---
title: 'JUN VS TSUKASA PLOT THICKENS | FIGURE SKATER REACTS | Medalist Episode 18 + Olympics Chat! | メダリスト'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=PBuOU4zlxK8'
video_id: 'PBuOU4zlxK8'
date: 2026-08-01
duration_sec: 3103
---

# JUN VS TSUKASA PLOT THICKENS | FIGURE SKATER REACTS | Medalist Episode 18 + Olympics Chat! | メダリスト

> Source: [JUN VS TSUKASA PLOT THICKENS | FIGURE SKATER REACTS | Medalist Episode 18 + Olympics Chat! | メダリスト](https://youtube.com/watch?v=PBuOU4zlxK8)

## Summary

Hannah, a competitive figure skater with 23 years of experience, reacts to Medalist episode 18, breaking down the realism of the skating scenes and the character dynamics between Jun and Tsukasa. She also shares her emotional thoughts on the recent Olympics, particularly Alyssa Liu's gold and Kaori Sakamoto's costly mistake, using her expertise to explain the technical scoring rules that decided the outcome.

### Key Points

- **Introduction & credentials** [00:21] — Hannah introduces herself as a competitive figure skater returning to the sport after a break, with 23 years of overall skating experience, offering a detailed technical perspective on the anime.
- **Inori's rapid rise** [01:12] — Inori heads to All Japan just 1.5 years after starting skating. Hannah notes this is very rare but not impossible at the non-senior level.
- **Alyssa Liu's Olympic gold** [02:07] — Hannah expresses overwhelming joy for Alyssa Liu's Olympic victory, finding her comeback story deeply inspiring and similar to her own journey.
- **Women's event quality** [03:13] — Hannah praises the women's figure skating event at the Olympics as stunning and remarkably better than the traumatizing event four years ago.
- **Ice dance vs. freestyle blades** [09:49] — Explains that ice dance blades have shorter heels, rounder profiles, and smaller toe picks, while freestyle blades have larger toe picks for jumping. Switching between them can be disorienting.
- **The rule that cost Kaori the gold** [19:18] — Kaori Sakamoto lost the gold due to a specific rule: she repeated a solo triple flip, which is penalized. Hannah argues Kaori is the best all-around skater but didn't execute under pressure.
- **Backflip danger** [21:50] — Backflips are dangerous because a mistake can cause a head-first fall onto the ice. They were banned for decades until Adam Siao Him Fa proved they could be performed safely by elite jumpers.
- **Junior Grand Prix explained** [34:53] — Hannah explains the Junior Grand Prix series: eight events at smaller rinks, two assignments per skater, points accumulate, and the final is held with the senior final in a large arena.
- **The single toe mistake** [39:47] — If Kaori had added a single toe to her failed triple flip, she would have gained about 2.5 points, more than enough to win the gold by over a point instead of losing by 1.5.
- **Jump repetition rule** [41:55] — A jump can be repeated only once in a program, and if repeated, it must be in a combination. If done as a solo repeat, it receives only 70% of the base value.
- **Alyssa's impact on the sport** [46:38] — Hannah believes Alyssa Liu is changing the trajectory of women's figure skating through her consistent clean performances and inspiring comeback, which deeply impacts Hannah personally.
- **Clean Kaori beats clean Alyssa** [47:49] — A clean Kaori would beat a clean Alyssa by about 6 points. The Olympic result came down to who delivered on the night, not who has superior skills.

### Conclusion

The episode's character development mirrors real-life figure skating dynamics, where coaching philosophy and belief in a skater's potential collide with harsh scoring rules. Hannah's Olympic breakdown reveals that consistency and execution under pressure—not just raw talent—determine champions.

## Transcript

channel and to another video. Today we are reacting to Metalist season 2 episode 5, so episode 18. First things first, I always forget to do this right the channel, my name is Hannah and I am a competitive figure skater who just
made her return to skating last weekend. I've been skating total for almost 23 years, which is a very long time. So, I like to say I know a thing or two about skating. These reactions are not just about me watching the show. This is
about me breaking things down. I talk about the details. I talk about how realistic it is and also sometimes just completely break down in tears because it means so much to me. and I relate to a lot of the things that happen a lot.
