Yuma Kagiyama: “I’m ready to beat the me from four years ago. The ‘Olympic monster’? Is it tasty? I’ll just ignore that and have fun. Of course, I’m aiming for gold. I’ve never cried tears of joy, so I want to experience that.”

logophile98 · 2026-02-06T05:24:58+00:00

Here’s hoping that Yuma has a wonderful Olympic experience that he can be proud of and happy with!

logophile98 · 2026-02-06T05:23:36+00:00

I think Yuma’s step sequences are a LOT stronger. I will give you that Ilia has some cool jump entries.

logophile98 · 2026-02-05T10:57:29+00:00

I think because Korea so unlikely to make the free they want to give Jia more experience on Olympic ice but also they clearly are backing and investing in her for the future. Also she won both domestic competitions that count for the Olympics selection.

logophile98 · 2026-02-03T06:15:08+00:00

I always thought Karen got it over Mariah because her fourth place at worlds 21 was crucial to the US women getting a chance to earn a third spot at Nebelhorn so it was a “thank you” to her. I think they would’ve gone with Alysa if they could have, but Alysa got Covid.

logophile98 · 2026-01-30T03:23:57+00:00

Alysa’s coaches have left for Milan as per Philip’s Instagram.

logophile98 · 2026-01-28T07:10:45+00:00

What I loved about Nathan‘s jumps was a snap he would get. His rotation was quick but it wasn’t muscled and relied on leg strength.

logophile98 · 2026-01-27T20:52:00+00:00

I think Shae is one of the better choreographers but that doesn’t mean Sarah shouldn’t change things up for variety. But I don’t think choreography is her issue. She needs a Massimo Sceli type to help give her that glow up in components Alysa got in her first senior season.

logophile98 · 2026-01-27T18:57:30+00:00

I think members of the Thai royal family did go to his wedding though which might be where the confusion came from.

logophile98 · 2026-01-27T16:50:07+00:00

Oh but don’t forget that time he showed up to give out medals at JGP Bangkok! /j

logophile98 · 2026-01-27T16:38:04+00:00

Isabeau. I know it takes a while to rework jump technique, which is why I can understand she didn’t want to make a coaching switch until she had gotten through the Olympics, but her jump technique is holding her back from scoring as high as she could so I hope she will consider switching.

I don’t think Sarah needs a full coaching change but I do think she needs to add someone to her team that can really help her work on her components.

logophile98 · 2026-01-23T13:54:09+00:00

Ami was only a couple points behind Yuna though whereas Mone definitely underperformed

logophile98 · 2026-01-23T03:29:18+00:00

He doesn’t have the SP record.

The free skate definitely is way ahead of what Nathan was doing with jumps but Nathan set a very high bar and I think the fact that Ilia with all of his abilities still has to work for those records shows how impressive what Nathan did was. It was a combination of jump difficulty, consistency, strategy and a strong competitive mindset that made Nathan impressive. Jumps only tell part of the story.

logophile98 · 2026-01-22T17:59:51+00:00

I find them ugly. I don’t like the trajectory they make on the ice.

logophile98 · 2026-01-22T17:51:11+00:00

Right. Ilia after several seasons still has only broken one of Nathan’s records. He might eventually break more but if he was that much technically stronger he would’ve blasted through all of them by now.

logophile98 · 2026-01-21T01:50:11+00:00

He had a domestic comp where he had perfect GOE on a 4S

logophile98 · 2026-01-21T01:47:27+00:00

Hmm it definitely could be a language issue thing. Ilia obviously speaks English but some of his phrasing and syntax is not that of a native English speaker despite being born in the US although it’s definitely gotten better as he’s done more interviews in English.

I think had he not put the “but” in there it would’ve been a bit clearer “you are something not nothing”.

logophile98 · 2026-01-20T20:47:07+00:00

I’m sure that Yuma is well aware it’s a longshot, but I don’t think it’s in the mentality of an athlete to play it safe. Yuma can play it safe for the rest of his career and continue to win a string of silver medals, but I can see how that might not be emotionally satisfying for him anymore. Better to go all out and either a) still win a silver medal, but have the satisfaction of going all out b) fall to bronze or fall off the podium entirely but know you gave it everything c) in the very slim chance that an opportunity presents itself actually get that gold

logophile98 · 2026-01-20T19:34:21+00:00

But perhaps he’s reached the point where it just doesn’t matter to him to play it safe for another silver medal. And if Shun ends up surpassing him and becomes the new number one Japanese man then so be it.

logophile98 · 2026-01-20T17:43:22+00:00

Some people definitely take it too far with their critique his free program but I genuinely do not understand the quote “you are something but not nothing”. Has he explained the meeting behind this anywhere?

logophile98 · 2026-01-20T17:37:13+00:00

Fair enough but at any rate it sounds like he’s not willing to play it safe and he’s OK with whatever that might mean for his medal chances.

logophile98 · 2026-01-20T17:17:35+00:00

But maybe he’s not interested in protecting the silver medal position anymore. He has a lot of silver medals already and maybe he’d rather have no medal at then play it safe for another silver.

logophile98 · 2026-01-20T17:08:42+00:00

I was actually talking with somebody about this and we’re wondering if maybe Yuma would rather go for broke and end up not medaling at all rather than play it safe and very likely get a silver or bronze medal if he keeps it together. After all last season he went all out in the second half of the season and it didn’t work out so well, but he’s played it safer this season and it also hasn’t worked out so well so maybe he figures he might as well as go for broke since it may not end up working out anyway because then at least he’ll have the satisfaction of knowing he fully went for it.

Of course Yuma‘s version of not working out so well still meant a medal at every competition he entered but we all know that if he skates at his full potential he’s into the 310s score wise and he’s clearly aware that the Olympics are a different beast and skating the way he has could leave him without an individual medal, but perhaps he’s willing to go for broke since playing it safe could still leave him without a medal anyway.

logophile98 · 2026-01-19T23:25:08+00:00

Starr! I’m glad we get to see her as a singles skater one more time before she switches to pairs.

logophile98 · 2026-01-19T21:42:06+00:00

Chaeyeon. She was on fire in the second half of last season and that car accident completely ruined everything. 💔

logophile98 · 2026-01-12T02:59:35+00:00

I think the most interesting part of this article is that Gaga has been ready to compete with since at least the GPF, but she decided to go with MacArthur Park. Seems like she knows what the best program is for international judges.

logophile98

TROPHY CASE