, flawless, graceful and beautifully sublime Short Programme to Chopin's Ballade No. 1. It was as close to perfection as you'll get. Not surprisingly he beat the Olympic record.

As for Nathan Chen. nerves had been obvious in the Team Event earlier in the week. Yesterday he fell on every jump. But in the Second Round today he did something no-ne has ever done before - he landed no less than 6 Quad jumps (although on the final one he briefly had to touch the ice with his hand) to bring the roaring crowd to its feet and put him into medal contention.

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Nathan Chen - Photo: Getty Images

Last on to the ice was Hanyu. Another flawless performance! Not quite as many marks as Chen but the combined totals gave him the Gold. He thus becomes the first back-to-back Olympic Skating Gold Medalist since 1952. Chen hauled himself up to 5th. But his day will come.

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Yuzuru Hanyu - Photo: Getty Images

Just out of interest, Hanyu trains in Toronto with the openly gay skater Brian Orser and often wears costumes by a gay designer. That has led to lots of speculation about his being gay. There have even been tales of romance with a fellow skater in Orser's stable. Given his massive following of young Japanese female fans, should he happen to be gay it's unlikely he'll come out - for quite some time.
Captain Swing
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Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by Captain Swing »

I wondered if anyone else was watching the Olympics. Actually Hanya was not the last to skate; that was Shoma Uno, another Japanese, who won the silver. More to the point,(to me), he's cute as hell, much better looking than Hanya, or even Nathan Chen. I'll grant that Hanya is appealing, and Chen is better than that, but Shoma Uno, whom I'd never heard of before about 3 hours ago, is my new dream date. That doesn't mark me as ridiculously shallow, does it? If it helps, I'll acknowledge that they all skated wonderfully.
fountainhall

Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by fountainhall »

Unfortunately I could not watch today's competition here in Thailand as True Visions and the terrestrial networks do not broadcast the Olympics. So I had to depend on delayed commentaries on the BBC and CNN websites. I agree that Uno is cute - as are some of the other Asian skaters - but I'll take Hanyu any time :D :D I had feared that with Nathan Chen having clearly skated a wonderful programme with great marks Hanyu might let that get on his nerves a bit, the more so as the longer programme would tax him physically after such a long absence due to his accident. He'll now be an even greater superstar in Japan!

(No idea where the line below comes from!)
Dodger
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Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by Dodger »

I've been missing most of the winter games due to my work schedule here in the U.S. but was able to catch Yuzura Hanyu's mesmerizing performance. That boy is so HOT that he melts the ice before his legs even go into motion.

What I wouldn't give to see him skating in a pair of speedos... :P
fountainhall

Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by fountainhall »

Dodger wrote:What I wouldn't give to see him skating in a pair of speedos... :P
I'll bid higher - without the speedos!

It's extraordinary that in those Quad spins, the time taken is less than 0.7 of a second and the skater then hits the ice on one skate with a force equivalent to 7 times body weight! In that time frame it's almost impossible to see the spins. So I hope they stop at Quads and from now on concentrate more on what makes up "artistic merit".
Up2u

Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by Up2u »

I was listening to a physicist state the quad will be the max in a competition. I have been a fan of Hanyu since he last won the Olympics as he combines artistry with jumping ability. Little Shoma is a cutey but so tiny. Hanyu is about Justin Beiber's size but so much cuter. Nathan Chen, the Quad King, currently lacks Hanyu's polish but his upside is unlimited. Nathan has a ballet background, wonder what he looked like in tights :D .
fountainhall

Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by fountainhall »

Up2u wrote:Nathan has a ballet background, wonder what he looked like in tights :D .
Like most ballet dancers - other than Nureyev who was noted for his well-endowed and well-used bulge - Nathan Chen probably won't show much. :o

I've tried to find photos of him in white tights but like most men's skaters he always seems to wear black. I suppose there could be a reason, but somehow I doubt it! :o I always thought he was taller than Hanyu, but this photo of the Medal winners from another competition shows he is a good 5 cms smaller.

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Hanyu/Chen/Uno - Photo: japantimes.co.jp
fountainhall

Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by fountainhall »

When I brought up the issue of Hanyu's trainer being openly gay and the occasional rumours of his also being gay, I had not realised the nasty history of gay skating. In today's UK Observer newspaper, there is a long article about the humiliation suffered at the hands of the media by Britain's first known gay skater, John Currie. 42 years ago Currie won gold in the Men's Figure Skating at the innsbruck Olympics. Beforehand he had given an interview to the Associated Press when he talked about being gay. At the media conference following his win, the focus was more on his sexuality than his triumph.
Curry’s sexuality, not his radical and revolutionary skating or his alluring artistry, was quickly pored over. There was a salacious quality to various headlines. Some newspapers, perhaps worried about what their readers would think, tried hard to avoid using words like “gay” or “homosexual” at all. It just seemed less troublesome to say things like “effeminate” instead. After all, to the many in the press the point remained the same: he was an outlier.
The article discusses whether Currie voluntarily made the admission or an off-the-record statement was revealed by the journalist, John Vincour. The skating establishment was not happy. They wanted to get him to conform to established modes of behaviour.
The frenzy surrounding Curry’s admission meant that a crucial, harrowing part of his story was glossed over. What he also described to Vinocur was the relentless desire of others to change him. To others in the skating community he was too flamboyant, too offensive, too different. People would start talking. They wanted to control him, program him so he could conform . . . One coach, after Curry parted ways with him, warned: “You will never make it as a skater or as a man.”
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/ ... john-curry

Yet at Pyeongchang, two openly gay North American skaters proudly showed off their medals. Adam Rippon had won bronze for the USA in the Team Event and Eric Radford had performed in the Pairs Skating event which helped Canada win the Gold Team Medal. We have certainly come a long way since the 1970s.

Watching Currie's performance, it is also easy to see how far skating has developed in recent decades. Very artistic, but much, much slower less concentration on spins and leaps. John Currie, along with a host of other skaters whose names we probably do not knowt, died of AIDS.

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Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by Dodger »

Enjoy link to Yusuru Hanyu photo gallery below...even one pic of him doing ballet...uuuuummmmm!

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Yuzuru+H ... D9kQ7AkIRA
Up2u

Re: Great Olympic Skating: Shame on True Visions

Post by Up2u »

Dodger wrote:Enjoy link to Yusuru Hanyu photo gallery below...even one pic of him doing ballet...uuuuummmmm!

https://www.google.ca/search?q=Yuzuru+H ... D9kQ7AkIRA
And nice legs too.

https://www.google.ca/search?rlz=1C1PRF ... GtE5O01B6M:
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