In the men's figure skating single free at the Youth Olympic Games held in South Korea, 15-year-old Riki Nakata fell behind in 13th place in the short program in the first half, but made a comeback in the second half and moved up eight places to finish in 5th place. Ta.
The second half of the men's figure skating singles free skate was held at the Gangwon Youth Olympics on the 29th, and two Japanese skaters participated: Nakata, who won the junior grand prix final this season, and 17-year-old Kohliu Kakiuchi. .
Among these, Nakata, who made a series of mistakes in the first half of the short program and fell behind in 13th place, had a rough landing on the opening quadruple toe loop, but the successive jumps of triple axel and triple toe loop, and the single triple axel were eventually completed. Also, points were added for workmanship.
All subsequent jumps landed, and all three spins received the highest rating of 4, and she came back with a score of 142.70, which placed her second overall in the free skate.
Nakata moved up eight places to fifth place with a total score of 198.29.
On the other hand, although Kakiuchi had irregular landings on his jumps in the first half, he thrilled the audience with his lively performance, as his spins were all top-rated, with a free score of 124.77 and a total of 185.88, which was also an 8 in the first half. I moved up from 1st place to 7th place.
The gold medal went to a local Korean athlete with a total score of 216.73.
Rishi Nakata's progress lies in the words of senior athletes
It's been a day since middle school after the short program, where I made a lot of mistakes and shed tears.
Behind Roshi Nakata's breakthrough in the free program were the words of her senior athletes.
She represented Japan on the big stage at the Youth Olympics, carrying the Japanese flag on her back.
During the short program in the first half, I was so nervous that I felt like I was overwhelmed.
When he made the mistake of turning a triple Lutz into a single rotation, he said, ``I didn't realize what was going on,'' and during the following spin he lost his balance and ended up on both hands, a rare mistake.
When her score, which was nowhere near her personal best, was announced, her shoulders slumped and tears streamed down her face.
Nakata is a 15-year-old British-born child of a Japanese father who also serves as a coach and a British mother. She is a third-year junior high school student in Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture.
Her jumping and expressiveness have both been highly praised, and she has steadily stepped up this season, coming from 4th place in the short program to win the Junior Grand Prix Final, which was her first appearance. I did.
That's how the Youth Olympics came to be, but she says she was depressed by her lackluster performance in the first half.
How do you change your mind towards freelancing?
What helped Nakata was the words of her senior athletes, who have represented Japan on the world stage.
She watched a video on YouTube that featured famous quotes from former major leaguer Ichiro and former Japan national soccer player Keisuke Honda, and she says that these words gave her courage.
She was encouraged by the way her seniors thought, ``Even if you fail, you can use it next time to learn something.''
In the free skate, she said, ``I can't stay depressed forever,'' but she bounced back by hitting two triple axels.
Nakata said, ``I was more nervous than any other tournament I've ever been in, and I was very disappointed after the short, but I'm glad I was able to recover and perform like this in the free skate.I wish I had been able to grow from my failures like the words in the video said. I think this is a great benefit from this tournament," he said.
He added, ``I don't know if he'll be able to become an Olympic athlete in the future, but while aiming for that, I want to remember what happened every day and practice from now on so that I don't make the same mistakes when I get on that stage.'' '', he spoke powerfully, looking to the future.
How will he take advantage of his first experience of failure on the stage that bears the name of the Olympics and link it to growth?
The 15-year-old's dignified performance in the free skate greatly increased his expectations.
7th place Kakiuchi: ``I've done everything I can now.''
Kakiuchi, who moved up one place from 8th place in the first half to 7th place, said, ``I think I did everything I could.It felt really good from beginning to end, and I was able to make up for my short mistake, making it a memorable stage.'' "It's become a reality," he said, exuding a sense of fulfillment.
He has decided to participate in the Junior World Championships that will begin next month, and says, ``While I was able to gain very valuable experience in this tournament, I also have a lot of issues to solve, so I will make sure to improve on those areas and do even better at the World Junior Championships.'' I hope I can show that I've improved," he said.