He steps back to let Yuri through and falls into step next to him. "Your jumps looked nice and clean. I want you to stay loose so that hip doesn't tense up and give you trouble later."
There are hours still to go, but there are ways to fill them all: walk around the Small Sports Arena, watch the other skaters and discuss the programs (or gossip about their various personal lives), get a snack, stretch out. Anything to keep Yuri happy and relaxed until it's time for him to change into his competition costume, slick his hair back, start readying in earnest.
Victor doesn't suggest taking a nap again. It hadn't worked last week, and Yuri doesn't seem to need it today, anyway. He looks a little pale, but his jumps were strong and he's focused in a way he wasn't before the free skate in Shanghai. No: weariness isn't something Victor's concerned about today. He knows Yuri is ready, has every faith that this will be an even better performance than the one offered only a bare week ago. There's no quad flip in Eros, so he doesn't have to worry about Yuri attempting a jump he hasn't yet fully mastered. The choreography and jumping passes are so well known now Yuri could almost certainly win at least silver with them in his sleep.
It's just that there are people everywhere. Reporters and representatives that he's sure he never had to deal with to this extent before, because Yakov always herded them away somewhere, coaxing with tidbits of information or threatening to blacklist them if they bothered his skaters right before a performance. They don't bother him, but Yuri gets easily flustered, so Victor is grateful that the lion's share of the attention won't come until after the performance itself.
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He steps back to let Yuri through and falls into step next to him. "Your jumps looked nice and clean. I want you to stay loose so that hip doesn't tense up and give you trouble later."
There are hours still to go, but there are ways to fill them all: walk around the Small Sports Arena, watch the other skaters and discuss the programs (or gossip about their various personal lives), get a snack, stretch out. Anything to keep Yuri happy and relaxed until it's time for him to change into his competition costume, slick his hair back, start readying in earnest.
Victor doesn't suggest taking a nap again. It hadn't worked last week, and Yuri doesn't seem to need it today, anyway. He looks a little pale, but his jumps were strong and he's focused in a way he wasn't before the free skate in Shanghai. No: weariness isn't something Victor's concerned about today. He knows Yuri is ready, has every faith that this will be an even better performance than the one offered only a bare week ago. There's no quad flip in Eros, so he doesn't have to worry about Yuri attempting a jump he hasn't yet fully mastered. The choreography and jumping passes are so well known now Yuri could almost certainly win at least silver with them in his sleep.
It's just that there are people everywhere. Reporters and representatives that he's sure he never had to deal with to this extent before, because Yakov always herded them away somewhere, coaxing with tidbits of information or threatening to blacklist them if they bothered his skaters right before a performance. They don't bother him, but Yuri gets easily flustered, so Victor is grateful that the lion's share of the attention won't come until after the performance itself.
It's getting closer.