Medalist (2025) s01e04 Episode Script

1
Instead of trying to jump, imagine
you're folding your skating leg up.
-Make sense?
-Yeah, I'll give it a shot.
[Inori grunts]
[grunting]
[gasps]
She's airborne!
She's still spinning!
With no traveling?
That was unbelievable.
She chose the right dessert!
[Ms. Yuitsuka] Inori.
MEIKOH CUP
JUNIOR WOMEN'S
PRELIM FREE SKATING (PART ONE)
Wake up. Your sister's skating next.
[gasps]
I'm worried. What if she falls?
It's all right.
Your sister performs well under pressure.
She'll be just fine.
I remember my mother's heartbeat
pounding in my ear.
Mine was pounding, too.
I was scared for her,
skating on the slippery ice,
in front of all those people.
But then
she was so light on her feet.
She was so graceful,
all of my worry just melted away.
What would I have to do?
How can I make it so people want to
believe in me like that?
She danced so effortlessly and beautifully
over that pure, white ice
in a dress made out of stardust.
That's when I fell in love
with figure skating.
Every part of me
was bursting with excitement!
Maybe some day, I could be that beautiful.
[sister] Inori!
Oh, Inori!
Nori!
Your favorite sister is here
to wake you up!
-Oh, Mika--
-Smoochie-smooch!
-[Inori screams]
-Whoa!
[Mika gasps] Mom!
Special delivery!
Don't kick the door open with your feet!
Orange juice time.
Oh, sis. You scared me, I forgot
you came back from Canada last night.
What? You forgot? The nerve.
I turned down a whole modeling gig
for my friend's magazine
so I could come watch your meet,
I'll have you know!
Are you modeling again?
You're supposed to be studying
when you study abroad.
I know, I'm doing that, too!
[gasps] Is that your costume?
Man, does that take me back.
Seeing this kinda makes me miss it.
Hey Nori! Come try it on!
[gasps]
Not too tight, is it?
How's it fit underneath your arms?
No, it's good. Thank you, Mom.
You're so good at tailoring.
It fits her perfectly.
It had better,
I was up late enough working on it.
Your father's gonna take you
over there today,
I need to lie down for a little while.
Oh. Are you feeling okay?
[Ms. Yuitsuka yawns] Yeah, yeah.
Just a quick nap,
I'll be there by the time the doors open.
[door opens]
See you when you get back.
-What? Wait, am I just dropping her off?
-What?
I can fake sick and skip my meeting.
-You absolutely will not.
-[gasps]
I told you that you should request
a vacation day before it was too late.
Yeah, but I didn't think
they would let me!
We're in the middle of presentations and--
-[door closes]
-[groans]
[Inori giggles]
Mom seems like she's a having fun time.
She does.
That was fun?
[Inori] It's 'cause
you're back to visit, Mika.
What? No it's not!
She's excited to see you compete
this afternoon, you giant doofus.
[Inori] Huh?
[Mika] When I got in last night,
she didn't say,
"Welcome back" or "How's Canada?"
She was ready to talk about you
before anything else.
Did she really?
Yep! She said you're passionate
and that you've been working really hard.
She's super excited to watch you skate
in your tournament today.
NAGOYA FIGURE SKATING
COMPETITION NAGOYA'S MEIKOH CUP
[Mika] I'd better go.
-[Inori] 'Kay.
-[person] Hey, break a leg!
Well, I'll see you out there, eh?
[both chuckle]
-Bye!
-[chuckles]
[gasps, groans]
-[heartbeat thumping]
-It's time!
And now that I'm alone,
I'm suddenly feeling super nervous.
Huh?
[Inori] Mittens…
[Mittens scoffs]
I think I saw that
she's skating in the group after me…
And I'm gonna win no matter what.
And all those adults you rely on
won't make a difference.
I'll never lose to the likes of you!
I wonder if we'll go back to talking
like before after the competition is over.
-[Tsukasa] Ah, there she is!
-Huh?
Time to get warmed up! Ready to go?
[grunts] Yes.
[both grunting]
That's crazy. Your gestures are loud.
[gasps]
[Ms. Yuitsuka] How much longer?
They just finished group one,
and two's on their way out now.
Is this right?
She's the last up in group two?
Mm-hmm.
They drew lots yesterday. She was
so afraid she was going to draw first.
That's every skater's nightmare,
I suppose.
Anything but first. Anything but first!
Just pick one.
Seems like she's still a nervous nellie.
She is.
But she knows it, and that might be
one of my favorite things about her.