So, if you're interested in seeing a figure skaters perspective about this show, then I'm your girl. Last episode was an emotional roller coaster with Inori not only competing but also winning first place in the block
championship. So, she is headed to her first all Japan's only about a year and a half after she started skating, which is very crazy by the way. Is it impossible for a skater to start skating at a competitive level and then a year
national championships at a level that's not the senior level that goes to the Olympics, but just a few down. It's not entirely impossible. It's just very rare. Before we dive into today's video, however, I do want to just say a quick
mention of the Olympics. I'm going to actually talk a lot about it after we some people here just want to see my reaction to the anime and don't really care too much about my thoughts on the
going to put that in the tail end after we watch it. So, those who don't want to to hear my thoughts on the Olympics outside of what I'm about to say, make sure you stick to the end. But, I cannot express to you enough how happy I am for
Alyssa Lou. I cannot believe she is the Olympic champion. Last year when she won Worlds, I told you all that I was so happy. This time, I don't really know how to even put it into words because the Olympics are such a big deal. And
what is going on with my sport right now is actually insane because there are so is actually insane because there are so many people who I know or follow that world that are talking about her and buzzing and what she's doing for this
sport I think is absolutely incredible. I do have some mixed emotions about the result of these Olympics because I did want Kyrie Sakamoto to take home the gold, but she did make a very, very big mistake, which I'm going to break down
after this episode. So, if you're interested in kind of understanding why her mistake cost her so many points when it didn't look like it was much, I will talk about that afterwards. But overall, this podium was such a beautiful podium.
All three of those skaters were stunning skaters who I love dearly with all of my heart. So, it's like on one hand I am ecstatic for Alyssa. On the other hand, I am devastated for Coyote. Like those two coexist in my heart right now, but
The women's event saved these Olympics for me because honestly, well, the pairs turned out pretty good as well. But leading up to it, it was a pretty tough Olympics. So, what a wonderful women's event. So much better than four years
ago. Four years ago was traumatizing. Like, but that's enough about it for after the episode. So, we are going to dive right in. But before we do, don't the channel, and leave a comment your thoughts. If you are interested in
seeing my reactions to the show early and unedited, feel free to join my description. But with that, let's get into it. My Disney Plus was down for a hot minute, so I'm recording this a little bit later than I wanted to. I
show, I've been like delayed in almost every single episode for a bunch of different reasons. Here we go.
How did Rio do? Has he not skated yet? Is it on a different day? the last episode ended. Why the Why does he want to be so
Why the Why does he want to be so secretive?
happening? Are we going to meet that girl? Are we going to meet that girl? They're all so cute.
already at the Olympics. So many skaters start that way. I I feel like most of us can always go back to just watching skating at some point in our lives on our TV and being like, "That looks cool. I want to do that."
because they're skating like in their family. A lot of former skaters will start their kids like I'll probably put my future kids in skating lessons, see if they like it. I'm not going to ever like force them to do it just because I
did it. A lot of those kids also have like natural talent. But a lot of us Someone captivates us and we want to be like them. Like I was that way with Sasha Cohen. I saw the 2002 Olympics. Sarah Hughes won. But I I guess I took
to Sasha Cohen a little bit more and then she went on to win the the silver then she went on to win the the silver medal at the Olympics in 2006 and I had into it at that point. But it kept me motivated and she was so kind to me too.
motivated and she was so kind to me too. So most of us start that way. remember I at one point had Ashley Wagner's freekate completely memorized
Wagner's freekate completely memorized in my head. Completely.
Jet lag. Where was he? Oh, he was in Russia. He was in Russia with Hicadu.
already met. I think June is actually probably a really kind person. He just probably a really kind person. He just is one of those like strange is one of those like strange just introverts.
That's like If I'm trying to imagine what it would be like for me if like Sasha Cohen and Ashley Wagner both were like, "Let's go skating together." Or like in present terms, it would be like if Alyssa Lou
and Amber Glenn met me and were like, "Let's go skating together." That's how I would feel right now. Just completely like I don't belong here. What is like I don't belong here. What is happening? Craziness.
The schedule in Japan for skating is very strange.
Oh, they even have like the lights down and everything.
