He offered a thumbs up to Yuri. Even with the doubts weighing on him, and the pressure from home to bring the gold back to his country - Yuri made him feel optimistic. Not as naturally gifted, it was always an uphill climb, but he would do what he could.

"I have to up the difficulty next year," Otabek thought out loud. That was what got him, he believed. Even with JJ's obvious series of failures on the ice - everything he did was more difficult than what Otabek had done. "To place, at least." He wanted gold - more than anything.

"It will be an interesting competition," he pointed out.