Fumie Suguri

Just read an article saying that she said today that she'll continue competing and is looking for sponsors.
Don't know what to say but WOW !

I already knew about this. But I find it so sad, because she used all her savings in the last two years, because the sponsor she had didn't give too much money. Now she is searching for a new one that could sponsor her with more money.



I hope she finds one! Good luck, Fumie!

Strong woman. She must really love skating.
I'd give up in her place, but she never does. I admire that, although I think she should look for new challenges in life, since her age and lack of support won't probably allow her to get a spot in the Japanese team again. But we can never tell what motivates her.

Good luck, Fumie!

Wow, good for her! I was expecting her to retire after this season.

Fumie says she's found 10 companies willing to sponser her, and will continue her career in competitive skating, along with working as an employee at a PR management company.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20100401-00000067-jij-spo

I'm not sure this is the right choice for her, but who am I to judge? I admire her spirits, so everyone should let her do as she wishes as long as she can manage it.

Good luck Fumie!

Btw, this is no joke for April fools'.

Congratulations to Suguri. It's always nice to see some older skaters in the sport.

I do have to say though that I find it odd that she managed to find so many sponsors relatively quickly. If I recall correctly I remember reading about Nakano's struggles to find endorsement money and she used to (at least during the past couple of years) get better results internationally than Suguri. Maybe Suguri is more well-known in Japan?

Um, there's some new info concerning Fumie.
Some good news and some bad ones unfortunately.....

First the good news. Fumie has officially found a sponser!
A pharmaceutical manufacturer has given her a contract.
They are willing to support her up till Sochi, but basically it's a one year contract, though they do plan to go on renewing it.
They haven't told the press how much they're supporting her in numbers, and since Fumie has started working for a management company, I'm guessing that although they have a contract now, they're not going to cover all expenses for her.
It's gonna be real tough for her working and training at the same time.
And you all know how skinny she is, I hope she doesn't damage her health.

Now, the bad news.....
Right now in my country(Japan), Fumie has become the most disliked skater ever. She may even be more disliked than Yuna, it seems.
Now the reason things turned out like this, is because Fumie had appeared in some tv shows recently and commented on Vancouver Olys and Worlds.
I've only seen a video clip of one of them, but it seems she made some comments on Mao like 'She should go back to basics; to skate more neatly and beautifuly'. And even when some other guests on the show stated something like 'I've seen Worlds this time, and maybe it's because I'm a total amateur on figure skating, I couldn't understand the scores given to some skaters. It seemed quite strange to me', and then the host of the show turned to Fumie saying 'Well, Ms Suguri would surely join ISU someday and make us understand better!', Fumie said 'Well, but I think it's more important for fans to study the rules more'.
Now, the guy who questioned the scorings at Worlds was obviously talking about Yuna's FP score being higher than Mao. I'm sure Fumie was aware of that. But her stating right afterwards that fans should know more about the rules, was like saying 'Those who do not agree with the judges do not know enough about the system'.
It's said that she also stated in another program that Yuna deserved every amount of her scores even if she had mistakes because everything else was perfectly done.

All these comments she made; praising Yuna highly although she had mistakes, critisizing Mao's performance, and letting all skating fans feel like they were born yesterday...was really more than enough to piss most people off!

Fumie had been famous for making strange comments in the past; 'All the other skaters are doing Picasso, but I want to be a Monet! Picasso can be easily understood, but Monet isn't!', 'I don't like it when everybody asks me about whether I'm aiming for a medal. I'm here to skate for world peace, wishing everybody happiness'(btw, this latter comment was what she said in a press conference right before the Torino Olys competition!). I quite enjoyed all her funny comments actually.

So she is a bit strange, but I personally don't hate her or anything. Although I certainly do not agree with the stuff she said on tv concerning Worlds, I was hardly raged by what she said. To me, she just seems like a lousy speaker in public. She can't give us what we'd like to hear, instead she gives us the opposite. So, in a way she's honest. But her honesty lacks humor, so she's not loved like Johnny, who is also quite honest with his comments in public.

And now, almost everyone here is bashing her like crazy on the net! A few days ago, she said in a press conference that 'I'll do my best at Sochi, not to mention Worlds next season!'.....as if they've already chosen her to skate in both competitons, and that made things worse! Now most folks bash her for being not only arrogant, but totally crazy. And then you have folks writing 'She should retire and make way for younger skaters!', and others replying 'Oh let her do as she pleases, for she's never going to make any of those competitions anyway!'

I hate to have to admit it, but I'm kinda getting sick of my people bashing her like that. Sure, I can understand their frustration, I'm a Mao fan! But, Fumie did do a good job as one of our top skaters during her peak, and that was before Miki and Mao appeared. Us Japanese figure fans owe her alot. I think disagreeing with her is okay, but bashing? That's going too far!

