The six-minute warm-up before the official start of the competition ended. Except for those about to compete, the rest of the athletes left the ice and went to the waiting area.

The National Figure Skating Championships last for three days. On the first day, the events include men's short program, women's short program, and the compulsory dance for ice dance.

The short program lasts 2 minutes and 40 seconds. During this time, athletes must perform three different jumps, including a solo jump, an Axel jump, a jump combination, as well as a step sequence and three spins.

Judges will score the athletes' technical elements, adjusting the base score with Grade of Execution (GOE), and finally add the program components score to determine the athlete's final score.

Since this is a domestic competition, all the judges are from our own country, so the scoring is fair—there’s no favoritism toward North American or Russian skaters. The athletes are also familiar with the home environment, so most of them perform quite well.

From Chris Bolton's perspective, most of the men competing on the ice have pretty standard technique, but as a former stage veteran, Chris Bolton finds their performances rather average.

This is also typical for Chinese athletes: in pursuit of technical scores, everyone trains hard on jumps, but in other areas, their expressiveness tends to be flat. Some even focus so much on jumps that their skating and spinning skills aren’t up to par.

That was the case until Liam Sullivan took the ice.

His program was the not-at-all-novel "Canon in D." This season, at least three other singles skaters in the figure skating world have chosen this piece—it’s practically a cliché.

But Liam Sullivan's performance was unique. His jumps were superb, though his body lines lacked the grace of seasoned dancers. His upper body was quite stiff, yet his performance was still a cut above the rest.

Because the emotion Liam Sullivan poured into his program was real.

This was Chris Bolton's first time watching a competition live, and in this athlete, he saw a very pure love for figure skating. When a performer is fully invested in the stage, even if their dance technique isn’t top-notch, they can still move the audience.

Liam Sullivan became the only Chinese male singles skater who could hold his own on the international stage not just because of his quad jumps.

“He is a true performer.”

This skater’s style was steady, but within that steadiness was the vitality of youth, and a passion that matched the tone of the music.

The ice is pale and cold, but his program gave people a sense of spring’s warmth and blossoming flowers. Only someone who truly understands the music can achieve that.

Even though Liam Sullivan, playing it safe, didn’t attempt a quad in the short program—his jump layout was just 3A, 3F, and 3Lz+3T—he executed them with such composure and ease that the program was more complete and the performance more cohesive.

By the end of his program, it was obvious to everyone that Liam Sullivan would have the highest score of the night, and the audience gave him the most enthusiastic applause since the competition began.

Jack Bolton was full of praise: “This time Liam Sullivan's short program is really well put together. As long as he doesn’t fall apart in the free skate, his spot for Vancouver is secure.”

“You said it—‘as long as he doesn’t fall apart.’”

The national team’s head coach Charles Smith had somehow appeared beside Jack Bolton, his expression serious. “Liam Sullivan's biggest weakness is his instability. His mentality isn’t strong. Every time he does well in the short program, he wants to do just as well in the free skate, and ends up putting too much pressure on himself…”

Figure skating is a sport that heavily depends on the athlete’s state of mind. If the athlete is already putting pressure on themselves, isn’t that just asking for a meltdown on the ice?

When Jack Bolton saw who it was, he instinctively stood up straight. “Coach Smith.”

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Coach Smith mainly coaches pairs—anyone who’s been on the national team has received guidance from this godfather of Chinese figure skating.

Charles Smith waved his hand. “Liam Sullivan is much more talented than you were back in the day. If only he could be a bit more stable in competition, he’d be in the world’s top ten by now.”

“I don’t know what’s going on—these past two years, every male singles prospect the national team finds is either not talented enough, has too low a ceiling, or has a weak mentality. If only Liam Sullivan's jumping talent could be combined with your nerves of steel, wouldn’t that be something?”

The entry level of competitive sports is a group of people competing through hard work. At the top level, it’s a group of people who work themselves to the bone competing on talent. Back then, Jack Bolton just didn’t have enough talent—his hardest jump was only the 3Lz. He could dominate domestically, but couldn’t make it internationally.

Jack Bolton gave an awkward smile. “You used to say I was shameless and not afraid to lose. Actually, it’s good for kids to be competitive, but the key is to find a balance between mentality and reality. Speaking of which, I also think the promising young male singles skaters in China these past two years are all a bit ‘cursed.’ For example, the one I’m coaching now—his talent is unquestionable, at least as good as Liam Sullivan, and his mentality should be no worse than mine, but…”

He paused, and under Charles Smith’s curious gaze, finished his sentence.

“He has no intention of becoming an athlete. He thinks it’s too tough, that he’ll end up with a body full of injuries and nothing to show for it—no money, no fame—so being an athlete isn’t part of his life plan.”

Such a brutally realistic reason for refusing made Charles Smith’s mouth twitch. “How old is this kid you’re talking about?”

Why does he sound so precocious?