北京五輪・フィギュアスケート
Japan in fourth place after first day of Olympic figure skating team event
(Feb 4, 2022, the Japantimes)
(Feb 7, 2022, the Japantimes)
(2022/02/07, 読売新聞オンライン）
(Feb 10, 2022, Mainichi Japan)
(Feb 10, 2022, the Japantimes)
（2022/2/10 産経新聞）
(Feb 10, 2022, the Japantimes)
Japan in fourth place after first day of Olympic figure skating team event
(Feb 4, 2022, the Japantimes)
Beijing – Shoma Uno gave Japan a strong start in the figure skating team competition Friday at the Beijing Winter Olympics, but the opening day belonged to the United States, led by men's singles gold medal favorite Nathan Chen.
The 22-year-old Chen earned his team the maximum score from the men's short program, while compatriots Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue placed first in ice dance rhythm dance to help the United States earn 28 of a possible 30 points at Beijing's Capital Indoor Stadium.
The Russian Olympic Committee is second with 26 points and China is third with 21.
Japan is in fourth place with 20 points following Uno's polished and poised performance in the men's short program.
The Pyeongchang Olympic men's silver medalist landed a pair of quadruple jumps and a triple axel on his way to a score of 105.46.
"I felt very calm. It was early in the morning (but) I was able to skate without breaking my movement," Uno said. "I fulfilled my responsibility."
Chen, who also exhibited a pair of quads and a triple axel, scored 111.71, while Russian skater Mark Kondratiuk placed third with 95.81.
Although his main focus is the singles competition, Chen said he is happy to help the U.S. team in its title defense.
"Either way is cool for me. I'm going to be practicing anyway, and am going to be doing this program anyway," Chen said.
"But that being said, we have a really strong team and we have a lot of chess pieces to play with."
Japan's ice dance duo of Misato Komatsubara and husband Takeru Komatsubara, also known as Tim Koleto, placed seventh in rhythm dance, with the ROC and Italy rounding out the top three behind the Americans.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara were fourth in the pairs short program topped by China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, with the ROC second and the United States third.
The teams competition continues Sunday with the women's short program and men's free skate.
Kaori Sakamoto helps Japan secure bronze in Olympic figure
(Feb 7, 2022, the Japantimes)
Beijing – Japan earned a bronze medal in the figure skating team competition on Monday at the Beijing Winter Olympics after Kaori Sakamoto finished second in the women’s free skate section.
The Russian Olympic Committee won gold with 74 points to finish nine points ahead of United States, with Japan two points further back at Capital Indoor Stadium.
Kamila Valieva, the ROC’s 15-year-old prodigy, backed up her first-place finish in Sunday’s short program by topping the standings in the free skate with 178.92 points, underlining her status as the gold medal favorite in the women’s individual event.
Sakamoto scored 148.66 and earned nine team points with an assured performance featuring a double axel and seven triple jumps. Canada’s Madeline Schizas was third with 132.04.
Ice dancers Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto finished fifth in the free dance section, scoring 98.66 points to earn six team points, which sent Japan into the last event of the five-team final in third place.
Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates were first with 129.07, ahead of the ROC’s Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov with 128.17. Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier placed third with 124.39.
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara started Monday’s competition by placing second in the pairs free skate section to briefly move Japan up to second overall. The pair, who finished fourth in Friday’s short program, hit all of their elements in a mistake-free routine to score 139.60.
The ROC’s Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov led the way with a score of 145.20, while China’s Peng Cheng and Jin Yang finished third with 131.75.
Japan came into the final day of competition trailing the ROC and United States in third after Yuma Kagiyama topped the men’s free skate section on Sunday.
The 18-year-old’s score of 208.94 made him just the third person to earn more than 200 points for the free skate, joining the elite company of back-to-back Olympic men’s champion Yuzuru Hanyu and this year’s gold medal favorite Nathan Chen.