This is an interesting turn of events that's happening here. would just fall over and embarrass myself.
a very different. So, actually, when I came back to skating in the summer of came back to skating in the summer of last year, I switched back from my ice dance blades to my freestyle blades because my last competition season
before I like retired was solo ice dance. So, I actually got they're right dance. So, I actually got they're right here. Um, I got these. These are regular freestyle boots. They were just really old. I was very broke and so my coaches
skates that are old, but like since it's ice dance, it should work." And then they put these ice dance blades. So ice dance blades are a little bit different. You'll notice the biggest difference is these heels, they don't stretch out past
the heel as far because it's a shorter, more round blade. And then the toepick is a lot smaller than a freestyle blade because they're not trying to do any toepick jumps. So freestyle blades tend to have really big toe picks so that you
can launch yourself into the air using your toepick for like the toe jumps. But a nice you don't jump. You can do a smaller one and then have like a bigger more I'm trying to say this in ways that will make people understand. It's a
bigger rocker. So it's like a rounder blade because with ice dance it's all about your edges, your turns, like that sort of thing. So it's it's built very differently from a freestyle blade. So, when I came back over the summer last
year, I like I got back into my freestyle skates, got them sharpened, you know, got them ready to go, and I got out on the ice. And it was, I think, a mix of switching back to freestyle blades was like, whoa. And also, I just
hadn't really skated much over the past like 5 years prior. I got on the ice and I almost tripped and fell immediately. Like I skated up to my coach and she's all like, "You're back." Like she's all excited and I almost like fall into her
arms. It was very funny. So yeah, that can happen because freestyle blades, and I say freestyle as in those are for anyone who jumps. So anyone in any other discipline outside of ice dance are going to use freestyle blades and then
different feeling. It takes a little while to get used to. And then like Tucasa on top of it right now is obviously feeling very nervous and like describe it I guess. Like I would be shell shocked if two of my like favorite
skaters who were inspirational to me when I started would be like hey let's go skate together. Like I love this character arc for Sucasa. I talk about Inois a lot but even Sucasa like as a coach he's growing because he went from
the beginning of the show. he was getting offered an assistant coach role. Like I think personally it would be interesting to see if they show a side interesting to see if they show a side to him now where it's like now that he
has this block champion, there's going to be skaters who are going to want to like go to his club and be coached by him specifically. I know in Japan it's a little bit different. Like coaches are genuinely like tied to a club. Here in
club and they'll have their home club, but their skaters can represent any club. They can join whatever club they want. Here in Arizona, there's like multiple clubs. Pretty much every single
ice rink here has a different club. And I'm actually a member of a club at the least, but that's because that's my coach's home rink. And it was it's been my club since I started skating in Arizona. So anyway, here like if a if a
Arizona. So anyway, here like if a if a coach has a super successful skater, whether they go to nationals, whether they win nationals, whether they go to go to the Olympics, right? People are going to automatically want to start
going to that coach. That coach can now charge more money because they have the accolades. Like I think Alyssa Leu's coaches for example should be getting a coaches for example should be getting a lot of emails from young parents, young
of young skaters who are like, "We'd like our our skater to be coached by you who just won the freaking Olympics." Right? So random tangent.
I feel like I say that every single episode, though. So, see what that he's still skating and can just jump easily.
triplets triple flip triple loop. Maybe he's doing doubles again. The the rotations are kind of hard to call, but rotations are kind of hard to call, but I'm assuming they're triples.
Cuz he's the Olympic champion, so he'll get plenty of time.
You were an ice dancer and you're retired. Don't just like retired. Don't just like That's so dangerous.
learns from watching. She's one of those special people. Yeah. You have to continue to learn if you want to be a good coach.
I think that was just a single. So, he's not trying anything crazy.
He can do an axle though, can't he? So maybe that was a double.
This is interesting since there was a lot of backflip discourse at the lot of backflip discourse at the Olympics.
he but he's growing as a coach. He doesn't but he's growing as a coach. He doesn't He doesn't want to be in shows anymore.
He He won't leave Ini. And he has a career in front of him now.
believing in a skater and following the status quo of saying he already started status quo of saying he already started too late.
events. I'm trying to like wait for this to end before I say something. What did he just say? may become a good coach, but that okay,
he's just saying he's saying like Hiku is going to become the Olympic champion in their book. So there's no be like there's no there's nothing above being an Olympic champion.