When I was skating,
my coach would always tell me,
"The only way you'll ever get any stronger
is if you know your own weaknesses."
[announcer] Skaters in Preliminary
group two, you may begin practicing.
You have four minutes.
[Tsukasa] The judging actually
starts here, during the warm-up.
While the skaters do their laps
and practice their tricks,
the judges are already making notes,
evaluating the athletes' skills,
the quality of their individual elements…
[announcer] The skating order of
the athletes in group two is as follows.
Number seven,
Saki Hiiragi from Meijo Crown FSC.
How is she?
Looking good. Really pushing on the ice.
[announcer] Number ten,
Hime Sakurai from Meijo Crown FSC.
Number 11,
Minako Sakashiro from Meikoh Wind FSC.
Number 12,
Inori Yuitsuka from Lux Higashiyama FSC.
-[spectator] Ready, and…
-[Inori] Huh?
Go, go, Inori! Go, go!
-[spectator] You got this!
-[cheering]
All right!
Check the direction I'm gliding, and axel!
[gasps]
[gasps]
[grunting]
[gasping]
[both gasp]
[panting]
Inori.
-Are you hurt or anything?
-[Inori] N-No.
Howa's ice has a different texture than
what we're used to at our rink in Osu,
so maybe's that's throwing you off.
Take deep a breath,
and we'll run your jumps in order.
Okay.
[grunts]
Two minutes to go. I have to land these.
[gasping, grunting]
Why can't I?
[announcer]
One minute left in the warm-up period.
That looked rough.
Are you sure you're not hurt?
[Inori] I'm fine.
I'm glad to hear that.
[gasps] That first fall is gonna pull her
in a bad direction.
Well, we still have some time
before the real thing.
I can check your form later, but go ahead
and try your flying sit spin for me, yeah?
[grunts] On it.
[Tsukasa] She almost never fails this one
at home. It comes so naturally to her.
Come on, Inori. I know you got it.
Let's end practice on a high note.
No! Her timing is off.
[announcer] This ends the warm-up period.
Athletes, please exit the rink
and be seated.
All right! Very nice. See, you got it.
So, earlier when…
You just mistimed when you need
to pull your arms back in.
As long as you're not hurt,
that's the only thing you need to change.
Yeah. 'Kay.
-[Inori sighs]
-Huh?
I feel that.
I'd be down on myself after that too.
Okay! Lets keep practicing in here
till you get more comfortable.
[footsteps approaching]
I want you to imagine that
you're out on the ice.
-[Ms. Yuitsuka] Um…
-[both] Huh?
[Ms. Yuitsuka] Coach Tsukasa.
[Tsukasa] Ms. Yuitsuka.
Pardon me.
I need to speak to you for a moment.
[Tsukasa] Change the jumps?
Yes. To easy ones
that she can land reliably.
The hard stuff in her program
is only there because she can do it.
And she's always been
able to land single jumps.
Well, she's not landing them anymore!
[Tsukasa] Well, that's…
To be honest I don't see any reason
for her to be competing
at all in the first place.
Respectfully, I disagree.
Competitions like this are gonna help her
advance faster, and the points from--
Wait! Advance faster into doing what?
She's already in the fifth grade.
What use is advancing?
Inori has finally found something
she can pour herself into.
She's never had that before!
She's always struggled.
And if something goes wrong, I just…
I don't want her to think
she's failed at skating, too…
She's doing it again,
trying to cover for me.
She tried to stop me from figure skating
before I even started
because she was worried about me,
so I wouldn't get hurt
when I eventually fail.
[no audible dialogue]
[Ms. Yuitsuka] Either way,
she's done when she hits middle school.
She's finally having fun with something,
so why do we need to make her compete?
I'm not making her!
Your daughter is…
[Ms. Yuitsuka gasps]
She's so…
[Inori] Coach doesn't know
what to say either.
I'm hurting them 'cause I can't do it.
'Cause I can't change.
[parent] Look! Isn't she beautiful?
Huh?
Yeah! Pretty dress.
I wanna learn figure skating too.
[Inori gasps]
No.
It's not that I can't change.
It's that I haven't yet.
But I'm already different from before.
I wanted to stop being that way,
stop being so embarrassed of myself.
I wanted something that was mine.
And now, I have my skates on,
and a beautiful dress.
And I'm about to stand on the stage
I always dreamed of.
I'm not the same.
Yeah, I'm already a figure skater,
just like the ones
I've always looked up to!
Like I said…
-[Inori] Mom.
-[both gasp]
Inori.
-I'll be okay. I actually want to do this.
