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today’s #FanyuGoldenWeek is about goatness. beyond all the golds and world records, I’ve always believed that what sets him apart is that inquisitive spirit. like an inventor-tinkerer taking things apart to build it better, that’s him and his skating.
to sum it up - it’s not what he does, but how he does it. that goes for anything from spins to step sequences to quads, from transitions to exits to entrances, from the flick of a wrist to the timing of a jump. nothing is too small to matter, nothing too good as to be left alone.
it’s also how he converts failures into introspection, analysis and ultimately solutions. he has a remarkable problem-solving mindset paired with lucidity and self-awareness. even when constrained by circumstances that left him unable to train, he uses the time valuably.
also - I always had a...theory? preference? that the most magnetic skaters have contradictory qualities, and he’s the king of it. the artist with an innate connection to music and a desperate need to express it vs his rigorous method of analysing things and testing his ideas.
the fearless jumper and the artist, the kid who takes pride in his sit spins as with his quads. yet to him, and this is evident in his skating, this is probably more of a continuum rather than a contradiction. one can have all of it, if possible, one must strive for all of it.
there’s also the longevity. in a sport where athletes often burn bright and fade fast, he is able to stay on top for a decade, and the fact that this journey is not a stable line but a rollercoaster packed with adversity makes it more noteworthy.
this is where the WRs came in - no mere statistic, each one a representative of a breakthrough. and why the oly golds mattered. that they happen every 4 years is the point - surviving and prevailing past the fickle whims of the sport and its jockeying powers is the hardest thing.
the last element - there’s no denying that 3.11 shaped the way he sees many things. and such solemn sense of duty - to provide hope to the surviving, to live a worthy life - as heavy as it might be, must have also been a source of strength and conviction.
in the way he uses his visibility and light to bring good, giving his all to the smallest of charity shows and skating workshops, he is also the greatest of all time.