Yeah. He wants to make her as dominant as dominant. Like Kyrie Sakamoto would have been one of I mean she
already is. So like Kyrie Sakamoto is the best in the world. Like I will say it till I'm blue in the face. She is the best in the world. But skating is competition. They are mean. The rules are mean. like and and she was a victim
of like a very specific rule at these Olympics that caused her the gold medal and Alyssa Lou to win. Cowie is a better skater all around than Alyssa Lou, but Alyssa Lou can do something that Cowie
and do her job every single time that she skates. Right? So, what I'm trying to say is I I was thinking about this earlier and like I can't blame Coyote if she feels a little bit like I don't know if bitter is the right word, but if
Alyssa hadn't shown up last season if she hadn't unretired, Coyote would be literally she would have four world titles and an Olympic title now because she was winning everything and then Alyssa showed up and worlds last year
and now the Olympics was able to win gold and like put pressure on Cowie that she didn't really have prior to Alyssa showing up because no one was able to touch her. But then Alyssa shows up with this like consistency that no one else
can do because of her mindset. So it it's like what June is trying to do is it's like what June is trying to do is make Hikadu cowi but without an Alyssa Louu. But Tasa is trying to make Inori that Alyssa Lou who's putting the
pressure on Hikadu. But Alyssa was a child prodigy when she was young. She won her first national title at 13 at the senior level, right? So, that's like where it differs, but I'm trying to like explain this in a way that makes sense.
skater that can't be beat cuz there's there's no way to beat someone who's other thoughts on this scene. I'm trying other thoughts on this scene. I'm trying to let the rest of it play, though.
He does, cuz he he is. And he's not wrong. Yeah, she's been undefeated since she started.
Hicado. We're way too early.
first, just telling someone to do a backflip that's never done one before, that is so freaking dangerous. That is the reason that backflips were banned for so long was because they were dangerous. Because if something goes
wrong, you are now flipping with your head to the ice. And so because this isn't gymnastics where that's like the foundation of what gymnasts are doing is flipping with their head facing the ground. Like you know, skating has never
been that. Skating you can slip off an edge. Like there's so many variables. So that's why it was banned for so long. And it wasn't until like Adam Siafa from France really like proved that you can just do it and it's pretty easy. Back
flips from what I've heard, like I've never tried one and I never will. Back flips from what I've heard are actually like generally fairly easy for skaters who can land like triple jumps. So Tasa being able to do it when he clearly
can't land a triple jump is very impressive. So like what June is saying is partially correct. He's literally calling out that Sucasa is a talented because he could have been very successful at his own career and would
be incredibly successful in shows now that people are aware of him. But you like there's that back and forth like that kind of person. It's making Sasa so nuanced because he has the potential to have his own career truly. He could
probably go back to competing. He could probably be like a very successful show skater and toward the country and maybe even the world and have all of these accolades in that way, but he gave up. But he's found this new passion in in
teaching ini. But on one hand, like there is that level of are you willing to give up a career that's about you to make it a career about someone else? kind of like that's kind of what a coach does is most coaches are former
competitive figure skaters that were quite successful. Eventually you have to retire because skating is not something you can do at that level for a very long time. I mean, you know, Amber Glenn is talking about the fact that she's pretty
much said she's not going for the next Olympics because she'll be 30 and she's like, "My body's barely holding up now." And I I understand as someone who's almost 30 like and not doing the level jumps that she's doing, but I feel like
this was a very very nuanced and interesting scene because there is that level of if someone were to give up early because of their circumstances and now he has the Olympic champion telling him like you could do this but Inori is
behind. Like it it's so interesting how they're writing this because it's true and I'm trying to figure out a way to like explain this better, but I can't. like explain this better, but I can't. But I can just say what a interesting
way to do it. Very interesting turn of events. And it makes Tucasa an even favorite character, but what they're doing is showing like his options are becoming more available to him. We're we're spending some time developing him.
