The Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day

 

Just to let my haters know I do have a heart. At 3 minutes in in this video I cried. I didn’t expect it to be honest because I already knew the results thanks to facebook but for those who don’t know Ice Skating Nationals for Japan happened two days ago and the last of my skating loves Daisuke Takahashi had a disastrous skate during the Short and Long programs leaving him in 5th place and out of the 2014 Olympics.

 

Thankfully Japan has a system for deciding the Olympics team and they don’t decide the outcome of an Olympics on one competition.

 

According to BlazingBlades owner Peter Murray (via facebook)

Under JSF Criteria for Olympic Team Selection the Winner of the Men’s Event is guaranteed the first spot on the team. The Silver Medalist at Japan’s Nationals gets the second spot. The third spot is decided with a heavy emphasis on their highest ISU World Ranking and then the current season’s highest scores.

Take a look at both categories…

World standing:
1 4558 Hanyu
3 3529 Takahashi
6 3067 Machida
10 2344 Oda
17 2044 Kozuka

Season’s best scores:
1 295.27 Patrick CHAN CAN ISU GP Trophee Bompard 2013 16.11.2013
2 293.25 Yuzuru HANYU JPN ISU Grand Prix Final 2013/14 06.12.2013
3 268.31 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN ISU GP NHK Trophy 2013 09.11.2013
4 265.38 Tatsuki MACHIDA JPN ISU GP Hilton HHonors Skate America 2013 19.10.2013
5 262.98 Nobunari ODA JPN Nebelhorn Trophy 2013 28.09.2013

 

So today after the women’s LP they announced the team and Japan did the right thing and named Daisuke to the Olympic team . In Japan it isn’t about a death camp to see who survives when deciding a team its about the rankings of the skater and the scores they have received over an entire season

I now wait for the inevitable hate for poor Di that Michelle Kwan received in 2006.

Daisuke skated his entire long program with a bloody hand from a fall on his first jump

Going to the Olympics is not a lifetime achievement award but when someone has a successful season and one bad competition due to an injury 2 months before the Olympics it makes no sense to leave them at home. I for one couldn’t be happier that Dai is going back to the Olympics and I am glad that Japan’s Olympic decision makers followed their rules named him to the team.

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This is also sweet and I must admit it made me tear up too. So unlike me.lol Loved Zhang Nan as a gymnast she was during the years I loved most Chinese gymnasts . I originally got this from World of gymnastike but am not interest in the rest of the engaged people list so I included the video. Jiang Yuyuan is seen in the group picture. Love the reaction of the gymnasts that helped Teng Haiban film the proposal. I usually cringe at these videos because I find it so tacky when people film them but this was too sweet.

19 Responses to “The Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day”

  1. sanitynmotion Says:

    I’m glad for him – even though I don’t follow figure skating anymore. He’ll have enormous pressure to make something of this opportunity but it sounds like he deserved to go. It seemed like the crowd heavily supported the decision so hopefully no hate.

    I never understood why anyone questioned the inclusion of Kwan on the Olympic team. Even in 2006 with injuries she was still by far and away a class ahead of everyone else. Who was the person that got left home; Emily Hughes? And then she got to skate anyways because Kwan pulled out. Emily Hughes was like a horse on ice (sorry)…and she didn’t even come close to medaling. Although I think she fell in the top 8.

    • gymtruthteller Says:

      Emily was a horrible skater and she lived off her sisters name who was an even uglier skater. Michelle was raked over the coals by people including Sarah Hughes who made comments about how her sister deserved the spot over Michelle. That is why I hate that bitch still.

      I guess there was a lot of whining behind the scenes by the Hughes family even when they played nice with the camera’s except Sarah who made some type of comment.

      • exgymgurl Says:

        Emily is exactly like a horse on ice. Touche…. she even kind of looks like Mr ed….no one outside of the twenty people who care about figure skating even know who Sarah Hughes is and she won gold on US soil. so is chan going? I’m confused? When do the Americans have their death famp?

