Ascendance (Japanese: 下克上 Gekokujou) is the twentieth chapter of the Medalist manga.
Characters[]
Story[]
As Inori gets ready, some audience members leave the venue, believing that the last two participants will not surpass Yuna's score. Mamoru holds a banner in support of Inori and offers an extra one to Koichi. Koichi asks Mamoru how he thinks Inori will fare, to which he responds that her success today will depend on her coach's strategy, as her current "rare cards" alone cannot beat the top five.
Before Inori begins her performance, Tsukasa assures Inori of his trust in her to win gold today. As soon as she starts her routine, Mamoru is struck by how much she has improved. Her first element is a Triple Loop. Although Mamoru is impressed that she learned another jump just two months after learning the Double Salchow, he grows concerned — if the 3Lo3Lo is her strongest jump, there simply won't be enough points.
However, it soon becomes evident that their strategy is focused on maximizing GOEGOE bonuses, as Inori executes her jumps with exceptional smoothness and artistry compared to other skaters. Yet, such an approach is challenging for elementary school skaters — landing a jump is difficult enough, let alone maintaining proper form before and after. Both Rioh and Mamoru come to the conclusion that Tsukasa's ice dance background played a part in this strategy, with Rioh being familiar with Tsukasa's unique training approach, where he devotes much more time to the skating itself unlike traditional figure skating coaches who prioritize jump practice.
Inori entire program remains flawless up until the 8th element, at which point the audience begin to recognize that a top 5 position is well within grasp. However, for Tsukasa, 5th place is not enough given his earlier promise. He bets everything on Inori's final jump, a 2A2A + 1Eu1Eu + 3S3S combo. The spectating coaches are stunned by the risk of attempting such a difficult combo at the end of the routine, but a flashback reveals that after analyzing some statistics, Tsukasa came to the realization that once Inori learns a Salchow jump, her success rate on it is 100%.
Tsukasa erupts with joy, while Inori nails her final spin and reaches the end of her program, marking the first flawless run of the event. Inori returns to Tsukasa with the brightest smile, and the two share a fist bump. Koichi, at last, begins to understand why Tsukasa is so deeply absorbed: figure skating is a sport that lets you oversee miracles.
| Order | Element | Base Score | GOEGOE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3Lo3Lo | 4.90 | ? |
| 2 | 3S3S + 2T2T | 5.60 | ? |
| 3 | 2Lz2Lz | 2.10 | ? |
| 4 | LSp4LSp4 | 2.70 | ? |
| 5 | 2F2F | 1.80 | +2 |
| 6 | ? | ? | ? |
| 7 | StSq3StSq3 | 3.30 | ? |
| 8 | 3T3T | 4.20 | ? |
| 9 | 2A2A + 1Eu1Eu + 3S3S | 8.10 | ? |
| 10 | CCoSp4CCoSp4 | 3.50 | ? |