And I love that because Sakasa is a character that I very much relate to, kind of going down the different path. Like I'm not coaching. I'm I'm I'm going back to do something that benefits like me really. Like it's selfish almost,
right? But he's choosing to benefit himself through I don't It's very interesting. Okay, let's keep watching. I've been recording for a long time.
weird re revelation to me about how it works in Japan because ice time in America is literally it runs from about 6:00 a.m. until about 5:00 p.m. And here they are saying this is the best time and it is dark outside. Here that would
and it is dark outside. Here that would not be considered the best time.
She's a part of a very exclusive group now. I mean, we did spend a lot of time on that competition, so that makes sense.
Oh, there were only two of them. That's super common. So that's something that like is very common here too is like the ratio of girl skaters to boy like the ratio of girl skaters to boy skaters is extreme. It's why it's like
kind of hard to get into pairs. I feel like pairs is really just not very developed here because there's so many girls and not enough boys. Same with ice dance. Although ice dance is a little bit more
special here in America. Like we have a very long history of having like Olympic medalists. I was just looking it up for America. We've had an Olympic medalist in ice dance. Every Olympics since like 2006 or something. I think the last time
there wasn't a US team on the podium at the Olympics was in 2002 and there's been a gold medal. Like we got gold in 2014, you know. So, it's um it's interesting and I think it's partially because the culture here is still very
because the culture here is still very like problematic and it's seen as like like problematic and it's seen as like all guys who skate are gay and that's bad, which is like we have made a lot of progress against that kind of mindset
with that. But it still is very like I go to the rink, there's tons of boys there, they're on the hockey team, you know, it's very stereotypical. And then I get on the freestyle session and there's 20 skaters out there and
we're all girls. Like, you know, it's it's definitely a thing. So, in the case of Rio and Sot, I guess it was like, well, there's only two of you, so you're both going to all Japan. like there's not even really a point in having the
competition outside of getting the chance to either win or lose. It kind of sucks when you have a group of two. That happens at local competitions here competition didn't have that many people sign up for the level you're in and
there's only two of you and it's just like I I just don't really want second place because that kind of sucks. So, but it's also not as exciting to get first place when there's only two. It's interesting.
I'm talking a lot. Oh my gosh. I've been recording for 42 minutes.
I love their dynamic. It's so cute. Oh. Oh, it's her. was there as like a senior skater? Maybe I'm just forgetting.
Like I've skated at rinks with like much higher level skaters just like to see what it's like. I guess growing up in Arizona, we never had like bigname these super high level jumps. just kind of get used to everyone here just being
like working on triples, you know, competing at the senior level, but we competing at the senior level, but we didn't have like national champions, international competitors, right? So, I would like go to California and visit
family or whatever cuz that's where I was born. And I would skate at a rink there. Like I would skate at the rink that Ashley Wagner, Nathan Chen, and Adam Rapon trained at. And I wouldn't skate with them because their freestyles
specific time where they could skate that I was not high level enough and it you had to be coached by their coach to be on that ice. But I still got to skate on like a freestyle before or after. And even just getting to skate with these
skaters who were higher level than me, it was very inspiring and very cool. So like I I'm getting like in my feels about what it was like to do that when I was younger. It's it's very different because when you skate at a a your local
rink all the time, usually you just you're skating with your friends and level, but then you go to this like foreign place and you're competing with you're you're skating with these national level people is like, oh my
god, it's scary first of all, but it's also very inspiring once you get over the fear of running into one of them accidentally. skates, which is still like not normal, but I
would be okay with it if more girls wore black skates and more guys wore white black skates and more guys wore white skates. Like, why not?
Is she one of the senior level skaters that I saw? Ooh, a cantal lever or lay back spread eagle. Maybe they call that there.
We work our cores a lot. It's good to have strong abs. she's obviously older. Like, she's got to be at the senior level, right?
when you go to Italy to the Olympics. Okay. So, she's junior. Okay. Okay. So, she's a junior and she's going to the Junior Grand Prix circuit.
