The episode starts out with someone figure skating and all you see is their skates. This is the moment where you learn about Katsuki Yuri’s admiration of Victor Nikiforov, “ever since I first saw his skating, it's been an unending chain of surprises.” I'm sure that many figure skaters, regardless of the level you are in, have one figure skater that they idolize. Mine is Michelle Kwan. Not sure if she had an “unending chain of surprises,” because she won so many gold medals! However, the ONE possible event that can probably be view as a chain is the unattainable Olympic Gold. She did not get it 1998, 2002 and 2006. Regardless, till this day, I continue to admire her.
The competition during this episode is the Grand Prix Final. A sports commentator said, “Nikiforov is now 27...some speculated that he might retire this season.” 27 years old sounds young, but in the athletic world, your body can only handle so much physical pressure. I remember hearing people telling Michelle Kwan to retire when she hit her 20's. That age criticism continues today. When I heard that Kwan was being told to retire because of her age, I did not think I could learn to skate. My skating interest developed way past toddler years, and my desire to learn started in high school. So, how can I skate, if I'm too old to do anything she does? Of course, years later, things changed, but that was my mindset back then. So, all I did was admire those on television.
Ok, now you're probably wondering is there drama in the Adult Skating world like the one that happened in the bathroom between Katsuki and Yuri Plisetsky. Yes, there is some drama, but I did NOT have THAT situation. ~knock on wood~ That's too extreme for me. My experience is CALM, but there will be people with attitude problems. I tend to get it from those who's been in the game longer than I. Keep in mind that people move up the ranks and will catch up to others. We all want to bring home a medal and perform well.
Later in the episode we see that Katsuki returns home in Japan and one night decides to go to the rink. His friend, Yuko Nishigori, who runs the rink, permits him to skate BY HIMSELF to a program that Victor skates to. What luxury he has! He can RUN to his rink AND skate for FREE! It does not work that way unless you own a rink and it happens to be 10 blocks away. I take public transportation (bus and/or train) and pay for rink admission during a specific time slot called Freestyle Sessions (average 1 hr allowed), to practice my routine with and without music. This all cost money, and Freestyle Session cost more than Public Skating, but there are limitations to what you can do during the latter. Katsuki saved money, I don’t.
We are nearing the end of the episode! “Yuri, starting today, I'm your coach,” said Victor, “I'll make you win the Grand Prix Final.” Well, that's not how I met my coach. LOL. Katsuki knew who his coach was, as in, WHO Victor really is. I started out not knowing the credentials of mine. Basically, my skating lessons started out in an Adult Group Class, but it was with a substitute coach. The following week, the real coach came. I...had no idea WHO this coach was...until I did some digging. After the three-month group lessons with him, I asked him what should I do now? He said to try a private lesson with him. Since then, this 3 time Olympian became my coach.
Come back the next day for episode 2!
© 2017 Linda Thai
Photography by Linda Thai
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