宇野昌磨・鍵山優真・「りくりゅう」が団体で自己ベスト…個人戦での活躍に期待高まる
(2022/02/07, 読売新聞オンライン）
３日間にわたり北京オリンピックのフィギュアスケート団体を戦い抜き、初メダルとなる「銅」に沸いた日本チーム。大舞台で自己ベストを更新する選手が多かったのが印象的だった。
最初の種目は４日の男子ショートプログラム（ＳＰ）だったが、宇野昌磨（２４）（トヨタ自動車）が世界選手権３連覇中のネーサン・チェン（２２）（米国）に次ぐ２位発進。１０５・４６点は３季ぶりの自己ベストだった。
６日の鍵山優真（１８）（オリエンタルバイオ）の活躍も強烈だった。チームが３位に浮上した直後に登場すると、自己ベストを１１点以上も上回る２０８・９４点を出して堂々の１位。チームの勢いを加速させた。
ペアの三浦 璃来りく （２０）、木原龍一（２９）組（木下ク）の奮闘も見逃せない。日本が連続５位に終わった過去２大会のペアはいずれもＳＰは１０組中８位、フリーでは５組中５位。
それが４日のＳＰで自己ベストの７４・４５点を出して４位になると、３種目が行われた最終７日のフリーでも１３９・６０点で自己記録を更新した。ＲＯＣ（ロシア・オリンピック委員会）のペアに次ぐ２位に入ったことで、２種目を残し、カナダと中国のメダルの可能性が消滅。日本のメダルを確定させた。
戦い終えた後のインタビューで、選手たちの声は喜びと 安堵あんど に包まれた。鍵山もその１人で、「自分の感想としては、個人戦につながる演技が出来たと思う。そこも含めて良かったと思う」。
８日からは早速、男子ＳＰがスタートする。日本勢の個人戦での活躍を一層期待させる団体戦になった。
Japan's Yuma Kagiyama wins Olympic figure skating silver, Shoma Uno bronze, USA's Chen gold
(Feb 10, 2022, Mainichi Japan)
BEIJING (Kyodo) -- Nathan Chen of the United States won the men's singles figure skating gold medal Thursday at the Beijing Winter Games with a combined score of 332.60, bringing to an end Japanese great Yuzuru Hanyu's eight-year reign as Olympic champion.
Eighteen-year-old Olympic debutant Yuma Kagiyama claimed silver for Japan with a total of 310.05, while compatriot Shoma Uno scored 293.00 to take bronze. Hanyu finished just off the podium in fourth with 283.21.
Aiming to become the first three-time Olympic gold medalist in the event in 94 years, Hanyu came into Thursday's free skate ranked eighth following an uncharacteristic mishap in the short program two days earlier, when he caught a hole in the ice and popped his initial quad salchow attempt.
The 27-year-old scored 188.06 for his free skate at the Capital Indoor Stadium to total well below his personal best of 322.59.
He under-rotated his opening quadruple axel attempt, falling to the ice and failing to become the first skater to land the
jump in competition. He also fell attempting a quad salchow but hit two
other quad jumps and two triple axels during his routine.
Yuzuru Hanyu fails to land quad axel and misses out on third straight Olympic gold
(Feb 10, 2022, the Japantimes)
Beijing – Yuzuru Hanyu came up short in his quest to write yet another chapter of figure skating history on Thursday when he fell on his attempted quad axel during the men’s free skate at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, assuring that he would not catch up to frontrunner Nathan Chen.
But it was still a momentous day for Japanese skaters at Capital Indoor Arena, with 18-year-old Yuma Kagiyama claiming silver with a scintillating free skate to “Gladiator” and Shoma Uno adding a bronze medal to the silver he captured at Pyeongchang 2018.
With a crowd of several hundred local fans cheering him on, the two-time defending Olympic champion Hanyu recovered quickly from his tumble and launched into the rest of his program set to “Ten to Chi to.” But another fall on the following quad salchow set him back further, even though he cleanly landed his quad toeloop-triple toeloop and quad toeloop-euler-triple salchow combinations to start the second half of his program.
The judges awarded Hanyu with a total score of 188.06 including a 2-point deduction, lifting him to first place with seven skaters yet to perform. Hanyu ended his third Olympic appearance with 283.21, far below the 317.85 he achieved in Pyeongchang but above his 280.09 from Sochi.