>> They are very competitive. Hikatu is here
it's time for the rivalry to actually really begin. episode? It sure looks like it. All right, so this was a very loreheavy episode. I feel like we we really started kind of shifting the story from
where we were at with the competition, obviously, like we got through that. We only have four episodes left after this. We're already almost done, which is I I'm I'm going to say it. I hate how short it is. I understand they have to
set it up in a certain way, but man oh man, like first Demon Slayer only got eight episodes in their last season before the movie, and now Metalist is only getting nine episodes. Like, come on. I I I I need more. I need more. I
need more. Um, okay. I feel like I kind of worked through everything. This was a very like dialogue and loreheavy. So, I don't feel like I have much else to add. I'm I'm pretty excited to see more about this new chick who's in juniors. She So,
the Junior Grand Prix is the Junior Grand Prix. So, there's the senior Grand Prix, which starts in October of every year, and there's six events where skaters get two assignments, and the top six from all of those assignments gets
points for your placement at each Grand Prix. So like first place gets 15 points, second place gets 13 points, third place gets nine points, etc. You only get the two chances. You don't get a doover. They don't take the highest of
amount of points you get from your placement and then the top six in points go to the Grand Prix final. They do the same thing with juniors. Juniors, except they have like eight Grand Prix assignments. Well, they have eight Grand
Prix competitions. They get two assignments and they also get to compete at the Junior Grand Prix final which is always really cool for them because the Junior Grand Prix takes place at like smaller rinks throughout the the world
place. A lot of them take place in Europe. I find that like with the Junior Grand Prix because those ones shift around like it changes who gets to host Junior Grand Prix events and then they're at like local rinks, but then if
the Junior Grand Prix final, it happens at the same time as a senior Grand Prix final in the same rink, which is a big arena with a ton of media. So, it's like a really cool experience for the juniors to get to go to the Junior Grand Prix
final because it's like a big international event while the like the regular Junior Grand Prix are like smallerish events it feels like. So, um smallerish events it feels like. So, um those start in August and go up until
like the end of September and then the senior Grand Prix starts in October. So, it kind of like the season for like viewers really starts in August if you are interested. I like watching juniors because that made me aware of like Ammy
Nakai who just won the Olympic bronze medal in the individual event cuz she was a junior last year and I was like more aware of her because I paid interesting to see where it's going. We're at like a special rink at special
training camp with very high level skaters. Enoi now gets to com like skate with Hikadu as not just like a peer but as a rival like she's been wanting. So, that's really, really exciting for her to do. I hope this inspires her and that
they can remain friends even though they're about to become actual rivals. Um, I'm going to focus on the women's event. Quite frankly, most of the other events of the Olympics were underwhelming and or frustrating. The
pairs was good. RKU and Ryui getting the gold was such a beautiful moment. I score. I'm hearing people say they were overscored. I disagree. They are absolutely amazing when they are on. They are the best by a lot. So, loved
their reactions, too. The way they finished skating their free skate and he was just sobbing. Was so cute. And then, of course, like the comeback because you could tell he was very much blaming himself for them being in fifth after
the short program. Obviously, cuz he put her down. So, it was kind of like if if you have to say like whose fault is it, it was his because he put her down. But, the women's event. Okay. So, like I said, I I did have mixed feelings.
Alyssa I love. So, like I'm very happy about her win and I and I will say it till I'm blue in the face that she did deserve this gold. People are saying that there was a conspiracy that judges were paid off so that USA could get a
medal after a disappointing Olympics. I disagree. And people are saying it that the US skaters are as overscored as the Russians. I disagree. I'm not going to very happy. And Alyssa deserved that win. She had her jumps were clean. She
was way better performing this program than she's done all season. And of course, this season's been very topsyturvy. She's done like four different free skates or three, I guess. She's done MacArthur Park, which she did
She's done MacArthur Park, which she did here like four times, and she's done two different versions of Lady Gaga. Like, it it's just been a crazy season for her. So when you compare like her components to the very beginning of the
season to now, there is a bigger gap, which I agree with again because she started this season at a very different place than she performed here. While the other skaters who had more like stagnant growth with their component scores
didn't have the same like big difference. Like there was an obvious different in the way Alyssa skated compared to like Cody was like very consistent this entire season. So, I agree with her score being higher here.
before it was announced that it was going to be like 150. And for the record, Coward was poised to win by like five or six points. So, for those of you who don't know kind of how it worked out, people are saying if Coward had
just done a single toe, she would have won, which is correct. That's not because this single toe loop is worth all these points where, you know, she could have won because of it. She ended up losing by about a point and a half
half points behind in the freekate, but had a little less than a point over her after the short program, which by the way, I actually felt they kind of gifted her second in the short program. She looked very tight in the short program.
