Javier Fernandez is an extraordinary personality and a unique person. Spain is probably one of the most unsuitable countries for figure skating. But it was here that the future world and European champion was born. This is a man who has already entered his name not only in the history of figure skating, but also in sports in general.
Childhood
Spanish figure skater Javier Fernandez came to the rink thanks to his older sister. She first watched international competitions on TV, and later she began to train herself. When Fernandez saw her on the ice, he realized that he also wanted to figure skate. Then the future champion was only six years old. He says that in Spain there were no private coaches, small skaters worked in groups of 20-30 people. Fernandez points out that at least it wasn't as expensive as in the US.
Beginning of professional career
Javier Fernandez is a figure skater who has been able to achieve a lot. In a country with fewer than 20 skating rinks and sports such as football and tennis being popular, figure skating is very difficult. The path to success forthe athlete was long and thorny. He did not have good results at the junior level.
Fernandez is the first Spaniard to complete a triple Axel and a four-turn jump at a national championship. He was able to win these competitions and qualify for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. There he took only 14th place, but for a young athlete it was a success. Javier became the first Spanish figure skater at the Olympics since 1956. A year later, Fernandez was able to climb several times on the podium at the Grand Prix.
European Championships in the career of a Spanish figure skater
Javier Fernandez can be called today the best skater in Europe and one of the strongest in the world. In any competition, he is ranked among the main favorites. Already at four European Championships in a row, he has no equal. Javier Fernandez has been winning here since 2013. After the triumph at the first European championship in Croatia, he said that he did not feel like a champion, since a single win is not a great achievement. The skater added that he will continue to work hard. Even then, Fernandez trained with Canadian coach Orser Bryan, who led the South Korean athlete Kim Young Ah to victory at the Olympic Games in Vancouver.
At the European Championships in 2014 and 2015, Javier managed to repeat his achievements. In 2016, the Spanish figure skater came to the championship as the main favorite. The victory in Bratislava was impressive. Despite some errors inprogram, he managed to get 100 points for the short program and 200 for the free program. This success allowed Fernandez to become the first figure skater since 1972 to win four European Championships in a row.
Sochi Olympics
After winning the 2013 European Championships, Fernandez arrived at the Olympic Games as one of the medal contenders. He could have become only the third athlete in Spanish history to reach the podium at the Winter Olympics. Earlier in 1972, Francisco Fernandez Okoa managed to win gold in slalom, and twenty years later his sister Blanca took third place in the same discipline.
Javier Fernandez was very close to success. After the short program, he took third place. But due to errors in the free program, in the end, the Spanish skater lost quite a bit to Denis Ten and took an offensive fourth place.
Triumphant 2015 World Cup
At the World Championships in Shanghai, Javier Fernandez managed to win his first victory. His performance was very charismatic. Even the Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu could not seriously compete with him. Javier Fernandez became the first ever world champion in this sport from Spain. After the victory, the skater could not believe that he managed to win. He stated that he did not know if he could repeat this achievement.
His main rival Japanese Yuzuru Hanyu, with whom they train on the same team, wasvery happy with the success of Fernandez. Athletes are rivals only on ice, but in life they are on good terms. It has been emphasized more than once that skaters pay little attention to competitors, it is more important for them to concentrate on their own program. The main rival is themselves.
This success allowed Fernárdez once again to inscribe his name in the history of Spanish sports. Now he can be called a national hero of his country.
Fernandez Javier: personal life and interesting facts
Now the Spanish skater lives and trains in Toronto, where all conditions for an athlete are created. He rides an average of three hours, although sometimes five or six.
Javier Fernandez is a figure skater whose personal life is not a secret. Back in 2013, he officially announced that he was dating Miki Ando. This is a famous Japanese figure skater who is a two-time world champion in single skating. Javier has repeatedly admitted that he loves Japan very much. He really enjoys training there.
If skaters carefully monitor their diet, then for athletes this problem does not exist. They can afford any food. Javier loves Japanese food and loves sweets.
Outside of sports, he is a friendly guy who leads a normal life. The skater loves to go to the movies, play computer games or just spend time at home with his girlfriend.
Javier Fernandez has made a huge contribution to the development and popularization of his sport in Spain. He considersthe problem is that people know that there are skating rinks in the country, but they don’t know that there are skaters here. With his success, he proves that even in Spain this sport has a future. Today he is popular in his homeland. He has many fans around the world. And this is not surprising, because each skater's performance is dynamic and very emotional. Every program is a little show.