So strong was Hanyu’s overall total that his lead stood through the 21st of 24 skaters before Uno, skating to “Bolero,” rallied through a fall on his quad toeloop-triple toeloop to finish with a combined total of 293.
Kagiyama, put his hand out during his triple lutz but otherwise skated flawlessly, surpassing Hanyu’s technical score with two elements remaining and cleanly landing his quad salchow, quad toeloop-triple toeloop, and quad toeloop, scoring 201.93 in the free for a combined total of 310.05.
But the day would never be anyone’s but Chen’s. The 22-year-old Yale University student, who set a world record in Tuesday’s short program, again showed why he is widely considered to be the best current skater in the world with a dazzling program set to the “Rocket Man” soundtrack that had the additional backing track of near-constant applause from the masked and physically distanced crowd.
The gold represented Chen’s first singles medal at the Olympics after he finished fifth in Pyeongchang, storming back from a poor short program to win that competition’s free skate.
Chen needed 196.09 points to maintain his lead and he had no problem clearing that mark, receiving 218.63 for an overall total of 332.60.
Hanyu had declared for weeks that he would attempt the sport’s most difficult jump at the Games, and nothing short of a perfect performance would have brought the 27-year-old back within striking distance of the podium after he finished Tuesday’s short program in eighth place.
Named for Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen, the axel jump requires skaters to launch off their front foot and land facing backward — in effect adding an extra half-spin. A full quad axel thus requires 4½ rotations, making it considerably more challenging than any of the sport’s five other quad jumps.
The axel would have been the second quad that Hanyu had been the first to conquer in competition: He landed the quad loop at the 2016 Autumn Classic, part of that season’s ISU Challenger Series.
鍵山は銀、宇野は銅 羽生は４位 フィギュア男子フリー
（2022/2/10 産経新聞）
北京冬季五輪第７日の１０日、フィギュアスケート男子フリーが行われ、鍵山優真（オリエンタルバイオ・星槎）が２０１・９３点（ショートプログラム＝ＳＰ＝１０８・１２点、合計点３１０・０５点）で銀メダル、宇野昌磨（トヨタ自動車）は１８７・１０点（ＳＰ１０５・９０点、合計点２９３・００点）で銅メダルを獲得した。金メダルはネーサン・チェン（米国）が獲得した。
一方、９４年ぶりの五輪３連覇がかかっていた羽生結弦（ＡＮＡ）は１８８・０６点（ＳＰ９５・１５点、合計点２８３・２１点）で４位に終わり、３連覇はならなかった。
８日のショートプログラム（ＳＰ）で８位と出遅れた羽生は、この日のフリーの冒頭で前人未到の４回転半ジャンプを試みたが、転倒。その後は立て直したが、表彰台には届かなかった。一方、ＳＰで２位と好位置につけていた鍵山はこの日のフリーでも落ち着いた演技を披露した。また、ＳＰ３位だった宇野も手堅くまとめた。
Rivals and new faces shine as Yuzuru Hanyu misses mark
(Feb 10, 2022, the Japantimes)
Beijing – Yuzuru Hanyu’s back is up against the wall — just as rival Nathan
Chen has lifted the weight of the world off his shoulders.
The two concluded Tuesday’s short program at the Beijing 2022 men’s figure skating competition separated by 18.82 points, leaving Hanyu’s potential third straight Olympic gold in doubt after Chen walked out of the Capital Indoor Arena as the clear leader in a talented pack that includes second-place Yuma Kagiyama and third-place Shoma Uno.
“If I try to think about what went wrong, nothing comes to mind,” Hanyu said after opening his short program set to “Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso” with a popped quad salchow, shocking the crowd of hundreds in attendance.
“Maybe the ice hates me.”
The remainder of his elements, including a quad toe loop/triple toe loop combination, went off without a hitch, leaving the 27-year-old with a 95.15-point score that saw him finish the day in eighth place.
“I didn’t feel like I’d made a mistake, so I kept my feelings focused on performing the rest of the program,” Hanyu said. “I’m very thankful to have received 95 points, and I want to praise myself for performing the rest of my elements with such a high level of quality.”