And I think she got away with a lot. That LUTs in her short program, in my opinion, should have gotten negative GOE because it was very messy looking. And know like it is what it is. she gets an exclamation mark. Um, but I think she
got away with a lot with that LUTs because I personally watching it would have given it like a minus. I would have given her negative grade of execution on it cuz it was not just that she fluts cuz she pluses every time, but she still
makes it look nice. That one looked tight and rough. Anyway, it wasn't that I was like mad that she was ahead of Alyssa in the short program. I was just like I think I would have actually given Alyssa the short program over Coward. I
would have put Alyssa second and Ammy first. Coward third. I think I would have put Isabelle fourth. I'm not going to lie. Anyway, um okay. So, what Cyd did in the freekate, she does this thing called backloading where she puts all of
her difficult combinations in the second half. This is very risky because she's already done a triple flip at the beginning of her program. She then does a triple flip, triple toe as her third to last jump. So, what happened was she
just slipped kind of on the the entry. So, she landed very forward. She couldn't do the combo, which is already a big point loss because a triple toe is worth like 4.2 points with a 10% bonus. So, like 4.3ish or something along those
going to right now, but it's around like four and a half points. So, she lost four and a half points just by not doing that jump. But, and the rules are very unforgiving because she just did a triple flip again. You are allowed to
repeat jumps, but you cannot do a jump twice as a solo jump. Meaning, she had to have one of those triple flips in a combo because she had already done a nice triple flip at the very beginning of her program. She planned to backload,
which is very high reward if you do it well. because she did not do any jump after landing the triple flip and it was another solo triple flip. She got a big another solo triple flip. She got a big triple flip plus rep plus repeat which
means that it was only 70% of the base value of a triple flip. This is where I know this. We are aware that this is the rule where if you want to repeat a jump, rule where if you want to repeat a jump, it must be one time at least in combo. I
cannot go out and do a single loop and then do another single loop by itself later. I would get plus repeat and I'd only get 70% of the base value. So when people say that if she had just put a single toe on that triple flip, she
about the base value of the single toe. They are talking about the fact that value of the flip and that would have added with the single toe like two and a half points. She lost the gold by one and a half points. So, if she had just
done a single toe there, even though she still would have lost the triple triple still would have lost the triple triple combo, she was so freaking good that she would have been able to win over a clean Alyssa because she is a better skater
than Alyssa. The judges were ready to give it to her, but she wasn't able to talked a lot about how skaters have to do math when we make mistakes. But in do math when we make mistakes. But in some cases, it's better to just go with
the plan and just take the L. Calie likely didn't know what Alyssa's score was. It's very common for you to try to not pay attention to what was happening before you. So, in her mind, she's not aware that that's going to cost her the
gold. She knows it's a mistake and that it might. And I think she did know immediately when she finished. You know, it was really rough to see like she was very emotional. And I think the the crying and everything wasn't necessarily
just because she lost the gold. I know she wanted that gold so bad. I think it also had to do with just like the emotional roller coaster of being at the Olympics. Like there was probably some relief of finishing as well. Like a
skater like her who's been so dominant and is clearly the favorite and clearly the best in the world. when you finish like there's going to be some emotional release because you've been in this like state of fight or flight like the entire
time you're there because she wanted it so bad but also I do think a lot of her tears was because she was so close to the gold and she wanted that gold so bad and it would have been such a beautiful way to end her career. I think if she
worlds. I'm I wouldn't be surprised if she does worlds now and like gets that gold because I very much think if she goes there and goes clean and Alyssa goes clean like we will see them flip-flop at worlds. Uh Amber Amber
Calie will win. Alyssa will get second. I'm saying Amber because I think Amber I want her to have a world championships where she goes out there and she skates she does that she could get second and Alyssa could get pushed to third and
still be very very interesting for the record. But yeah, that's like I think she knew when she finished that she might have cost herself the gold, but while she was skating, I think she just had to try and and just skate the
program as planned. Um, she could have added a double loop to the end of her toe cuz she had already done two double toes. That was another thing like people were like, "Why didn't she put a double toe on something?" is because she had
done like a triple double toe earlier in the program and then she did her planned double axle triple toe double toe sequence and you can only repeat a jump once so you can't do three of the same jump. So she really was like it it just
that's what happens when when you go the riskier route that she goes like there the payoff is huge if you do it well but when you make that mistake like it the when you make that mistake like it the mistakes are a bigger issue. Even when
it's like to the untrained eye it doesn't look like much happened. It looks like she just had one like slightly iffy landing she still got like positive grade of execution on it by only like a couple tents I think. But so
that's why like my emotions are mixed because on one hand like I feel so happy for Alyssa and what's happening right now. It's crazy. I've cried multiple times thinking about Alyssa's story because it's so inspiring and it's so
like obviously she's so much better than me, but it's also very similar to what I'm going through right now. So to see her be so successful is so beautiful and making me very emotional as I go through my own like comeback story. My comeback
story is not hers. her comeback story is her own and it's beautiful, but I can't help but sit here and just be like amazed and inspired by what's going on. And I feel like Alyssa is changing the trajectory of our sport right now. And
it's beautiful. And Coyote is a big part of that, too. And Coyote is the best in the world. Make no mistake. No Olympic gold can change that fact.
