On the 24th, I rubbed my sleepy eyes and cheered for Rika Kihira at the World Championships in Stockholm.
Kansai TV was broadcasting the event, with Shizuka Arakawa as a commentator.
Her performance was the most difficult (hard) of all the competitors.
At the beginning of her performance, she made a splendid triple axel.
The height, width, and speed of the jump were unquestionable.
She also did a great job with the one-handed spin, which symbolizes the hardness of this program.
I've been watching figure skating for a second to none, though I'm not as good as a so-called "chasing aunt."
I've already mentioned why figure skating is so great, why it fascinates the audience.
Rika Kihira is the best figure skater ever.
It is no exaggeration to say that she is unprecedented.
Compared to Midori Ito, the most athletic figure skater of all time, Kihira's athleticism is second to none.
The beauty of a well-balanced figure, a component of beauty in figure skating, is no less than that of her rivals, the Russian athletes.
Rika Kihira's performance is the hardest among the competitors because the choreographer is trying to bring out the best of Kihira's exceptional athletic ability and core strength in this program.
In other words, she is trying to be the best in the sport of figure skating.
Her biggest rival is Scherbakova.
She has won the Russian Championships three times in a row.
In addition to her graceful appearance (flexibility), she jumps multiple quadruple jumps in free skating.
She does not jump the triple axel.
Women are not allowed to jump a quad in the short program.
Kihira, who hadn't completed a quad until last spring, concluded what was arguably the most stunning quad ever in All-Japan late previous year.
Now she has caught up with Scherbakova. I was convinced that she had overtaken her.
Kihira must have been convinced, too.
As long as Kihira didn't make any mistakes in her jumps, she could take the short program lead.
If she made no mistakes in the free skate, she would win.
However, Kihira failed to take the top spot in the short program.
I immediately thought to myself, "This is just like the way Mao Asada lost to Yuna Kim.
It was bizarre that a competitor who could execute a triple axel, which in some respects is more complicated than a quadruple axel in women's jumps, could lose to a competitor who could not perform a triple axel.
When Ms. Shirota was known as the empress of the Japanese figure skating world, I met her next door at Hotel Okura's bar. I was furious when I saw her not only not trying to get Mao Asada to the Torino Olympics at all, but in reality, instructing two men to do what a showperson would do.
I think I'm the only one who has ever reprimanded someone in such a loud voice there, ever, ever.
Now I feel sorry for my yelling, though.
I saw Shizuka Arakawa, who never expressed any doubts about Kihira's failure to take the top spot.
It was the same as with Mao Asada and Yuna Kim.
She praises her opponents and points out her own athletes' slightest mistakes (I checked YouTube last night, and there was no such mistake in the triple axel as she pointed out on the 24th).
I searched to find out the competition jury's composition to shed some light on this suspicion, but I couldn't find anything.
Now I can only speculate, but could it be that in addition to Russia, China, and Korea, there are judges from Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, and perhaps not a single Japanese judge?
I think the top three most beautiful jumps in the short program (FNN Online), aired on YouTube, proves the point.
Kihira is in third place (ignoring the triple axel), and to my surprise, a Korean competitor is in second place, and Scherbakova is in first.
The power in the women's figure skating world is held by people who are just like showpeople.
One of them is Shizuka Arakawa, and I'm ashamed to say that I'm from the same prefecture.
The only people in Japan who are not truly happy to see Rika Kihira win the championship and, by extension, the Olympic gold medal are her and those who are not indeed Japanese.
Kihira must have been shocked that she couldn't take first place, after such a brilliant triple axel and such a challenging program, with almost no mistakes.
The only thing I dislike about women's figure skating is the opaqueness of the judges.
It is the showman-like nature of those in power who control the figure skating world.
I sincerely hope that God will bless Kihira tonight and prove that she is the best female figure skater in history, a world treasure on a par with Yuzuru Hanyu.
