>>948の続き
As a result, some of Yuzuru’s fans also overreacted and started sending threats and hate mail to Denis.
Authorities in Kazakhstan read the one-sided media reports and were not amused.
There were also reasonable voices from journalists and fans, but they somehow were overheard in the cacophony of the outraged.
Someone even went as far as posting a video from another warm up or practice session where Denis and Yuzuru came close to each other
and used this as “proof”. Get a life. You can see many, many such situations between many different skaters.
Interesting enough, the video of the practice session in Boston was not shown, although Fuji TV was there and taped the session.
There should be footage from the incident, but they don’t release it.
Unfortunately, the Japanese Skating Federation apparently did not realize how the whole situation developed
and did not intervene right away. Only on Saturday team leader Yoshiko Kobayashi told the press that the Federation doesn’t file
any kind of protest and never intended to do so. The Japanese Skating Federation also confirmed this in a letter to the Kazakhstan authorities.
In the end, only both skaters suffered from these careless words in the mixed zone, because Yuzuru received also some criticism.
Yuzuru approached Denis on Saturday, they talked to each other, they shook hands. They closed this chapter, but unfortunately some people
(who think they are fans) still didn’t let go. Even when Denis published a photo of him and Yuzuru shaking hands, they wouldn’t stop arguing.
It is enough now.
And, by the way, in the free skating practice at the main rink on Friday, Yuzuru, who was skating to his music, got really close to Shoma Uno,
who was doing a spin. Shoma just was able to get out of the way in the last second. Would anyone seriously believe that Shoma was intentionally
in Yuzuru’s way or tried to hurt him?
There was a lot of feedback to this article, both negative and positive. There are some people
you can discuss with and some you can’t as everyone has their own truth sometimes.
Therefore I decided not to react to Twitter comments. This matter should be put to rest.
However, I thought over everything again and I edited the article in four places and marked them by stars.
*My main criticism towards Yuzuru Hanyu was that he accused Denis Ten of being intentionally
in his way or even “trying to hurt him”. This criticism was based on an article that quoted
Yuzuru in that way. However, I did not make it clear that I relied on a quote in an article.
The quote in the article might have been distorted or wrong as some people say. I cannot prove
one or the other as I have no voice recording from the mixed zone.
**I took out “Yuzuru’s fans” as some of his honest fans felt offended as they never would send
hate mail or nasty comments. I do not want to blame all of his fans. There are just some nasty
people out there that hide in the anonymity of the internet, they are not necessarily Yuzuru’s fans.
***I changed “careless words in the mixed zone” to “incident”.
**** I added another paragraph to make my point clear. I realize that many people read this article
who don’t know English so well and they might not completely understand all nuances.
This article is not directed against Yuzuru Hanyu or any other skater and it is not about who was doing
what in the practice session. The main point of this article is to illustrate what can happen
when comments are blown out of proportion and to criticize those people that continue to fight
even after the issue has been settled by the skaters.
An unforgettable event occurred at the Sochi Olympics.
We arrived at the hotel for a meeting with the Japanese producer of ice shows.
We go into the hotel: a semicircle are standing - Yudzuru's mother, father,
representatives of the federation, judges - bow to us and for a long time so stand.
The girls at the reception opened their eyes to the forehead! Unforgettable feelings.