No Olympic gold can change that fact. And it's awful. And it's like it's so difficult to accept someone like her not having an Olympic gold medal. But that's competition. Figure skating is a sport. And competition, contrary to what some
people are saying are trying to say, it really is about who can go out there and skate and do their job. And at the end of the day, the two wins that Alyssa has over Calie is because Alyssa can go out and do her job. Calie can make those
mistakes. And both times she's won gold, it's because Coward has not been able to go out and do two clean skates. A clean coyote beats a clean Alyssa by a lot. six points if she hadn't have made that mistake. Like I don't think people
understand. They were ready to give it to her. No amount of like overscoring of Alyssa per se that people say was happening, which I don't agree with, changes the fact that Cyd was primed and ready, but she was not able to. And in
this sport, if it were just about skating skills, if it were just about ice coverage and speed, which is what everyone seems to put so much weight to, when that's not the case, and that's never been the case. that's been, you
know, those skaters when they go clean deserve to win, but if they can't put it together, skaters who maybe have slightly weaker the gap isn't big enough. Skating is a competition. If it always just came down to who was the
be having competitions. We would be they would pick a winner based off of skating skills. But that's not how it works. Not to mention like composition, everyone is like there's a composition
turning into a little bit of event because I'm kind of tired of seeing people try try and discredit Alyssa's win and call it overcoring when like deserved to win on the night. Like she knows she wasn't crying because she felt
because she knew she lost it when she made that mistake. And it's awful. And I feel so bad for Kyrie. Like I want to make it very clear. I feel so bad for Kyrie. I wanted her to win. But I also think that Alyssa's win was correct. But
like people say the composition mark is ice coverage. That's one part of composition. Composition is also are your timed with the music, which Alyssa your timed with the music, which Alyssa has. Are you, you know, like performing
the music? Like there's all these different things that have to do with coverage. Yes, Alyssa's program is actually not very good on ice coverage, but that is not all there is to it. Like it's people focus on the thing they love
most. And I agree, the Japanese skaters are the most well-rounded. They are the best. But clean, the Japanese skaters would always be winning. The problem is you have the
skater from America who always goes clean and her jumps were clean. she starts to get higher and higher scores because like the judges are like and do her job and they're going to start to give it more and more because
out and do her job every single time. Anyway, Alyssa's story is beautiful. I have been very emotional. I had no expectation of her winning. I was just just please be on the podium. I would have been perfectly happy with the
there and she skated clean and she was in first place with two skaters to go medalist. I was perfectly happy with that. I think Ammy Nakai was lowballed insanely. I almost felt like she should have gotten silver. Um they for some
reason buried her in the freekate and that was like the one thing I majorly disagreed with. I agreed with even Mona's scores like she was very tight. She had clear under rotations. Alyssa did not. Ammy didn't like I did not
Anyway, um if you want to hear more, I'm going to make a very long video about my skating channel that is linked in the description, but I've been recording for over an hour now. So, I do want to go ahead and stop so I can edit and get
ahead and stop so I can edit and get this video up as soon as I can. So, that was medalists and an Olympics yet. But there it is. That's it for today's channel, leave a comment, your thoughts. I will see you all in the next one. M