-[Ms. Yuitsuka] Sweetheart.
[Inori] I know it's easy to mess up
on all the hard stuff.
I know I won't win all the time.
There's a lot I can't do yet,
but I still want to try.
Because more than anything,
I want to be a medalist.
I want to be an athlete
that you can be proud of.
I want you to think that
I'm good at something.
And I want you
to see me do something I like.
So watch me. I'm gonna do my best
to be graceful today.
Just because I'm wearing skates
that doesn't mean I can land a jump.
And the fact that I can skate
isn't what makes me special.
It was never the skating that was so cool.
It was my sister, the skater, all along.
She made figure skating special.
And now it's my turn!
[applause]
Hey! Where have you been?
Any longer, and you would've missed Nori.
Uh…
What?
Oh, you want these?
Um… I'm sorry I said
I wanted to be a medalist
when I haven't even actually competed
in anything yet.
Oh, it's fine. Hmm?
[chuckles]
I'm getting really nervous, Coach.
I worked so hard for this.
But I keep thinking
"what if I mess it all up?"
-Listen to me.
-Hmm?
You don't have to be afraid of falling.
If you do, you get back up
like nothing happened.
You don't have to be good at competing.
And it's okay to be anxious.
I'm not gonna be upset,
even if you mess up the whole thing.
We'll just go back to square one
and we'll try again.
I'm here to help you
no matter how you place today.
Do you hear me?
[announcer] Minako Sakashiro's score
is 9.8. She is currently in second place.
-Now knock 'em dead out there! [grunts]
-Yeah!
-Go, Inori!
-Come on!
You can do it!
[announcer] Number 12, Inori Yuitsuka
from Lux Higashiyama FSC.
[inhales deeply]
["Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity"
playing]
[Inori] First jump.
A single axel.
[Tsukasa] Yes! She's back on her feet!
[Inori] Next,
-a single loop.
-[applause]
She should get extra points for that one!
[Inori] Connect my stroke to the off leg
as I switch feet,
stay up so I don't slow down, and turn!
Lutz!
-Axel!
-[applause]
That's definitely worth extra!
[Tsukasa] Like 500 billion extra!
[Inori] I'm doing what I always wanted.
And It feels exactly like what I imagined!
It's so fun!
[Ms. Yuitsuka] She fell right
at the start but she's not giving up!
[Tsukasa] And the showstopper…
[Inori] Flying sit spin!
[Tsukasa] Yes! Her tuck is perfect!
We've played all our cards, now.
All that's left…
[gasps] Oh, she's fast.
Too fast.
A broken leg sit spin?
Huh? When did you teach her that one?
I didn't.
I only showed her once.
[Inori] It's not anyone else's fault
if I can't do something.
It's up to me to change.
By trying again. And again. And again!
[Tsukasa] She opened with a fall…
but to the very end,
all she thought about was winning.
[music stops]
[panting]
[applause]
[scoffs]
[Inori] Now I bow to the judges
and the audience.
-[parent] Wasn't that good?
-[both chuckle]
I wanna learn figure skating too.
[Ms. Yuitsuka] How? How have I
never really seen my own daughter?
I never saw how strong she is.
Strong enough to pick herself up
and keep going.
[friend] There's nothing
you could have done.
You and your husband both work.
It's not like you have time
to look over her homework.
[Ms. Yuitsuka] I've been so afraid
of getting myself hurt.
-[Mika] Mom!
-[gasps]
You wanna go find Nori?
[Inori panting]
[Tsukasa sobbing]
[Inori] Coach Tsukasa.
Sorry.
You said it was okay to fall,
so I thought I'd go ahead and try it.
Huh?
[chuckles]
[giggles]
[both chuckling]
[Mika] Nori.
[both] Huh?
[Inori] Mika! Mom!
Were you guys watching?
I did really good, huh?
Huh?
Mom, were you crying?
Inori.
Tell me. What kind of medalist
do you want to be?
[all gasp]
Um… An Olympian…
TRUTH-TELLER
If that's what you want, okay.
Huh?
I couldn't take my eyes off of you.
You were wonderful, Inori.
You've found a lot of things
that weren't for you,
so you worked harder
than anyone else instead.
You've worked so hard, my baby.
I did work hard.
[Ms. Yuitsuka]
You shouldn't have had to do that alone.
I'm sorry I didn't encourage you.
I'm sorry I decided
so many things for you.
And as your mom,
I'll do anything to support your dreams.
[sobbing] Mom.
[crying]
[sobbing]
[announcer]
Inori Yuitsuka's score is 12.64.
She is currently in first place.