But anyway, Fumie luckily for a skater of her age found a sponser, so she should make the best of it. And since she has a sponser now, I do hope she'd be a bit more careful about what she says in public. Cause if she goes on like this, sooner or later her sponsering company will start to doubt whether it's a good idea to keep supporting her while most figure fans are starting to dislike her. I'm sure Fumie knows a great deal concerning skating, but she's only been skating most of her life, I fear she's not so aware of silent rules in society. By working and training at the same time, I hope she's enlightened to how the world actually works a little, and gets her good reputation back soon.

Hi, PochiPota.

I think if TV media reported Japanese players properly, many Japanese don't care what Fumie said because we know she is a bit weird.

We, Japanese figure skating fans, are really fed up with featuring Yuna on many TV shows. The TV shows aired on the next day of the world championship, and Fumie was there as a special commentator. Despite the fact that gold medalist was Mao, the most of the report was about Yuna. And Fumie praised the Queen very highly.

As Fimie is a Japanese athlete, many of Japanese think it's natural that she cheers fellows up. however...
One guest commentator said "I want to know about Miki&Akiko more (than about Yuna)　because I was touched by their big recovery after short program."　 Yes!!!

The underlying problem　is not Fumie　but　Japanese TV media.

Very hard for Japanese media because they have to be careful so much when talking
about China and Korea so sometimes I heard them praised foreign sportmen rather
than their own country. It seems to be Japanese culture to blame themselves so that
they can improve.

I don't want Mao to be untouchable. First time, Onda commented her and it was not
good so Onda was blamed soon. Next Arakawa Shizuka commented her and Arakawa
know well so she tried to praise Mao. And now, Suguri commented and I felt it is not
bad but Suguri is still a competitor in next season so she should not come to this
program. Even if Ito said something bad to Mao, some fans cannot listen to that.

Yuki, BowbowDaijin, I think you're both quite right about the situation. Those programs never should have asked Fumie to comment on competitions she wanted to enter but couldn't. The case was quite different when Johnny was a commentator for Worlds, since he didn't enter at his own will (wasn't it? I may be wrong, so correct me if I am).

Besides, how could Fumie possibly say 'Yeah the judges were wrong with those scorings' in public, when she's still going to go on competing. I'm not sure if she'd felt that way, but even if she did, she could never say that. I assume that one of the first things a competitive skater is taught by their coaches, is that sometimes the scores given to them may not seem right but there's no point in complaining, so don't. So basically, Fumie was only speaking according to the 'code'.

Yes, and I remember the case with Onda being bashed. I feel a little guilty towards her, cause I used some bits of her commentating footages in my very first Mao vid. But honestly I don't hate her at all, and I thought she had no choice but to state that it'll be tough for Mao to win Yuna next time, because Minoru Sano said mostly the same thing beforehand on the same show, and him being a big figure in the Japanese skating world, how could Onda possibly say anything to deny his comments.

I often use some footages of people like Onda and Sano sort of criticizing Mao's performances in my vids, just to show what sort of pressure she gets from the media. But I sure as do not hate them, since I believe that deep down they are rooting for Mao and all the other Japanese skaters. I don't agree with everything they say, and I do wish they'd compliment Mao more along with their criticizms, but they're basically good people I'm sure.

But in Fumie's case, although the tv shows are the ones to be blamed most, if she goes on praising Yuna that much like Yuki says she did, she must certainly think things over. I mean, seriously! Fumie has been doing programs for the past few seasons with elements more or less likely to Yuna's programs, except with a spectacular 3-3. She's been jumping too much 2As in FP, and has repeatedly said she wants to show her artistry, which kinda means she's given up more or less in techs. So I guess most people can't help thinking that Fumie praises Yuna more than Mao, cause she can't improve her skills anymore, so she's aiming to win competitions based on her artistic expressions like it is with some of Yuna's programs.

And boy do we Japanese hate it when a skater gives up in evolving their techs! Fumie's got to understand that! If she doesn't, she'll be easily beaten by not only Mao and Miki and Akiko, but even Kanako! She'll never get good results and her new sponser will not renew her contract next year.

I only hope she can acknowledge the position she's in now.
I'd hate to see her being bashed more.....when I read how some people bash her and Miki at times, even if they have a point in why they bash them, the way they write is so simply horrible, I hate to see my people and figure fans like that!

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

So she is a bit strange, but I personally don't hate her or anything. Although I certainly do not agree with the stuff she said on tv concerning Worlds, I was hardly raged by what she said. To me, she just seems like a lousy speaker in public. She can't give us what we'd like to hear, instead she gives us the opposite. So, in a way she's honest. But her honesty lacks humor, so she's not loved like Johnny, who is also quite honest with his comments in public.

Totally agree with you. Media blowing things out of proportion again