While most of his compatriots arrived at the Games on Jan. 30 with the bulk of the Team Japan delegation, Hanyu remained in Japan until the last possible moment and did not fly to China until Sunday. Unable to practice on the competition surface, he instead trained with other skaters on Monday at the venue’s sub-rink, but said he was confident in his preparations.
“I felt good in the six-minute warmup, I don’t feel tired at all now,” Hanyu said.
“I can still go into the free skate in good form. I’ve trained well and I’m confident in my techniques, and after that only God knows what will happen.”
For Chen, Tuesday’s performance to “La Boheme” arguably marked the final exorcism of the ghosts that have haunted him since his disastrous short program four years ago at the Pyeongchang Olympics.
The reigning world No. 1 perfectly landed his quad flip, triple axel and quad lutz/triple toe loop combination for a second time at these Games after contributing to a silver medal for the United States in the team competition.
The judges awarded the American with a world-record score of 113.97, cementing him as the skater to beat at Thursday’s free skate.
“It definitely means a lot to have the opportunity to come back to an Olympics, and have the other opportunity to do two short programs and have both go as well as I could have hoped,” Chen said.
“(The) scores are out of my control, and I wasn’t expecting (such a high score), but I was definitely happy with the way I skated.”
Kagiyama, who took silver at the 2021 worlds, earned high marks from the judges for his own quad salchow and quad toe loop/triple toe loop combination for his program set to “When You’re Smiling” and set a new personal best of 108.12.
The 18-year-old has already mounted an impressive start to his first Games, winning the men’s free skate in the team competition on Sunday to help Japan secure bronze.
“This is my first Olympic Games ever, and to be honest I thought I would be very nervous, but from start to finish I was having fun skating,” Kagiyama said. “I can’t complain about my jumps, which I landed well, but my legs were giving up on me during the step sequences.”
Uno received a grade-of-execution deduction after putting his hand down during his quad toeloop/triple toeloop combo, but otherwise skated cleanly to “Oboe Concerto” for his own personal best of 105.90 and a place in Thursday’s final group.
“The way I started to think this year is that I want to compete to help improve my practices, and I want to practice in order to improve my performances,” Uno said. “Nathan has inspired me for the last four years because I wanted to hit the level that he’s achieving.”
The significant gap between Hanyu and the three skaters in podium positions means the 27-year-old will have to make good on his promise to land a historic quad axel in competition — and likely more beyond that — if he is to earn a third Olympic medal.
“There’s nothing I can do about my mistake today, so I have to do my best at the free skate,” Hanyu said. “I will do (the quad axel). I must focus on everything, not only the quad axel, so I’ll keep doing my best for every (element) in the long program.”
Chen expressed sympathy for Hanyu’s popped salchow, paying respects to the skater he has competed with at the world’s highest level for over half a decade.
“Knowing how it feels to skate, maybe not necessarily at your potential, does not feel great, especially at the Olympics,” Chen said. “You certainly can’t ever count him out; he’s a two-time Olympic champion for a reason.
“And no matter what he does in the future, he will always be a true figure skating icon — one of the greatest ever, if not the greatest ever.”
The lead-in to the men’s singles competition was marred by uncertainty well beyond Hanyu’s status, with American medal contender Vincent Zhou suddenly forced to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday — a turn of events that prevented the 21-year-old from accepting his silver medal for the team competition.
“I have been doing everything in my power to stay free of COVID since the start of the pandemic. I’ve taken all the precautions I can,” Zhou said in a video posted to his Instagram profile. “I’ve isolated myself so much that the loneliness I’ve felt in the last month or two has been crushing at times.
“But I do recognize that this absolutely does not define me as an athlete, as a person. I am more than just another positive COVID test.”
Zhou’s positive test came as a shock to skaters who have been taking extra precautions to prevent infection from the easily transmitted omicron strain. After his performance, Chen could be seen affixing his mask before stopping to put on his skate guards.
“For every athlete, working so hard to make it, and then testing out the day before, that’s really tough,” Chen said. “My heart goes out to him, but he’s been a trooper, a really amazing sport … still supporting all of us despite that.”
《Japan’s Shoma Uno competes in the men’s single skating short program of the figure skating event during the 2022 Winter Olympic Games at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing on Tuesday.》