      • gymtruthteller Says:

        I don’t think Canada did theirs yet and the US’s is in January. I am going to the ladies on January 9th and 11th

  2. JAS4 Says:

    I don’t follow figure skating much any more but I am glad they seem to have a much more reasonable way of deciding who goes to the Olympics than USAG lol

  3. DL Says:

    Yes! Takahashi’s my favourite–he just has the loveliest style on ice. I like his long program music. A funny mix of songs, but it works because he’s good at interpretation.

  4. Lyra Gill (@lygill) Says:

    Hi GTT! I’ll be following figure skating for the first time this olympics – any tips on who I should keep an eye on? (Other than Daisuke, who I gather from this post is well-loved and quite an amazing skater. I’ll make sure to look out for him!)

  5. Uglyfatkid Says:

    LOL. I might start calling you the Grinch now GTT. 🙂

    I am super happy for Dai. Love his skating and presentation. I just hope he can get back to where he was before the injury in time. I want him to kick Chan’s ass!

    Also, Happy Holidays everyone. It’s been another year of great posting and coversation. Even if I don’t respond, I read every comment/post. I love the community we have here. A special shout out to: GTT, Sanity, Akshay, Nero, Ginger, Exgym, Catherine (Cat), Case, and Fan Favorite…Gym Mom (I know I’m forgetting a few, so please forgive me). You all make me smile, think, and laugh. Thanks for those moments.

    GTT – thank you again for everything that you do. This blog has saved me in countless Dr’s offices, boring meetings, and random dull moments in life. Your blog brings sanity back into my life (both figuratively and literally since Sanity posts here). It has also saved me from being somewhere where I have to choke down “Gabby/Nastia is the best” garbage. I love that we can say what we want, when we want. Speaking of which…Nastia’s a whore. 🙂

    I’m here daily, and want to make sure you know how thankful I am that this place exists. THANK YOU GTT!!!

    Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

    -UglyFatKid (UFK)

  6. Exgymgurl Says:

    Great song not heard much outside of austin

    • sanitynmotion Says:

      Are you from Austin? That’s one of the places I want to visit to potentially move there. I’m just afraid it gets too humid in the summer. I hate humidity. Denver/Boulder is choice #2…

      I have to leave CA at some point or else I won’t ever be able to retire…and I need to move away from my sister who refuses to work (both she and her husband) yet has a child and we’re all scratching our heads wondering what she’ll do when her mom eventually dies…cuz she ain’t living with me! She’s 42, too.

      • Uglyfatkid Says:

        Denver is really nice. I haven’t been to Boulder yet, but most of Colorado is about the same as Utah (where I live) temperature wise. I can’t do humidity either, so I’m thankful that SLC doesn’t get humid practically ever. How do you handle the cold though? Winters get really cold, but thankfully not too crazy. We had a whole week a couple of weeks back where the high temperature never went above 10 degrees F. It’s not Super cold, but if you don’t do cold weather well it will freeze you to the bone.

      • sanitynmotion Says:

        I can handle cold; I went to school in upstate NY so I know cold. I’ve been in -22 degrees, which is all I ever care to handle. I can deal with it as long as I know it won’t last forever. In NY it was like winter all year round; I couldn’t handle it! (Upstate, that is…I know the City is way different).

      • Karlie Says:

        Boulder is BEAUTIFUL. My college roommate was from there and I visited her a lot (I went to school in the great white MN; the Twin Cities are a wonderful place to be but if cold ain’t your thing then it isn’t worth it). The mountains in the background, the flowers, the nice neighborhoods – it’s amazing; you really can’t go wrong in Boulder or, from what I’m told, Denver.

      • katecoursey Says:

        @Uglyfatkid I’m from SLC as well, but currently living in Cali for school…Utah can get cold but it is a nice place to live considering the cost of living is so cheap. You’ve got the mountains up north and the red rock down south, and it’s a relatively safe place to live as well.

      • Uglyfatkid Says:

        @Kate – Yes, the cost of living is pretty reasonable in Utah…which is fantastic!

        What university are you attending in California?

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